A Humorously Serious Take on Plight of Postgraduate Medical Entrance Examinees in India

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Following is a satire on the plight of postgraduate medical entrance examinees in India. It highlights the questions they have to face during their entrance examination preparations and the annoying explanations they have to read in the entrance preparation books. Though the system of examination is improving in India, few loopholes do exist and need to be rectified. This article, thus, attracts the attention of readers towards one such backdrop regarding controversial/wrong/misprinted questions which has come a long way but still has scope of improvement. PMID:28969159

A Humorously Serious Take on Plight of Postgraduate Medical Entrance Examinees in India.

PubMed

Singh, Kaushal Deep

2017-08-01

Following is a satire on the plight of postgraduate medical entrance examinees in India. It highlights the questions they have to face during their entrance examination preparations and the annoying explanations they have to read in the entrance preparation books. Though the system of examination is improving in India, few loopholes do exist and need to be rectified. This article, thus, attracts the attention of readers towards one such backdrop regarding controversial/wrong/misprinted questions which has come a long way but still has scope of improvement.

Memory for faces with emotional expressions in Alzheimer's disease and healthy older participants: positivity effect is not only due to familiarity.

PubMed

Sava, Alina-Alexandra; Krolak-Salmon, Pierre; Delphin-Combe, Floriane; Cloarec, Morgane; Chainay, Hanna

2017-01-01

Young individuals better memorize initially seen faces with emotional rather than neutral expressions. Healthy older participants and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients show better memory for faces with positive expressions. The socioemotional selectivity theory postulates that this positivity effect in memory reflects a general age-related preference for positive stimuli, subserving emotion regulation. Another explanation might be that older participants use compensatory strategies, often considering happy faces as previously seen. The question about the existence of this effect in tasks not permitting such compensatory strategies is still open. Thus, we compared the performance of healthy participants and AD patients for positive, neutral, and negative faces in such tasks. Healthy older participants and AD patients showed a positivity effect in memory, but there was no difference between emotional and neutral faces in young participants. Our results suggest that the positivity effect in memory is not entirely due to the sense of familiarity for smiling faces.

Reconstructing dynamic mental models of facial expressions in prosopagnosia reveals distinct representations for identity and expression.

PubMed

Richoz, Anne-Raphaëlle; Jack, Rachael E; Garrod, Oliver G B; Schyns, Philippe G; Caldara, Roberto

2015-04-01

The human face transmits a wealth of signals that readily provide crucial information for social interactions, such as facial identity and emotional expression. Yet, a fundamental question remains unresolved: does the face information for identity and emotional expression categorization tap into common or distinct representational systems? To address this question we tested PS, a pure case of acquired prosopagnosia with bilateral occipitotemporal lesions anatomically sparing the regions that are assumed to contribute to facial expression (de)coding (i.e., the amygdala, the insula and the posterior superior temporal sulcus--pSTS). We previously demonstrated that PS does not use information from the eye region to identify faces, but relies on the suboptimal mouth region. PS's abnormal information use for identity, coupled with her neural dissociation, provides a unique opportunity to probe the existence of a dichotomy in the face representational system. To reconstruct the mental models of the six basic facial expressions of emotion in PS and age-matched healthy observers, we used a novel reverse correlation technique tracking information use on dynamic faces. PS was comparable to controls, using all facial features to (de)code facial expressions with the exception of fear. PS's normal (de)coding of dynamic facial expressions suggests that the face system relies either on distinct representational systems for identity and expression, or dissociable cortical pathways to access them. Interestingly, PS showed a selective impairment for categorizing many static facial expressions, which could be accounted for by her lesion in the right inferior occipital gyrus. PS's advantage for dynamic facial expressions might instead relate to a functionally distinct and sufficient cortical pathway directly connecting the early visual cortex to the spared pSTS. Altogether, our data provide critical insights on the healthy and impaired face systems, question evidence of deficits obtained from patients by using static images of facial expressions, and offer novel routes for patient rehabilitation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Extensions of Existing Methods for Use with a New Class of Experimental Designs Useful when There Is Treatment Effect Contamination

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rhoads, Christopher

2011-01-01

Researchers planning a randomized field trial to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention often face the following dilemma. They plan to recruit schools to participate in their study. The question is, "Should the researchers randomly assign individuals (either students or teachers, depending on the intervention) within schools to…

Emotional Processing of Personally Familiar Faces in the Vegetative State

PubMed Central

Sharon, Haggai; Pasternak, Yotam; Ben Simon, Eti; Gruberger, Michal; Giladi, Nir; Krimchanski, Ben Zion; Hassin, David; Hendler, Talma

2013-01-01

Background The Vegetative State (VS) is a severe disorder of consciousness in which patients are awake but display no signs of awareness. Yet, recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have demonstrated evidence for covert awareness in VS patients by recording specific brain activations during a cognitive task. However, the possible existence of incommunicable subjective emotional experiences in VS patients remains largely unexplored. This study aimed to probe the question of whether VS patients retain a brain ability to selectively process external stimuli according to their emotional value and look for evidence of covert emotional awareness in patients. Methods and Findings In order to explore these questions we employed the emotive impact of observing personally familiar faces, known to provoke specific perceptual as well as emotional brain activations. Four VS patients and thirteen healthy controls first underwent an fMRI scan while viewing pictures of non-familiar faces, personally familiar faces and pictures of themselves. In a subsequent imagery task participants were asked to actively imagine one of their parent's faces. Analyses focused on face and familiarity selective regional brain activations and inter-regional functional connectivity. Similar to controls, all patients displayed face selective brain responses with further limbic and cortical activations elicited by familiar faces. In patients as well as controls, Connectivity was observed between emotional, visual and face specific areas, suggesting aware emotional perception. This connectivity was strongest in the two patients who later recovered. Notably, these two patients also displayed selective amygdala activation during familiar face imagery, with one further exhibiting face selective activations, indistinguishable from healthy controls. Conclusions Taken together, these results show that selective emotional processing can be elicited in VS patients both by external emotionally salient stimuli and by internal cognitive processes, suggesting the ability for covert emotional awareness of self and the environment in VS patients. PMID:24086365

Three-Dimensional Anthropometric Database of Attractive Caucasian Women: Standards and Comparisons.

PubMed

Galantucci, Luigi Maria; Deli, Roberto; Laino, Alberto; Di Gioia, Eliana; D'Alessio, Raoul; Lavecchia, Fulvio; Percoco, Gianluca; Savastano, Carmela

2016-10-01

The aim of this paper is to develop a database to determine a new biomorphometric standard of attractiveness. Sampling was carried out using noninvasive three-dimensional relief methods to measure the soft tissues of the face. These anthropometric measurements were analyzed to verify the existence of any canons with respect to shape, size, and measurement proportions which proved to be significant with regard to the aesthetics of the face. Finally, the anthropometric parameters obtained were compared with findings described in the international literature.The study sample was made up competitors in the Miss Italy 2010 and 2009 beauty contest. The three-dimensional (3D) scanning of soft tissue surfaces allowed 3D digital models of the faces and the spatial 3D coordinates of 25 anthropometric landmarks to be obtained and used to calculate linear and angular measurements. A paired Student t test for the analysis of the means allowed 3 key questions in the study of biomorphometric parameters of the face to be addressed through comparison with the data available in the literature.The question of statistical evidence for the samples analyzed being members of the populations samples reported in literature was also addressed.The critical analysis of the data helped to identify the anthropometric measurements of the upper, middle, and lower thirds of the face, variations in which have a major influence on the attractiveness of the face. These changes involve facial width, height, and depth. Changes in measurements of length, angles, and proportions found in the sample considered were also analyzed.

The Glass Ceiling: Potential Causes and Possible Solutions

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-12-01

to believe that racism and sexism are no longer a problem at the workplace. For example, in response to a question about whether women face unique...unrelated. The variables, findings, and theories treated in each of these sections interact repeatedly. Finally, Section V, "Conclusions and... theories exist as to the effects of working in jobs with power limitations. Structuralist theory states that the lack of information and support that

Naval S&T Strategy: Innovations For The Future Force

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-01

collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources ...STRATEGY4 Executive Approval OFFICE OF NAVAL RESEARCH 5 “The naval science and technology community is the pre-eminent source for good ideas and...maturation or use it as a source for fixing identified funding shortfalls. Resource sponsors question how they will make do with less in the face of

Towards ethical guidelines for dealing with unsolicited patient emails and giving teleadvice in the absence of a pre-existing patient-physician relationship — systematic review and expert survey

PubMed Central

2000-01-01

Background Many health information providers on the Internet and doctors with email accounts are confronted with the phenomenon of receiving unsolicited emails from patients asking for medical advice. Also, a growing number of websites offer "ask-the-doctor" services, where patients can ask questions to health professionals via email or other means of telecommunication. It is unclear whether these types of interactions constitute medical practice, and whether physicians have the ethical obligation to respond to unsolicited patient emails. Objective To improve the quality of online communication between patients and health professionals (physicians, experts) in the absence of a pre-existing patient-physician relationship or face-to-face communication, by preparing a set of guiding ethical principles applicable to this kind of interaction. Methods Systematic review of the literature, professional, and ethical codes; and consultation with experts. Results Two different types of patient-physician encounters have to be distinguished. "Traditional" clinical encounters or telemedicine applications are called "Type B" interactions here (Bona fide relationship). In comparison, online interactions lack many of the characteristics of bona fide interactions; most notably there is no pre-existing relationship and the information available to the physician is limited if, for example, a physician responds to the email of a patient who he has never seen before. I call these "Type A" consultations (Absence of pre-existing patient-physician relationship). While guidelines for Type B interactions on the Internet exist (Kane, 1998), this is not the case for Type A interactions. The following principles are suggested: Physicians responding to patients' requests on the Internet should act within the limitations of telecommunication services and keep the global nature of the Internet in mind; not every aspect of medicine requires face-to-face communication; requests for help, including unsolicited patient questions, should not be ignored, but dealt with in some appropriate manner; informed consent requires fair and honest labeling; health professionals and information providers must maintain confidentiality; health professionals should define internal procedures and perform quality control measures. Conclusions Different media are appropriate at each point on the continuum between dispensing general health information and handling patient problems that would require the practice of medicine to solve. For example, email is a sufficiently capable medium for giving out general health information, while diagnosis and treatment usually requires at least advanced telemedical technology. Patients have to be educated that it is unethical to diagnose and treat over the Internet in the absence of a pre-existing patient-physician relationship, and if the interaction is limited to a single email. More research is needed to establish more evidence regarding situations in which teleadvice is beneficial and efficient. PMID:11720920

Social and attentional aspects of echolalia in highly echolalic mentally retarded persons.

PubMed

Campbell, B; Grieve, R

1978-01-01

Echolalia was examined in a sample of highly echolalic mentally retarded individuals. When presented with a standard set of questions, under conditions differing in appropriateness for exchange of discourse (e.g., questions presented with examiner and patient face-to-face vs. questions presented with the examiner's face averted vs. questions addressed towards another person sitting silently beside the patient), subjects' frequency of echolalia varied. Besides showing considerable sensitivity to aspects of discourse exchange, subjects exhibited some limited capacity for processing linguistic information.

Gaze Aversion during Social Style Interactions in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Williams Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doherty-Sneddon, Gwyneth; Whittle, Lisa; Riby, Deborah M.

2013-01-01

During face-to-face interactions typically developing individuals use gaze aversion (GA), away from their questioner, when thinking. GA is also used when individuals with autism (ASD) and Williams syndrome (WS) are thinking during question-answer interactions. We investigated GA strategies during face-to-face social style interactions with…

Methodological Issues in Questionnaire Design.

PubMed

Song, Youngshin; Son, Youn Jung; Oh, Doonam

2015-06-01

The process of designing a questionnaire is complicated. Many questionnaires on nursing phenomena have been developed and used by nursing researchers. The purpose of this paper was to discuss questionnaire design and factors that should be considered when using existing scales. Methodological issues were discussed, such as factors in the design of questions, steps in developing questionnaires, wording and formatting methods for items, and administrations methods. How to use existing scales, how to facilitate cultural adaptation, and how to prevent socially desirable responding were discussed. Moreover, the triangulation method in questionnaire development was introduced. Steps were recommended for designing questions such as appropriately operationalizing key concepts for the target population, clearly formatting response options, generating items and confirming final items through face or content validity, sufficiently piloting the questionnaire using item analysis, demonstrating reliability and validity, finalizing the scale, and training the administrator. Psychometric properties and cultural equivalence should be evaluated prior to administration when using an existing questionnaire and performing cultural adaptation. In the context of well-defined nursing phenomena, logical and systematic methods will contribute to the development of simple and precise questionnaires.

Standardization of Questions in Rare Disease Registries: The PRISM Library Project.

PubMed

Richesson, Rachel Lynn; Shereff, Denise; Andrews, James Everett

2012-10-10

Patient registries are often a helpful first step in estimating the impact and understanding the etiology of rare diseases - both requisites for the development of new diagnostics and therapeutics. The value and utility of patient registries rely on the use of both well-constructed structured research questions and relevant answer sets accompanying them. There are currently no clear standards or specifications for developing registry questions, and there are no banks of existing questions to support registry developers. This paper introduces the [Rare Disease] PRISM (Patient Registry Item Specifications and Metadata for Rare Disease) project, a library of standardized questions covering a broad spectrum of rare diseases that can be used to support the development of new registries, including Internet-based registries. A convenience sample of questions was identified from well-established (>5 years) natural history studies in various diseases and from several existing registries. Face validity of the questions was determined by review by many experts (both terminology experts at the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and research and informatics experts at the University of South Florida (USF)) for commonality, clarity, and organization. Questions were re-worded slightly, as needed, to make the full semantics of the question clear and to make the questions generalizable to multiple diseases where possible. Questions were indexed with metadata (structured and descriptive information) using a standard metadata framework to record such information as context, format, question asker and responder, and data standards information. At present, PRISM contains over 2,200 questions, with content of PRISM relevant to virtually all rare diseases. While the inclusion of disease-specific questions for thousands of rare disease organizations seeking to develop registries would present a challenge for traditional standards development organizations, the PRISM library could serve as a platform to liaison between rare disease communities and existing standardized controlled terminologies, item banks, and coding systems. If widely used, PRISM will enable the re-use of questions across registries, reduce variation in registry data collection, and facilitate a bottom-up standardization of patient registries. Although it was initially developed to fulfill an urgent need in the rare disease community for shared resources, the PRISM library of patient-directed registry questions can be a valuable resource for registries in any disease - whether common or rare. N/A.

Standardization of Questions in Rare Disease Registries: The PRISM Library Project

PubMed Central

Shereff, Denise; Andrews, James Everett

2012-01-01

Background Patient registries are often a helpful first step in estimating the impact and understanding the etiology of rare diseases - both requisites for the development of new diagnostics and therapeutics. The value and utility of patient registries rely on the use of both well-constructed structured research questions and relevant answer sets accompanying them. There are currently no clear standards or specifications for developing registry questions, and there are no banks of existing questions to support registry developers. Objective This paper introduces the [Rare Disease] PRISM (Patient Registry Item Specifications and Metadata for Rare Disease) project, a library of standardized questions covering a broad spectrum of rare diseases that can be used to support the development of new registries, including Internet-based registries. Methods A convenience sample of questions was identified from well-established (>5 years) natural history studies in various diseases and from several existing registries. Face validity of the questions was determined by review by many experts (both terminology experts at the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and research and informatics experts at the University of South Florida (USF)) for commonality, clarity, and organization. Questions were re-worded slightly, as needed, to make the full semantics of the question clear and to make the questions generalizable to multiple diseases where possible. Questions were indexed with metadata (structured and descriptive information) using a standard metadata framework to record such information as context, format, question asker and responder, and data standards information. Results At present, PRISM contains over 2,200 questions, with content of PRISM relevant to virtually all rare diseases. While the inclusion of disease-specific questions for thousands of rare disease organizations seeking to develop registries would present a challenge for traditional standards development organizations, the PRISM library could serve as a platform to liaison between rare disease communities and existing standardized controlled terminologies, item banks, and coding systems. Conclusions If widely used, PRISM will enable the re-use of questions across registries, reduce variation in registry data collection, and facilitate a bottom-up standardization of patient registries. Although it was initially developed to fulfill an urgent need in the rare disease community for shared resources, the PRISM library of patient-directed registry questions can be a valuable resource for registries in any disease – whether common or rare. Trial Registration N/A PMID:23611924

[The existence of "Nederwiet", a new fact in the history of cannabis].

PubMed

Paris, M; Tran, N

1998-01-01

Since the beginning of the 1990s, France has been faced with a new problem of drug abuse. More and more people are growing Dutch cannabis, commonly called "nederwiet". Grown mostly indoors, its culture requires very specific and sophisticated techniques and materials. The Dutch have produced a cannabis with a very high percentage of tetrahydrocannabinol. We have conducted a morphological and chemical study of one of the known varieties of nederwiet, "super-skunk". Using gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry we have identified the cannabinoid components. The question of the Dutch regulations on drug abuse and the discussion on legalizing cannabis use in France raises many unanswered questions of great importance.

The Future of e-Learning in Medical Education: Current Trend and Future Opportunity

PubMed Central

2006-01-01

A wide range of e-learning modalities are widely integrated in medical education. However, some of the key questions related to the role of e-learning remain unanswered, such as (1) what is an effective approach to integrating technology into pre-clinical vs. clinical training?; (2) what evidence exists regarding the type and format of e-learning technology suitable for medical specialties and clinical settings?; (3) which design features are known to be effective in designing on-line patient simulation cases, tutorials, or clinical exams?; and (4) what guidelines exist for determining an appropriate blend of instructional strategies, including on-line learning, face-to-face instruction, and performance-based skill practices? Based on the existing literature and a variety of e-learning examples of synchronous learning tools and simulation technology, this paper addresses the following three questions: (1) what is the current trend of e-learning in medical education?; (2) what do we know about the effective use of e-learning?; and (3) what is the role of e-learning in facilitating newly emerging competency-based training? As e-learning continues to be widely integrated in training future physicians, it is critical that our efforts in conducting evaluative studies should target specific e-learning features that can best mediate intended learning goals and objectives. Without an evolving knowledge base on how best to design e-learning applications, the gap between what we know about technology use and how we deploy e-learning in training settings will continue to widen. PMID:19223995

Question-Answer Activities in Synchronous Virtual Classrooms in Terms of Interest and Usefulness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aydemir, Melike; Kursun, Engin; Karaman, Selçuk

2016-01-01

Instructors generally convey their face to face habits to synchronous virtual classrooms, but these face to face strategies do not work in these environments. In this sense, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of question type and answer format used in synchronous class implementations on perceived interest and usefulness. To…

Thirst for living of alcoholic patients: medical care's experience.

PubMed

Augeraud, Emmanuel; Puertolas, Christian; Rouchon, Dominique

2004-01-01

The medical care lavished on terminal and on alcoholic patients leads us to observe an analogy between these two life paths. This raises a question: do links exist between these two conditions? We will present Mr. B's record with alcohol. Analysing alcohol withdrawal allows us to show that during withdrawal, after having experienced similar stages to those described by Kübler-Ross, the alcoholic patient is in a grieving process. When abstinent, Mr. B faces two possibilities: either the grief is incomplete and the drive towards alcohol leads him to die to life; or he remains abstinent, with the help sometimes of what we call 'support dyads'. All this presupposes that the initial stages of dying to alcohol, followed by a psychic work of dis-fusion, have been brought to a successful conclusion. Links do exist between these two life paths, in the sense that these stages enable them to face the major trauma of their lives, e.g. alcoholism and serious illness.

Facial recognition from volume-rendered magnetic resonance imaging data.

PubMed

Prior, Fred W; Brunsden, Barry; Hildebolt, Charles; Nolan, Tracy S; Pringle, Michael; Vaishnavi, S Neil; Larson-Prior, Linda J

2009-01-01

Three-dimensional (3-D) reconstructions of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) brain imaging studies are a routine component of both clinical practice and clinical and translational research. A side effect of such reconstructions is the creation of a potentially recognizable face. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule requires that individually identifiable health information may not be used for research unless identifiers that may be associated with the health information including "Full face photographic images and other comparable images ..." are removed (de-identification). Thus, a key question is: Are reconstructed facial images comparable to full-face photographs for the purpose of identification? To address this question, MR images were selected from existing research repositories and subjects were asked to pair an MR reconstruction with one of 40 photographs. The chance probability that an observer could match a photograph with its 3-D MR image was 1 in 40 (0.025), and we considered 4 successes out of 40 (4/40, 0.1) to indicate that a subject could identify persons' faces from their 3-D MR images. Forty percent of the subjects were able to successfully match photographs with MR images with success rates higher than the null hypothesis success rate. The Blyth-Still-Casella 95% confidence interval for the 40% success rate was 29%-52%, and the 40% success rate was significantly higher ( P < 0.001) than our null hypothesis success rate of 1 in 10 (0.10).

A model for the use of blended learning in large group teaching sessions.

PubMed

Herbert, Cristan; Velan, Gary M; Pryor, Wendy M; Kumar, Rakesh K

2017-11-09

Although blended learning has the potential to enhance the student experience, both in terms of engagement and flexibility, it can be difficult to effectively restructure existing courses. To achieve these goals for an introductory Pathology course, offered to more than 250 undergraduate students at UNSW Sydney, we devised a novel approach. For each topic presented over 2-3 weeks, a single face-to-face overview lecture was retained. The remaining content that had previously been delivered as conventional lectures was converted into short (12-18 min) online modules. These were based on lecture slides with added animations/highlights, plus narration using edited excerpts of previous lecture recordings. The modules also incorporated interactive questions and review quizzes with feedback which used various question types. Modules were developed in PowerPoint and iSpring and uploaded to Moodle as SCORM packages. Each topic concluded with an interactive large-group session focussing on integration of the content, with in-class questions to which students could respond via the Echo360 Active Learning Platform (ALP). Overall, more than 50% of face-to-face lecture time was replaced by online modules and interactive large-group sessions. Quantitative evaluation data included usage statistics from 264 students and feedback via online survey responses from 41 students. Qualitative evaluation data consisted of reflective commentaries from 160 student ePortfolios, which were analysed to identify factors affecting learning benefits and user acceptability. All of the modules were completed by 74% of students and on average, 83.1% of students eventually passed the optional review quizzes. Notably, 88.4% of students responded to in-class questions during the integration and feedback sessions via the ALP. Student reflections emphasised that the modules promoted understanding, which was reinforced through active learning. The modules were described as enjoyable, motivating and were appreciated for their flexibility, which enabled students to work at their own pace. In transforming this introductory Pathology course, we have demonstrated a model for the use of blended learning in large group teaching sessions, which achieved high levels of completion, satisfaction and value for learning.

Effective Connectivity Reveals Largely Independent Parallel Networks of Face and Body Patches.

PubMed

Premereur, Elsie; Taubert, Jessica; Janssen, Peter; Vogels, Rufin; Vanduffel, Wim

2016-12-19

The primate brain processes objects in the ventral visual pathway. One object category, faces, is processed in a hierarchical network of interconnected areas along this pathway. It remains unknown whether such an interconnected network is specific for faces or whether there are similar networks for other object classes. For example, the primate inferotemporal cortex also contains a set of body-selective patches, adjacent to the face-selective patches, but it is not known whether these body-selective patches form a similar discretely connected network or whether cross-talk exists between the face- and body-processing systems. To address these questions, we combined fMRI with electrical microstimulation to determine the effective connectivity of fMRI-defined face and body patches. We found that microstimulation of face patches caused increased fMRI activation throughout the face-processing system; microstimulation of the body patches gave similar results restricted to the body-processing system. Critically, our results revealed largely segregated connectivity patterns for the body and face patches. These results suggest that face and body patches form two interconnected hierarchical networks that are largely separated within the monkey inferotemporal cortex. Only a restricted number of voxels were activated by stimulation of both the body and face patches. The latter regions may be important for the integration of face and body information. Our findings are not only essential to advance our understanding of the neural circuits that enable social cognition, but they also provide further insights into the organizing principles of the inferotemporal cortex. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of electronic discussion groups as a teaching/learning strategy in an evidence-based medicine course: a pilot study.

PubMed

Kamin, C; Glicken, A; Hall, M; Quarantillo, B; Merenstein, G

2001-01-01

As course directors, we wished to incorporate small group learning into our Evidence-based Medicine course for students to get feedback on the development of a well constructed, researchable clinical question. Scheduling of these groups was problematic. We sought to evaluate computer-mediated communication as an alternative to face-to-face small groups. Students were randomly assigned to either face-to-face small groups or asynchronous, electronic, small groups. Final examination scores were analyzed with an analysis of variance to determine if there were differences in student performance based on group type. Student survey items were analyzed using Fisher's Exact test to determine if there were differences in student attitudes based on group type. There were no significant differences found in overall student performance. Significant differences in student attitudes were found to exist with respect to: (1) participation in discussions, with face-to-face groups reporting greater participation; (2) putting more thought into comments, with electronic groups reporting more thought put into comments; and (3) difficulty relating to other students in the class, with electronic groups reporting more difficulty. We found electronic discussion groups (computer-mediated communication) to be a viable teaching/learning strategy with no adverse effects on student performance or attitudes.

Accuracy of Answers Provided by Digital/Face-to-Face Reference Services in Japanese Public Libraries and Q & A Sites

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tsuji, Keita; To, Haruna; Hara, Atsuyuki

2011-01-01

We asked the same 60 questions using DRS (digital reference services) in Japanese public libraries, face-to-face reference services and Q & A (question and answer) sites. It was found that: (1) The correct answer ratio of DRS is higher than that of Q & A sites; (2) DRS takes longer to provide answers as compared to Q & A sites; and (3)…

Facial color is an efficient mechanism to visually transmit emotion

PubMed Central

Benitez-Quiroz, Carlos F.; Srinivasan, Ramprakash

2018-01-01

Facial expressions of emotion in humans are believed to be produced by contracting one’s facial muscles, generally called action units. However, the surface of the face is also innervated with a large network of blood vessels. Blood flow variations in these vessels yield visible color changes on the face. Here, we study the hypothesis that these visible facial colors allow observers to successfully transmit and visually interpret emotion even in the absence of facial muscle activation. To study this hypothesis, we address the following two questions. Are observable facial colors consistent within and differential between emotion categories and positive vs. negative valence? And does the human visual system use these facial colors to decode emotion from faces? These questions suggest the existence of an important, unexplored mechanism of the production of facial expressions of emotion by a sender and their visual interpretation by an observer. The results of our studies provide evidence in favor of our hypothesis. We show that people successfully decode emotion using these color features, even in the absence of any facial muscle activation. We also demonstrate that this color signal is independent from that provided by facial muscle movements. These results support a revised model of the production and perception of facial expressions of emotion where facial color is an effective mechanism to visually transmit and decode emotion. PMID:29555780

Facial color is an efficient mechanism to visually transmit emotion.

PubMed

Benitez-Quiroz, Carlos F; Srinivasan, Ramprakash; Martinez, Aleix M

2018-04-03

Facial expressions of emotion in humans are believed to be produced by contracting one's facial muscles, generally called action units. However, the surface of the face is also innervated with a large network of blood vessels. Blood flow variations in these vessels yield visible color changes on the face. Here, we study the hypothesis that these visible facial colors allow observers to successfully transmit and visually interpret emotion even in the absence of facial muscle activation. To study this hypothesis, we address the following two questions. Are observable facial colors consistent within and differential between emotion categories and positive vs. negative valence? And does the human visual system use these facial colors to decode emotion from faces? These questions suggest the existence of an important, unexplored mechanism of the production of facial expressions of emotion by a sender and their visual interpretation by an observer. The results of our studies provide evidence in favor of our hypothesis. We show that people successfully decode emotion using these color features, even in the absence of any facial muscle activation. We also demonstrate that this color signal is independent from that provided by facial muscle movements. These results support a revised model of the production and perception of facial expressions of emotion where facial color is an effective mechanism to visually transmit and decode emotion. Copyright © 2018 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

Use of a Social Question Answering Application in a Face-to-Face College Biology Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grasso, SandraJean M.

2017-01-01

University students use social media tools not only to connect with friends socially but also to collaborate with classmates. Many universities have embraced academically-focused social media platforms such as social question answering (SQA) applications to make student interactions easier. This study addresses how students in a face-to-face…

Absence of Sex-Contingent Gaze Direction Aftereffects Suggests a Limit to Contingencies in Face Aftereffects

PubMed Central

Kloth, Nadine; Rhodes, Gillian; Schweinberger, Stefan R.

2015-01-01

Face aftereffects (e.g., expression aftereffects) can be simultaneously induced in opposite directions for different face categories (e.g., male and female faces). Such aftereffects are typically interpreted as indicating that distinct neural populations code the categories on which adaptation is contingent, e.g., male and female faces. Moreover, they suggest that these distinct populations selectively respond to variations in the secondary stimulus dimension, e.g., emotional expression. However, contingent aftereffects have now been reported for so many different combinations of face characteristics, that one might question this interpretation. Instead, the selectivity might be generated during the adaptation procedure, for instance as a result of associative learning, and not indicate pre-existing response selectivity in the face perception system. To alleviate this concern, one would need to demonstrate some limit to contingent aftereffects. Here, we report a clear limit, showing that gaze direction aftereffects are not contingent on face sex. We tested 36 young Caucasian adults in a gaze adaptation paradigm. We initially established their ability to discriminate the gaze direction of male and female test faces in a pre-adaptation phase. Afterwards, half of the participants adapted to female faces looking left and male faces looking right, and half adapted to the reverse pairing. We established the effects of this adaptation on the perception of gaze direction in subsequently presented male and female test faces. We found that adaptation induced pronounced gaze direction aftereffects, i.e., participants were biased to perceive small gaze deviations to both the left and right as direct. Importantly, however, aftereffects were identical for male and female test faces, showing that the contingency of face sex and gaze direction participants experienced during the adaptation procedure had no effect. PMID:26648890

Gaze Aversion as a Cognitive Load Management Strategy in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Williams Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doherty-Sneddon, Gwyneth; Riby, Deborah M.; Whittle, Lisa

2012-01-01

Background: During face-to-face questioning, typically developing children and adults use gaze aversion (GA), away from their questioner, when thinking. GA increases with question difficulty and improves the accuracy of responses. This is the first study to investigate whether individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; associated with reduced…

Do we spontaneously form stable trustworthiness impressions from facial appearance?

PubMed

Klapper, André; Dotsch, Ron; van Rooij, Iris; Wigboldus, Daniël H J

2016-11-01

It is widely assumed among psychologists that people spontaneously form trustworthiness impressions of newly encountered people from their facial appearance. However, most existing studies directly or indirectly induced an impression formation goal, which means that the existing empirical support for spontaneous facial trustworthiness impressions remains insufficient. In particular, it remains an open question whether trustworthiness from facial appearance is encoded in memory. Using the 'who said what' paradigm, we indirectly measured to what extent people encoded the trustworthiness of observed faces. The results of 4 studies demonstrated a reliable tendency toward trustworthiness encoding. This was shown under conditions of varying context-relevance, and salience of trustworthiness. Moreover, evidence for this tendency was obtained using both (experimentally controlled) artificial and (naturalistic varying) real faces. Taken together, these results suggest that there is a spontaneous tendency to form relatively stable trustworthiness impressions from facial appearance, which is relatively independent of the context. As such, our results further underline how widespread influences of facial trustworthiness may be in our everyday life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Balancing obligations: should written information about life-sustaining treatment be neutral?

PubMed Central

Xafis, Vicki; Wilkinson, Dominic; Gillam, Lynn; Sullivan, Jane

2015-01-01

Parents who are facing decisions about life-sustaining treatment for their seriously ill or dying child are supported by their child's doctors and nurses. They also frequently seek other information sources to help them deal with the medical and ethical questions that arise. This might include written or web-based information. As part of a project involving the development of such a resource to support parents facing difficult decisions, some ethical questions emerged. Should this information be presented in a strictly neutral fashion? Is it problematic if narratives, arguments or perspectives appear to favour stopping over continuing life-sustaining treatment? Similar questions might arise with written materials about decisions for adults, or for other ethically contentious decisions. This paper explores the meaning of ‘balance’ in information provision, focusing particularly on written information about life-sustaining treatment for children. We contrast the norm of non-directiveness in genetic counselling with the shared decision-making model often endorsed in end-of-life care. We review evidence that parents do not find neutrality from medical professionals helpful in discussions. We argue that balance in written information must be understood in the light of the aim of the document, the most common situation in which it will be used, and any existing biases. We conclude with four important strategies for ensuring that non-neutral information is nevertheless ethically appropriate. PMID:24763219

Comparison of Face-to-Face and Web Surveys on the Topic of Homosexual Rights.

PubMed

Liu, Mingnan; Wang, Yichen

2016-06-01

Although academic research on homosexuality relies heavily on survey data, there has been limited study of the survey method of asking relevant questions. This study examines the effect of survey mode on responses to questions about homosexual rights. We find significant mode effects among heterosexual respondents, who are more likely to support equal access to employment, military service, adoption, and marriage for homosexual people in face-to-face surveys than in Web surveys. They are also more likely to choose to not respond when face-to-face than online. Homosexual respondents do not show mode effects for either substantive responses or item nonresponse rate.

Using learning networks to understand complex systems: a case study of biological, geophysical and social research in the Amazon.

PubMed

Barlow, Jos; Ewers, Robert M; Anderson, Liana; Aragao, Luiz E O C; Baker, Tim R; Boyd, Emily; Feldpausch, Ted R; Gloor, Emanuel; Hall, Anthony; Malhi, Yadvinder; Milliken, William; Mulligan, Mark; Parry, Luke; Pennington, Toby; Peres, Carlos A; Phillips, Oliver L; Roman-Cuesta, Rosa Maria; Tobias, Joseph A; Gardner, Toby A

2011-05-01

Developing high-quality scientific research will be most effective if research communities with diverse skills and interests are able to share information and knowledge, are aware of the major challenges across disciplines, and can exploit economies of scale to provide robust answers and better inform policy. We evaluate opportunities and challenges facing the development of a more interactive research environment by developing an interdisciplinary synthesis of research on a single geographic region. We focus on the Amazon as it is of enormous regional and global environmental importance and faces a highly uncertain future. To take stock of existing knowledge and provide a framework for analysis we present a set of mini-reviews from fourteen different areas of research, encompassing taxonomy, biodiversity, biogeography, vegetation dynamics, landscape ecology, earth-atmosphere interactions, ecosystem processes, fire, deforestation dynamics, hydrology, hunting, conservation planning, livelihoods, and payments for ecosystem services. Each review highlights the current state of knowledge and identifies research priorities, including major challenges and opportunities. We show that while substantial progress is being made across many areas of scientific research, our understanding of specific issues is often dependent on knowledge from other disciplines. Accelerating the acquisition of reliable and contextualized knowledge about the fate of complex pristine and modified ecosystems is partly dependent on our ability to exploit economies of scale in shared resources and technical expertise, recognise and make explicit interconnections and feedbacks among sub-disciplines, increase the temporal and spatial scale of existing studies, and improve the dissemination of scientific findings to policy makers and society at large. Enhancing interaction among research efforts is vital if we are to make the most of limited funds and overcome the challenges posed by addressing large-scale interdisciplinary questions. Bringing together a diverse scientific community with a single geographic focus can help increase awareness of research questions both within and among disciplines, and reveal the opportunities that may exist for advancing acquisition of reliable knowledge. This approach could be useful for a variety of globally important scientific questions. © 2010 The Authors. Biological Reviews © 2010 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Molecular Mechanisms Involved in Tissue Swelling due to Injury and due to Exposure to Low Temperature and Massive Water and Electrolyte Loss in Diarrheal Disorders.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-10-01

to dinosaurs , they immediately were faced with - the most fundamental question, "What is a living cell?" One may well say that k the degree of our...primarily a tiny * droplet of water containing proteins and K+ saltskept apart from the body of N 0similar aqueous solution of Na salts by a microscopic...experimental evidence, besides those already mentioned, included the successful demonstration that proteins with its polypeptLde iJl existing in an extended

Mixed Signals: Combining Linguistic and Affective Functions of Eyebrows in Questions in Sign Language of the Netherlands

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Vos, Connie; van der Kooij, Els; Crasborn, Onno

2009-01-01

The eyebrows are used as conversational signals in face-to-face spoken interaction (Ekman, 1979). In Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT), the eyebrows are typically furrowed in content questions, and raised in polar questions (Coerts, 1992). On the other hand, these eyebrow positions are also associated with anger and surprise, respectively, in…

Review of multiple-choice-questions and group performance - A comparison of face-to-face and virtual groups with and without facilitation

PubMed Central

Kazubke, Edda; Schüttpelz-Brauns, Katrin

2010-01-01

Background: Multiple choice questions (MCQs) are often used in exams of medical education and need careful quality management for example by the application of review committees. This study investigates whether groups communicating virtually by email are similar to face-to-face groups concerning their review process performance and whether a facilitator has positive effects. Methods: 16 small groups of students were examined, which had to evaluate and correct MCQs under four different conditions. In the second part of the investigation the changed questions were given to a new random sample for the judgement of the item quality. Results: There was no significant influence of the variables “form of review committee” and “facilitation”. However, face-to-face and virtual groups clearly differed in the required treatment times. The test condition “face to face without facilitation” was generally valued most positively concerning taking over responsibility, approach to work, sense of well-being, motivation and concentration on the task. Discussion: Face-to-face and virtual groups are equally effective in the review of MCQs but differ concerning their efficiency. The application of electronic review seems to be possible but is hardly recommendable because of the long process time and technical problems. PMID:21818213

Prevention and self-management interventions are top priorities for osteoarthritis systematic reviews.

PubMed

Jaramillo, Alejandra; Welch, Vivian A; Ueffing, Erin; Gruen, Russell L; Bragge, Peter; Lyddiatt, Anne; Tugwell, Peter

2013-05-01

To identify high-priority research questions for osteoarthritis systematic reviews with consideration of health equity and the social determinants of health (SDH). We consulted with experts and conducted a literature search to identify a priority-setting method that could be adapted to address the health equity and SDH. We selected the Global Evidence Mapping priority-setting method, and through consultations and consensus, we adapted the method to meet our objectives. This involves developing an evidence map of the existing systematic reviews on osteoarthritis; conducting one face-to-face workshop with patients and another one with clinicians, researchers, and patients; and conducting an online survey of patients to rank the top 10 research questions. We piloted the adapted method with the Cochrane Musculoskeletal Review Group to set research priorities for osteoarthritis. Our focus was on systematic reviews: we identified 34 high-priority research questions for osteoarthritis systematic reviews. Prevention and self-management interventions, mainly diet and exercise, are top priorities for osteoarthritis systematic reviews. Evaluation against our predefined objectives showed that this method did prioritize SDH (50% of the research questions considered SDH). There were marked gaps: no high-priority topics were identified for access to care until patients had advanced disease-lifestyle changes once the disease was diagnosed. This method was felt feasible if conducted annually. We confirmed the utility of an adapted priority-setting method that is feasible and considers SDH. Further testing of this method is needed to assess whether considerations of health equity are prioritized and involve disadvantaged groups of the population. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Audio computer-assisted self interview compared to traditional interview in an HIV-related behavioral survey in Vietnam.

PubMed

Le, Linh Cu; Vu, Lan T H

2012-10-01

Globally, population surveys on HIV/AIDS and other sensitive topics have been using audio computer-assisted self interview for many years. This interview technique, however, is still new to Vietnam and little is known about its application and impact in general population surveys. One plausible hypothesis is that residents of Vietnam interviewed using this technique may provide a higher response rate and be more willing to reveal their true behaviors than if interviewed with traditional methods. This study aims to compare audio computer-assisted self interview with traditional face-to-face personal interview and self-administered interview with regard to rates of refusal and affirmative responses to questions on sensitive topics related to HIV/AIDS. In June 2010, a randomized study was conducted in three cities (Ha Noi, Da Nan and Can Tho), using a sample of 4049 residents aged 15 to 49 years. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of three interviewing methods: audio computer-assisted self interview, personal face-to-face interview, and self-administered paper interview. Instead of providing answers directly to interviewer questions as with traditional methods, audio computer-assisted self-interview respondents read the questions displayed on a laptop screen, while listening to the questions through audio headphones, then entered responses using a laptop keyboard. A MySQL database was used for data management and SPSS statistical package version 18 used for data analysis with bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques. Rates of high risk behaviors and mean values of continuous variables were compared for the three data collection methods. Audio computer-assisted self interview showed advantages over comparison techniques, achieving lower refusal rates and reporting higher prevalence of some sensitive and risk behaviors (perhaps indication of more truthful answers). Premarital sex was reported by 20.4% in the audio computer-assisted self-interview survey group, versus 11.4% in the face-to-face group and 11.1% in the self-administered paper questionnaire group. The pattern was consistent for both male and female respondents and in both urban and rural settings. Men in the audio computer-assisted self-interview group also reported higher levels of high-risk sexual behavior--such as sex with sex workers and a higher average number of sexual partners--than did women in the same group. Importantly, item refusal rates on sensitive topics tended to be lower with audio computer-assisted self interview than with the other two methods. Combined with existing data from other countries and previous studies in Vietnam, these findings suggest that researchers should consider using audio computer-assisted self interview for future studies of sensitive and stigmatized topics, especially for men.

Dark Energy and Dark Matter Hidden in the Geometry of Space?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buchert, Thomas

A spatially flat and infinite Universe in the form of a "concordant" standard model of cosmology rules present-day thinking of cosmologists. The price to pay is an unknown physical origin of Dark Energy and Dark Matter that are supposed to exist and even appear to rule the dynamics of our Universe. A growing number of cosmologists question the existence of dark constituents: the standard model of cosmology may be just too simple, since it neglects the influence of structure in the Universe on its global expansion history. The key-issue appears to be the curvature of space: the formation of structure interacts with the geometry of space, changing our global picture of the Universe. This chapter explains the underlying mechanism that works in the right direction to uncover the dark faces of the standard model of cosmology. If successful, this novel approach furnishes a new paradigm of modern cosmology. Hundreds of researchers have recently embarked into studies of this new subject. We understand much at present, but there are many open questions.

Warning Signs of Youth Violence. Just the Facts: Answers to Your Questions about Psychological Health

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Psychological Association (APA), 2002

2002-01-01

Violence. It's the act of purposefully hurting someone. And it's a major issue facing today's young adults. This fact sheet answers questions that those aged 12-24 might ask about violence. This age group faces the highest risk of being the victim of violence. Questions regard the causes of youth violence, warning signs, what to do if someone…

Own-sex effects in emotional memory for faces.

PubMed

Armony, Jorge L; Sergerie, Karine

2007-10-09

The amygdala is known to be critical for the enhancement of memory for emotional, especially negative, material. Importantly, some researchers have suggested a sex-specific hemispheric lateralization in this process. In the case of facial expressions, another important factor that could influence memory success is the sex of the face, which could interact with the emotion depicted as well as with the sex of the perceiver. Whether this is the case remains unknown, as all previous studies of sex difference in emotional memory have employed affective pictures. Here we directly explored this question using functional magnetic resonance imaging in a subsequent memory paradigm for facial expressions (fearful, happy and neutral). Consistent with our hypothesis, we found that the hemispheric laterality of the amygdala involvement in successful memory for emotional material was influenced not only by the sex of the subjects, as previously proposed, but also by the sex of the faces being remembered. Namely, the left amygdala was more active for successfully remembered female fearful faces in women, whereas in men the right amygdala was more involved in memory for male fearful faces. These results confirm the existence of sex differences in amygdala lateralization in emotional memory but also demonstrate a subtle relationship between the observer and the stimulus in this process.

Factors Influencing Men Entering the Nursing Profession, and Understanding the Challenges Faced by Them: Iranian and Developed Countries’ Perspectives

PubMed Central

Zamanzadeh, Vahid; Valizadeh, Leila; Negarandeh, Reza; Monadi, Morteza; Azadi, Arman

2013-01-01

Context: Men entering the nursing profession have been investigated from several different perspectives. Due to male gender characteristics and existing public image, nursing is often not considered as a career choice by men. Whether nursing would benefit from increased number of men is a key question in the literature. The purpose of this integrative review of the literature was to identify factors influencing men to enter the nursing profession. In addition, it sought to understand the challenges they are confronted within this profession. Evidence Acquisition: A systematic search of the existing literature was performed using an Internet search with broad keywords to access related articles in both Persian and English databases. Finally, 34 studies (written between 2000 and early 2013) were selected and surveyed. Results: Most of the studies were conducted in developed counties. The review identified reasons why males choose nursing, and other challenges facing men entering and working in nursing. Themes that emerged from the literature include educational and societal barriers experienced by men in nursing, recruitment, career choice, and role strain. Conclusions: Regarding men’s influences on professional development, and also the importance of gender-based caring, policies for recruitment and retention of men in nursing must be followed hastily. However, there is a need for further research regarding the challenges faced by men entering nursing, in both Iran and other developing countries. PMID:25414879

"To Obey or Disobey? This Is the Question" NDE: Nonviolent Disobedience Education in Israeli and US Civics Textbooks (1980-2012)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Firer, Ruth

2013-01-01

"To Obey or Disobey" should be a life question for all free people, but for the Israelis, who are in intractable war with their neighbors while facing constant rifts among themselves, it is a concrete problem they have to face every day. Therefore, the research question posed by this article is: How is obedience of laws or military…

Use of the Delphi process in paediatric cataract management.

PubMed

Serafino, Massimiliano; Trivedi, Rupal H; Levin, Alex V; Wilson, M Edward; Nucci, Paolo; Lambert, Scott R; Nischal, Ken K; Plager, David A; Bremond-Gignac, Dominique; Kekunnaya, Ramesh; Nishina, Sachiko; Tehrani, Nasrin N; Ventura, Marcelo C

2016-05-01

To identify areas of consensus and disagreement in the management of paediatric cataract using a modified Delphi approach among individuals recognised for publishing in this field. A modified Delphi method. International paediatric cataract experts with a publishing record in paediatric cataract management. The process consisted of three rounds of anonymous electronic questionnaires followed by a face-to-face meeting, followed by a fourth anonymous electronic questionnaire. The executive committee created questions to be used for the electronic questionnaires. Questions were designed to have unit-based, multiple choice or true-false answers. The questionnaire included issues related to the preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative management of paediatric cataract. Consensus based on 85% of panellists being in agreement for electronic questionnaires or 80% for the face-to-face meeting, and near consensus based on 70%. Sixteen of 22 invited paediatric cataract surgeons agreed to participate. We arrived at consensus or near consensus for 85/108 (78.7%) questions and non-consensus for the remaining 23 (21.3%) questions. Those questions where consensus was not reached highlight areas of either poor evidence or contradicting evidence, and may help investigators identify possible research questions. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

In your face: transcendence in embodied interaction

PubMed Central

Gallagher, Shaun

2014-01-01

In cognitive psychology, studies concerning the face tend to focus on questions about face recognition, theory of mind (ToM) and empathy. Questions about the face, however, also fit into a very different set of issues that are central to ethics. Based especially on the work of Levinas, philosophers have come to see that reference to the face of another person can anchor conceptions of moral responsibility and ethical demand. Levinas points to a certain irreducibility and transcendence implicit in the face of the other. In this paper I argue that the notion of transcendence involved in this kind of analysis can be given a naturalistic interpretation by drawing on recent interactive approaches to social cognition found in developmental psychology, phenomenology, and the study of autism. PMID:25071523

Processing language in face-to-face conversation: Questions with gestures get faster responses.

PubMed

Holler, Judith; Kendrick, Kobin H; Levinson, Stephen C

2017-09-08

The home of human language use is face-to-face interaction, a context in which communicative exchanges are characterised not only by bodily signals accompanying what is being said but also by a pattern of alternating turns at talk. This transition between turns is astonishingly fast-typically a mere 200-ms elapse between a current and a next speaker's contribution-meaning that comprehending, producing, and coordinating conversational contributions in time is a significant challenge. This begs the question of whether the additional information carried by bodily signals facilitates or hinders language processing in this time-pressured environment. We present analyses of multimodal conversations revealing that bodily signals appear to profoundly influence language processing in interaction: Questions accompanied by gestures lead to shorter turn transition times-that is, to faster responses-than questions without gestures, and responses come earlier when gestures end before compared to after the question turn has ended. These findings hold even after taking into account prosodic patterns and other visual signals, such as gaze. The empirical findings presented here provide a first glimpse of the role of the body in the psycholinguistic processes underpinning human communication.

Age-Related Changes in Amygdala-Frontal Connectivity during Emotional Face Processing from Childhood into Young Adulthood

PubMed Central

Wu, Minjie; Kujawa, Autumn; Lu, Lisa H.; Fitzgerald, Daniel A.; Klumpp, Heide; Fitzgerald, Kate D.; Monk, Christopher S.; Phan, K. Luan

2016-01-01

The ability to process and respond to emotional facial expressions is a critical skill for healthy social and emotional development. There has been growing interest in understanding the neural circuitry underlying development of emotional processing, with previous research implicating functional connectivity between amygdala and frontal regions. However, existing work has focused on threatening emotional faces, raising questions regarding the extent to which these developmental patterns are specific to threat or to emotional face processing more broadly. In the current study, we examined age-related changes in brain activity and amygdala functional connectivity during an fMRI emotional face matching task (including angry, fearful and happy faces) in 61 healthy subjects aged 7–25 years. We found age-related decreases in ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) activity in response to happy faces but not to angry or fearful faces, and an age-related change (shifting from positive to negative correlation) in amygdala-anterior cingulate cortex/medial prefrontal cortex (ACC/mPFC) functional connectivity to all emotional faces. Specifically, positive correlations between amygdala and ACC/mPFC in children changed to negative correlations in adults, which may suggest early emergence of bottom-up amygdala excitatory signaling to ACC/mPFC in children and later development of top-down inhibitory control of ACC/mPFC over amygdala in adults. Age-related changes in amygdala-ACC/mPFC connectivity did not vary for processing of different facial emotions, suggesting changes in amygdala-ACC/mPFC connectivity may underlie development of broad emotional processing, rather than threat-specific processing. PMID:26931629

Face and Word Recognition Can Be Selectively Affected by Brain Injury or Developmental Disorders.

PubMed

Robotham, Ro J; Starrfelt, Randi

2017-01-01

Face and word recognition have traditionally been thought to rely on highly specialised and relatively independent cognitive processes. Some of the strongest evidence for this has come from patients with seemingly category-specific visual perceptual deficits such as pure prosopagnosia, a selective face recognition deficit, and pure alexia, a selective word recognition deficit. Together, the patterns of impaired reading with preserved face recognition and impaired face recognition with preserved reading constitute a double dissociation. The existence of these selective deficits has been questioned over the past decade. It has been suggested that studies describing patients with these pure deficits have failed to measure the supposedly preserved functions using sensitive enough measures, and that if tested using sensitive measurements, all patients with deficits in one visual category would also have deficits in the other. The implications of this would be immense, with most textbooks in cognitive neuropsychology requiring drastic revisions. In order to evaluate the evidence for dissociations, we review studies that specifically investigate whether face or word recognition can be selectively affected by acquired brain injury or developmental disorders. We only include studies published since 2004, as comprehensive reviews of earlier studies are available. Most of the studies assess the supposedly preserved functions using sensitive measurements. We found convincing evidence that reading can be preserved in acquired and developmental prosopagnosia and also evidence (though weaker) that face recognition can be preserved in acquired or developmental dyslexia, suggesting that face and word recognition are at least in part supported by independent processes.

Patients' Perspectives on and Experiences of Home Exercise Programmes Delivered with a Mobile Application.

PubMed

Abramsky, Hillary; Kaur, Puneet; Robitaille, Mikale; Taggio, Leanna; Kosemetzky, Paul K; Foster, Hillary; Gibson Bmr Pt MSc PhD, Barbara E; Bergeron, Maggie; Jachyra, Patrick

2018-01-01

Purpose: We explored patients' perspectives on home exercise programmes (HEPs) and their experiences using a mobile application designed to facilitate home exercise. Method: Data were generated using qualitative, semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with 10 participants who were receiving outpatient physiotherapy. Results: Establishing a therapeutic partnership between physiotherapists and patients enabled therapists to customize the HEPs to the patients' lifestyles and preferences. Analysis suggests that using the mobile application improved participants' ability to integrate the HEP into their daily life and was overwhelmingly preferred to traditional paper handouts. Conclusions: The results suggest that efforts to engage patients in HEPs need to take their daily lives into account. To move in this direction, sample exercise prescription questions are offered. Mobile applications do not replace the clinical encounter, but they can be an effective tool and an extension of delivering personalized HEPs in an existing therapeutic partnership.

The use of professional theatre for health promotion including HIV / AIDS.

PubMed

Blair, C; Valadez, J J; Falkland, J

1999-06-01

Entertainment can be an effective form of information, education, and communication (IEC). In particular, theater can overcome any existing literacy barriers, add the personal face-to-face aspect of communication which uses the language and idiom of the people, and provoke emotional and analytical responses. The health promotion goals of theater productions should be made apparent in theatrical content. That content should be based upon a realistic assessment of the levels of knowledge held by the target audience, the attitudes they hold, and the behaviors they practice. The content should also be based upon an analysis of the barriers which audience members believe are impeding behavior change. Professional theatrical techniques should be used and thorough evaluation should always be conducted despite the additional costs it adds to a program. Decision-makers should also always consider the opportunity cost of using resources for a theater intervention and question what else could be accomplished with those funds.

Results of EUREKA project STILMED: transfer to standards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woellmer, Wolfgang

1996-12-01

The final results of the German part of the joint project STILMED 'Safety Technology in Laser Medicine' are available and being prepared for publication. The question is raised, if parts of these results may be subject to international standards. An overview is given for the structure and procedure of national, European and international standardization. Existing standards are considered concerning their relationship to STILMED, which dealt with the chemical, particulate and microbiological composition and possible hazards of laser plume, as well as protection means, like plume evacuators, including the development of nozzles and instruments with integrated evacuation channels, and face masks. Results of basic research and experiences with medical treatment modalities are not matter for standardization. On the other hand, plume evacuators and their technical data should be submitted to standards, which define test procedures for their performance and safety. Also, surgical face masks, for which no international standards exists, could be well suited for standardization, although the multitude of application conditions would make it an excessive task. At least, products that claim 'for laser use' or 'laserproof' or similar should fulfill standardized requirements, and the respective wording needs protection by standard definition.

Face masks and basketball: NCAA division I consumer trends and a review of over-the-counter face masks.

PubMed

Gandy, Jessica R; Fossett, Lela; Wong, Brian J F

2016-05-01

This study aims to: 1) determine the current consumer trends of over-the-counter (OTC) and custom-made face mask usage among National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletic programs; and 2) provide a literature review of OTC face guards and a classified database. Literature review and survey. Consumer trends were obtained by contacting all 352 NCAA Division I programs. Athletic trainers present in the office when called answered the following questions: 1) "When an athlete breaks his or her nose, is a custom or generic face guard used?" and 2) "What brand is the generic face guard that is used?" Data was analyzed to determine trends among athletic programs. Also, a database of OTC devices available was generated using PubMed, Google, and manufacturer Web sites. Among the 352 NCAA Division I athletic programs, 254 programs participated in the survey (72% response rate). The majority preferred custom-made guards (46%). Disadvantages included high cost and slow manufacture turnaround time. Only 20% of the programs strictly used generic brands. For the face mask database, 10 OTC products were identified and classified into four categories based on design, with pricing ranging between $35.99 and $69.95. Only a handful of face masks exist for U.S. consumers, but none of them have been reviewed or classified by product design, sport application, price, and collegiate consumer use. This project details usage trends among NCAA Division I athletic programs and provides a list of available devices that can be purchased to protect the nose and face during sports. NA. Laryngoscope, 126:1054-1060, 2016. © 2015 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

The fusiform face area: a cortical region specialized for the perception of faces

PubMed Central

Kanwisher, Nancy; Yovel, Galit

2006-01-01

Faces are among the most important visual stimuli we perceive, informing us not only about a person's identity, but also about their mood, sex, age and direction of gaze. The ability to extract this information within a fraction of a second of viewing a face is important for normal social interactions and has probably played a critical role in the survival of our primate ancestors. Considerable evidence from behavioural, neuropsychological and neurophysiological investigations supports the hypothesis that humans have specialized cognitive and neural mechanisms dedicated to the perception of faces (the face-specificity hypothesis). Here, we review the literature on a region of the human brain that appears to play a key role in face perception, known as the fusiform face area (FFA). Section 1 outlines the theoretical background for much of this work. The face-specificity hypothesis falls squarely on one side of a longstanding debate in the fields of cognitive science and cognitive neuroscience concerning the extent to which the mind/brain is composed of: (i) special-purpose (‘domain-specific’) mechanisms, each dedicated to processing a specific kind of information (e.g. faces, according to the face-specificity hypothesis), versus (ii) general-purpose (‘domain-general’) mechanisms, each capable of operating on any kind of information. Face perception has long served both as one of the prime candidates of a domain-specific process and as a key target for attack by proponents of domain-general theories of brain and mind. Section 2 briefly reviews the prior literature on face perception from behaviour and neurophysiology. This work supports the face-specificity hypothesis and argues against its domain-general alternatives (the individuation hypothesis, the expertise hypothesis and others). Section 3 outlines the more recent evidence on this debate from brain imaging, focusing particularly on the FFA. We review the evidence that the FFA is selectively engaged in face perception, by addressing (and rebutting) five of the most widely discussed alternatives to this hypothesis. In §4, we consider recent findings that are beginning to provide clues into the computations conducted in the FFA and the nature of the representations the FFA extracts from faces. We argue that the FFA is engaged both in detecting faces and in extracting the necessary perceptual information to recognize them, and that the properties of the FFA mirror previously identified behavioural signatures of face-specific processing (e.g. the face-inversion effect). Section 5 asks how the computations and representations in the FFA differ from those occurring in other nearby regions of cortex that respond strongly to faces and objects. The evidence indicates clear functional dissociations between these regions, demonstrating that the FFA shows not only functional specificity but also area specificity. We end by speculating in §6 on some of the broader questions raised by current research on the FFA, including the developmental origins of this region and the question of whether faces are unique versus whether similarly specialized mechanisms also exist for other domains of high-level perception and cognition. PMID:17118927

Big Questions Facing Vocational Psychology: A Cognitive Information Processing Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reardon, Robert C.; Lenz, Janet G.; Sampson, James P., Jr.; Peterson, Gary W.

2011-01-01

This article draws upon the authors' experience in developing cognitive information processing theory in order to examine three important questions facing vocational psychology and assessment: (a) Where should new knowledge for vocational psychology come from? (b) How do career theories and research find their way into practice? and (c) What is…

Questions and Answers Explaining the New Tax Rules Applicable to Tax-Sheltered Annuities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gordon, David E.; Spuehler, Donald R.

1991-01-01

The Tax Reform Act of 1986 and subsequent legislation have radically altered the rules needed to maintain favorable tax status of tax-sheltered annuity plans for college employees. Application of the new rules is complex. Critical questions facing institutions and organizations are answered, and potential liabilities facing educational employers…

Virtual science instructional strategies: A set of actual practices as perceived by secondary science educators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gillette, Tammy J.

2009-12-01

The purpose of this proposed research study was to identify actual teaching practices/instructional strategies for online science courses. The identification of these teaching practices/instructional strategies could be used to compile a set of teaching practices/instructional strategies for virtual high school and online academy science instructors. This study could assist online science instructors by determining which teaching practices/instructional strategies were preferred for the online teaching environment. The literature reviewed the role of online and face-to-face instructional strategies, then discussed and elaborated on the science instructional strategies used by teachers, specifically at the secondary level. The current literature did not reflect an integration of these areas of study. Therefore, the connectedness of these two types of instructional strategies and the creation of a set of preferred instructional practices for online science instruction was deemed necessary. For the purpose of this study, the researcher designed a survey for face-to-face and online teachers to identify preferred teaching practices, instructional strategies, and types of technology used when teaching high school science students. The survey also requested demographic data information from the faculty members, including years of experience, subject(s) taught, and whether the teacher taught in a traditional classroom or online, to determine if any of those elements affect differences in faculty perceptions with regard to the questions under investigation. The findings from the current study added to the literature by demonstrating the differences and the similarities that exist between online and face-to-face instruction. Both forms of instruction tend to rely on student-centered approaches to teaching. There were many skills that were similar in that both types of instructors tend to focus on implementing the scientific method. The primary difference is the use of technology tools that were used by online instructors. Online instructors tend to rely on more technological tools such as virtual labs. A list of preferred instructional practices was generated from the qualitative responses to the open-ended questions. Research concerned with this line of inquiry should continue in order to enhance both theory and practice in regard to online instruction.

Medication monitoring and drug testing ethics project.

PubMed

Payne, Richard; Moe, Jeffrey L; Sevier, Catherine Harvey; Sevier, David; Waitzkin, Michael

2015-01-01

In 2012, Duke University initiated a research project, funded by an unrestricted research grant from Millennium Laboratories, a drug testing company. The project focused on assessing the frequency and nature of questionable, unethical, and illegal business practices in the clinical drug testing industry and assessing the potential for establishing a business code of ethics. Laboratory leaders, clinicians, industry attorneys, ethicists, and consultants participated in the survey, were interviewed, and attended two face-to-face meetings to discuss a way forward. The study demonstrated broad acknowledgment of variations in the legal and regulatory environment, resulting in inconsistent enforcement of industry practices. Study participants expressed agreement that overtly illegal practices sometimes exist, particularly when laboratory representatives and clinicians discuss reimbursement, extent of testing, and potential business incentives with medical practitioners. Most respondents reported directly observing probable violations involving marketing materials, contracts, or, in the case of some individuals, directly soliciting people with offers of clinical supplies and other "freebies." While many study respondents were skeptical that voluntary standards alone would eliminate questionable business practices, most viewed ethics codes and credentialing as an important first step that could potentially mitigate uneven enforcement, while improving quality of care and facilitating preferred payment options for credentialed parties. Many were willing to participate in future discussions and industry-wide initiatives to improve the environment.

Using game theory to analyze green stormwater infrastructure implementation policies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

William, R. K.; Garg, J.; Stillwell, A. S.

2017-12-01

While green stormwater infrastructure is a useful approach in addressing multiple challenges facing the urban environment, little consensus exists on how to best incentivize its adoption by private landowners. Game theory, a field of study designed to model conflict and cooperation between two or more agents, is well-suited to address this policy question. We used a cooperative game theory framework to analyze the impacts of three different policy approaches frequently used to incentivize the uptake of green infrastructure by private landowners: municipal regulation, direct grants, and stormwater fees. The results indicate that municipal regulation leads to the greatest environmental benefits; however, the choice of "best" regulatory approach is dependent on a variety of different factors including political and financial considerations. Policy impacts are also highly dependent on agents' spatial positions within the stormwater network. This finding leads to important questions of social equity and environmental justice.

Some comments on the Freudian unconscious.

PubMed

Modell, Arnold H

2013-08-01

Freud's insight that mental processes are fundamentally unconscious is now an unquestioned assumption of neuroscience and cognitive psychology. Psychoanalysts are now faced with the question, What differentiated the psychoanalytic unconscious from that of other disciplines? Behind this question lies a more profound issue, the mind-body or mind-brain problem. It appears to be an insoluble paradox. Freud's concept of repression as a defense "mechanism" illustrates this paradox. To describe repression as a "mechanism" is to claim that it is analogous to a physiological process. Yet we know that repression is highly individualistic and subject to cultural values. In examining the Freudian concept of the primary process, the Noble prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman has shown that the primary process is not wish fulfilling, as Freud claimed, but adaptive. The waking primary process is in the service of the reality principle. The growth of contemporary neuroscience has created challenging problems for psychoanalysis that did not exist in Freud's lifetime.

Race, self-selection, and the job search process.

PubMed

Pager, Devah; Pedulla, David S

2015-01-01

While existing research has documented persistent barriers facing African-American job seekers, far less research has questioned how job seekers respond to this reality. Do minorities self-select into particular segments of the labor market to avoid discrimination? Such questions have remained unanswered due to the lack of data available on the positions to which job seekers apply. Drawing on two original data sets with application-specific information, we find little evidence that blacks target or avoid particular job types. Rather, blacks cast a wider net in their search than similarly situated whites, including a greater range of occupational categories and characteristics in their pool of job applications. Additionally, we show that perceptions of discrimination are associated with increased search breadth, suggesting that broad search among African-Americans represents an adaptation to labor market discrimination. Together these findings provide novel evidence on the role of race and self-selection in the job search process.

Race, Self-Selection, and the Job Search Process1

PubMed Central

Pager, Devah; Pedulla, David S.

2015-01-01

While existing research has documented persistent barriers facing African American job seekers, far less research has questioned how job seekers respond to this reality. Do minorities self-select into particular segments of the labor market to avoid discrimination? Such questions have remained unanswered due to the lack of data available on the positions to which job seekers apply. Drawing on two original datasets with application-specific information, we find little evidence that blacks target or avoid particular job types. Rather, blacks cast a wider net in their search than similarly situated whites, including a greater range of occupational categories and characteristics in their pool of job applications. Finally, we show that perceptions of discrimination are associated with increased search breadth, suggesting that broad search among African Americans represents an adaptation to labor market discrimination. Together these findings provide novel evidence on the role of race and self-selection in the job search process. PMID:26046224

Comparison of text messaging data collection vs face-to-face interviews for public health surveys: a cluster randomized crossover study of care-seeking for childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea in rural China.

PubMed

van Velthoven, Michelle Helena; Wang, Wei; Wu, Qiong; Li, Ye; Scherpbier, Robert W; Du, Xiaozhen; Chen, Li; Zhang, Yanfeng; Car, Josip; Rudan, Igor

2018-06-01

To compare text messaging and face-to-face interviews to conduct a survey on childhood diarrhoea and pneumonia. Caregivers of young children able to send text messages in Zhao County in rural China were included in this crossover study. Villages (clusters) were randomized into two groups using the ratio 1:1.6 to account for an expected higher drop-out in group 2. In group 1, participants first completed the face-to-face and then text messaging survey; this order was reversed in group 2. We determined data equivalence of 17 questions that were answered by participants who were the same person in both surveys. For the text messaging survey, we assessed the overall and item response rate. We included 1014 participants between 16 and 28 March 2013: 371 in 15 villages in group 1 and 643 in 27 villages in group 2. A total of 662 (65.3%) out of 1014 participants responded (first text message question) and a significantly higher proportion who did not respond were from rural areas ( P  = 0.005). Of 651 participants willing to participate, 356 (54.7%) completed the text messaging survey, which was marginally significantly different between the groups ( P  = 0.05). In total, 409 participants took part in both surveys: 183 in group 1 and 226 in group 2. There was a significantly higher proportion of caregivers from rural areas in Zhao County in the non-responder group compared to the responder group ( P  = 0.004). Kappas were substantial for six (0.61-0.80), moderate for two (0.58 and 0.60), and fair for three questions (0.31, 0.35 and 0.37). The proportion of agreement was >90% for five questions; 80.0%-90.0% for five questions; 70.0%, 65.0% and 45.5%. The remaining questions had too small numbers to calculate these values. This study shows that text messaging data collection produces data similar to data from face-to-face interviews in a middle-income setting, but the response rate was insufficient for use in public health surveys. Improving the response rate is important, because text message surveys could be of greater value in rural remote areas due to the cost-saving potential.

[To what extent do reviewers of multiple-choice questions need to be trained? A comparison between handing out information sheets and brief workshop sessions].

PubMed

Öchsner, Wolfgang; Böckers, Anja

2016-01-01

A competent review process is crucial to ensure the quality of multiple-choice (MC) questions. However, the acquisition of reviewing skills should not cause any unnecessary additional burden for a medical staff that is already facing heavy workloads. 100 MC questions, for which an expert review existed, were presented to 12 novices. In advance, six participants received a specific information sheet covering critical information for high-calibre review; the other six participants attended a 2.5-hour workshop covering the same information. The review results of both groups were analysed with a licensed version of the IBM software SPSS 19.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). The results of the workshop group were distinctly closer to the experts' results (gold standard) than those of the information sheet group. For the quantitatively important category of medium quality MC questions, the results of the workshop group did not significantly differ from the experts' results. In the information sheet group the results were significantly poorer than the experts', regardless of the quality of the questions. Distributing specific information sheets to MC question reviewers is not sufficient for ensuring the quality of the review so that - regardless of the increased effort involved - a recommendation to conduct specific workshops must be made. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

A Nominal Balloon Instrument Payload to Address Questions from the Planetary Decadal Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, Eliot; Kremic, Tibor; Dankanich, John

The Planetary Science Decadal Survey (entitled "Visions and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013 - 2022", available online at https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/2013decadal/) serves as a roadmap for activities to be pursued by the Planetary Science Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. This document outlines roughly 200 key research areas and questions in chapters covering different parts of the solar system (e.g., Mars, Small Bodies, etc.). We have reviewed the Decadal Survey to assess whether any of the key questions can be addressed by high altitude balloon-borne payloads. Although some questions can only be answered by in situ experiments, we found that approximately one quarter of the key questions were well suited to balloon payloads. In many of those cases, balloons were competitive or superior to other existing facilities, including HST, SOFIA or Keck telescopes. We will present specific telescope and instrument bench designs that are capable of addressing key questions in the Decadal Survey. The instrument bench takes advantage of two of the main benefits of high-altitude observations: diffraction-limited imaging in visible and UV wavelengths and unobstructed spectroscopy in near-IR (1 - 5 microns) wavelengths. Our optical prescription produces diffraction-limited PSFs in both visible and IR beams. We will discuss pointing and thermal stability, two of the main challenges facing a balloon-borne telescope.

Development of tools to study personal weight control strategies: OxFAB taxonomy

PubMed Central

Aveyard, Paul; Koshiaris, Constantinos; Jebb, Susan A.

2016-01-01

Objective To describe the development of the Oxford Food and Activity Behaviors (OxFAB) taxonomy and questionnaire to explore the cognitive and behavioral strategies used by individuals during weight management attempts. Methods The taxonomy was constructed through a qualitative analysis of existing resources and a review of existing behavior change taxonomies and theories. The taxonomy was translated into a questionnaire to identify strategies used by individuals. Think‐aloud interviews were conducted to test the face/concept validity of the questionnaire, and test–retest reliability was assessed in a sample of 138 participants. Results The OxFAB taxonomy consists of 117 strategies grouped into 23 domains. Compared to taxonomies used to describe interventions, around half of the domains and strategies identified are unique to the OxFAB taxonomy. The OxFAB questionnaire consists of 117 questions, one for each strategy from the taxonomy. Test–retest resulted in a mean PABAK score of 0.61 (SD 0.15). Questions were revised where appropriate. Conclusions The OxFAB taxonomy and questionnaire provide a conceptual framework to identify the cognitive and behavioral strategies used by individuals during attempts at weight control. PMID:26748902

Development of tools to study personal weight control strategies: OxFAB taxonomy.

PubMed

Hartmann-Boyce, Jamie; Aveyard, Paul; Koshiaris, Constantinos; Jebb, Susan A

2016-02-01

To describe the development of the Oxford Food and Activity Behaviors (OxFAB) taxonomy and questionnaire to explore the cognitive and behavioral strategies used by individuals during weight management attempts. The taxonomy was constructed through a qualitative analysis of existing resources and a review of existing behavior change taxonomies and theories. The taxonomy was translated into a questionnaire to identify strategies used by individuals. Think-aloud interviews were conducted to test the face/concept validity of the questionnaire, and test-retest reliability was assessed in a sample of 138 participants. The OxFAB taxonomy consists of 117 strategies grouped into 23 domains. Compared to taxonomies used to describe interventions, around half of the domains and strategies identified are unique to the OxFAB taxonomy. The OxFAB questionnaire consists of 117 questions, one for each strategy from the taxonomy. Test-retest resulted in a mean PABAK score of 0.61 (SD 0.15). Questions were revised where appropriate. The OxFAB taxonomy and questionnaire provide a conceptual framework to identify the cognitive and behavioral strategies used by individuals during attempts at weight control. © 2016 The Authors. Obesity published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Obesity Society (TOS).

Bodily ownership modulation in defensive responses: physiological evidence in brain-damaged patients with pathological embodiment of other's body parts.

PubMed

Fossataro, C; Gindri, P; Mezzanato, T; Pia, L; Garbarini, F

2016-06-13

Do conscious beliefs about the body affect defensive mechanisms within the body? To answer this question we took advantage from a monothematic delusion of bodily ownership, in which brain-damaged patients misidentify alien limbs as their own. We investigated whether the delusional belief that an alien hand is their own hand modulates a subcortical defensive response, such as the hand-blink reflex. The blink, dramatically increases when the threated hand is inside the defensive peripersonal-space of the face. In our between-subjects design, including patients and controls, the threat was brought near the face either by the own hand or by another person's hand. Our results show an ownership-dependent modulation of the defensive response. In controls, as well as in the patients' intact-side, the response enhancement is significantly greater when the threat was brought near the face by the own than by the alien hand. Crucially, in the patients' affected-side (where the pathological embodiment occurs), the alien (embodied) hand elicited a response enhancement comparable to that found when the threat is brought near the face by the real hand. These findings suggest the existence of a mutual interaction between our conscious beliefs about the body and the physiological mechanisms within the body.

A Qualitative Study of Information Technology Managers' Experiences and Perceptions Regarding Outsourced Data Centers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reid, Eric Justin

2015-01-01

This qualitative study explored the perceptions and experiences of IT Managers in publicly traded companies within the San Antonio, Texas area about outsourced data centers. Narrative data was collected using open-ended questions and face-to-face interviews within semi-structured environments. The research questions guided the study: (1)…

A Comparison of Learning Outcomes in Skills-Based Courses: Online versus Face-to-Face Formats

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Callister, Ronda Roberts; Love, Mary Sue

2016-01-01

In comparing the learning outcomes of online versus face-to-face courses, skills-based forms of instruction have received little attention. This study asks the question "Can skills-based courses taught online achieve the same outcomes as face-to-face courses in which the instructor and students interacting in real time may have higher levels…

Information and communication technologies and gender in climate change and green economy: Situating women’s opportunities and challenges in Zambian policies and strategies

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Zambia’s 2012 report on the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (RIO +20) identifies existing opportunities on the country’s transitioning to green economy. The RIO +20 conference of 2012 has resulted in new momentum in addressing problems of sustainable development. However, this article argues that there are practical challenges that require paying attention to, especially those involving women. The article addressed one key question: To what extent can women participate in the transitioning process to green economy in Zambia and what opportunities and challenges exists? The study used document analysis to answer the above question. National policy documents were reviewed to understand interventions on environmental management. Whilst going through the documents, the study used gender analysis frameworks (education, skills, roles in family and society, access to infrastructure) to bring out qualitative and quantitative information on women. Using suggested green economy interventions in the literature as benchmark, qualitative analysis was used to project possible participation of women in green economy activities and possible challenges to be faced. The study found that participation of women will be limited despite existing opportunities because of challenges of access to information and communication technology infrastructures, low educational levels and skills and financial constraints. As Zambia undergoes a transitioning process, these limitations should be addressed in planned green economy policies and interventions to maximise benefits.

Age-related changes in amygdala-frontal connectivity during emotional face processing from childhood into young adulthood.

PubMed

Wu, Minjie; Kujawa, Autumn; Lu, Lisa H; Fitzgerald, Daniel A; Klumpp, Heide; Fitzgerald, Kate D; Monk, Christopher S; Phan, K Luan

2016-05-01

The ability to process and respond to emotional facial expressions is a critical skill for healthy social and emotional development. There has been growing interest in understanding the neural circuitry underlying development of emotional processing, with previous research implicating functional connectivity between amygdala and frontal regions. However, existing work has focused on threatening emotional faces, raising questions regarding the extent to which these developmental patterns are specific to threat or to emotional face processing more broadly. In the current study, we examined age-related changes in brain activity and amygdala functional connectivity during an fMRI emotional face matching task (including angry, fearful, and happy faces) in 61 healthy subjects aged 7-25 years. We found age-related decreases in ventral medial prefrontal cortex activity in response to happy faces but not to angry or fearful faces, and an age-related change (shifting from positive to negative correlation) in amygdala-anterior cingulate cortex/medial prefrontal cortex (ACC/mPFC) functional connectivity to all emotional faces. Specifically, positive correlations between amygdala and ACC/mPFC in children changed to negative correlations in adults, which may suggest early emergence of bottom-up amygdala excitatory signaling to ACC/mPFC in children and later development of top-down inhibitory control of ACC/mPFC over amygdala in adults. Age-related changes in amygdala-ACC/mPFC connectivity did not vary for processing of different facial emotions, suggesting changes in amygdala-ACC/mPFC connectivity may underlie development of broad emotional processing, rather than threat-specific processing. Hum Brain Mapp 37:1684-1695, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The development of a supportive care needs assessment tool for Indigenous people with cancer

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Little is known about the supportive care needs of Indigenous people with cancer and to date, existing needs assessment tools have not considered cultural issues for this population. We aimed to adapt an existing supportive care needs assessment tool for use with Indigenous Australians with cancer. Methods Face-to-face interviews with Indigenous cancer patients (n = 29) and five focus groups with Indigenous key-informants (n = 23) were conducted to assess the face and content validity, cultural acceptability, utility and relevance of the Supportive Care Needs Survey - Short Form 34 (SCNS-SF34) for use with Indigenous patients with cancer. Results All items from the SCNS-SF34 were shortened and changed to use more appropriate language (e.g. the word 'anxiety' was substituted with 'worry'). Seven questions were omitted (e.g. items on death and future considerations) as they were deemed culturally inappropriate or irrelevant and 12 items were added (e.g. accessible transport). Optional instructions were added before the sexual items. The design and response format of the SCNS-SF34 was modified to make it easier to use for Indigenous cancer patients. Given the extensive modifications to the SCNS-SF34 and the liklihood of a different factor structure we consider this tool to be a new tool rather than a modification. The Supportive care needs assessment tool for Indigenous people (SCNAT-IP) shows promising face and content validity and will be useful in informing services where they need to direct their attention for these patients. Conclusions Indigenous people with cancer have language, customs and specific needs that are not accommodated within the standard SCNS-SF34. Our SCNAT-IP improves acceptability, relevance and face validity for Indigenous-specific concerns. Our SCNAT-IP will allow screening for supportive care needs that are specific to Indigenous cancer patients' and greatly inform targeted policy development and practice. PMID:22817614

On the facilitative effects of face motion on face recognition and its development

PubMed Central

Xiao, Naiqi G.; Perrotta, Steve; Quinn, Paul C.; Wang, Zhe; Sun, Yu-Hao P.; Lee, Kang

2014-01-01

For the past century, researchers have extensively studied human face processing and its development. These studies have advanced our understanding of not only face processing, but also visual processing in general. However, most of what we know about face processing was investigated using static face images as stimuli. Therefore, an important question arises: to what extent does our understanding of static face processing generalize to face processing in real-life contexts in which faces are mostly moving? The present article addresses this question by examining recent studies on moving face processing to uncover the influence of facial movements on face processing and its development. First, we describe evidence on the facilitative effects of facial movements on face recognition and two related theoretical hypotheses: the supplementary information hypothesis and the representation enhancement hypothesis. We then highlight several recent studies suggesting that facial movements optimize face processing by activating specific face processing strategies that accommodate to task requirements. Lastly, we review the influence of facial movements on the development of face processing in the first year of life. We focus on infants' sensitivity to facial movements and explore the facilitative effects of facial movements on infants' face recognition performance. We conclude by outlining several future directions to investigate moving face processing and emphasize the importance of including dynamic aspects of facial information to further understand face processing in real-life contexts. PMID:25009517

An approach for setting evidence-based and stakeholder-informed research priorities in low- and middle-income countries.

PubMed

Rehfuess, Eva A; Durão, Solange; Kyamanywa, Patrick; Meerpohl, Joerg J; Young, Taryn; Rohwer, Anke

2016-04-01

To derive evidence-based and stakeholder-informed research priorities for implementation in African settings, the international research consortium Collaboration for Evidence-Based Healthcare and Public Health in Africa (CEBHA+) developed and applied a pragmatic approach. First, an online survey and face-to-face consultation between CEBHA+ partners and policy-makers generated priority research areas. Second, evidence maps for these priority research areas identified gaps and related priority research questions. Finally, study protocols were developed for inclusion within a grant proposal. Policy and practice representatives were involved throughout the process. Tuberculosis, diabetes, hypertension and road traffic injuries were selected as priority research areas. Evidence maps covered screening and models of care for diabetes and hypertension, population-level prevention of diabetes and hypertension and their risk factors, and prevention and management of road traffic injuries. Analysis of these maps yielded three priority research questions on hypertension and diabetes and one on road traffic injuries. The four resulting study protocols employ a broad range of primary and secondary research methods; a fifth promotes an integrated methodological approach across all research activities. The CEBHA+ approach, in particular evidence mapping, helped to formulate research questions and study protocols that would be owned by African partners, fill gaps in the evidence base, address policy and practice needs and be feasible given the existing research infrastructure and expertise. The consortium believes that the continuous involvement of decision-makers throughout the research process is an important means of ensuring that studies are relevant to the African context and that findings are rapidly implemented.

Impact of the Placement and Quality of Face-to-Face Meetings in a Hybrid Distance Learning Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colucci, William; Koppel, Nicole

2010-01-01

As online and hybrid courses are becoming a wide-spread option for higher education, researchers are exploring various delivery methods. Hybrid courses involve blending two modes of interaction--both face-to-face as well as online. The exact distribution and timing of face-to-face meetings verse online delivery is a question that instructors have…

Backward Dependencies and in-Situ wh-Questions as Test Cases on How to Approach Experimental Linguistics Research That Pursues Theoretical Linguistics Questions

PubMed Central

Pablos, Leticia; Doetjes, Jenny; Cheng, Lisa L.-S.

2018-01-01

The empirical study of language is a young field in contemporary linguistics. This being the case, and following a natural development process, the field is currently at a stage where different research methods and experimental approaches are being put into question in terms of their validity. Without pretending to provide an answer with respect to the best way to conduct linguistics related experimental research, in this article we aim at examining the process that researchers follow in the design and implementation of experimental linguistics research with a goal to validate specific theoretical linguistic analyses. First, we discuss the general challenges that experimental work faces in finding a compromise between addressing theoretically relevant questions and being able to implement these questions in a specific controlled experimental paradigm. We discuss the Granularity Mismatch Problem (Poeppel and Embick, 2005) which addresses the challenges that research that is trying to bridge the representations and computations of language and their psycholinguistic/neurolinguistic evidence faces, and the basic assumptions that interdisciplinary research needs to consider due to the different conceptual granularity of the objects under study. To illustrate the practical implications of the points addressed, we compare two approaches to perform linguistic experimental research by reviewing a number of our own studies strongly grounded on theoretically informed questions. First, we show how linguistic phenomena similar at a conceptual level can be tested within the same language using measurement of event-related potentials (ERP) by discussing results from two ERP experiments on the processing of long-distance backward dependencies that involve coreference and negative polarity items respectively in Dutch. Second, we examine how the same linguistic phenomenon can be tested in different languages using reading time measures by discussing the outcome of four self-paced reading experiments on the processing of in-situ wh-questions in Mandarin Chinese and French. Finally, we review the implications that our findings have for the specific theoretical linguistics questions that we originally aimed to address. We conclude with an overview of the general insights that can be gained from the role of structural hierarchy and grammatical constraints in processing and the existing limitations on the generalization of results. PMID:29375417

Backward Dependencies and in-Situ wh-Questions as Test Cases on How to Approach Experimental Linguistics Research That Pursues Theoretical Linguistics Questions.

PubMed

Pablos, Leticia; Doetjes, Jenny; Cheng, Lisa L-S

2017-01-01

The empirical study of language is a young field in contemporary linguistics. This being the case, and following a natural development process, the field is currently at a stage where different research methods and experimental approaches are being put into question in terms of their validity. Without pretending to provide an answer with respect to the best way to conduct linguistics related experimental research, in this article we aim at examining the process that researchers follow in the design and implementation of experimental linguistics research with a goal to validate specific theoretical linguistic analyses. First, we discuss the general challenges that experimental work faces in finding a compromise between addressing theoretically relevant questions and being able to implement these questions in a specific controlled experimental paradigm. We discuss the Granularity Mismatch Problem (Poeppel and Embick, 2005) which addresses the challenges that research that is trying to bridge the representations and computations of language and their psycholinguistic/neurolinguistic evidence faces, and the basic assumptions that interdisciplinary research needs to consider due to the different conceptual granularity of the objects under study. To illustrate the practical implications of the points addressed, we compare two approaches to perform linguistic experimental research by reviewing a number of our own studies strongly grounded on theoretically informed questions. First, we show how linguistic phenomena similar at a conceptual level can be tested within the same language using measurement of event-related potentials (ERP) by discussing results from two ERP experiments on the processing of long-distance backward dependencies that involve coreference and negative polarity items respectively in Dutch. Second, we examine how the same linguistic phenomenon can be tested in different languages using reading time measures by discussing the outcome of four self-paced reading experiments on the processing of in-situ wh -questions in Mandarin Chinese and French. Finally, we review the implications that our findings have for the specific theoretical linguistics questions that we originally aimed to address. We conclude with an overview of the general insights that can be gained from the role of structural hierarchy and grammatical constraints in processing and the existing limitations on the generalization of results.

76 FR 47301 - Medicare Program; Hospice Wage Index for Fiscal Year 2012

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-04

... aggregate cap calculation methodology. This final rule will also revise the hospice requirement for a face-to-face encounter for recertification of a patient's terminal illness. Finally, this final rule will..., (410) 786-2120 for questions regarding hospice wage index and hospice face-to-face requirement. Katie...

The Development of an Interactive Voice Response Survey for Noncommunicable Disease Risk Factor Estimation: Technical Assessment and Cognitive Testing

PubMed Central

Pereira, Amanda; Labrique, Alain B; Pariyo, George William

2017-01-01

Background The rise in mobile phone ownership in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) presents an opportunity to transform existing data collection and surveillance methods. Administering surveys via interactive voice response (IVR) technology—a mobile phone survey (MPS) method—has potential to expand the current surveillance coverage and data collection, but formative work to contextualize the survey for LMIC deployment is needed. Objective The primary objectives of this study were to (1) cognitively test and identify challenging questions in a noncommunicable disease (NCD) risk factor questionnaire administered via an IVR platform and (2) assess the usability of the IVR platform. Methods We conducted two rounds of pilot testing the IVR survey in Baltimore, MD. Participants were included in the study if they identified as being from an LMIC. The first round included individual interviews to cognitively test the participant’s understanding of the questions. In the second round, participants unique from those in round 1 were placed in focus groups and were asked to comment on the usability of the IVR platform. Results A total of 12 participants from LMICs were cognitively tested in round 1 to assess their understanding and comprehension of questions in an IVR-administered survey. Overall, the participants found that the majority of the questions were easy to understand and did not have difficulty recording most answers. The most frequent recommendation was to use country-specific examples and units of measurement. In round 2, a separate set of 12 participants assessed the usability of the IVR platform. Overall, participants felt that the length of the survey was appropriate (average: 18 min and 31 s), but the majority reported fatigue in answering questions that had a similar question structure. Almost all participants commented that they thought an IVR survey would lead to more honest, accurate responses than face-to-face questionnaires, especially for sensitive topics. Conclusions Overall, the participants indicated a clear comprehension of the IVR-administered questionnaire and that the IVR platform was user-friendly. Formative research and cognitive testing of the questionnaire is needed for further adaptation before deploying in an LMIC. PMID:28476724

The Effects of Health Education through Face To Face Teaching and Educational Movies, on Suburban Women in Childbearing Age.

PubMed

Vameghi, R; Mohammad, K; Karimloo, M; Soleimani, F; Sajedi, F

2010-01-01

The aim of the study was to compare the effects of 'face-to-face education' and 'educational movies' on 'knowledge' and 'practice' of women of child-bearing-age, in terms of health-care during pregnancy and during infancy in a suburban region near Tehran City, Iran. In this quasi-experimental study, the sample included 873 married women. Questionnaires for knowledge and practice assessment were designed. The women were assigned to three groups: control (group I), face-to-face education (group II), and educational movie (group III). Knowledge questionnaires were completed before and immediately after intervention. Practice questionnaires were completed before and three months after intervention. Both questionnaires consisted of two types of questions: type A (concerning infant care issues) and type B (concerning prenatal health care). There was a significant difference in post-test knowledge between groups I and II and between groups I and III, but not between groups II and III. In terms of post-test practice, the changes were determined for every individual question, and significantly, better results were seen in group II, especially concerning type B questions. Face to face education lead to better practice than educational movies. In addition, significantly better practice occurred regarding child health care issues rather than prenatal issues in both groups. Realistic and tangible issues, those easy to practice, and with little or no economical burden imposed on the family, progressed from the knowledge state to the practice state more successfully in both groups.

Stress Management in Cyst-Forming Free-Living Protists: Programmed Cell Death and/or Encystment

PubMed Central

Khan, Naveed Ahmed; Iqbal, Junaid

2015-01-01

In the face of harsh conditions and given a choice, a cell may (i) undergo programmed cell death, (ii) transform into a cancer cell, or (iii) enclose itself into a cyst form. In metazoans, the available evidence suggests that cellular machinery exists only to execute or avoid programmed cell death, while the ability to form a cyst was either lost or never developed. For cyst-forming free-living protists, here we pose the question whether the ability to encyst was gained at the expense of the programmed cell death or both functions coexist to counter unfavorable environmental conditions with mutually exclusive phenotypes. PMID:25648302

What can Robots Do? Towards Theoretical Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nogueira, Monica

1997-01-01

Robots have become more and more sophisticated. Every robot has its limits. If we face a task that existing robots cannot solve, then, before we start improving these robots, it is important to check whether it is, in principle, possible to design a robot for this task or not. For that, it is necessary to describe what exactly the robots can, in principle, do. A similar problem - to describe what exactly computers can do - has been solved as early as 1936, by Turing. In this paper, we describe a framework within which we can, hopefully, formalize and answer the question of what exactly robots can do.

Effect of survey mode on response patterns: comparison of face-to-face and self-administered modes in health surveys.

PubMed

Christensen, Anne Illemann; Ekholm, Ola; Glümer, Charlotte; Juel, Knud

2014-04-01

While face-to-face interviews are considered the gold standard of survey modes, self-administered questionnaires are often preferred for cost and convenience. This article examines response patterns in two general population health surveys carried out by face-to-face interview and self-administered questionnaire, respectively. Data derives from a health interview survey in the Region of Southern Denmark (face-to-face interview) and The Danish Health and Morbidity Survey 2010 (self-administered questionnaire). Identical questions were used in both surveys. Data on all individuals were obtained from administrative registers and linked to survey data at individual level. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to examine the effect of survey mode on response patterns. The non-response rate was higher in the self-administered survey (37.9%) than in the face-to-face interview survey (23.7%). Marital status, ethnic background and highest completed education were associated with non-response in both modes. Furthermore, sex and age were associated with non-response in the self-administered mode. No significant mode effects were observed for indicators related to use of health services, but significant mode effects were observed for indicators related to self-reported health-related quality of life, health behaviour, social relations and morbidity (long-standing illness). The same factors were generally associated with non-response in both modes. Indicators based on factual questions with simple answers categories were overall more comparable according to mode than indicators based on questions that involved more subjective assessments. Other measures such as efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the mode should also be considered when determining the most appropriate form of data collection.

Identifying trial recruitment uncertainties using a James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership - the PRioRiTy (Prioritising Recruitment in Randomised Trials) study.

PubMed

Healy, Patricia; Galvin, Sandra; Williamson, Paula R; Treweek, Shaun; Whiting, Caroline; Maeso, Beccy; Bray, Christopher; Brocklehurst, Peter; Moloney, Mary Clarke; Douiri, Abdel; Gamble, Carrol; Gardner, Heidi R; Mitchell, Derick; Stewart, Derek; Jordan, Joan; O'Donnell, Martin; Clarke, Mike; Pavitt, Sue H; Guegan, Eleanor Woodford; Blatch-Jones, Amanda; Smith, Valerie; Reay, Hannah; Devane, Declan

2018-03-01

Despite the problem of inadequate recruitment to randomised trials, there is little evidence to guide researchers on decisions about how people are effectively recruited to take part in trials. The PRioRiTy study aimed to identify and prioritise important unanswered trial recruitment questions for research. The PRioRiTy study - Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) included members of the public approached to take part in a randomised trial or who have represented participants on randomised trial steering committees, health professionals and research staff with experience of recruiting to randomised trials, people who have designed, conducted, analysed or reported on randomised trials and people with experience of randomised trials methodology. This partnership was aided by the James Lind Alliance and involved eight stages: (i) identifying a unique, relevant prioritisation area within trial methodology; (ii) establishing a steering group (iii) identifying and engaging with partners and stakeholders; (iv) formulating an initial list of uncertainties; (v) collating the uncertainties into research questions; (vi) confirming that the questions for research are a current recruitment challenge; (vii) shortlisting questions and (viii) final prioritisation through a face-to-face workshop. A total of 790 survey respondents yielded 1693 open-text answers to 6 questions, from which 1880 potential questions for research were identified. After merging duplicates, the number of questions was reduced to 496. Questions were combined further, and those that were submitted by fewer than 15 people and/or fewer than 6 of the 7 stakeholder groups were excluded from the next round of prioritisation resulting in 31 unique questions for research. All 31 questions were confirmed as being unanswered after checking relevant, up-to-date research evidence. The 10 highest priority questions were ranked at a face-to-face workshop. The number 1 ranked question was "How can randomised trials become part of routine care and best utilise current clinical care pathways?" The top 10 research questions can be viewed at www.priorityresearch.ie . The prioritised questions call for a collective focus on normalising trials as part of clinical care, enhancing communication, addressing barriers, enablers and motivators around participation and exploring greater public involvement in the research process.

Face Recognition Deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorders Are Both Domain Specific and Process Specific

PubMed Central

Weigelt, Sarah; Koldewyn, Kami; Kanwisher, Nancy

2013-01-01

Although many studies have reported face identity recognition deficits in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), two fundamental question remains: 1) Is this deficit “process specific” for face memory in particular, or does it extend to perceptual discrimination of faces as well? And 2) Is the deficit “domain specific” for faces, or is it found more generally for other social or even nonsocial stimuli? The answers to these questions are important both for understanding the nature of autism and its developmental etiology, and for understanding the functional architecture of face processing in the typical brain. Here we show that children with ASD are impaired (compared to age and IQ-matched typical children) in face memory, but not face perception, demonstrating process specificity. Further, we find no deficit for either memory or perception of places or cars, indicating domain specificity. Importantly, we further showed deficits in both the perception and memory of bodies, suggesting that the relevant domain of deficit may be social rather than specifically facial. These results provide a more precise characterization of the cognitive phenotype of autism and further indicate a functional dissociation between face memory and face perception. PMID:24040276

A European Perspective on Security Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liem, Khoen; Hiller, Daniel; Castex, Christoph

Tackling the complexity and interdependence of today's security environment in the globalized world of the 21st century is an everlasting challenge. Whereas the end of the Cold War presented a caesura of global dimension for the political and economic architecture and a realignment of power distribution and international relations between former adversaries, September 11th of 2001 may be seen as another caesura. Since then, specifically among countries of the Western hemisphere, traditional security paradigms and theories have been critically questioned and the different security cultures and perceptions have resulted in diverse security and defence policies as well as in security research efforts of individual countries. Consensus, it seems, exists on the question of what the threats are that our modern interconnected societies are facing. Whether looking at international terrorism, organized crime, climate change, the illegal trafficking of goods and people or naturally caused catastrophes, these phenomena all have in common that they are in most cases of transnational nature. Formerly existing dividing lines between internal and external security continue to fade, presenting an enormous challenge for those in charge of designing security policy and even more so for the various institutions safeguarding European security. That is why dissent often revolves around the question on how to get hold of these complex problems. Geographic location, cultural background, ethical make-up of society as well as relations with neighbouring countries are all important aspects to be considered when assessing the security culture and policy of individual countries.

Evidence-informed primary health care workforce policy: are we asking the right questions?

PubMed

Naccarella, Lucio; Buchan, Jim; Brooks, Peter

2010-01-01

Australia is facing a primary health care workforce shortage. To inform primary health care (PHC) workforce policy reforms, reflection is required on ways to strengthen the evidence base and its uptake into policy making. In 2008 the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute funded the Australian Health Workforce Institute to host Professor James Buchan, Queen Margaret University, UK, an expert in health services policy research and health workforce planning. Professor Buchan's visit enabled over forty Australian PHC workforce mid-career and senior researchers and policy stakeholders to be involved in roundtable policy dialogue on issues influencing PHC workforce policy making. Six key thematic questions emerged. (1) What makes PHC workforce planning different? (2) Why does the PHC workforce need to be viewed in a global context? (3) What is the capacity of PHC workforce research? (4) What policy levers exist for PHC workforce planning? (5) What principles can guide PHC workforce planning? (6) What incentives exist to optimise the use of evidence in policy making? The emerging themes need to be discussed within the context of current PHC workforce policy reforms, which are focussed on increasing workforce supply (via education/training programs), changing the skill mix and extending the roles of health workers to meet patient needs. With the Australian government seeking to reform and strengthen the PHC workforce, key questions remain about ways to strengthen the PHC workforce evidence base and its uptake into PHC workforce policy making.

Online and Face-to-Face Language Learning: A Comparative Analysis of Oral Proficiency in Introductory Spanish

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moneypenny, Dianne Burke; Aldrich, Rosalie S.

2016-01-01

The primary resistance to online foreign language teaching often involves questions of spoken mastery of second language. In order to address this concern, this research comparatively assesses undergraduate students' oral proficiency in online and face-to-face Spanish classes, while taking into account students' previous second language…

Explaining Student Interaction and Satisfaction: An Empirical Investigation of Delivery Mode Influence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Zachary S.; Cascio, Robert; Massiah, Carolyn A.

2014-01-01

How interpersonal interactions within a course affect student satisfaction differently between face-to-face and online modes is an important research question to answer with confidence. Using students from a marketing course delivered face-to-face and online concurrently, our first study demonstrates that student-to-professor and…

Effects of Synchronicity and Belongingness on Face-to-Face and Computer-Mediated Constructive Controversy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saltarelli, Andy J.; Roseth, Cary J.

2014-01-01

Adapting face-to-face (FTF) pedagogies to online settings raises boundary questions about the contextual conditions in which the same instructional method stimulates different outcomes. We address this issue by examining FTF and computer-mediated communication (CMC) versions of constructive controversy, a cooperative learning procedure involving…

Affect and Dyads: Conflict Across Different Technological Media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burge, Jamika D.; Tatar, Deborah

Communication is as, or more, important under conditions of conflict or disagreement as when agreement prevails. An experiment looked at couples engaged in discussing a topic that they disagreed about, either face-to-face, over the phone, or via instant messaging. At least one member of a couple was more likely to suffer an above-median decline in mood in the mediated condition as compared to the face-to-face condition. Couples in the face-to-face condition used the most words, while those in the instant messaging used the least. Couples in the phone condition nearly covered the spectrum. Current indications suggest that while the answer to the question, “Does arguing via mediated means have worse effects than all the other things in relationships, known and unknown, that contribute to the outcome of an argument?” is “No,” the answer to the question, “Does arguing via mediated means have bad effects compared to arguing face-to-face?” is “Quite likely.” At the minimum, the course of the argument and the facial expressions differ from medium to medium.

Knowledge of Social Affiliations Biases Economic Decisions

PubMed Central

Martinez, Joel E.; Mack, Michael L.; Gelman, Bernard D.; Preston, Alison R.

2016-01-01

An individual’s reputation and group membership can produce automatic judgments and behaviors toward that individual. Whether an individual’s social reputation impacts interactions with affiliates has yet to be demonstrated. We tested the hypothesis that during initial encounters with others, existing knowledge of their social network guides behavior toward them. Participants learned reputations (cooperate, defect, or equal mix) for virtual players through an iterated economic game (EG). Then, participants learned one novel friend for each player. The critical question was how participants treated the friends in a single-shot EG after the friend-learning phase. Participants tended to cooperate with friends of cooperators and defect on friends of defectors, indicative of a decision making bias based on memory for social affiliations. Interestingly, participants’ explicit predictions of the friends’ future behavior showed no such bias. Moreover, the bias to defect on friends of defectors was enhanced when affiliations were learned in a social context; participants who learned to associate novel faces with player faces during reinforcement learning did not show reputation-based bias for associates of defectors during single-shot EG. These data indicate that when faced with risky social decisions, memories of social connections influence behavior implicitly. PMID:27441563

Analysis of differences between Western and East-Asian faces based on facial region segmentation and PCA for facial expression recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benitez-Garcia, Gibran; Nakamura, Tomoaki; Kaneko, Masahide

2017-01-01

Darwin was the first one to assert that facial expressions are innate and universal, which are recognized across all cultures. However, recent some cross-cultural studies have questioned this assumed universality. Therefore, this paper presents an analysis of the differences between Western and East-Asian faces of the six basic expressions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise) focused on three individual facial regions of eyes-eyebrows, nose and mouth. The analysis is conducted by applying PCA for two feature extraction methods: appearance-based by using the pixel intensities of facial parts, and geometric-based by handling 125 feature points from the face. Both methods are evaluated using 4 standard databases for both racial groups and the results are compared with a cross-cultural human study applied to 20 participants. Our analysis reveals that differences between Westerns and East-Asians exist mainly on the regions of eyes-eyebrows and mouth for expressions of fear and disgust respectively. This work presents important findings for a better design of automatic facial expression recognition systems based on the difference between two racial groups.

Contemporary United States Foreign Policy Towards Indonesia

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-01-01

regard to resolving a number of longstanding territorial disputes, and it has become a cornerstone for the promotion of economic and social development...and stability and security in the region. However, Indonesia is also faced with a variety of social , economic, and internal security issues, most...faced with significant social , economic, and security issues. Thesis Question The thesis question is: Does contemporary US policy promote US national

Comparison of text messaging data collection vs face-to-face interviews for public health surveys: a cluster randomized crossover study of care-seeking for childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea in rural China

PubMed Central

van Velthoven, Michelle Helena; Wang, Wei; Wu, Qiong; Li, Ye; Scherpbier, Robert W; Du, Xiaozhen; Chen, Li; Zhang, Yanfeng; Car, Josip; Rudan, Igor

2018-01-01

Background To compare text messaging and face-to-face interviews to conduct a survey on childhood diarrhoea and pneumonia. Methods Caregivers of young children able to send text messages in Zhao County in rural China were included in this crossover study. Villages (clusters) were randomized into two groups using the ratio 1:1.6 to account for an expected higher drop-out in group 2. In group 1, participants first completed the face-to-face and then text messaging survey; this order was reversed in group 2. We determined data equivalence of 17 questions that were answered by participants who were the same person in both surveys. For the text messaging survey, we assessed the overall and item response rate. Results We included 1014 participants between 16 and 28 March 2013: 371 in 15 villages in group 1 and 643 in 27 villages in group 2. A total of 662 (65.3%) out of 1014 participants responded (first text message question) and a significantly higher proportion who did not respond were from rural areas (P = 0.005). Of 651 participants willing to participate, 356 (54.7%) completed the text messaging survey, which was marginally significantly different between the groups (P = 0.05). In total, 409 participants took part in both surveys: 183 in group 1 and 226 in group 2. There was a significantly higher proportion of caregivers from rural areas in Zhao County in the non-responder group compared to the responder group (P = 0.004). Kappas were substantial for six (0.61–0.80), moderate for two (0.58 and 0.60), and fair for three questions (0.31, 0.35 and 0.37). The proportion of agreement was >90% for five questions; 80.0%-90.0% for five questions; 70.0%, 65.0% and 45.5%. The remaining questions had too small numbers to calculate these values. Conclusions This study shows that text messaging data collection produces data similar to data from face-to-face interviews in a middle-income setting, but the response rate was insufficient for use in public health surveys. Improving the response rate is important, because text message surveys could be of greater value in rural remote areas due to the cost-saving potential. PMID:29899982

Examining the Impact of Question Surface Features on Students’ Answers to Constructed-Response Questions on Photosynthesis

PubMed Central

Weston, Michele; Haudek, Kevin C.; Prevost, Luanna; Urban-Lurain, Mark; Merrill, John

2015-01-01

One challenge in science education assessment is that students often focus on surface features of questions rather than the underlying scientific principles. We investigated how student written responses to constructed-response questions about photosynthesis vary based on two surface features of the question: the species of plant and the order of two question prompts. We asked four versions of the question with different combinations of the two plant species and order of prompts in an introductory cell biology course. We found that there was not a significant difference in the content of student responses to versions of the question stem with different species or order of prompts, using both computerized lexical analysis and expert scoring. We conducted 20 face-to-face interviews with students to further probe the effects of question wording on student responses. During the interviews, we found that students thought that the plant species was neither relevant nor confusing when answering the question. Students identified the prompts as both relevant and confusing. However, this confusion was not specific to a single version. PMID:25999312

Facial expressions and speech acts: experimental evidences on the role of the upper face as an illocutionary force indicating device in language comprehension.

PubMed

Domaneschi, Filippo; Passarelli, Marcello; Chiorri, Carlo

2017-08-01

Language scientists have broadly addressed the problem of explaining how language users recognize the kind of speech act performed by a speaker uttering a sentence in a particular context. They have done so by investigating the role played by the illocutionary force indicating devices (IFIDs), i.e., all linguistic elements that indicate the illocutionary force of an utterance. The present work takes a first step in the direction of an experimental investigation of non-verbal IFIDs because it investigates the role played by facial expressions and, in particular, of upper-face action units (AUs) in the comprehension of three basic types of illocutionary force: assertions, questions, and orders. The results from a pilot experiment on production and two comprehension experiments showed that (1) certain upper-face AUs seem to constitute non-verbal signals that contribute to the understanding of the illocutionary force of questions and orders; (2) assertions are not expected to be marked by any upper-face AU; (3) some upper-face AUs can be associated, with different degrees of compatibility, with both questions and orders.

Evaluation of Hospital-Based Palliative Care Programs.

PubMed

Hall, Karen Lynn; Rafalson, Lisa; Mariano, Kathleen; Michalek, Arthur

2016-02-01

This study evaluated current hospital-based palliative care programs using recommendations from the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) as a framework. Seven hospitals located in Buffalo, New York were included based on the existence of a hospital-based palliative care program. Data was collected from August through October of 2013 by means of key informant interviews with nine staff members from these hospitals using a guide comprised of questions based on CAPC's recommendations. A gap analysis was conducted to analyze the current state of each hospital's program based upon CAPC's definition of a quality palliative care program. The findings identify challenges facing both existing/evolving palliative care programs, and establish a foundation for strategies to attain best practices not yet implemented. This study affirms the growing availability of palliative care services among these selected hospitals along with opportunities to improve the scope of services in line with national recommendations. © The Author(s) 2014.

Cross‐cultural adaptation of a tobacco questionnaire for Punjabi, Cantonese, Urdu and Sylheti speakers: qualitative research for better clinical practice, cessation services and research

PubMed Central

Hanna, Lisa; Hunt, Sonja; Bhopal, Raj S

2006-01-01

Objective To develop cross‐culturally valid and comparable questionnaires for use in clinical practice, tobacco cessation services and multiethnic surveys on tobacco use. Methods Key questions in Urdu, Cantonese, Punjabi and Sylheti on tobacco use were compiled from the best existing surveys. Additional items were translated by bilingual coworkers. In one‐to‐one and group consultations, lay members of the Pakistani, Chinese, Indian Sikh and Bangladeshi communities assessed the appropriateness of questions. Questionnaires were developed and field tested. Cross‐cultural comparability was judged in a discussion between the researchers and coworkers, and questionnaires were finalised. Questionnaires in Cantonese (written and verbal forms differ) and Sylheti (no script in contemporary use) were written as spoken to avoid spot translations by interviewers. Results The Chinese did not use bidis, hookahs or smokeless tobacco, so these topics were excluded for them. It was unacceptable for Punjabi Sikhs to use tobacco. For the Urdu speakers and Sylheti speakers there was no outright taboo, particularly for men, but it was not encouraged. Use of paan was common among women and men. Many changes to existing questions were necessary to enhance cultural and linguistic appropriateness—for example, using less formal language, or rephrasing to clarify meaning. Questions were modified to ensure comparability across languages, including English. Conclusion Using theoretically recommended approaches, a tobacco‐related questionnaire with face and content validity was constructed for Urdu, Punjabi, Cantonese and Sylheti speakers, paving the way for practitioners to collect more valid data to underpin services, for sounder research and ultimately better tobacco control. The methods and lessons are applicable internationally. PMID:17108298

Face-Recognition Memory: Implications for Children's Eyewitness Testimony.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chance, June E.; Goldstein, Alvin G.

1984-01-01

Reviews studies of face-recognition memory and considers implications for assessing the dependability of children's performances as eyewitnesses. Considers personal factors (age, intellectual differences, and gender) and situational factors (familiarity of face, retention interval, and others). Also identifies developmental questions for future…

Alternative pathways to the 1.5 °C target reduce the need for negative emission technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Vuuren, Detlef P.; Stehfest, Elke; Gernaat, David E. H. J.; van den Berg, Maarten; Bijl, David L.; de Boer, Harmen Sytze; Daioglou, Vassilis; Doelman, Jonathan C.; Edelenbosch, Oreane Y.; Harmsen, Mathijs; Hof, Andries F.; van Sluisveld, Mariësse A. E.

2018-05-01

Mitigation scenarios that achieve the ambitious targets included in the Paris Agreement typically rely on greenhouse gas emission reductions combined with net carbon dioxide removal (CDR) from the atmosphere, mostly accomplished through large-scale application of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, and afforestation. However, CDR strategies face several difficulties such as reliance on underground CO2 storage and competition for land with food production and biodiversity protection. The question arises whether alternative deep mitigation pathways exist. Here, using an integrated assessment model, we explore the impact of alternative pathways that include lifestyle change, additional reduction of non-CO2 greenhouse gases and more rapid electrification of energy demand based on renewable energy. Although these alternatives also face specific difficulties, they are found to significantly reduce the need for CDR, but not fully eliminate it. The alternatives offer a means to diversify transition pathways to meet the Paris Agreement targets, while simultaneously benefiting other sustainability goals.

[Perceptions and attitudes of public health service dentists in the face of family violence in 24 municipalities in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, 2013-2014].

PubMed

Garbin, Cléa Adas Saliba; Rovida, Tânia Adas Saliba; Costa, Adriana Alves; Garbin, Artênio José Isper

2016-01-01

to describe the perceptions and attitudes of dentists working in Primary Healthcare Units in the face of family violence in 24 municipalities in the interior of São Paulo state, Brazil. this is a descriptive study conducted between July 2013 and July 2014; the study population was comprised of 294 professionals; data were collected through a questionnaire containing objective and subjective questions. 111 dentists took part (37.8%), 67.5% of whom were unaware of existing legislation on cases of violence; 70.0% did not know how to report the occurrence of cases; 55.0% reported not having any responsibility for notification; 85.0% were unaware of the notification form; and 60.0% said they should intervene in cases of family violence. the perceptions and attitudes of dentists have shortcomings in relation to notification of family violence and this hinders early diagnosis of the victims of such violence.

Consumers or Citizens? Whose Voice Will Healthwatch Represent and Will It Matter? Comment on "Challenges Facing Healthwatch, a New Consumer Champion in England".

PubMed

Wright, Brad

2016-06-22

Efforts to achieve effective and meaningful patient and public involvement (PPI) in healthcare have existed for nearly a century, albeit with limited success. This brief commentary discusses a recent paper by Carter and Martin exploring the "Challenges Facing Healthwatch, a New Consumer Champion in England," and places these challenges in the context of the broader struggle to give a voice to healthcare consumers and citizens. With an overview of what can go right and-perhaps more importantly-what can go wrong, the question remains: will Healthwatch-and other PPI efforts in healthcare-represent the voice of consumers or citizens and will it matter? © 2016 The Author(s); Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Hepatitis Vaccines

PubMed Central

Ogholikhan, Sina; Schwarz, Kathleen B.

2016-01-01

Viral hepatitis is a serious health problem all over the world. However, the reduction of the morbidity and mortality due to vaccinations against hepatitis A and hepatitis B has been a major component in the overall reduction in vaccine preventable diseases. We will discuss the epidemiology, vaccine development, and post-vaccination effects of the hepatitis A and B virus. In addition, we discuss attempts to provide hepatitis D vaccine for the 350 million individuals infected with hepatitis B globally. Given the lack of a hepatitis C vaccine, the many challenges facing the production of a hepatitis C vaccine will be shown, along with current and former vaccination trials. As there is no current FDA-approved hepatitis E vaccine, we will present vaccination data that is available in the rest of the world. Finally, we will discuss the existing challenges and questions facing future endeavors for each of the hepatitis viruses, with efforts continuing to focus on dramatically reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with these serious infections of the liver. PMID:26978406

Pupillary responses reveal infants' discrimination of facial emotions independent of conscious perception.

PubMed

Jessen, Sarah; Altvater-Mackensen, Nicole; Grossmann, Tobias

2016-05-01

Sensitive responding to others' emotions is essential during social interactions among humans. There is evidence for the existence of subcortically mediated emotion discrimination processes that occur independent of conscious perception in adults. However, only recently work has begun to examine the development of automatic emotion processing systems during infancy. In particular, it is unclear whether emotional expressions impact infants' autonomic nervous system regardless of conscious perception. We examined this question by measuring pupillary responses while subliminally and supraliminally presenting 7-month-old infants with happy and fearful faces. Our results show greater pupil dilation, indexing enhanced autonomic arousal, in response to happy compared to fearful faces regardless of conscious perception. Our findings suggest that, early in ontogeny, emotion discrimination occurs independent of conscious perception and is associated with differential autonomic responses. This provides evidence for the view that automatic emotion processing systems are an early-developing building block of human social functioning. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Should Internet Researchers Use Ill-Gotten Information?

PubMed

Douglas, David M

2017-06-26

This paper describes how the ethical problems raised by scientific data obtained through harmful and immoral conduct (which, following Stan Godlovitch, is called ill-gotten information) may also emerge in cases where data is collected from the Internet. It describes the major arguments for and against using ill-gotten information in research, and shows how they may be applied to research that either collects information about the Internet itself or which uses data from questionable or unknown sources on the Internet. Three examples (the Internet Census 2012, the PharmaLeaks study, and research into keylogger dropzones) demonstrate how researchers address the ethical issues raised by the sources of data that they use and how the existing arguments concerning the use of ill-gotten information apply to Internet research. The problems faced by researchers who collect or use data from the Internet are shown to be the same problems faced by researchers in other fields who may obtain or use ill-gotten information.

The Impact Imperative: Laser Ablation for Deflecting Asteroids, Meteoroids, and Comets From Impacting the Earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, Jonathan W.; Phipps, Claude; Smalley, Larry; Reilly, Jim; Boccis, Dona; Howell, Joe T., Jr. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Impacting at hypervelocity, an asteroid struck the Earth approximately 65 million years ago in the Yucatan Peninsula area. This triggered the extinction of almost 70% of the species of life on Earth including the dinosaurs. Other impacts prior to this one have caused even greater extinctions. Preventing collisions with the Earth by hypervelocity asteroids, meteoroids, and comets is the most important immediate space challenge facing human civilization. This is the Impact Imperative. We now believe that while there are about 2000 earth orbit crossing rocks greater than 1 kilometer in diameter, there may be as many as 200,000 or more objects in the 100 m size range, Can anything be done about this fundamental existence question facing our civilization? The answer is a resounding yes! By using an intelligent combination of Earth and space based sensors coupled with an infra-structure of high-energy laser stations and other secondary mitigation options, we can deflect inbound asteroids, meteoroids, and comets and prevent them from striking the Earth.

The effect of oral contraceptives on current wheezing in young women.

PubMed

Erkoçoğlu, M; Kaya, A; Azkur, D; Özyer, Ş; Özcan, C; Beşli, M; Civelek, E; Kocabaş, C N

2013-01-01

Emerging evidence suggests that sex steroid hormones may influence respiratory symptoms. The existing literature about the role of oral contraceptive pill (OCP) on respiratory disease is scarce and conflicting especially during the adolescent period. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of OCPs on current wheezing among adolescents and young adults. A questionnaire was administered face-to-face to adolescents and young women by a physician. The questionnaire included ISAAC survey-comprised questions on ever wheezing, current wheezing, allergic diseases, smoking history (active or passive), and family history of allergic diseases and questions on OCP usage status. The effect of OCPs on wheezing was evaluated by logistic regression analysis. A total of 487 subjects aged between 11.3 and 25.6years participated in the study and 196 (40.2%) reported that they had used OCPs. 7.4% of the participants had physician-diagnosed asthma and 10.3% of them were active smokers. It was detected that OCPs were associated with increased risk for current wheezing (odds ratio, 2.36; 95% CI, 1.25-4.47 adjusted for asthma and current smoker) and this risk was related with the usage during the past year. Young women taking oral contraceptives had a higher rate of current wheezing, suggesting that sex steroids may be of importance for respiratory health. Copyright © 2011 SEICAP. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Internet Communication versus Face-to-Face Interaction in Quality of Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Paul S. N.; Leung, Louis; Lo, Venhwei; Xiong, Chengyu; Wu, Tingjun

2011-01-01

This study seeks to understand the role of the Internet in quality of life (QoL). Specifically, it examines the question of whether Internet communication serves, like face-to-face interactions, to enhance quality of life. It is hypothesized that the use of the Internet for interpersonal communication can improve quality of life among Internet…

Cell Phone and Face-to-Face Interview Responses in Population-Based Surveys: How Do They Compare?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mahfoud, Ziyad; Ghandour, Lilian; Ghandour, Blanche; Mokdad, Ali H.; Sibai, Abla M.

2015-01-01

Findings on the reliability and cost-effectiveness of the use of cellular phones vis-à-vis face-to-face interviews in investigating health behaviors and conditions are presented for a national epidemiological sample from Lebanon. Using self-reported responses on identical questions, percentage agreement, ? statistics, and McNemar's test were used…

Enhancing a Face-to-Face Course with Online Lectures: Instructional and Pedagogical Issues.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keefe, Thomas

Since 1999, and as part of an Ameritech grant, the author has systematically investigated use of streaming media to enhance face-to-face classes. Technology invites experimentation but raises questions about such things as student acceptance, student use, academic performance, and what to do with class time when lectures are put online. Students…

Online or Face-to-Face? Students' Experiences and Preferences in E-Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paechter, Manuela; Maier, Brigitte

2010-01-01

Which aspects of e-learning courses do students experience as being favorable for learning? When do students prefer online or face-to-face learning components? These questions were the subject of a research study in a sample of 2196 students from 29 Austrian universities. The students completed a questionnaire on their experiences attending an…

Hybrid Structures: Faculty Use and Perception of Web-Based Courseware as a Supplement to Face-to-Face Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woods, Robert; Baker, Jason D.; Hopper, Dave

2004-01-01

The researchers examined responses from 862 faculty members at 38 institutions nationwide using the blackboard Learning Management System (LMS) to supplement their face-to-face instruction. The four research questions addressed the primary uses that faculty make of blackboard, perceptions that faculty have of how certain blackboard features…

Simultaneous Local Binary Feature Learning and Encoding for Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Face Recognition.

PubMed

Lu, Jiwen; Erin Liong, Venice; Zhou, Jie

2017-08-09

In this paper, we propose a simultaneous local binary feature learning and encoding (SLBFLE) approach for both homogeneous and heterogeneous face recognition. Unlike existing hand-crafted face descriptors such as local binary pattern (LBP) and Gabor features which usually require strong prior knowledge, our SLBFLE is an unsupervised feature learning approach which automatically learns face representation from raw pixels. Unlike existing binary face descriptors such as the LBP, discriminant face descriptor (DFD), and compact binary face descriptor (CBFD) which use a two-stage feature extraction procedure, our SLBFLE jointly learns binary codes and the codebook for local face patches so that discriminative information from raw pixels from face images of different identities can be obtained by using a one-stage feature learning and encoding procedure. Moreover, we propose a coupled simultaneous local binary feature learning and encoding (C-SLBFLE) method to make the proposed approach suitable for heterogeneous face matching. Unlike most existing coupled feature learning methods which learn a pair of transformation matrices for each modality, we exploit both the common and specific information from heterogeneous face samples to characterize their underlying correlations. Experimental results on six widely used face datasets are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Actin filament curvature biases branching direction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Evan; Risca, Viviana; Chaudhuri, Ovijit; Chia, Jia-Jun; Geissler, Phillip; Fletcher, Daniel

2012-02-01

Actin filaments are key components of the cellular machinery, vital for a wide range of processes ranging from cell motility to endocytosis. Actin filaments can branch, and essential in this process is a protein complex known as the Arp2/3 complex, which nucleate new ``daughter'' filaments from pre-existing ``mother'' filaments by attaching itself to the mother filament. Though much progress has been made in understanding the Arp2/3-actin junction, some very interesting questions remain. In particular, F-actin is a dynamic polymer that undergoes a wide range of fluctuations. Prior studies of the Arp2/3-actin junction provides a very static notion of Arp2/3 binding. The question we ask is how differently does the Arp2/3 complex interact with a straight filament compared to a bent filament? In this study, we used Monte Carlo simulations of a surface-tethered worm-like chain to explore possible mechanisms underlying the experimental observation that there exists preferential branch formation by the Arp2/3 complex on the convex face of a curved filament. We show that a fluctuation gating model in which Arp2/3 binding to the actin filament is dependent upon a rare high-local-curvature shape fluctuation of the filament is consistent with the experimental data.

The Heliophysics Data Environment Today

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fung, Shing F.; McGuire, R.; Roberts, D. A.

2008-01-01

Driven by the nature of the research questions now most critical to further progress in heliophysics science, data-driven research has evolved from a model once centered on individual instrument Principal investigator groups and a circle of immediate collaborators into a more inclusive and open environment where data gathered ay great public cost must then be findable and useable throughout the broad national and international research community. In this paper and as an introduction to this special session, we will draw a picture of existing and evolving resources throughout the heliophyscs community, the capabilities and data now available to end users, and the relationships and complementarity of different elements in the environment today. We will cite the relative roles of mission and instrument data centers and resident archives, multi-mission data centers, and the growing importance of virtual discipline observatories and cross-cutting services including the evolution of a common data dictionary. We will briefly summarize our view of the most important challenges still faced by users and providers, and our vision in ow the efforts today can evolve into a more and more enabling data framework for the global research community to tap the widest range of existing missions and their data to address a full range of critical science questions from the scale of microphysics to the heliospheric system as a whole.

An analysis of student performance benchmarks in dental hygiene via distance education.

PubMed

Olmsted, Jodi L

2010-01-01

Three graduate programs, 35 undergraduate programs and 12 dental hygiene degree completion programs in the United States use varying forms of Distance Learning (DL). Relying heavily on DL leaves an unanswered question: Is learner performance on standard benchmark assessments impacted when using technology as a delivery system? A 10 year, longitudinal examination looked for student performance differences in a Distance Education (DE) dental hygiene program. The purpose of this research was to determine if there was a difference in performance between learners taught in a traditional classroom as compared to their counterparts taking classes through an alternative delivery system. A longitudinal, ex post facto design was used. Two hundred and sixty-six subject records were examined. Seventy-seven individuals (29%) were lost through attrition over 10 years. One hundred and eighty-nine records were used as the study sample, 117 individuals were located face-to-face and 72 were at a distance. Independent variables included time and location, while the dependent variables included course grades, grade point average (GPA) and the National Board of Dental Hygiene Examination (NBDHE). Three research questions were asked: Were there statistically significant differences in learner performance on the National Board of Dental Hygiene Examination (NBDHE)? Were there statistically significant differences in learner performance when considering GPAs? Did statistically significant differences in performance exist relating to individual course grades? T-tests were used for data analysis in answering the research questions. From a cumulative perspective, no statistically significant differences were apparent for the NBDHE and GPAs or for individual courses. Interactive Television (ITV), the synchronous DL system examined, was considered effective for delivering education to learners if similar performance outcomes were the evaluation criteria.

eConsultations to Infectious Disease Specialists: Questions Asked and Impact on Primary Care Providers' Behavior.

PubMed

Murthy, Ruchi; Rose, Gregory; Liddy, Clare; Afkham, Amir; Keely, Erin

2017-01-01

Since 2010, the Champlain BASE (Building Access to Specialist Advice through eConsultation) has allowed primary care providers (PCPs) to submit clinical questions to specialists through a secure web service. The study objectives are to describe questions asked to Infectious Diseases specialists through eConsultation and assess impact on physician behaviors. eConsults completed through the Champlain BASE service from April 15, 2013 to January 29, 2015 were characterized by the type of question asked and infectious disease content. Usage data and PCP responses to a closeout survey were analyzed to determine eConsult response time, change in referral plans, and change in planned course of action. Of the 224 infectious diseases eConsults, the most common question types were as follows: interpretation of a clinical test 18.0% (41), general management 16.5 % (37), and indications/goals of treating a particular condition 16.5% (37). The most frequently consulted infectious diseases were as follows: tuberculosis 14.3% (32), Lyme disease 14.3% (32), and parasitology 12.9% (29). Within 24 hours, 63% of cases responded to the questions, and 82% of cases took under 15 minutes to complete. In 32% of cases, a face-to-face referral was originally planned by the PCP but was no longer needed. In 8% of cases, the PCP referred the patient despite originally not planning to make a referral. In 55% of cases, the PCP either received new information or changed their course of action. An eConsult service provides PCPs with timely access to infectious disease specialists' advice that often results in a change in plans for a face-to-face referral. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America.

An Exploration of the Characteristics of Public Relations in Regards to Face-to-Face versus Distance Learning in Two Private Liberal Arts Higher Education Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winslow, Cessna Catherine Smith

2014-01-01

This study explored perceptions of Public Relations (PR) among graduate higher education publics regarding distance learning as contrasted with face-to-face learning contexts. The research questions assessed student, faculty and administrator perceptions of characteristics of PR: trust, communication, quality, respect and rigor. Participants…

Student Learning and Instructor Investment in Online and Face-to-Face Natural Resources Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wuellner, Melissa R.

2013-01-01

Substantial growth in online education in the United States has prompted questions on the levels of student learning and satisfaction achieved and the amount of instructor time investment required in the online environment compared to the face-to-face (F2F) environment. To date, very few have studied these measurements in science courses, and none…

Examining the Difference in Student Achievement between Face-to-Face and Online Computer Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hearn, Phillips Turner

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the achievement of students taking a computer applications class in one of two instructional methods, traditional face-to-face and online, at a Southeastern community college. The research questions examined more than 3,000 samples from the summer of 2012 through the spring semester of 2016. There were…

The Effect of Face-to-Face versus Online Pedagogy-Based Professional Development on Student Learning Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rock, Heidi Marie

2017-01-01

The purpose of this quantitative retrospective causal-comparative study was to determine to what extent the form of professional development (face-to-face or online) or the level of instruction (elementary or high school) has on classroom teaching practices as measured by student learning outcomes. The first research question sought to determine…

What dental educators need to understand about emerging technologies to incorporate them effectively into the educational process.

PubMed

Stein, Corey D; Eisenberg, Elise S; O'Donnell, Jean A; Spallek, Heiko

2014-04-01

Many dental schools are currently struggling with the adoption of emerging technologies and the incorporation of these technologies into the educational process. Dental students exhibit an increasing degree of digital comfort when using social networking, mobile devices, search engines, or e-textbooks. Although the majority of students might consider themselves to be very skilled at using information technology, many faculty members would claim the opposite when evaluating their own knowledge and skills in the use of technology. As the use of technology, both formally and informally, continues to increase, dental educators are faced with many questions, such as: Does students' digital comfort disguise a lack of information literacy? What is the appropriate path of implementing technology into teaching and learning, and how can institutions support such an implementation? This article surveys a series of myths that exist about the use of technology in education and raises questions about their validity and how dental educators can avoid being misled by them.

Spirituality in young adults with end-stage cancer: a review of the literature and a call for research.

PubMed

Mistretta, Erin G

2017-07-01

Existing research finds that spiritual wellness may enhance quality of life in those with end-stage cancer. Unfortunately, much of the literature is focused on the spirituality of those in middle and older adulthood, leaving questions about the spirituality of young adults facing life-threatening illness. This article reviews the current landscape of spirituality in young adults with cancer. In addition, this paper serves as a call for research to consider the development of spirituality in this unique population. The literature shows that young adults with cancer are less likely to use mental health services compared to other age groups with cancer. Research tends to be restricted to early young adulthood with a focus on spiritual or religious practices and less about the meaning of spirituality in the context of their illness. A review of the development of spirituality in healthy young adults helps to build the framework to ask questions about what may be occurring for those with life-threatening illness.

Loss of Face among Chinese Businesspeople in Intracultural and Intercultural Business Interactions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cardon, Peter W.; Scott, James Calvert

2007-01-01

Problem: No systematic research has been conducted about loss of face in Chinese business culture. General research questions: What causes Chinese businesspeople to lose face when conducting business intraculturally and interculturally? Setting: People's Republic of China. Participants: 34 Chinese businesspeople from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou,…

Perceiving Prosody from the Face and Voice: Distinguishing Statements from Echoic Questions in English.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Srinivasan, Ravindra J.; Massaro, Dominic W.

2003-01-01

Examined the processing of potential auditory and visual cues that differentiate statements from echoic questions. Found that both auditory and visual cues reliably conveyed statement and question intonation, were successfully synthesized, and generalized to other utterances. (Author/VWL)

Defining the Medical Library Association research agenda: methodology and final results from a consensus process

PubMed Central

Eldredge, Jonathan D.; Harris, Martha R.; Ascher, Marie T.

2009-01-01

Objective: Using a group consensus methodology, the research sought to generate a list of the twelve to fifteen most important and answerable research questions in health sciences librarianship as part of a broader effort to implement the new Medical Library Association (MLA) research policy. Methods: The delphi method was used. The committee distributed a brief survey to all estimated 827 MLA leaders and 237 MLA Research Section members, requesting they submit what they considered to be the most important and answerable research questions facing the profession. The submitted questions were then subjected to 2 rounds of voting to produce a short list of top-ranked questions. Results: The survey produced 62 questions from 54 MLA leaders and MLA Research Section members, who responded from an estimated potential population of 1,064 targeted colleagues. These questions were considered by the process participants to be the most important and answerable research questions facing the profession. Through 2 rounds of voting, these 62 questions were reduced to the final 12 highest priority questions. Conclusion: The modified delphi method accomplished its desired survey and consensus goals. Future survey and consensus processes will be revised to generate more initial questions and to distill a larger number of ranked prioritized research questions. PMID:19626143

Tolerance to spatial-relational transformations in unfamiliar faces: A further challenge to a configural processing account of identity recognition.

PubMed

Lorenzino, Martina; Caminati, Martina; Caudek, Corrado

2018-05-25

One of the most important questions in face perception research is to understand what information is extracted from a face in order to recognize its identity. Recognition of facial identity has been attributed to a special sensitivity to "configural" information. However, recent studies have challenged the configural account by showing that participants are poor in discriminating variations of metric distances among facial features, especially for familiar as opposed to unfamiliar faces, whereas a configural account predicts the opposite. We aimed to extend these previous results by examining classes of unfamiliar faces with which we have different levels of expertise. We hypothesized an inverse relation between sensitivity to configural information and expertise with a given class of faces, but only for neutral expressions. By first matching perceptual discriminability, we measured tolerance to subtle configural transformations with same-race (SR) versus other-race (OR) faces, and with upright versus upside-down faces. Consistently with our predictions, we found a lower sensitivity to at-threshold configural changes for SR compared to OR faces. We also found that, for our stimuli, the face inversion effect disappeared for neutral but not for emotional faces - a result that can also be attributed to a lower sensitivity to configural transformations for faces presented in a more familiar orientation. The present findings question a purely configural account of face processing and suggest that the role of spatial-relational information in face processing varies according to the functional demands of the task and to the characteristics of the stimuli. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Kruskal-Wallis-based computationally efficient feature selection for face recognition.

PubMed

Ali Khan, Sajid; Hussain, Ayyaz; Basit, Abdul; Akram, Sheeraz

2014-01-01

Face recognition in today's technological world, and face recognition applications attain much more importance. Most of the existing work used frontal face images to classify face image. However these techniques fail when applied on real world face images. The proposed technique effectively extracts the prominent facial features. Most of the features are redundant and do not contribute to representing face. In order to eliminate those redundant features, computationally efficient algorithm is used to select the more discriminative face features. Extracted features are then passed to classification step. In the classification step, different classifiers are ensemble to enhance the recognition accuracy rate as single classifier is unable to achieve the high accuracy. Experiments are performed on standard face database images and results are compared with existing techniques.

Students' models in some topics of electricity and magnetism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Warnakulasooriya, Rasil

Model-based learning have been emphasized by many researchers. Furthermore, many theories have been put forward by researchers on how students reason. However, how the theories of reasoning are manifested within the context of electricity and magnetism and how to implement a model-based learning environment within such a context has not been the object of research. In this dissertation, we address the above two concerns. We probe students' reasoning, through a model-based diagnostic instrument. The instrument consists of a set of related multiple-choice questions that can be categorized as belonging to the same conceptual domain. The contextual features of a set are also kept to a minimum. We find that students' responses are tied to the models they have constructed or construct on the spot when faced with novel situations. We find that the concepts such as electric fields and electric potentials exist as mere "definitions" and do not contribute to forming a set of working models, and as such the need for the use of such concepts cannot be easily recognized. We also find that students function within a set of procedural rules. Whether these rules are extended directly from familiar situations through analogies or lead to constructing a set of new rules is constrained by the underlying models and the context of the questions. Models also either exist or are constructed in ways that lead students to overlook the common sense reality of physical phenomena. We also find that the way questions are perceived and interpreted are dependent on the underlying models and that different models exist without conflicting with each other. Based on the above findings, we argue that students' reasoning is context specific and is sensitive to the way the learning has taken place. Thus, we suggest a recontexualization process as a specific model-based learning environment to help students learn electricity and magnetism. The step-by-step guidance through a series of such related questions would then elucidate the context within which concepts are introduced, the limitations of particular representations and the ontological demands required by the subject.

Summarizing systematic reviews: methodological development, conduct and reporting of an umbrella review approach.

PubMed

Aromataris, Edoardo; Fernandez, Ritin; Godfrey, Christina M; Holly, Cheryl; Khalil, Hanan; Tungpunkom, Patraporn

2015-09-01

With the increase in the number of systematic reviews available, a logical next step to provide decision makers in healthcare with the evidence they require has been the conduct of reviews of existing systematic reviews. Syntheses of existing systematic reviews are referred to by many different names, one of which is an umbrella review. An umbrella review allows the findings of reviews relevant to a review question to be compared and contrasted. An umbrella review's most characteristic feature is that this type of evidence synthesis only considers for inclusion the highest level of evidence, namely other systematic reviews and meta-analyses. A methodology working group was formed by the Joanna Briggs Institute to develop methodological guidance for the conduct of an umbrella review, including diverse types of evidence, both quantitative and qualitative. The aim of this study is to describe the development and guidance for the conduct of an umbrella review. Discussion and testing of the elements of methods for the conduct of an umbrella review were held over a 6-month period by members of a methodology working group. The working group comprised six participants who corresponded via teleconference, e-mail and face-to-face meeting during this development period. In October 2013, the methodology was presented in a workshop at the Joanna Briggs Institute Convention. Workshop participants, review authors and methodologists provided further testing, critique and feedback on the proposed methodology. This study describes the methodology and methods developed for the conduct of an umbrella review that includes published systematic reviews and meta-analyses as the analytical unit of the review. Details are provided regarding the essential elements of an umbrella review, including presentation of the review question in a Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome format, nuances of the inclusion criteria and search strategy. A critical appraisal tool with 10 questions to help assess risk of bias in systematic reviews and meta-analyses was also developed and tested. Relevant details to extract from included reviews and how to best present the findings of both quantitative and qualitative systematic reviews in a reader friendly format are provided. Umbrella reviews provide a ready means for decision makers in healthcare to gain a clear understanding of a broad topic area. The umbrella review methodology described here is the first to consider reviews that report other than quantitative evidence derived from randomized controlled trials. The methodology includes an easy to use and informative summary of evidence table to readily provide decision makers with the available, highest level of evidence relevant to the question posed.

Justifying surgery's last taboo: the ethics of face transplants

PubMed Central

Freeman, Michael; Jaoudé, Pauline Abou

2007-01-01

Should face transplants be undertaken? This article examines the ethical problems involved from the perspective of the recipient, looking particularly at the question of identity, the donor and the donor's family, and the disfigured community and society more generally. Concern is expressed that full face transplants are going ahead. PMID:17264192

Children at Risk: Global Views on Challenges Facing Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neugebauer, Roger

2011-01-01

Members of the World Forum community were invited to respond to the question: "What is the most urgent challenge facing young children in your country?" Here are some of their responses. Jamils Richard Achunji Anguaseh mentions that in Cameroon, young children face lots of insecurity, both from health hazards and poor parenting practices. There…

The Development of an Interactive Voice Response Survey for Noncommunicable Disease Risk Factor Estimation: Technical Assessment and Cognitive Testing.

PubMed

Gibson, Dustin G; Farrenkopf, Brooke A; Pereira, Amanda; Labrique, Alain B; Pariyo, George William

2017-05-05

The rise in mobile phone ownership in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) presents an opportunity to transform existing data collection and surveillance methods. Administering surveys via interactive voice response (IVR) technology-a mobile phone survey (MPS) method-has potential to expand the current surveillance coverage and data collection, but formative work to contextualize the survey for LMIC deployment is needed. The primary objectives of this study were to (1) cognitively test and identify challenging questions in a noncommunicable disease (NCD) risk factor questionnaire administered via an IVR platform and (2) assess the usability of the IVR platform. We conducted two rounds of pilot testing the IVR survey in Baltimore, MD. Participants were included in the study if they identified as being from an LMIC. The first round included individual interviews to cognitively test the participant's understanding of the questions. In the second round, participants unique from those in round 1 were placed in focus groups and were asked to comment on the usability of the IVR platform. A total of 12 participants from LMICs were cognitively tested in round 1 to assess their understanding and comprehension of questions in an IVR-administered survey. Overall, the participants found that the majority of the questions were easy to understand and did not have difficulty recording most answers. The most frequent recommendation was to use country-specific examples and units of measurement. In round 2, a separate set of 12 participants assessed the usability of the IVR platform. Overall, participants felt that the length of the survey was appropriate (average: 18 min and 31 s), but the majority reported fatigue in answering questions that had a similar question structure. Almost all participants commented that they thought an IVR survey would lead to more honest, accurate responses than face-to-face questionnaires, especially for sensitive topics. Overall, the participants indicated a clear comprehension of the IVR-administered questionnaire and that the IVR platform was user-friendly. Formative research and cognitive testing of the questionnaire is needed for further adaptation before deploying in an LMIC. ©Dustin G Gibson, Brooke A Farrenkopf, Amanda Pereira, Alain B Labrique, George William Pariyo. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 05.05.2017.

A retrospective look at replacing face-to-face embryology instruction with online lectures in a human anatomy course.

PubMed

Beale, Elmus G; Tarwater, Patrick M; Lee, Vaughan H

2014-01-01

Embryology is integrated into the Clinically Oriented Anatomy course at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine. Before 2008, the same instructor presented embryology in 13 face-to-face lectures distributed by organ systems throughout the course. For the 2008 and 2009 offerings of the course, a hybrid embryology instruction model with four face-to-face classes that supplemented online recorded lectures was used. One instructor delivered the lectures face-to-face in 2007 and by online videos in 2008-2009, while a second instructor provided the supplemental face-to-face classes in 2008-2009. The same embryology learning objectives and selected examination questions were used for each of the three years. This allowed direct comparison of learning outcomes, as measured by examination performance, for students receiving only face-to-face embryology instruction versus the hybrid approach. Comparison of the face-to-face lectures to the hybrid approach showed no difference in overall class performance on embryology questions that were used all three years. Moreover, there was no differential effect of the delivery method on the examination scores for bottom quartile students. Students completed an end-of-course survey to assess their opinions. They rated the two forms of delivery similarly on a six-point Likert scale and reported that face-to-face lectures have the advantage of allowing them to interact with the instructor, whereas online lectures could be paused, replayed, and viewed at any time. These experiences suggest the need for well-designed prospective studies to determine whether online lectures can be used to enhance the efficacy of embryology instruction. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.

Comparison of tokamak behaviour with tungsten and low-Z plasma facing materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Philipps, V.; Neu, R.; Rapp, J.; Samm, U.; Tokar, M.; Tanabe, T.; Rubel, M.

2000-12-01

Graphite wall materials are used in present day fusion devices in order to optimize plasma core performance and to enable access to a large operational space. A large physics database exists for operation with these plasma facing materials, which also indicate their use in future devices with extended burn times. The radiation from carbon impurities in the edge and divertor regions strongly helps to reduce the peak power loads on the strike areas, but carbon radiation also supports the formation of MARFE instabilities which can hinder access to high densities. The main concerns with graphite are associated with its strong chemical affinity to hydrogen, which leads to chemical erosion and to the formation of hydrogen-rich carbon layers. These layers can store a significant fraction of the total tritium fuel, which might prevent the use of these materials in future tritium devices. High-Z plasma facing materials are much more advantageous in this sense, but these advantages compete with the strong poisoning of the plasma if they enter the plasma core. New promising experiences have been obtained with high-Z wall materials in several devices, about which a survey is given in this paper and which also addresses open questions for future research and development work.

Flexible Polyhedral Surfaces.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alexandrov, V. A.

1998-01-01

Discusses some questions connected with Cauchy's theorem which states that two convex closed polyhedral surfaces whose corresponding faces are congruent and whose faces adjoin each other in the same way are congruent. Describes how to construct a flexible polyhedron. (ASK)

Exploring the unconscious using faces.

PubMed

Axelrod, Vadim; Bar, Moshe; Rees, Geraint

2015-01-01

Understanding the mechanisms of unconscious processing is one of the most substantial endeavors of cognitive science. While there are many different empirical ways to address this question, the use of faces in such research has proven exceptionally fruitful. We review here what has been learned about unconscious processing through the use of faces and face-selective neural correlates. A large number of cognitive systems can be explored with faces, including emotions, social cueing and evaluation, attention, multisensory integration, and various aspects of face processing. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Case Study of Using Peer Feedback in Face-to-Face and Distance Learning Classes among Pre-Service Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vásquez-Colina, María D.; Russo, Marianne Robin; Lieberman, Mary; Morris, John D.

2017-01-01

This study investigated a feedback exchange activity for engaging pre-service teachers and the nature of such feedback in two undergraduate classes, a distance learning (DL) and a face-to-face (F2F) class. The research question asked if the nature of peer feedback was different between F2F and DL class formats. Students' work samples were…

Comparing Success Rates for General and Credit Recovery Courses Online and Face to Face: Results for Florida High School Courses. REL 2015-095

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, John; Zhou, Chengfu; Petscher, Yaacov

2015-01-01

This report describes the results of a REL Southeast study comparing student success in online credit recovery and general courses taken online compared to traditional face-to-face courses. Credit recovery occurs when a student fails a course and then retakes the same course to earn high school credit. This research question was motivated by the…

How primary care physicians' attitudes toward risk and uncertainty affect their use of electronic information resources.

PubMed

McKibbon, K Ann; Fridsma, Douglas B; Crowley, Rebecca S

2007-04-01

The research sought to determine if primary care physicians' attitudes toward risk taking or uncertainty affected how they sought information and used electronic information resources when answering simulated clinical questions. Using physician-supplied data collected from existing risk and uncertainty scales, twenty-five physicians were classified as risk seekers (e.g., enjoying adventure), risk neutral, or risk avoiders (e.g., cautious) and stressed or unstressed by uncertainty. The physicians then answered twenty-three multiple-choice, clinically focused questions and selected two to pursue further using their own information resources. Think-aloud protocols were used to collect searching process and outcome data (e.g., searching time, correctness of answers, searching techniques). No differences in searching outcomes were observed between the groups. Physicians who were risk avoiding and those who reported stress when faced with uncertainty each showed differences in searching processes (e.g., actively analyzing retrieval, using searching heuristics or rules). Physicians who were risk avoiding tended to use resources that provided answers and summaries, such as Cochrane or UpToDate, less than risk-seekers did. Physicians who reported stress when faced with uncertainty showed a trend toward less frequent use of MEDLINE, when compared with physicians who were not stressed by uncertainty. Physicians' attitudes towards risk taking and uncertainty were associated with different searching processes but not outcomes. Awareness of differences in physician attitudes may be key in successful design and implementation of clinical information resources.

Issues and special features of animal health research

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

In the rapidly changing context of research on animal health, INRA launched a collective discussion on the challenges facing the field, its distinguishing features, and synergies with biomedical research. As has been declared forcibly by the heads of WHO, FAO and OIE, the challenges facing animal health, beyond diseases transmissible to humans, are critically important and involve food security, agriculture economics, and the ensemble of economic activities associated with agriculture. There are in addition issues related to public health (zoonoses, xenobiotics, antimicrobial resistance), the environment, and animal welfare. Animal health research is distinguished by particular methodologies and scientific questions that stem from the specific biological features of domestic species and from animal husbandry practices. It generally does not explore the same scientific questions as research on human biology, even when the same pathogens are being studied, and the discipline is rooted in a very specific agricultural and economic context. Generic and methodological synergies nevertheless exist with biomedical research, particularly with regard to tools and biological models. Certain domestic species furthermore present more functional similarities with humans than laboratory rodents. The singularity of animal health research in relation to biomedical research should be taken into account in the organization, evaluation, and funding of the field through a policy that clearly recognizes the specific issues at stake. At the same time, the One Health approach should facilitate closer collaboration between biomedical and animal health research at the level of research teams and programmes. PMID:21864344

Issues and special features of animal health research.

PubMed

Ducrot, Christian; Bed'hom, Bertrand; Béringue, Vincent; Coulon, Jean-Baptiste; Fourichon, Christine; Guérin, Jean-Luc; Krebs, Stéphane; Rainard, Pascal; Schwartz-Cornil, Isabelle; Torny, Didier; Vayssier-Taussat, Muriel; Zientara, Stephan; Zundel, Etienne; Pineau, Thierry

2011-08-24

In the rapidly changing context of research on animal health, INRA launched a collective discussion on the challenges facing the field, its distinguishing features, and synergies with biomedical research. As has been declared forcibly by the heads of WHO, FAO and OIE, the challenges facing animal health, beyond diseases transmissible to humans, are critically important and involve food security, agriculture economics, and the ensemble of economic activities associated with agriculture. There are in addition issues related to public health (zoonoses, xenobiotics, antimicrobial resistance), the environment, and animal welfare.Animal health research is distinguished by particular methodologies and scientific questions that stem from the specific biological features of domestic species and from animal husbandry practices. It generally does not explore the same scientific questions as research on human biology, even when the same pathogens are being studied, and the discipline is rooted in a very specific agricultural and economic context.Generic and methodological synergies nevertheless exist with biomedical research, particularly with regard to tools and biological models. Certain domestic species furthermore present more functional similarities with humans than laboratory rodents.The singularity of animal health research in relation to biomedical research should be taken into account in the organization, evaluation, and funding of the field through a policy that clearly recognizes the specific issues at stake. At the same time, the One Health approach should facilitate closer collaboration between biomedical and animal health research at the level of research teams and programmes.

Economics of Ethics in the Business of Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Broglio, Lawrence

1992-01-01

Raises numerous questions concerning ethical dilemmas faced by theater educators from the point of view of higher education as big business. Presents four categories of questions: philosophy, pedagogy, production, and administration. (RS)

Learning facts during aging: the benefits of curiosity.

PubMed

Galli, Giulia; Sirota, Miroslav; Gruber, Matthias J; Ivanof, Bianca Elena; Ganesh, Janani; Materassi, Maurizio; Thorpe, Alistair; Loaiza, Vanessa; Cappelletti, Marinella; Craik, Fergus I M

2018-05-22

Background/study context: Recent studies have shown that young adults better remember factual information they are curious about. It is not entirely clear, however, whether this effect is retained during aging. Here, the authors investigated curiosity-driven memory benefits in young and elderly individuals. In two experiments, young (age range 18-26) and older (age range 65-89) adults read trivia questions and rated their curiosity to find out the answer. They also attended to task-irrelevant faces presented between the trivia question and the answer. The authors then administered a surprise memory test to assess recall accuracy for trivia answers and recognition memory performance for the incidentally learned faces. In both young and elderly adults, recall performance was higher for answers to questions that elicited high levels of curiosity. In Experiment 1, the authors also found that faces presented in temporal proximity to curiosity-eliciting trivia questions were better recognized, indicating that the beneficial effects of curiosity extended to the encoding of task-irrelevant material. These findings show that elderly individuals benefit from the memory-enhancing effects of curiosity. This may lead to the implementation of learning strategies that target and stimulate curiosity in aging.

Critical Problems Facing Technology Education: Perceptions of Indiana Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lazaros, Edward J.; Rogers, George E.

2006-01-01

In 1993 Wicklein conducted a study to determine the present and the future critical issues and problems facing the technology education (TE) profession. The Wicklein study questioned 25 panelists from 15 states and the District of Columbia to ascertain the issues and problems facing TE. However, in the Wicklein study, only seven of the panelists…

Newborns' Face Recognition Is Based on Spatial Frequencies below 0.5 Cycles per Degree

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Heering, Adelaide; Turati, Chiara; Rossion, Bruno; Bulf, Hermann; Goffaux, Valerie; Simion, Francesca

2008-01-01

A critical question in Cognitive Science concerns how knowledge of specific domains emerges during development. Here we examined how limitations of the visual system during the first days of life may shape subsequent development of face processing abilities. By manipulating the bands of spatial frequencies of face images, we investigated what is…

Under Pressure: Controlling Factors Faced by Classroom Literacy Teachers as They Work through a Professional Development Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wallace, Faith H.

2006-01-01

This critical constructivist inquiry was designed to understand controlling factors faced by classroom literacy teachers involved in a professional development program. Two guiding questions framed this critical inquiry: (1) how can I describe controlling factors faced by teachers in their respective school cultures; and (2) what is the resultant…

Losing face: impaired discrimination of featural and configural information in the mouth region of an inverted face.

PubMed

Tanaka, James W; Kaiser, Martha D; Hagen, Simen; Pierce, Lara J

2014-05-01

Given that all faces share the same set of features-two eyes, a nose, and a mouth-that are arranged in similar configuration, recognition of a specific face must depend on our ability to discern subtle differences in its featural and configural properties. An enduring question in the face-processing literature is whether featural or configural information plays a larger role in the recognition process. To address this question, the face dimensions task was designed, in which the featural and configural properties in the upper (eye) and lower (mouth) regions of a face were parametrically and independently manipulated. In a same-different task, two faces were sequentially presented and tested in their upright or in their inverted orientation. Inversion disrupted the perception of featural size (Exp. 1), featural shape (Exp. 2), and configural changes in the mouth region, but it had relatively little effect on the discrimination of featural size and shape and configural differences in the eye region. Inversion had little effect on the perception of information in the top and bottom halves of houses (Exp. 3), suggesting that the lower-half impairment was specific to faces. Spatial cueing to the mouth region eliminated the inversion effect (Exp. 4), suggesting that participants have a bias to attend to the eye region of an inverted face. The collective findings from these experiments suggest that inversion does not differentially impair featural or configural face perceptions, but rather impairs the perception of information in the mouth region of the face.

Face perception in women with Turner syndrome and its underlying factors.

PubMed

Anaki, David; Zadikov Mor, Tal; Gepstein, Vardit; Hochberg, Ze'ev

2016-09-01

Turner syndrome (TS) is a chromosomal condition that affects development in females. It is characterized by short stature, ovarian failure and other congenital malformations, due to a partial or complete absence of the sex chromosome. Women with TS frequently suffer from various physical and hormonal dysfunctions, along with impairments in visual-spatial processing and social cognition difficulties. Previous research has also shown difficulties in face and emotion perception. In the current study we examined two questions: First, whether women with TS, that are impaired in face perception, also suffer from deficits in face-specific processes. The second question was whether these face impairments in TS are related to visual-spatial perceptual dysfunctions exhibited by TS individuals, or to impaired social cognition skills. Twenty-six women with TS and 26 control participants were tested on various cognitive and psychological tests to assess visual-spatial perception, face and facial expression perception, and social cognition skills. Results show that women with TS were less accurate in face perception and facial expression processing, yet they exhibited normal face-specific processes (configural and holistic processing). They also showed difficulties in spatial perception and social cognition capacities. Additional analyses revealed that their face perception impairments were related to their deficits in visual-spatial processing. Thus, our results do not support the claim that the impairments in face processing observed in TS are related to difficulties in social cognition. Rather, our data point to the possibility that face perception difficulties in TS stem from visual-spatial impairments and may not be specific to faces. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contributions of individual face features to face discrimination.

PubMed

Logan, Andrew J; Gordon, Gael E; Loffler, Gunter

2017-08-01

Faces are highly complex stimuli that contain a host of information. Such complexity poses the following questions: (a) do observers exhibit preferences for specific information? (b) how does sensitivity to individual face parts compare? These questions were addressed by quantifying sensitivity to different face features. Discrimination thresholds were determined for synthetic faces under the following conditions: (i) 'full face': all face features visible; (ii) 'isolated feature': single feature presented in isolation; (iii) 'embedded feature': all features visible, but only one feature modified. Mean threshold elevations for isolated features, relative to full-faces, were 0.84x, 1.08, 2.12, 3.34, 4.07 and 4.47 for head-shape, hairline, nose, mouth, eyes and eyebrows respectively. Hence, when two full faces can be discriminated at threshold, the difference between the eyes is about four times less than what is required when discriminating between isolated eyes. In all cases, sensitivity was higher when features were presented in isolation than when they were embedded within a face context (threshold elevations of 0.94x, 1.74, 2.67, 2.90, 5.94 and 9.94). This reveals a specific pattern of sensitivity to face information. Observers are between two and four times more sensitive to external than internal features. The pattern for internal features (higher sensitivity for the nose, compared to mouth, eyes and eyebrows) is consistent with lower sensitivity for those parts affected by facial dynamics (e.g. facial expressions). That isolated features are easier to discriminate than embedded features supports a holistic face processing mechanism which impedes extraction of information about individual features from full faces. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Kohn anomalies in momentum dependence of magnetic susceptibility of some three-dimensional systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stepanenko, A. A.; Volkova, D. O.; Igoshev, P. A.; Katanin, A. A.

2017-11-01

We study a question of the presence of Kohn points, yielding at low temperatures nonanalytic momentum dependence of magnetic susceptibility near its maximum, in electronic spectra of some threedimensional systems. In particular, we consider a one-band model on face-centered cubic lattice with hopping between the nearest and next-nearest neighbors, which models some aspects of the dispersion of ZrZn2, and the two-band model on body-centered cubic lattice, modeling the dispersion of chromium. For the former model, it is shown that Kohn points yielding maxima of susceptibility exist in a certain (sufficiently wide) region of electronic concentrations; the dependence of the wave vectors, corresponding to the maxima, on the chemical potential is investigated. For the two-band model, we show the existence of the lines of Kohn points, yielding maximum susceptibility, whose position agrees with the results of band structure calculations and experimental data on the wave vector of antiferromagnetism of chromium.

[Big data in official statistics].

PubMed

Zwick, Markus

2015-08-01

The concept of "big data" stands to change the face of official statistics over the coming years, having an impact on almost all aspects of data production. The tasks of future statisticians will not necessarily be to produce new data, but rather to identify and make use of existing data to adequately describe social and economic phenomena. Until big data can be used correctly in official statistics, a lot of questions need to be answered and problems solved: the quality of data, data protection, privacy, and the sustainable availability are some of the more pressing issues to be addressed. The essential skills of official statisticians will undoubtedly change, and this implies a number of challenges to be faced by statistical education systems, in universities, and inside the statistical offices. The national statistical offices of the European Union have concluded a concrete strategy for exploring the possibilities of big data for official statistics, by means of the Big Data Roadmap and Action Plan 1.0. This is an important first step and will have a significant influence on implementing the concept of big data inside the statistical offices of Germany.

Assessment of psychosocial risks faced by workers in Almería-type greenhouses, using the Mini Psychosocial Factor method.

PubMed

Montoya-García, M E; Callejón-Ferre, A J; Pérez-Alonso, J; Sánchez-Hermosilla, J

2013-03-01

This work reports the use of the Mini Psychosocial Factor (MPF) method for assessing the psychosocial risks faced by agricultural workers in the greenhouses of Almería (Spain) with the aim of improving their health. The variables Rhythm, Mobbing, Relationships, Health, Recognition, Autonomy, Emotional Involvement, Support, Compensation, Control, Demands, and Mental Load were recorded using a pre-validated questionnaire containing 15 questions. The sex, age, and nationality of the respondents (n = 310) were also recorded, as were the type of greenhouse in which each worked, the size of the greenhouse, and the crop grown. The results showed psychosocial risks to exist for the workers. Multiple correspondence analysis, however, showed that moderate risks can be offset by new prevention programmes that improve Spanish legislation in terms of workers' salaries, worker-employer social days, work timetables to facilitate family life, and training courses. This could improve the work environment and health of Almería's greenhouse workers as well as their productivity. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

The "We Card" program: tobacco industry "youth smoking prevention" as industry self-preservation.

PubMed

Apollonio, Dorie E; Malone, Ruth E

2010-07-01

The "We Card" program is the most ubiquitous tobacco industry "youth smoking prevention" program in the United States, and its retailer materials have been copied in other countries. The program's effectiveness has been questioned, but no previous studies have examined its development, goals, and uses from the tobacco industry's perspective. On the basis of our analysis of tobacco industry documents released under the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement, we concluded that the We Card program was undertaken for 2 primary purposes: to improve the tobacco industry's image and to reduce regulation and the enforcement of existing laws. Policymakers should be cautious about accepting industry self-regulation at face value, both because it redounds to the industry's benefit and because it is ineffective.

Stationarity: Wanted dead or alive?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lins, Larry F.; Cohn, Timothy A.

2011-01-01

Aligning engineering practice with natural process behavior would appear, on its face, to be a prudent and reasonable course of action. However, if we do not understand the long-term characteristics of hydroclimatic processes, how does one find the prudent and reasonable course needed for water management? We consider this question in light of three aspects of existing and unresolved issues affecting hydroclimatic variability and statistical inference: Hurst-Kolmogorov phenomena; the complications long-term persistence introduces with respect to statistical understanding; and the dependence of process understanding on arbitrary sampling choices. These problems are not easily addressed. In such circumstances, humility may be more important than physics; a simple model with well-understood flaws may be preferable to a sophisticated model whose correspondence to reality is uncertain.

Interest and attention in facial recognition.

PubMed

Burgess, Melinda C R; Weaver, George E

2003-04-01

When applied to facial recognition, the levels of processing paradigm has yielded consistent results: faces processed in deep conditions are recognized better than faces processed under shallow conditions. However, there are multiple explanations for this occurrence. The own-race advantage in facial recognition, the tendency to recognize faces from one's own race better than faces from another race, is also consistently shown but not clearly explained. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that the levels of processing findings in facial recognition are a result of interest and attention, not differences in processing. This hypothesis was tested for both own and other faces with 105 Caucasian general psychology students. Levels of processing was manipulated as a between-subjects variable; students were asked to answer one of four types of study questions, e.g., "deep" or "shallow" processing questions, while viewing the study faces. Students' recognition of a subset of previously presented Caucasian and African-American faces from a test-set with an equal number of distractor faces was tested. They indicated their interest in and attention to the task. The typical levels of processing effect was observed with better recognition performance in the deep conditions than in the shallow conditions for both own- and other-race faces. The typical own-race advantage was also observed regardless of level of processing condition. For both own- and other-race faces, level of processing explained a significant portion of the recognition variance above and beyond what was explained by interest in and attention to the task.

Face-to-face interference in typical and atypical development

PubMed Central

Riby, Deborah M; Doherty-Sneddon, Gwyneth; Whittle, Lisa

2012-01-01

Visual communication cues facilitate interpersonal communication. It is important that we look at faces to retrieve and subsequently process such cues. It is also important that we sometimes look away from faces as they increase cognitive load that may interfere with online processing. Indeed, when typically developing individuals hold face gaze it interferes with task completion. In this novel study we quantify face interference for the first time in Williams syndrome (WS) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). These disorders of development impact on cognition and social attention, but how do faces interfere with cognitive processing? Individuals developing typically as well as those with ASD (n = 19) and WS (n = 16) were recorded during a question and answer session that involved mathematics questions. In phase 1 gaze behaviour was not manipulated, but in phase 2 participants were required to maintain eye contact with the experimenter at all times. Looking at faces decreased task accuracy for individuals who were developing typically. Critically, the same pattern was seen in WS and ASD, whereby task performance decreased when participants were required to hold face gaze. The results show that looking at faces interferes with task performance in all groups. This finding requires the caveat that individuals with WS and ASD found it harder than individuals who were developing typically to maintain eye contact throughout the interaction. Individuals with ASD struggled to hold eye contact at all points of the interaction while those with WS found it especially difficult when thinking. PMID:22356183

Assessing intern handover processes.

PubMed

Habicht, Robert; Block, Lauren; Silva, Kathryn Novello; Oliver, Nora; Wu, Albert; Feldman, Leonard

2016-06-01

New standards for resident work hours set in 2011 changed the landscape of patient care in teaching hospitals, and resulted in new challenges for US residency training programmes to overcome. One such challenge was a dramatic increase in the number of patient handovers performed by residents. As a result, there is a renewed focus for clinical teachers to develop educational strategies to optimise the patient handover process and improve the quality of patient care and safety. In order to investigate current gaps in resident handovers, we examined the handover processes performed by medicine interns at two academic medical centres in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. We used trained observers to collect data on whether handovers were conducted face to face, with questions asked, in private locations, with written documentation, and without distractions or interruptions. Results were analysed using chi-square tests, and adjusted for clustering at the observer and intern levels. Interns successfully conducted handovers face to face (99.5%), asked questions (85.3%), used private locations (91%), included written handover documentation (95.8%) and did not experience distractions for the majority of the time (87.7%); however, interruptions were pervasive, occurring 41.3 per cent of the time. In order to investigate current gaps in resident handovers, we examined the handover processes performed by medicine interns Interns conducted patient handovers face to face, with questions asked, in private locations, with written documentation and without distractions the majority of the time; however, interruptions during the handover process were common. Exploring gaps at the individual programme level is a critical first step to develop effective teaching strategies to optimise handovers in residency. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Development of a Research Participants’ Perception Survey to Improve Clinical Research

PubMed Central

Yessis, Jennifer L.; Kost, Rhonda G.; Lee, Laura M.; Coller, Barry S.; Henderson, David K.

2012-01-01

Abstract Introduction: Clinical research participants’ perceptions regarding their experiences during research protocols provide outcome‐based insights into the effectiveness of efforts to protect rights and safety, and opportunities to enhance participants’ clinical research experiences. Use of validated surveys measuring patient‐centered outcomes is standard in hospitals, yet no instruments exist to assess outcomes of clinical research processes. Methods: We derived survey questions from data obtained from focus groups comprised of research participants and professionals. We assessed the survey for face/content validity, and privacy/confidentiality protections and fielded it to research participants at 15 centers. We conducted analyses of response rates, sample characteristics, and psychometrics, including survey and item completion and analysis, internal consistency, item internal consistency, criterion‐related validity, and item usefulness. Responses were tested for fit into existing patient‐centered dimensions of care and new clinical research dimensions using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Results: Surveys were mailed to 18,890 individuals; 4,961 were returned (29%). Survey completion was 89% overall; completion rates exceeded 90% for 88 of 93 evaluable items. Questions fit into three dimensions of patient‐centered care and two novel clinical research dimensions (Cronbach's alpha for dimensions: 0.69–0.85). Conclusions: The validated survey offers a new method for assessing and improving outcomes of clinical research processes. Clin Trans Sci 2012; Volume 5: 452–460 PMID:23253666

A Fight Worth Fighting, a Fight Worth Winning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carpenter, Wade A.

2010-01-01

Losing one's mother naturally makes a person reflect on the really important things. The author was reminded that when faced with the Great Question, which even the best schools cannot handle competently, all other questions can seem trivial, and it's tempting to back away from them. But the "lesser" questions schools mishandle can have…

An Employment Service Research and Development Strategy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aller, Curtis C.; And Others

The report presents a strategy developed by an outside research group for the manpower administration which would: (1) identify and organize the questions facing the U.S. Employment Service (ES), (2) set priorities among the questions, and (3) outline alternative approaches for answering the questions. The study was undertaken in order to clarify…

Self-directed questions to improve students' ability in solving chemical problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanjaya, Rahmat Eko; Muna, Khairiatul; Suharto, Bambang; Syahmani

2017-12-01

Students' ability in solving chemical problems is seen from their ability to solve chemicals' non-routine problems. It is due to learning faced directly on non-routine problems will generate a meaningful learning for students. Observations in Banjarmasin Public High School 1 (SMA Negeri 1 Banjarmasin) showed that students did not give the expected results when they were given the non-routine problems. Learning activities by emphasizing problem solving was implemented based on the existence of knowledge about cognition and regulation of cognition. Both of these elements are components of metacognition. The self-directed question is a strategy that involves metacognition in solving chemical problems. This research was carried out using classroom action research design in two cycles. Each cycle consists of four stages: planning, action, observation and reflection. The subjects were 34 students of grade XI-4 at majoring science (IPA) of SMA Negeri 1 Banjarmasin. The data were collected using tests of the students' ability in problem solving and non-tests instrument to know the process of implementation of the actions. Data were analyzed with descriptivequantitativeand qualitative analysis. The ability of students in solving chemical problems has increased from an average of 37.96 in cycle I became 61.83 in cycle II. Students' ability to solve chemical problems is viewed based on their ability to answer self-directed questions. Students' ability in comprehension questions increased from 73.04 in the cycle I became 96.32 in cycle II. Connection and strategic questions increased from 54.17 and 16.50 on cycle I became 63.73 and 55.23 on cycle II respectively. In cycle I, reflection questions were 26.96 and elevated into 36.27 in cycle II. The self-directed questions have the ability to help students to solve chemical problems through metacognition questions. Those questions guide students to find solutions in solving chemical problems.

Facing changes and changing faces in adolescence: A new model for investigating adolescent-specific interactions between pubertal, brain and behavioral development

PubMed Central

Scherf, K. Suzanne; Behrmann, Marlene; Dahl, Ronald E.

2015-01-01

Adolescence is a time of dramatic physical, cognitive, emotional, and social changes as well as a time for the development of many social-emotional problems. These characteristics raise compelling questions about accompanying neural changes that are unique to this period of development. Here, we propose that studying adolescent-specific changes in face processing and its underlying neural circuitry provides an ideal model for addressing these questions. We also use this model to formulate new hypotheses. Specifically, pubertal hormones are likely to increase motivation to master new peer-oriented developmental tasks, which will in turn, instigate the emergence of new social/affective components of face processing. We also predict that pubertal hormones have a fundamental impact on the reorganization of neural circuitry supporting face processing and propose, in particular, that, the functional connectivity, or temporal synchrony, between regions of the face-processing network will change with the emergence of these new components of face processing in adolescence. Finally, we show how this approach will help reveal why adolescence may be a period of vulnerability in brain development and suggest how it could lead to prevention and intervention strategies that facilitate more adaptive functional interactions between regions within the broader social information processing network. PMID:22483070

Using Computerized Games to Teach Face Recognition Skills to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: The "Let's Face It!" Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tanaka, James W.; Wolf, Julie M.; Klaiman, Cheryl; Koenig, Kathleen; Cockburn, Jeffrey; Herlihy, Lauren; Brown, Carla; Stahl, Sherin; Kaiser, Martha D.; Schultz, Robert T.

2010-01-01

Background: An emerging body of evidence indicates that relative to typically developing children, children with autism are selectively impaired in their ability to recognize facial identity. A critical question is whether face recognition skills can be enhanced through a direct training intervention. Methods: In a randomized clinical trial,…

Perceived emotion genuineness: normative ratings for popular facial expression stimuli and the development of perceived-as-genuine and perceived-as-fake sets.

PubMed

Dawel, Amy; Wright, Luke; Irons, Jessica; Dumbleton, Rachael; Palermo, Romina; O'Kearney, Richard; McKone, Elinor

2017-08-01

In everyday social interactions, people's facial expressions sometimes reflect genuine emotion (e.g., anger in response to a misbehaving child) and sometimes do not (e.g., smiling for a school photo). There is increasing theoretical interest in this distinction, but little is known about perceived emotion genuineness for existing facial expression databases. We present a new method for rating perceived genuineness using a neutral-midpoint scale (-7 = completely fake; 0 = don't know; +7 = completely genuine) that, unlike previous methods, provides data on both relative and absolute perceptions. Normative ratings from typically developing adults for five emotions (anger, disgust, fear, sadness, and happiness) provide three key contributions. First, the widely used Pictures of Facial Affect (PoFA; i.e., "the Ekman faces") and the Radboud Faces Database (RaFD) are typically perceived as not showing genuine emotion. Also, in the only published set for which the actual emotional states of the displayers are known (via self-report; the McLellan faces), percepts of emotion genuineness often do not match actual emotion genuineness. Second, we provide genuine/fake norms for 558 faces from several sources (PoFA, RaFD, KDEF, Gur, FacePlace, McLellan, News media), including a list of 143 stimuli that are event-elicited (rather than posed) and, congruently, perceived as reflecting genuine emotion. Third, using the norms we develop sets of perceived-as-genuine (from event-elicited sources) and perceived-as-fake (from posed sources) stimuli, matched on sex, viewpoint, eye-gaze direction, and rated intensity. We also outline the many types of research questions that these norms and stimulus sets could be used to answer.

Topographically-controlled site conditions drive vegetation pattern on inland dunes in Poland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sewerniak, Piotr; Jankowski, Michał

2017-07-01

The inland dunes of Central Europe are commonly overplanted by Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) monocultures in which the primary occurrence of the natural vegetation pattern is obliterated. We hypothesize that on naturally revegetated inland dunes the pattern is clear and driven by topographically-controlled site conditions. To test this hypothesis, we addressed the following research questions: (1) Does topography drive vegetation patterns on inland dunes and if so, what are main differences between vegetation in varying relief positions? (2) To what extent does topography involve the variability of microclimates and of soil properties, and how does the topographically-induced differentiation of these site conditions control vegetation patterns? We conducted interdisciplinary studies (applying floristic, pedological and microclimatic research techniques) on a naturally revegetated inland dune area situated on a military artillery training ground near Toruń, northern Poland. We investigated vegetation patterns with reference to three topographical position variants (north-facing slopes, south-facing slopes, and intra-dune depressions). We found distinct differences in vegetation characteristics covering the aforementioned topographical positions. This primarily concerned species composition of ground vegetation: Calluna vulgaris was dominant species on north-facing slopes, Corynephorus canescens on south-facing slopes, while Calamagrostis epigejos in intra-dune depressions. In comparison to dune slopes, the depressions were characterized by much higher biodiversity of vascular plant species. This followed the most favorable soil conditions for the existence of plants (higher moisture and nutrient pools) occurring in low topographical positions. However, tree succession was most advanced not in depressions, where the competitive impact of tall grasses on seedlings was recognized, but on north-facing slopes. Based on our results, we formulated some suggestions, which could be useful for both practical foresters to increase biodiversity of ecosystems and for practices that work on the fixation of dunes by restoring vegetation.

The Adolescent Novel of Ideas.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hollindale, Peter

1995-01-01

Uses the work of novelist Peter Dickinson as the primary example in exploring the growth of novels in the last 25 years that ask questions about homo sapiens, questions which most adult readers are too afraid to face. (RS)

Exploring attitudes of Canadian radiation oncologists, radiation therapists, physicists, and oncology nurses regarding interprofessional teaching and learning.

PubMed

Koo, Kaitlin; Di Prospero, Lisa; Barker, Ruth; Sinclair, Lynne; McGuffin, Merrylee; Ng, Alita; Szumacher, Ewa

2014-06-01

The purposes of this exploratory study were to investigate the attitudes of radiation oncology professionals regarding interprofessional (IP) teaching and interprofessional education (IPE), to identify the challenges faced by radiation oncologists who teach within an IP context, and to discover new strategies to aid professionals teaching IP students. A questionnaire was developed through the review of existing literature on IPE using Medline. The proposed group of questions was selected by educators from different professions actively involved in IPE. The final revised questionnaire consisted of three main domains assessing the understanding of IP concepts, attitudes toward IP teaching and learning environments, and attitudes toward health-care teams. An open-ended comment section was included. The questionnaire was administered to health-care professionals (physicists, radiation oncologists, and radiation therapists) nationally through SurveyMonkey® (electronic survey). A total of 220 respondents provided demographic information. Half of these respondents indicated that they previously received education relating to IPE. A high level of agreement was received for nearly all the questions. There were no significant statistical differences among the three different professional respondent groups for any question. Overall, most of the respondents demonstrated a good knowledge and understanding of IP concepts and advocated IP training and collaboration.

Is Ignorance of Climate Change Culpable?

PubMed

Robichaud, Philip

2017-10-01

Sometimes ignorance is an excuse. If an agent did not know and could not have known that her action would realize some bad outcome, then it is plausible to maintain that she is not to blame for realizing that outcome, even when the act that leads to this outcome is wrong. This general thought can be brought to bear in the context of climate change insofar as we think (a) that the actions of individual agents play some role in realizing climate harms and (b) that these actions are apt targets for being considered right or wrong. Are agents who are ignorant about climate change and the way their actions contribute to it excused because of their ignorance, or is their ignorance culpable? In this paper I examine these questions from the perspective of recent developments in the theories of responsibility for ignorant action and characterize their verdicts. After developing some objections to existing attempts to explore these questions, I characterize two influential theories of moral responsibility and discuss their implications for three different types of ignorance about climate change. I conclude with some recommendations for how we should react to the face of the theories' conflicting verdicts. The answer to the question posed in the title, then, is: "Well, it's complicated."

Development of a simulation of the surficial groundwater system for the CONUS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zell, W.; Sanford, W. E.

2016-12-01

Water resource and environmental managers across the country face a variety of questions involving groundwater availability and/or groundwater transport pathways. Emerging management questions require prediction of groundwater response to changing climate regimes (e.g., how drought-induced water-table recession may degrade near-stream vegetation and result in increased wildfire risks), while existing questions can require identification of current groundwater contributions to surface water (e.g., groundwater linkages between landscape contaminant inputs and receiving streams may help explain in-stream phenomena such as fish intersex). At present, few national-coverage simulation tools exist to help characterize groundwater contributions to receiving streams and predict potential changes in base-flow regimes under changing climate conditions. We will describe the Phase 1 development of a simulation of the water table and shallow groundwater system for the entire CONUS. We use national-scale datasets such as the National Recharge Map and the Map Database for Surficial Materials in the CONUS to develop groundwater flow (MODFLOW) and transport (MODPATH) models that are calibrated against groundwater level and stream elevation data from NWIS and NHD, respectively. Phase 1 includes the development of a national transmissivity map for the surficial groundwater system and examines the impact of model-grid resolution on the simulated steady-state discharge network (and associated recharge areas) and base-flow travel time distributions for different HUC scales. In the course of developing the transmissivity map we show that transmissivity in fractured bedrock systems is dependent on depth to water. Subsequent phases of this work will simulate water table changes at a monthly time step (using MODIS-dependent recharge estimates) and serve as a critical complement to surface-water-focused USGS efforts to provide national coverage hydrologic modeling tools.

Priorities for research into human resources for health in low- and middle-income countries

PubMed Central

Chopra, Mickey; Atkins, Salla; Dal Poz, Mario Roberto; Bennett, Sara

2010-01-01

Abstract Objective To identify the human resources for health (HRH) policy concerns and research priorities of key stakeholders in low- and middle-income countries; to assess the extent to which existing HRH research addresses these concerns and priorities; and to develop a prioritized list of core research questions requiring immediate attention to facilitate policy development and implementation. Methods The study involved interviews with key informants, including health policy-makers, researchers and community and civil society representatives, in 24 low- and middle-income countries in four regions, a literature search for relevant reviews of research completed to date, and the assessment of interview and literature search findings at a consultative multinational workshop, during which research questions were prioritized. Findings Twenty-one research questions emerged from the key informant interviews, many of which had received little or no attention in the reviewed literature. The questions ranked as most important at the consultative workshop were: (i) To what extent do incentives work in attracting and retaining qualified health workers in underserviced areas? (ii) What is the impact of dual practice and multiple employment? and (iii) How can incentives be used to optimize efficiency and the quality of health care? Conclusion There was a clear consensus about the type of HRH policy problems faced by different countries and the nature of evidence needed to tackle them. Coordinated action to support and implement research into the highest priority questions identified here could have a major impact on health worker policies and, ultimately, on the health of the poor. PMID:20539857

Strategic planning for public health practice using macroenvironmental analysis.

PubMed Central

Ginter, P M; Duncan, W J; Capper, S A

1991-01-01

Macroenvironmental analysis is the initial stage in comprehensive strategic planning. The authors examine the benefits of this type of analysis when applied to public health organizations and present a series of questions that should be answered prior to committing resources to scanning, monitoring, forecasting, and assessing components of the macroenvironment. Using illustrations from the public and private sectors, each question is examined with reference to specific challenges facing public health. Benefits are derived both from the process and the outcome of macroenvironmental analysis. Not only are data acquired that assist public health professionals to make decisions, but the analytical process required assures a better understanding of potential external threats and opportunities as well as an organization's strengths and weaknesses. Although differences exist among private and public as well as profit and not-for-profit organizations, macroenvironmental analysis is seen as more essential to the public and not-for-profit sectors than the private and profit sectors. This conclusion results from the extreme dependency of those areas on external environmental forces that cannot be significantly influenced or controlled by public health decision makers. PMID:1902305

Animal regeneration: ancestral character or evolutionary novelty?

PubMed

Slack, Jonathan Mw

2017-09-01

An old question about regeneration is whether it is an ancestral character which is a general property of living matter, or whether it represents a set of specific adaptations to the different circumstances faced by different types of animal. In this review, some recent results on regeneration are assessed to see if they can throw any new light on this question. Evidence in favour of an ancestral character comes from the role of Wnt and bone morphogenetic protein signalling in controlling the pattern of whole-body regeneration in acoels, which are a basal group of bilaterian animals. On the other hand, there is some evidence for adaptive acquisition or maintenance of the regeneration of appendages based on the occurrence of severe non-lethal predation, the existence of some novel genes in regenerating organisms, and differences at the molecular level between apparently similar forms of regeneration. It is tentatively concluded that whole-body regeneration is an ancestral character although has been lost from most animal lineages. Appendage regeneration is more likely to represent a derived character resulting from many specific adaptations. © 2017 The Author.

Unconventional combinations of prospective parents: ethical challenges faced by IVF providers.

PubMed

Klitzman, Robert

2017-02-28

Professional guidelines have addressed ethical dilemmas posed by a few types of nontraditional procreative arrangements (e.g., gamete donations between family members), but many questions arise regarding how providers view and make decisions about these and other such arrangements. Thirty-seven ART providers and 10 patients were interviewed in-depth for approximately 1 h each. Interviews were systematically analyzed. Providers faced a range of challenges and ethical dilemmas concerning both the content and the process of decisions about requests for unconventional interfamilial and other reproductive combinations. Providers vary in how they respond - what they decide, who exactly decides (e.g., an ethics committee or not), and how - often undergoing complex decision-making processes. These combinations can involve creating or raising the child, and can shift over time - from initial ART treatment through to the child's birth. Patients' requests can vary from fully established to mere possibilities. Arrangements may also be unstable, fluid, or unexpected, posing challenges. Difficulties emerge concerning not only familial but social, combinations (e.g., between friends). These arrangements can involve blurry and confusing roles, questions about the welfare of the unborn child, and unanticipated and unfamiliar questions about how to weigh competing moral and scientific concerns - e.g., the autonomy of the individuals involved, and the potential risks and benefits. Clinicians may feel that these requests do not "smell right"; and at first respond with feelings of "yuck," and only later, carefully and explicitly consider the ethical principles involved. Proposed arrangements may, for instance, initially be felt to involve consanguineous individuals, but not in fact do so. Obtaining and verifying full and appropriate informed consent can be difficult, given implicit familial and/or cultural expectations and senses of duty. Social attitudes are changing, yet patients' views of these issues may also vary, based on their cultural backgrounds. These data, the first to examine how clinicians make decisions about unconventional reproductive arrangements, highlight several critical ethical questions and ambiguities, and variations in clinicians' responses. While several professional guidelines exist, the current data highlight additional challenges, and have vital implications for improving future guidelines, practice, education and research. Not applicable.

STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT THROUGHOUT HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT: AN EXAMPLE FROM PALLIATIVE CARE.

PubMed

Brereton, Louise; Wahlster, Philip; Mozygemba, Kati; Lysdahl, Kristin Bakke; Burns, Jake; Polus, Stephanie; Tummers, Marcia; Refolo, Pietro; Sacchini, Dario; Leppert, Wojciech; Chilcott, James; Ingleton, Christine; Gardiner, Clare; Goyder, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

Internationally, funders require stakeholder involvement throughout health technology assessment (HTA). We report successes, challenges, and lessons learned from extensive stakeholder involvement throughout a palliative care case study that demonstrates new concepts and methods for HTA. A 5-step "INTEGRATE-HTA Model" developed within the INTEGRATE-HTA project guided the case study. Using convenience or purposive sampling or directly / indirectly identifying and approaching individuals / groups, stakeholders participated in qualitative research or consultation meetings. During scoping, 132 stakeholders, aged ≥ 18 years in seven countries (England, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, Lithuania, and Poland), highlighted key issues in palliative care that assisted identification of the intervention and comparator. Subsequently stakeholders in four countries participated in face-face, telephone and / or video Skype meetings to inform evidence collection and / or review assessment results. An applicability assessment to identify contextual and implementation barriers and enablers for the case study findings involved twelve professionals in the three countries. Finally, thirteen stakeholders participated in a mock decision-making meeting in England. Views about the best methods of stakeholder involvement vary internationally. Stakeholders make valuable contributions in all stages of HTA; assisting decision making about interventions, comparators, research questions; providing evidence and insights into findings, gap analyses and applicability assessments. Key challenges exist regarding inclusivity, time, and resource use. Stakeholder involvement is feasible and worthwhile throughout HTA, sometimes providing unique insights. Various methods can be used to include stakeholders, although challenges exist. Recognition of stakeholder expertise and further guidance about stakeholder consultation methods is needed.

A comparative analysis of traditional and online lab science transfer courses in the rural community college

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scott, Andrea

Through distance learning, the community college system has moved beyond geographical boundaries to serve all students and provide educational opportunities at a distance to individuals previously out of reach of the college community. With the inception of the Mississippi Virtual Community College (MSVCC) in January 2000, Mississippi's public community colleges have experienced unprecedented growth in online enrollments and online course offerings to include the laboratory sciences; however, transfer of online lab science courses are problematic for individuals who wish to gain admittance to Medical, Dental, and Pharmacy schools in Mississippi. Currently online lab science courses are not accepted for transfer for students seeking admission to Mississippi Medical, Dental, or Pharmacy schools. The need for this study, the statement of the problem, and the purpose of the study address transfer issues related to the transfer of online lab science courses in Mississippi and the impact of such on the student and community college. The study also addresses existing doubts regarding online course delivery as a viable method of lab science delivery. The purpose of the study was to investigate differences between online instructional delivery as compared to traditional face-to-face delivery with the following research questions to: (1) Investigate the perception of quality of online courses as compared to traditional face-to-face courses. (2) Investigate the difference in student performance in online transfer lab science courses as compared to student performance in traditional face-to-face lab science courses. The results of this 13 semester study show significant differences in both perception of quality and student performance between online instructional delivery as compared to traditional face-to-face delivery. The findings demonstrate a need for Mississippi Dental, Medical, and Pharmacy schools to reexamine the articulation agreement between IHL and Community and Junior Colleges and consider accepting online lab sciences courses taken at the community college as transfer for admission to Medical, Dental, and Pharmacy schools. Conclusions are included in the study; however, additional studies are needed to address the issue of student performance in the online lab science classroom.

Computer Assisted Assessment of Face-to-Face Interactions in Health Care Settings

PubMed Central

Ayers, James L.; Haight, Stewart A.

1981-01-01

In this paper, the development of an objective procedure for the empirical assessment of dyadic face-to-face interactions is presented. This procedure, called the Interpersonal Tracking Task (ITT) permits two persons who have just finished video taping their conversation to watch themselves immediately after and, while viewing themselves, answer a sequence of questions systematically presented on a second monitor by a microcomputer. Immediately after viewing their tape, each participant can receive feedback in the form of descriptive statistics summarizing their responses to specific questions and a series of colored bar graphs by which they can view change in their responses over the course of their interaction. The unique role of a computer in this assessment is discussed together with specific components of the software. Preliminary research with the ITT in health care settings has suggested steps for its further development as a research instrument and learning tool whereby individuals might more closely examine their dealings with each other. ImagesFigure 1

Generic Learning-Based Ensemble Framework for Small Sample Size Face Recognition in Multi-Camera Networks.

PubMed

Zhang, Cuicui; Liang, Xuefeng; Matsuyama, Takashi

2014-12-08

Multi-camera networks have gained great interest in video-based surveillance systems for security monitoring, access control, etc. Person re-identification is an essential and challenging task in multi-camera networks, which aims to determine if a given individual has already appeared over the camera network. Individual recognition often uses faces as a trial and requires a large number of samples during the training phrase. This is difficult to fulfill due to the limitation of the camera hardware system and the unconstrained image capturing conditions. Conventional face recognition algorithms often encounter the "small sample size" (SSS) problem arising from the small number of training samples compared to the high dimensionality of the sample space. To overcome this problem, interest in the combination of multiple base classifiers has sparked research efforts in ensemble methods. However, existing ensemble methods still open two questions: (1) how to define diverse base classifiers from the small data; (2) how to avoid the diversity/accuracy dilemma occurring during ensemble. To address these problems, this paper proposes a novel generic learning-based ensemble framework, which augments the small data by generating new samples based on a generic distribution and introduces a tailored 0-1 knapsack algorithm to alleviate the diversity/accuracy dilemma. More diverse base classifiers can be generated from the expanded face space, and more appropriate base classifiers are selected for ensemble. Extensive experimental results on four benchmarks demonstrate the higher ability of our system to cope with the SSS problem compared to the state-of-the-art system.

Generic Learning-Based Ensemble Framework for Small Sample Size Face Recognition in Multi-Camera Networks

PubMed Central

Zhang, Cuicui; Liang, Xuefeng; Matsuyama, Takashi

2014-01-01

Multi-camera networks have gained great interest in video-based surveillance systems for security monitoring, access control, etc. Person re-identification is an essential and challenging task in multi-camera networks, which aims to determine if a given individual has already appeared over the camera network. Individual recognition often uses faces as a trial and requires a large number of samples during the training phrase. This is difficult to fulfill due to the limitation of the camera hardware system and the unconstrained image capturing conditions. Conventional face recognition algorithms often encounter the “small sample size” (SSS) problem arising from the small number of training samples compared to the high dimensionality of the sample space. To overcome this problem, interest in the combination of multiple base classifiers has sparked research efforts in ensemble methods. However, existing ensemble methods still open two questions: (1) how to define diverse base classifiers from the small data; (2) how to avoid the diversity/accuracy dilemma occurring during ensemble. To address these problems, this paper proposes a novel generic learning-based ensemble framework, which augments the small data by generating new samples based on a generic distribution and introduces a tailored 0–1 knapsack algorithm to alleviate the diversity/accuracy dilemma. More diverse base classifiers can be generated from the expanded face space, and more appropriate base classifiers are selected for ensemble. Extensive experimental results on four benchmarks demonstrate the higher ability of our system to cope with the SSS problem compared to the state-of-the-art system. PMID:25494350

The lifespan and life-cycle of self-help groups: a retrospective study of groups in Nottingham, UK.

PubMed

Chaudhary, Sarah; Avis, Mark; Munn-Giddings, Carol

2010-07-01

This article is based on an analysis of a practice database held by Self Help Nottingham, an organisation that supports local self-help groups. The database contains details of 936 groups that closed between 1982 and 2007. The aim of the study is to provide qualitative and descriptive quantitative information about the life-cycles of self-help groups, the problems that they face throughout their existence and the likelihood of different problems leading to their closure. The database was not collated for research purposes and so we restrict our discussion of the findings to identification of broad patterns regarding the birth and closure rates of different types of group and questions for future research. Comparisons were made between groups that addressed different types of problem, groups with different memberships and groups that had reached different stages in their existence. There was reasonable consistency in the survival rates of different types of group with physical health groups being the most likely to reach maturity followed by mental health and lastly social issue groups. Survival rates for groups that serve different membership populations were reasonably constant although there were some anomalies. There were high levels of consistency regarding the reasons for closure for groups closing at different stages of maturity. The most commonly cited reasons among all groups were the withdrawal of a 'key' member and a decline in membership. The article suggests that some of the assumptions and prescriptions within the existing literature need to be considered in light of more detailed empirical evidence, and it raises questions about the theoretical understanding of self-help groups.

Children's False Memory and True Disclosure in the Face of Repeated Questions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schaaf, Jennifer M.; Alexander, Kristen Weede; Goodman, Gail S.

2008-01-01

The current study was designed to investigate children's memory and suggestibility for events differing in valence (positive or negative) and veracity (true or false). A total of 82 3- and 5-year-olds were asked repeated questions about true and false events, either in a grouped order (i.e., all questions about a certain event asked consecutively)…

Facing changes and changing faces in adolescence: a new model for investigating adolescent-specific interactions between pubertal, brain and behavioral development.

PubMed

Scherf, K Suzanne; Behrmann, Marlene; Dahl, Ronald E

2012-04-01

Adolescence is a time of dramatic physical, cognitive, emotional, and social changes as well as a time for the development of many social-emotional problems. These characteristics raise compelling questions about accompanying neural changes that are unique to this period of development. Here, we propose that studying adolescent-specific changes in face processing and its underlying neural circuitry provides an ideal model for addressing these questions. We also use this model to formulate new hypotheses. Specifically, pubertal hormones are likely to increase motivation to master new peer-oriented developmental tasks, which will in turn, instigate the emergence of new social/affective components of face processing. We also predict that pubertal hormones have a fundamental impact on the re-organization of neural circuitry supporting face processing and propose, in particular, that, the functional connectivity, or temporal synchrony, between regions of the face-processing network will change with the emergence of these new components of face processing in adolescence. Finally, we show how this approach will help reveal why adolescence may be a period of vulnerability in brain development and suggest how it could lead to prevention and intervention strategies that facilitate more adaptive functional interactions between regions within the broader social information processing network. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A parametric study of face recognition when image degradations are combined.

PubMed

Uttal, W R; Baruch, T; Allen, L

1997-01-01

This article expands and quantifies one of the classic reports of modern visual perception research--Harmon and Julesz' (1973) demonstration of an enhancement in recognition performance when area averaging (blocking) and spatial frequency filtering are sequentially applied. Our goals were twofold: first, to determine if the existence of the phenomena could be confirmed and replicated in a parametric study; second, to determine if the new results supported the critical band masking theory originally proposed by Harmon and Julesz. We confirmed the presence of the phenomenon for stimuli subtending approximately six deg of visual angle vertically, but observed a surprisingly different pattern of results for smaller stimuli subtending approximately one deg. These and other recent findings from other laboratories raise questions about their masking theory as a complete explanation of the phenomena.

The “We Card” Program: Tobacco Industry “Youth Smoking Prevention” as Industry Self-Preservation

PubMed Central

Malone, Ruth E.

2010-01-01

The “We Card” program is the most ubiquitous tobacco industry “youth smoking prevention” program in the United States, and its retailer materials have been copied in other countries. The program's effectiveness has been questioned, but no previous studies have examined its development, goals, and uses from the tobacco industry's perspective. On the basis of our analysis of tobacco industry documents released under the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement, we concluded that the We Card program was undertaken for 2 primary purposes: to improve the tobacco industry's image and to reduce regulation and the enforcement of existing laws. Policymakers should be cautious about accepting industry self-regulation at face value, both because it redounds to the industry's benefit and because it is ineffective. PMID:20466965

Development, risk, and resilience of transgender youth.

PubMed

Stieglitz, Kimberly A

2010-01-01

Transgender youth face unique and complex issues as they confront cultural expectations of gender expression and how these fit with what is natural for them. Striving for balance, learning to cope, questioning, and eventually becoming comfortable with one's gender identity and sexual orientation are of paramount importance for healthy growth and development. Ineffective management of intense challenges over time without adequate social support places youth at risk for a number of unhealthy behaviors, including risk behaviors associated with acquiring HIV. This article explores early foundations of gender identity development, challenges in the development of transgender youth, and the limited data that exist on transgender youth and HIV risks. The concept of resilience is introduced as a counterbalancing area for assessment and intervention in practice and future research with transgender youth.

Generalize or Personalize - Do Dogs Transfer an Acquired Rule to Novel Situations and Persons?

PubMed Central

Hertel, Anne; Kaminski, Juliane; Tomasello, Michael

2014-01-01

Recent studies have raised the question of whether dogs, like human infants, comprehend an established rule as generalizable, normative knowledge or rather as episodic information, existing only in the immediate situation. In the current study we tested whether dogs disobeyed a prohibition to take a treat (i) in the presence of the communicator of the ban, (ii) after a temporary absence of the communicator, and (iii) in the presence of a novel person. Dogs disobeyed the rule significantly more often when the communicator left the room for a moment or when they were faced with a new person, than when she stayed present in the room. These results indicate that dogs “forget” a rule as soon as the immediate human context becomes disrupted. PMID:25029253

Building innovative and creative character through mathematics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suyitno, Hardi; Suyitno, Amin

2018-03-01

21st century is predicted as the century with rapid development in all aspects of life. People require creative and innovative character to exist. Specifically, mathematics has been given to students from the kindergarten until the middle school. Thus, building character through mathematics should begin since the early age. The problem is how to build creative and innovative character through mathematics education? The goal expected from this question is to build innovative and creative characters to face the challenges of the 21st century. This article discusses the values of mathematics, the values in mathematics education, innovative and creative character, and the integration of these values in teaching mathematics that support the innovative and creative character building, and applying the values in structurely programmed, measurable, and applicable learning activities.

Examining the impact of question surface features on students' answers to constructed-response questions on photosynthesis.

PubMed

Weston, Michele; Haudek, Kevin C; Prevost, Luanna; Urban-Lurain, Mark; Merrill, John

2015-01-01

One challenge in science education assessment is that students often focus on surface features of questions rather than the underlying scientific principles. We investigated how student written responses to constructed-response questions about photosynthesis vary based on two surface features of the question: the species of plant and the order of two question prompts. We asked four versions of the question with different combinations of the two plant species and order of prompts in an introductory cell biology course. We found that there was not a significant difference in the content of student responses to versions of the question stem with different species or order of prompts, using both computerized lexical analysis and expert scoring. We conducted 20 face-to-face interviews with students to further probe the effects of question wording on student responses. During the interviews, we found that students thought that the plant species was neither relevant nor confusing when answering the question. Students identified the prompts as both relevant and confusing. However, this confusion was not specific to a single version. © 2015 M. Weston et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2015 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Acceptance of Serious Games in Psychotherapy: An Inquiry into the Stance of Therapists and Patients.

PubMed

Eichenberg, Christiane; Grabmayer, Gloria; Green, Nikos

2016-11-01

Serious games are computer or video games that contain elements that are specifically designed for the purpose of education or training. Serious games are increasingly being used within healthcare, but their introduction into and application in psychotherapeutic settings as an e-mental health treatment modality raises questions for both patients and therapists. Current research demonstrates the potential role and effectiveness of serious games within a psychotherapeutic context. However, a limited understanding of patients' and therapists' existing knowledge and experience of serious games, as well as of their readiness to utilize and apply them for the treatment of psychological conditions, requires further investigation. Acceptance, experience, and requirements for the utilization of serious games in therapeutic contexts were assessed through online surveys with German-speaking patients (n = 260) and psychotherapists (n = 234). Respondents' answers were analyzed by a combination of descriptive and inferential statistics by using SPSS. Current knowledge regarding serious games was very limited, with only 10.4% of patients and 11.5% of therapists reporting existing knowledge. However, a general openness toward the concept was observed: 88% of patients and 90% of therapists could envisage a therapeutic use. Patients (rs = 0.169, p = 0.006) who self-rated their level of computer and video game expertise as high were more likely to consider use within psychotherapy, compared with patients who self-rated their expertise as low. Therapists who currently play computer and video games perceive fewer disadvantages of serious game application in a psychotherapeutic context (p = 0.097). Consideration of serious game use was differentiated by the therapeutic approach (p = 0.003), specific mental disorders (highest rated relevant cases: anxiety disorders, affective disorders, disorders regarding impulse control, and adjustment disorders), and patient age (i.e., use with young adults was deemed the most appropriate by 91.8% of therapists). The application of serious games is conceivable for patients and therapists, especially as a complementary element to traditional face-to-face psychotherapy. Acceptance is strongly related to therapeutic context. Only a small number of therapists and patients agree on the possibility of using a serious game instead of face-to-face therapy.

Are participants in face-to-face and internet support groups the same? Comparison of demographics and depression levels among women bereaved by stillbirth.

PubMed

Gold, Katherine J; Normandin, Margaret M; Boggs, Martha E

2016-12-01

Support groups can help individuals cope with difficult health situations but have been understudied for women with perinatal bereavement. An early study suggested those using internet support groups had high rates of positive depression screens, raising the question whether these users were more symptomatic than those in similar face-to-face support groups. We therefore conducted two convenience sample surveys of women bereaved by perinatal loss, one looking at use of online support groups and the other in-person support groups. The surveys identified demographics, use of peer support, potential confounders, and current depression symptoms using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Four hundred sixteen women from 18 internet groups and 60 women from 13 in-person groups met inclusion criteria. Participants in both groups were predominantly Caucasian, highly educated, and had private insurance. Severe depression symptoms were similar in the two groups despite the different modalities. Women in both face-to-face or internet groups for pregnancy and perinatal loss demonstrated similar scores on depression screens. Women of color, poor, and less-educated women were starkly underrepresented in both types of groups, raising questions about knowledge of support options, barriers to use, preferences for bereavement support, and optimization of groups for a broader population.

Technology-Enabled Active Learning Environments: An Appraisal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fisher, Kenn

2010-01-01

The recent advent of wireless broadband Internet access and mobile communications devices has provided remarkable opportunities for 21st century blended learning models--simultaneous online and face-to-face--and seriously called into question the industrial-age traditional "egg crate classroom" model of teaching and learning. It has…

Islamist Movement Challenges Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindsey, Ursula

2013-01-01

In Tunisian and Egyptian universities, scholars face a growing Islamist resolve to remake their countries on the basis of religious principles. Both Tunisia and Egypt face questions that could affect higher education across the Middle East and North Africa: Can their new Islamist governments spread conservative religious values and also create…

What can individual differences reveal about face processing?

PubMed Central

Yovel, Galit; Wilmer, Jeremy B.; Duchaine, Brad

2014-01-01

Faces are probably the most widely studied visual stimulus. Most research on face processing has used a group-mean approach that averages behavioral or neural responses to faces across individuals and treats variance between individuals as noise. However, individual differences in face processing can provide valuable information that complements and extends findings from group-mean studies. Here we demonstrate that studies employing an individual differences approach—examining associations and dissociations across individuals—can answer fundamental questions about the way face processing operates. In particular these studies allow us to associate and dissociate the mechanisms involved in face processing, tie behavioral face processing mechanisms to neural mechanisms, link face processing to broader capacities and quantify developmental influences on face processing. The individual differences approach we illustrate here is a powerful method that should be further explored within the domain of face processing as well as fruitfully applied across the cognitive sciences. PMID:25191241

Ocean Space and Seabed Mining

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Earney, Fillmore C. F.

1975-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to briefly explore some of the questions with which this and the next generation will be faced concerning the wise and equitable use of ocean space and seabed minerals and to look at contemporary efforts to resolve some of these questions. (Author)

An analysis of price-subsidy issues in public transportation and some suggestions of practical importance.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1975-01-01

This report is directed to highway and transportation officials and other state and local government officials faced with questions of public transit subsidies. The questions are very real ones and, in this one's opinion, require well founded answers...

Research Students and the Loughborough Institutional Repository

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pickton, Margaret; McKnight, Cliff

2006-01-01

This article investigates the potential role for research students in an institutional repository (IR). Face-to-face interviews with 34 research students at Loughborough University were carried out. Using a mixture of closed and open questions, the interviews explored the students' experiences and opinions of publishing, open access and the…

Many Faces Have I.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zilliox, Joseph T.; Lowery, Shannon G.

1997-01-01

Describes an extended investigation of polygons and polyhedra which was conducted in response to a challenge posed in Focus, a newsletter from the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). Students were challenged to construct a polyhedron with faces that measure more than 13 inches to a side. Outlines the process, including the questions posed…

Financial Decision Making during Economic Contraction: The Special Case of Community Colleges.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seater, Barbara

Although faced with declining revenues and increasing enrollments, community colleges have also traditionally provided expensive support services for nontraditional students and maintained costly technological capacities to respond to the training needs of business. Financial decision-makers face unsettling questions as they attempt to achieve…

Colleges Struggle to Dispose of Hazardous Wastes in Face of Rising Costs and Increased Regulation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magner, Denise K.

1989-01-01

After years of being ignored by federal regulators because of the low volume of hazardous waste in question, colleges and universities are facing increased enforcement of environmental laws concerning waste disposal and storage, at great cost in money, facilities, and personnel. (MSE)

College Psychotherapy at a Korean University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chae, Soo Eun; Choi, Mi Hwa

2016-01-01

In the online interview presented in this article, two Korean counselors offer comments to questions regarding issues faced at a Korean University. They reflected on their roles and some of the many topics faced that included: (1) student misunderstanding about counseling needs, and how counseling questionnaires and the counselor helps them; (2)…

38 CFR 36.4350 - Servicing procedures for holders.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... face-to-face interview with the borrower(s) or a reasonable effort to arrange such a meeting is... can also answer any questions you have regarding your entitlement. If you have access to the Internet... parts 180 and 801. (h) Conducting interviews with delinquent borrowers. When personal contact with the...

Face validation of the Virtual Electrosurgery Skill Trainer (VEST©).

PubMed

Sankaranarayanan, Ganesh; Li, Baichun; Miller, Amie; Wakily, Hussna; Jones, Stephanie B; Schwaitzberg, Steven; Jones, Daniel B; De, Suvranu; Olasky, Jaisa

2016-02-01

Electrosurgery is a modality that is widely used in surgery, whose use has resulted in injuries, OR fires and even death. The SAGES has established the FUSE program to address the knowledge gap in the proper and safe usage of electrosurgical devices. Complementing it, we have developed the Virtual Electrosurgery Skill Trainer (VEST(©)), which is designed to train subjects in both cognitive and motor skills necessary to safely operate electrosurgical devices. The objective of this study is to asses the face validity of the VEST(©) simulator. Sixty-three subjects were recruited at the 2014 SAGES Learning Center. They all completed the monopolar electrosurgery module on the VEST(©) simulator. At the end of the study, subjects assessed the face validity with questions that were scored on a 5-point Likert scale. The subjects were divided into two groups; FUSE experience (n = 15) and no FUSE experience (n = 48). The median score for both the groups was 4 or higher on all questions and 5 on questions on effectiveness of VEST(©) in aiding learning electrosurgery fundamentals. Questions on using the simulator in their own skills lab and recommending it to their peers also scored at 5. Mann-Whitney U test showed no significant difference (p > 0.05) indicating a general agreement. 46% of the respondents preferred VEST compared with 52% who preferred animal model and 2% preferred both for training in electrosurgery. This study demonstrated the face validity of the VEST(©) simulator. High scores showed that the simulator was visually realistic and reproduced lifelike tissue effects and the features were adequate enough to provide high realism. The self-learning instructional material was also found to be very useful in learning the fundamentals of electrosurgery. Adding more modules would increase the applicability of the VEST(©) simulator.

Assessment of HIV-related risky behaviour: a comparative study of face-to-face interviews and polling booth surveys in the general population of Cotonou, Benin.

PubMed

Béhanzin, Luc; Diabaté, Souleymane; Minani, Isaac; Lowndes, Catherine M; Boily, Marie-Claude; Labbé, Annie-Claude; Anagonou, Séverin; Zannou, Djimon Marcel; Buvé, Anne; Alary, Michel

2013-11-01

During the 2008 HIV prevalence survey carried out in the general population of Cotonou, Benin, face-to-face interviews (FTFI) were used to assess risky behaviours for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI). We compared sexual behaviours reported in FTFI with those reported in polling booth surveys (PBS) carried out in parallel in an independent random sample of the same population. In PBS, respondents grouped by gender and marital status answered simple questions by putting tokens with question numbers in a green box (affirmative answers) or a red box (negative answers). Both boxes were placed inside a private booth. For each group and question, data were gathered together by type of answer. The structured and gender-specific FTFI guided by trained interviewers included all questions asked during PBS. Pearson χ2 or Fisher's exact test was used to compare FTFI and PBS according to affirmative answers. Overall, respondents reported more stigmatised behaviours in PBS than in FTFI: the proportions of married women and men who reported ever having had commercial sex were 17.4% and 41.6% in PBS versus 1.8% and 19.6% in FTFI, respectively. The corresponding proportions among unmarried women and men were 16.1% and 25.5% in PBS versus 3.9% and 13.0% in FTFI, respectively. The proportion of married women who reported having had extramarital sex since marriage was 23.6% in PBS versus 4.6% in FTFI. PBS are suitable to monitor reliable HIV/STI risk behaviours. Their use should be expanded in behavioural surveillance.

Assessment of HIV related risky behaviour: a comparative study of face-to-face interviews and Polling Booth Surveys in the general population of Cotonou, Benin

PubMed Central

BÉHANZIN, Luc; DIABATÉ, Souleymane; MINANI, Isaac; LOWNDES, Catherine M.; BOILY, Marie-Claude; LABBÉ, Annie-Claude; ANAGONOU, Séverin; ZANNOU, Djimon Marcel; BUVÉ, Anne; ALARY, Michel

2013-01-01

Objectives During the 2008 HIV prevalence survey carried out in the general population of Cotonou, Benin, face-to-face interviews (FTFI) were used to assess risky behaviours for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI). We compared sexual behaviours reported in FTFI with those reported in polling booth surveys (PBS) carried out in parallel in an independent random sample of the same population. Methods In PBS, respondents grouped by gender and marital status answered simple questions by putting tokens with question numbers in a green box (affirmative answers) or a red box (negative answers). Both boxes were placed inside a private booth. For each group and question, data were gathered together by type of answer. The structured and gender-specific FTFI guided by trained interviewers included all questions asked during the PBS.. Pearson chi-square or Fisher’s exact test were used to compare FTFI and PBS according to affirmative answers. Results Overall, respondents reported more stigmatized behaviours in PBS than in FTFI: the proportions of both married women and men who reported ever having had commercial sex were 17.4% and 41.6% in PBS versus 1.8% and 19.6% in FTFI, respectively. The corresponding proportions among unmarried women and men were 16.1% and 25.5% in PBS versus 3.9% and 13.0% in FTFI, respectively. The proportion of married women who reported having had extramarital sex since marriage was 23.6% in PBS versus 4.6% in FTFI. Conclusion Polling booth surveys are suitable to monitor reliable HIV/STI risk behaviours. Their use should be expanded in behavioural surveillance. PMID:23723251

Face Validation of the Virtual Electrosurgery Skill Trainer (VEST©)

PubMed Central

Sankaranarayanan, Ganesh; Li, Baichun; Miller, Amie; Wakily, Hussna; Jones, Stephanie B.; Schwaitzberg, Steven; Jones, Daniel B.; De, Suvranu; Olasky, Jaisa

2015-01-01

Background Electrosurgery is a modality that is widely used in surgery, whose use has resulted in injuries, OR fires and even death. The SAGES has established the FUSE program to address the knowledge gap in the proper and safe usage of electrosurgical devices. Complementing it, we have developed the Virtual Electrosurgery Skill Trainer (VEST©), which is designed to train subjects in both cognitive and motor skills necessary to safely operate electrosurgical devices. The objective of this study is to asses the face validity of the VEST© simulator. Methods Sixty-three subjects were recruited at the 2014 SAGES Learning Center. They all completed the monopolar electrosurgery module on the VEST© simulator. At the end of the study, subjects assessed the face validity with questions that were scored on a 5-point Likert scale. Results The subjects were divided into two groups; FUSE experience (n = 15) and no FUSE experience (n = 48). The median score for both the groups was 4 or higher on all questions and 5 on questions on effectiveness of VEST© in aiding learning electrosurgery fundamentals. Questions on using the simulator in their own skills lab and recommending it to their peers also scored at 5. Mann-Whitney U test showed no significant difference (p > 0.05) indicating a general agreement. 46 % of the respondents preferred VEST compared to 52 % who preferred animal model and 2 % preferred both for training in electrosurgery. Conclusion This study demonstrated the face validity of the VEST © simulator. High scores showed that the simulator was visually realistic and reproduced lifelike tissue effects and the features were adequate enough to provide high realism. The self-learning instructional material was also found to be very useful in learning the fundamentals of electrosurgery. Adding more modules would increase the applicability of the VEST© simulator. PMID:26092003

Newborns' Face Recognition: Role of Inner and Outer Facial Features

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turati, Chiara; Macchi Cassia, Viola; Simion, Francesca; Leo, Irene

2006-01-01

Existing data indicate that newborns are able to recognize individual faces, but little is known about what perceptual cues drive this ability. The current study showed that either the inner or outer features of the face can act as sufficient cues for newborns' face recognition (Experiment 1), but the outer part of the face enjoys an advantage…

Questioning Questions: Elementary Teachers' Adaptations of Investigation Questions Across the Inquiry Continuum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biggers, Mandy

2018-02-01

Questioning is a central practice in science classrooms. However, not every question translates into a "good" science investigation. Questions that drive science investigations can be provided by many sources including the teacher, the curriculum, or the student. The variations in the source of investigation questions were explored in this study. A dataset of 120 elementary science classroom videos and associated lesson plans from 40 elementary teachers (K-5) across 21 elementary school campuses were scored on an instrument measuring the amount of teacher-direction or student-direction of the lessons' investigation questions. Results indicated that the investigation questions were overwhelmingly teacher directed in nature, with no opportunities for students to develop their own questions for investigation. This study has implications for researchers and practitioners alike, calling attention to the teacher-directed nature of investigation questions in existing science curriculum materials, and the need for teacher training in instructional strategies to adapt their existing curriculum materials across the continuum of teacher-directed and student-directed investigation questions. Teachers need strategies for adapting the teacher-directed questions provided in their existing curriculum materials in order to allow students the opportunity to engage in this essential scientific practice.

The Effects of Anti-Black Attitudes and Fear of Rape on Accuracy for the Recognition of Black and White Faces: Another Step Beyond the Layperson's Knowledge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mack, David B.; And Others

It was hypothesized that young white women who held antiblack attitudes and who were most fearful of being raped would be less accurate in recognizing photographs of black faces than of white faces, in comparison with young white women without these attitudes and fears. Subjects completed a racial attitude scale and a question measuring their fear…

The six most essential questions in psychiatric diagnosis: a pluralogue part 1: conceptual and definitional issues in psychiatric diagnosis

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

In face of the multiple controversies surrounding the DSM process in general and the development of DSM-5 in particular, we have organized a discussion around what we consider six essential questions in further work on the DSM. The six questions involve: 1) the nature of a mental disorder; 2) the definition of mental disorder; 3) the issue of whether, in the current state of psychiatric science, DSM-5 should assume a cautious, conservative posture or an assertive, transformative posture; 4) the role of pragmatic considerations in the construction of DSM-5; 5) the issue of utility of the DSM - whether DSM-III and IV have been designed more for clinicians or researchers, and how this conflict should be dealt with in the new manual; and 6) the possibility and advisability, given all the problems with DSM-III and IV, of designing a different diagnostic system. Part I of this article will take up the first two questions. With the first question, invited commentators express a range of opinion regarding the nature of psychiatric disorders, loosely divided into a realist position that the diagnostic categories represent real diseases that we can accurately name and know with our perceptual abilities, a middle, nominalist position that psychiatric disorders do exist in the real world but that our diagnostic categories are constructs that may or may not accurately represent the disorders out there, and finally a purely constructivist position that the diagnostic categories are simply constructs with no evidence of psychiatric disorders in the real world. The second question again offers a range of opinion as to how we should define a mental or psychiatric disorder, including the possibility that we should not try to formulate a definition. The general introduction, as well as the introductions and conclusions for the specific questions, are written by James Phillips, and the responses to commentaries are written by Allen Frances. PMID:22243994

Survey Design: To Ask or Not to Ask? That is the Question...

PubMed

Sinkowitz-Cochran, Ronda L

2013-04-01

Surveys are one of the most frequent modes of observation and measurement. Survey research can be exploratory, descriptive, and/or explanatory. Modes of survey administration vary and include face-to-face, telephone, mail, and Internet. There are numerous considerations that that must be taken into account when designing and conducting a survey. Deciding what information is needed and why is important when developing questions for a survey; it is essential to define the purpose of the survey and to be as specific as possible in terms of the data to be collected. Response rate varies by target audience and is influenced by a number of factors such as incentives, survey length, and perceived burden. From question development to survey construction, the goal is to minimize measurement error with systematic planning and execution.

Right perceptual bias and self-face recognition in individuals with congenital prosopagnosia.

PubMed

Malaspina, Manuela; Albonico, Andrea; Daini, Roberta

2016-01-01

The existence of a drift to base judgments more on the right half-part of facial stimuli, which falls in the observer's left visual field (left perceptual bias (LPB)), in normal individuals has been demonstrated. However, less is known about the existence of this phenomenon in people affected by face impairment from birth, namely congenital prosopagnosics. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the presence of the LPB under face impairment conditions using chimeric stimuli and the most familiar face of all: the self-face. For this purpose we tested 10 participants with congenital prosopagnosia and 21 healthy controls with a face matching task using facial stimuli, involving a spatial manipulation of the left and the right hemi-faces of self-photos and photos of others. Even though congenital prosopagnosics performance was significantly lower than that of controls, both groups showed a consistent self-face advantage. Moreover, congenital prosopagnosics showed optimal performance when the right side of their face was presented, that is, right perceptual bias, suggesting a differential strategy for self-recognition in those subjects. A possible explanation for this result is discussed.

[Internet-based resilience training and prevention of mental disorders].

PubMed

Lehr, D; Kunzler, A; Helmreich, I; Behrendt, D; Chmitorz, A; Lieb, K

2018-05-30

Resilience is associated with a positive and resource-oriented perspective. Therefore, it seems especially attractive for health promotion and prevention. In recent years, interventions to foster resilience have been increasingly developed, which train resilience factors and are mainly conducted in a face to face group format. The question is raised what potential internet-based interventions (i-interventions) that train resilience factors have for health promotion and prevention. Based on a narrative overview, the possibilities for i‑interventions that train resilience factors for health promotion and prevention are investigated and the state of research is described. The effects of the i‑interventions presented here, which aim at fostering resilience, on measures of mental health and well-being are heterogeneous and vary between low to high effects. Stronger evidence for the efficacy of these measures exists for more general i‑interventions that also train resilience factors but are conceptualized for the prevention of specific disorders, such as depression or for stress reduction. Given the heterogeneous nature of intervention contents, theoretical foundations and therapeutic methods used, the heterogeneity of the evidence is discussed. In addition, perspectives for the further development of resource-oriented resilience interventions are outlined.

Prenatal care services in the public and private arena.

PubMed

Blackwell, Deborah A

2002-12-01

This exploratory study described the prenatal care experience in the public and private arena from the perceptions of childbearing women using interpretive interactionism. A face-to-face interview comprised of eight open-ended questions was used to obtain pregnant women's perceptions of their prenatal care experience and prenatal care needs. The purposive sample consisted of six women who received private prenatal care and 14 women who received public prenatal care. Five essential elements of the prenatal care experience were identified. Prenatal care was viewed as a cooperative effort between informal self-care and formal care by health professionals. Issues related to individuality and normality were important considerations in the delivery of prenatal care. Controversy exists over the effectiveness of prenatal care in preventing poor outcomes, as the definition of what constitutes adequate prenatal care remains unclear. Advanced practice nurses (APNs) continue to play a pivotal role in the provision of prenatal care services. The expanded knowledge and skills possessed by APNs place them in a pivotal position to develop and implement individualized, developmentally appropriate prenatal care that the women in this study so desperately wanted. In addition, they can assist women in continuing the health promoting behaviors initiated prenatally through out their lifespan.

Conceptual and operational understanding of learning for sustainability: a case study of the beef industry in north-eastern Australia.

PubMed

Lankester, Ally J

2013-04-15

Extensive attention has been given to understanding learning processes that foster sustainability. Despite this focus there is still limited knowledge of learning processes that create changes in perspectives and practices. This paper aims to increase understanding of learning processes in the context of sustainability and refers to the beef industry in north-eastern Australia. A framework based on adult learning theories was developed and used to analyse the what, why and how of beef producers' learning to improve land condition. Twenty-eight producers were interviewed face-to-face and another 91 participated in a telephone survey. Most beef producers were motivated to learn due to perceived problems with existing practices and described mainly learning new skills and techniques to improve production. Beef producers main learning sources were their own experiences, observing others' practices and sharing experiences with peers and family members. Results showed that organised collective learning, adversity and active experimentation with natural resource management skills and techniques can facilitate critical reflection of practices, questioning of the self, others and cultural norms and an enhanced sense of environmental responsibility. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Water resources of the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sayre, Albert N.

1950-01-01

The concerns that has grown gradually in recent years over the future of our water supplies has been forcefully dramatized by the water shortage that New York City is now experiencing. This shortage is not the first that has affected an American community and it is not the most serious. Ample sources of additional water are known to exist in Upstate New York and construction that will bring this water to the city is being pushed as rapidly as possible. Nevertheless, the fact that our largest city, the center of our business life, has a water shortage, even though it is temporary, causes even the layman to realize something of the importance that water has in our national life and our national economy. In nearly every State in the Union, one or more communities now has or has had water problems as serious as or more serious than that which face New York City. These problems are springing up in increasing numbers and it is high time that serious consideration be given to the question of the adequacy of our water supplies. If the crisis in New York serves to bring this face into national focus, New York's misfortune may in the long run be a blessing in disguise.

The Compensation Question

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richwine, Jason; Biggs, Andrew; Mishel, Lawrence; Roy, Joydeep

2012-01-01

Over the past few years, as cash-strapped states and school districts have faced tough budget decisions, spending on teacher compensation has come under the microscope. The underlying question is whether, when you take everything into account, today's teachers are fairly paid, underpaid, or overpaid. In this forum, two pairs of respected…

A Rapid Subcortical Amygdala Route for Faces Irrespective of Spatial Frequency and Emotion.

PubMed

McFadyen, Jessica; Mermillod, Martial; Mattingley, Jason B; Halász, Veronika; Garrido, Marta I

2017-04-05

There is significant controversy over the existence and function of a direct subcortical visual pathway to the amygdala. It is thought that this pathway rapidly transmits low spatial frequency information to the amygdala independently of the cortex, and yet the directionality of this function has never been determined. We used magnetoencephalography to measure neural activity while human participants discriminated the gender of neutral and fearful faces filtered for low or high spatial frequencies. We applied dynamic causal modeling to demonstrate that the most likely underlying neural network consisted of a pulvinar-amygdala connection that was uninfluenced by spatial frequency or emotion, and a cortical-amygdala connection that conveyed high spatial frequencies. Crucially, data-driven neural simulations revealed a clear temporal advantage of the subcortical connection over the cortical connection in influencing amygdala activity. Thus, our findings support the existence of a rapid subcortical pathway that is nonselective in terms of the spatial frequency or emotional content of faces. We propose that that the "coarseness" of the subcortical route may be better reframed as "generalized." SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The human amygdala coordinates how we respond to biologically relevant stimuli, such as threat or reward. It has been postulated that the amygdala first receives visual input via a rapid subcortical route that conveys "coarse" information, namely, low spatial frequencies. For the first time, the present paper provides direction-specific evidence from computational modeling that the subcortical route plays a generalized role in visual processing by rapidly transmitting raw, unfiltered information directly to the amygdala. This calls into question a widely held assumption across human and animal research that fear responses are produced faster by low spatial frequencies. Our proposed mechanism suggests organisms quickly generate fear responses to a wide range of visual properties, heavily implicating future research on anxiety-prevention strategies. Copyright © 2017 the authors 0270-6474/17/373864-11$15.00/0.

Does the Classroom Delivery Method Make a Difference?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bunn, Esther; Fischer, Mary; Marsh, Treba

2014-01-01

This study seeks to determine if a difference exists in student performance and participation between an online and face-to-face Accounting Intermediate I class taught by the same professor. Even though students self-selected which course section to enroll, no significant difference was found to exist between the delivery method of the two courses…

Computer tools for face seal analyses developed at John Crane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, Shifeng

1994-01-01

The purposes of the computer tools for face seal analysis are new product optimization, existing seals on new applications, existing seals on off-duty conditions, and trouble-shooting. Discussed in this viewgraph presentation are interface forces, friction/heat generation, heat transfer/temperature distribution, axisymmetric pressure/thermal distortion, leakage, and an example case.

Assessment of Geographic Information Systems and Data Confidentiality Guidelines in STD Programs.

PubMed

Bissette, Jennifer M; Stover, Jeffrey A; Newman, Lori M; Delcher, Philip Christopher; Bernstein, Kyle T; Matthews, Lindsey

2009-01-01

Advancements in technology, such as geographic information systems (GIS), expand sexually transmitted disease (STD) program capacity for data analysis and visualization, and introduce additional confidentiality considerations. We developed a survey to examine GIS use among STD programs and to better understand existing data confidentiality practices. A Web-based survey of eight to 22 questions, depending on program-specific GIS capacity, was e-mailed to all STD program directors through the National Coalition of STD Directors in November 2004. Survey responses were accepted until April 15, 2005. Eighty-five percent of the 65 currently funded STD programs responded to the survey. Of those, 58% used GIS and 54% used geocoding. STD programs that did not use GIS (42%) identified lack of training and insufficient staff as primary barriers. Mapping, spatial analyses, and targeting program interventions were the main reasons for geocoding data. Nineteen of the 25 programs that responded to questions related to statistical disclosure rules employed a numerator rule, and 56% of those used a variation of the "Rule of 5." Of the 28 programs that responded to questions pertaining to confidentiality guidelines, 82% addressed confidentiality of GIS data informally. Survey findings showed the increasing use of GIS and highlighted the struggles STD programs face in employing GIS and protecting confidentiality. Guidance related to data confidentiality and additional access to GIS software and training could assist programs in optimizing use of spatial data.

An evaluation of transit procurement training.

PubMed

Noland, Robert B; Weiner, Marc D; Klein, Nicholas J; Puniello, Orin D

2017-04-01

We evaluated a training course called "Orientation to Transit Procurement", designed and conducted by the National Transit Institute. This course is designed to provide Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grantees an overview of regulations and best practices related to the procurement process. Our objective in conducting the evaluation was to understand how transit agency staff made changes in procurement practices in response to the course training. The evaluation was mixed mode: an Internet survey followed by in-depth interviews with a small group of respondents. Survey respondents were also provided with an open-ended question providing us with additional context for our evaluation. Results show that the training is substantially successful at meeting the goal of improving procurement practices at transit agencies; indeed, most respondents report making changes at their agencies as the proximate result of the training. This was at odds with our exploration of knowledge of procurement topics, as most respondents gave inaccurate answers on multiple-choice "knowledge questions". This may have been due to question structure or, more likely, the nature of online surveys. Suitable training on the procurement of information technology was also a main concern. The lack of training in this area is indicative of the broader challenge facing public transit agencies in how to incorporate new forms of technology into their existing practices and bureaucratic structures. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gender differences in recognition of toy faces suggest a contribution of experience.

PubMed

Ryan, Kaitlin F; Gauthier, Isabel

2016-12-01

When there is a gender effect, women perform better then men in face recognition tasks. Prior work has not documented a male advantage on a face recognition task, suggesting that women may outperform men at face recognition generally either due to evolutionary reasons or the influence of social roles. Here, we question the idea that women excel at all face recognition and provide a proof of concept based on a face category for which men outperform women. We developed a test of face learning to measures individual differences with face categories for which men and women may differ in experience, using the faces of Barbie dolls and of Transformers. The results show a crossover interaction between subject gender and category, where men outperform women with Transformers' faces. We demonstrate that men can outperform women with some categories of faces, suggesting that explanations for a general face recognition advantage for women are in fact not needed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Perceived trustworthiness of faces drives trust behaviour in children.

PubMed

Ewing, Louise; Caulfield, Frances; Read, Ainsley; Rhodes, Gillian

2015-03-01

Facial appearances can powerfully influence adults' trust behaviour, despite limited evidence that these cues constitute honest signals of trustworthiness. It is not clear, however, whether the same is also true for children. The current study investigated whether, like adults, 5-year-olds and 10-year-olds are more likely to place their trust in partners that look trustworthy than those that look untrustworthy. A second, closely related question was whether children also explicitly value the information from face cues when making trust decisions. We investigated these questions using Token Quest: an economic trust game that gave participants the opportunity to make investments with a series of partners who might (or might not) repay their trust with large returns. These interactions occurred under different conditions, including one in which participants were shown the face of each partner and another in which they could 'purchase' access to faces with a portion of their investment capital. Results indicated that, like adults, 10-year-old children selectively placed their trust in those partners they perceived as looking trustworthy and many were willing to 'pay' to purchase access to these face cues during the trust game. We observed a similar profile of trust behaviour in 5-year-olds, with no significant group difference in the impact of face cues on behaviour across the three age groups. Together, these findings indicate that the influence of face cues on trust behaviour emerges early, and highlight a capacity for sophisticated social cognition in young children. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Witnesses' memory for events and faces under elevated levels of intoxication.

PubMed

Altman, Christopher M; Schreiber Compo, Nadja; McQuiston, Dawn; Hagsand, Angelica V; Cervera, Jiselle

2018-08-01

Research on alcohol and witness memory has burgeoned over the last decade. However, most studies have tested participants at relatively low breath alcohol concentration (BAC) levels, unrepresentative of those encountered by officers in the field. To examine how higher intoxication levels might impair witness memory for events and faces, the current research tested participants' ability to recall a mock crime at elevated BAC levels (>.08%). The BAC levels of bar patrons (N = 138) were recorded before witnessing a video-taped mock crime. Participants were then interviewed using free recall and cued questions and shown a six-person target-present or target-absent lineup. Results show that alcohol negatively affected both the quantity and quality of recall. Regardless of question format, alcohol also reduced the percentage of accurate information elicited from witnesses; however, only cued questions increased the percentage of inaccurate information reported. Intoxication had no effect on identification accuracy. These findings suggest that the encoding and storage systems for faces and events may be impacted differently by alcohol. Our results also highlight the importance of including higher BAC levels when examining the effects of alcohol on witness memory.

UK-based prospective cohort study to anglicise and validate the FACE-Q Skin Cancer Module in patients with facial skin cancer undergoing surgical reconstruction: the PROMISCR (Patient-Reported Outcome Measure in Skin Cancer Reconstruction) study.

PubMed

Dobbs, Thomas; Hutchings, Hayley A; Whitaker, Iain S

2017-09-24

Skin cancer is the most common malignancy worldwide, often occurring on the face, where the cosmetic outcome of treatment is paramount. A number of skin cancer-specific patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) exist, however none adequately consider the difference in type of reconstruction from a patient's point of view. It is the aim of this study to 'anglicise' (to UK English) a recently developed US PROM for facial skin cancer (the FACE-Q Skin Cancer Module) and to validate this UK version of the PROM. The validation will also involve an assessment of the items for relevance to facial reconstruction patients. This will either validate this new measure for the use in clinical care and research of various facial reconstructive options, or provide evidence that a more specific PROM is required. This is a prospective validation study of the FACE-Q Skin Cancer Module in a UK facial skin cancer population with a specific focus on the difference between types of reconstruction. The face and content validity of the FACE-Q questionnaire will initially be assessed by a review process involving patients, skin cancer specialists and methodologists. An assessment of whether questions are relevant and any missing questions will be made. Initial validation will then be carried out by recruiting a cohort of 100 study participants with skin cancer of the face pre-operatively. All eligible patients will be invited to complete the questionnaire preoperatively and postoperatively. Psychometric analysis will be performed to test validity, reliability and responsiveness to change. Subgroup analysis will be performed on patients undergoing different forms of reconstruction postexcision of their skin cancer. This study has been approved by the West Midlands, Edgbaston Research Ethics Committee (Ref 16/WM/0445). All personal data collected will be anonymised and patient-specific data will only be reported in terms of group demographics. Identifiable data collected will include the patient name and date of birth. Other collected personal data will include their diagnosis, treatment performed, method of reconstruction and complications. A unique identifier will be applied to each patient so that pretreatment and post-treatment questionnaire results can be compared. All data acquisition and storage will be in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. Following completion of the study, all records will be stored in the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University (AMBU) Health Board archive facility. Only qualified personnel working on the project will have access to the data.The outputs from this work will be published as widely as possible in peer-review journals and it is our aim to make this open access. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Evaluation Responsibility and Leadership in the Face of Failing Democracies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKegg, Kate

2013-01-01

In a world faced with unprecedented rising levels of inequality and injustice, is there a responsibility for our evaluation organizations to take on a leadership role in promoting inclusive, evaluative dialog and deliberation about the state of our democracies in relation to key democratic principles and ideals? In this forum, I question whether…

Teacher Education and Posthumanism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howlett, Caitlin

2018-01-01

Education faces a tenuous future, straddling a growing divide between a no-longer-relevant past and an uncertain future, a future that calls into question the future of humanity altogether. In the face of such a future, posthumanism stands as a reminder that the divides we make in education are unstable, that things could and likely will be…

A Qualitative Examination of Community College Instructors' Strategies for Engaging Students with Physical Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kusek, Thomas A.

2017-01-01

Community colleges continually experience increasing enrollment of students with physical disabilities. This basic qualitative study implemented face-to-face interviews of 10 community college faculty members that have a variety of academic and disciplines and have assisted students with disabilities. Participants were asked questions developed…

Influence of Mentorship Experiences in the Development of Women Superintendents in Texas as Transformational Leaders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howard, Elaine; Msengi, Clementine; Harris, Sandra

2017-01-01

Ten women superintendents in Texas were interviewed for this phenomenological narrative study to understand their mentoring experiences framed within transformational leadership theory. The research used a guided protocol to conduct face-to-face interviews. In this study, authors sought to answer questions about the influence of mentorship…

Born Digital: Integrating Media Technology in the Political Science Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mancillas, Linda K.; Brusoe, Peter W.

2016-01-01

U.S. higher education institutions spend a large amount of time, money, and energy on technology. Educators face a student population that has never been without the Internet--they are "Born Digital." Students expect that faculty and universities utilize more technology. Higher education is faced with the question whether technology…

High-Tech College Counseling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoover, Eric

2012-01-01

In this digital age, teaching has transcended the classroom. So why should school walls confine college counseling? The question is driving innovation that could change the way students prepare for college and careers. Just as learning is now a hybrid of face-to-face and virtual interactions, the transmission of college know-how is fast becoming a…

Hybrid Health: An Analysis of a Foundations Curriculum Personal Health Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Signorelli, Johnny; Chaney, Beth; Aeby, Victor; Tavasso, Debra

2015-01-01

Hybrid courses are becoming increasingly common at the university level. With this type of course comes questions about the effectiveness of each method of instruction (face-to-face and online) when used concurrently. The available literature supports a hybrid format for many university subjects; however, research in this area with a personal…

A Wall of Faces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stevens, Lori

2008-01-01

Visitors to the campus of Orland High School (OHS) will never question that they have stepped into a world of the masses: kids, activity, personalities, busyness, and playfulness--a veritable cloud of mild bedlam. The wall of ceramic faces that greets a visitor in the school office is another reminder of the organized chaos that the teachers…

Risk in Schooling: The Contribution of Qualitative Research to Our Understanding of the Overrepresentation of Minorities in Special Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harry, Beth; Fenton, Patrice

2016-01-01

This article reviews 15 qualitative studies examining factors contributing to the overrepresentation of minorities in special education. Eleven studies constituted numerical surveys of practitioner perspectives, with additional questions that were analyzed qualitatively. Four studies relied on face-to-face interviews or qualitative surveys,…

Establishment Reality vs. Maintenance Reality: How Real Is Real Enough?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindsay, E. D.; Murray, S.; Liu, D. K.; Lowe, D. B.; Bright, C. G.

2009-01-01

Remote and virtual laboratories are increasingly prevalent alternatives to the face-to-face laboratory experience; however, the question of their learning outcomes is yet to be fully investigated. There are many presumptions regarding the effectiveness of these approaches; foremost amongst these assumptions is that the experience must be "real" to…

Electronic Survey Administration: Assessment in the Twenty-First Century

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olsen, Danny R.; Wygant, Steven A.; Brown, Bruce L.

2004-01-01

Recent advances in electronic data collection have opened broad new possibilities for educational assessment. Potentially significant savings in time, money, and effort make Web-based and e-mail-based surveys more and more attractive as alternatives to mail surveys and face-to-face interviews. Yet, as with any major change, questions and obstacles…

Animating Inquiry-Based Teaching in Grade-School Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kinash, Shelley

2007-01-01

This paper describes interpretive empirical research with five teachers who: a) articulate their pedagogy as defined by an inquiry-based stance, b) use digital technologies within their teaching, and c) engaged in online and/or face-to-face professional development with the Galileo Educational Network (GENA). Four questions guided the inquiry:…

Top Strategic Issues Facing HBCUs, Now and into the Future

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hodge-Clark, Kristen; Daniels, Brandon D.

2014-01-01

Created in a time of segregation and discrimination to educate students of color, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have played a pivotal role in transforming the landscape of higher education in the United States. Today, in an era of rapid transformation, HBCUs face historic challenges as well as new obstacles. Questions about…

The Difficulties That the Undergraduate Students Face about Inner Product Space

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burhanzade, Hülya; Aygör, Nilgün

2016-01-01

In this qualitative research, we studied difficulties that undergraduate students face while learning the concept of inner product space. Participants were 35 first-year mathematics students from Yildiz Technical University in the 2011 and 2012 academic years. We asked participants to solve 5 inner product space questions. Data were jointly…

Basic Training for Skill Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

B.T.S.D. Review, 1974

1974-01-01

Profound changes in our socioeconomic structure seem to question the relevance of both "institutional" as well as "open school" forms of education. The educator is faced with the challenge of selecting a model, combining models, or devising a new one. Dealing with these fundamental questions, 10 articles have been selected for their potential…

Handling Questions and Objections Affects Audience Judgments of Speakers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daly, John A.; Redlick, Madeleine H.

2016-01-01

Listeners evaluate well-delivered presentations more positively than those that are poorly delivered. In today's world, presenters often face challenging questions and objections from listeners during or after their presentations. Surprisingly, while there are a number of theoretical reasons to anticipate that how presenters respond to objections…

A New World Ahead: Are We Ready?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henderson, Greg M.; Provo, Joanne

2006-01-01

There is no question that organization development (OD) scholars and practitioners are confronted with new and increasingly complex challenges in helping their clients cope with a tidal wave of continuous change. The questions they face today focus on the impact of leadership, technology, globalization, and the new generations entering the…

Defined by Outcomes or Culture? Constructing an Organizational Identity for Hispanic-Serving Institutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garcia, Gina A.

2017-01-01

While Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) enroll at least 25% Latinx students, the perennial question facing HSIs is, "What does it mean for postsecondary institutions to be Latinx-serving"--essentially an organizational identity question. Guided by the extant literature on organizational identity, culture, and institutionalism and…

From the Field: Learning Leaders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weigel, Kathleen; Jones, Richard

2015-01-01

Leadership is essential to successful schools. One of the ways to support effective school leadership is to share ideas and best practices to address the common challenges faced by school leaders. This question and response format addresses common challenges and questions from practicing school leaders in the manner that a mentor might respond to…

Epistemology Shock: English Professors Confront Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barnard, Ian; Osborn, Jan

2017-01-01

This article raises questions and concerns regarding students from the sciences working with faculty in the humanities in interdisciplinary settings. It explores the experience of two English professors facing the privileging of "facts" and a science-based understanding of the world in their own classrooms. It poses both questions and…

Many Faces of Mexico.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruiz, Octavio Madigan; And Others

This resource book braids together the cultural, political and economic realities which together shape Mexican history. The guiding question for the book is that of: "What do we need to know about Mexico's past in order to understand its present and future?" To address the question, the interdisciplinary resource book addresses key…

Wada testing reveals frontal lateralization for the memorization of words and faces.

PubMed

Kelley, W M; Ojemann, J G; Wetzel, R D; Derdeyn, C P; Moran, C J; Cross, D T; Dowling, J L; Miller, J W; Petersen, S E

2002-01-01

Neuroimaging studies have suggested that specific regions of the frontal and medial temporal cortex are engaged during memory formation. Further, there is specialization across these regions such that verbal materials appear to preferentially engage the left regions while nonverbal materials primarily engage the right regions. An open question, however, has been to what extent frontal regions contribute to successful memory formation. The present study investigates this question using a reversible lesion technique known as the Wada test. Patients memorized words and unfamiliar faces while portions of their left and right hemispheres were temporarily anesthetized with sodium amytal. Subsequent memory tests revealed that faces were remembered better than words following left-hemisphere anesthesia, whereas words were remembered better than faces following right-hemisphere anesthesia. Importantly, inspection of the circulation affected by the amytal further suggests that these memory impairments did not result from direct anesthetization of the medial temporal regions. Taken in the context of the imaging findings, these results suggest that frontal regions may also contribute to memory formation in normal performance.

Using biomarkers to assess the validity of sexual behavior reporting across interview modes among young women in Kampala, Uganda

PubMed Central

Kelly, Christine A.; Hewett, Paul C.; Mensch, Barbara S.; Rankin, Johanna; Nsobya, Sam; Kalibala, Sam; Kakande, Pamela

2015-01-01

Understanding the transmission dynamics of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections is critically dependent on accurate behavioral data. This paper investigates the effect of questionnaire delivery mode on the quality of sexual behavior reporting in a survey conducted in Kampala in 2010 among 18–24 year old females using the women’s instrument of the 2006 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey. We compare the reported prevalence of five sexual outcomes across three interview modes: traditional face-to-face interview (FTFI) in which question rewording was permitted, FTFI administered via computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) in which questions were read as written, and audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI). We then assess the validity of the data by evaluating reporting of sexual experience against three biological markers. Results suggest that ACASI elicits higher reporting of some key indicators than face-to-face interviews, but self-reports from all interview methods were subject to validity concerns when compared with biomarker data. The paper highlights the important role biomarkers play in sexual behavior research. PMID:24615574

Face Memory: Implications for theories of binding items to context

PubMed Central

Reder, L. M.; Victoria, L. W.; Manelis, A.; Oates, J. M.; Dutcher, J. M.; Bates, J. T.; Cook, S.; Aizenstein, H. A.; Quinlan, J.; Gyulai, F.

2014-01-01

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that it is easier to bind a stimulus to context when the stimulus already has a stable (i.e., pre-existing) memory representation by comparing episodic memory of faces of celebrities vs. unknown individuals. Each face was superimposed on a picture of a well-known location (e.g., Eiffel Tower) during encoding and at a later unexpected recognition test but the background could change from encoding to test. Although recognition was to be based on the face, irrespective of background, performance was better when encoding context was reinstated. Further, a given background could be shown with many faces ("high fan") or only a few ("low fan") and this variable modulated the value added of context reinstatement. Importantly, manipulations of context only mattered for famous faces. As predicted, these effects were observed in recollection ("Remember") responses not in familiarity (“Know”) responses. Experiment 2 used the same design except that half of the subjects were administered midazolam, a drug that produces temporary anterograde amnesia, prior to encoding faces and backgrounds. Subjects injected with saline (control condition) showed the same pattern as Experiment 1; however subjects injected with midazolam showed a large decrease in the use of the "Remember" responses for famous faces and neither context reinstatement nor background fan affected performance. These results support the view that it is easier to bind stimuli to context when stimuli have a pre-existing, stable memory representation (e.g., faces of people whose identity we know) than when stimuli do not have pre-existing, stable memory representations. PMID:23395827

A visual processing advantage for young-adolescent deaf observers: Evidence from face and object matching tasks

PubMed Central

Megreya, Ahmed M.; Bindemann, Markus

2017-01-01

It is unresolved whether the permanent auditory deprivation that deaf people experience leads to the enhanced visual processing of faces. The current study explored this question with a matching task in which observers searched for a target face among a concurrent lineup of ten faces. This was compared with a control task in which the same stimuli were presented upside down, to disrupt typical face processing, and an object matching task. A sample of young-adolescent deaf observers performed with higher accuracy than hearing controls across all of these tasks. These results clarify previous findings and provide evidence for a general visual processing advantage in deaf observers rather than a face-specific effect. PMID:28117407

Implementation and Evaluation of the Safety Net Specialty Care Program in the Denver Metropolitan Area

PubMed Central

Fort, Meredith P; Namba, Lynnette M; Dutcher, Sarah; Copeland, Tracy; Bermingham, Neysa; Fellenz, Chris; Lantz, Deborah; Reusch, John J; Bayliss, Elizabeth A

2017-01-01

Objectives: In response to limited access to specialty care in safety-net settings, an integrated delivery system and three safety-net organizations in the Denver, CO, metropolitan area launched a unique program in 2013. The program offers safety-net providers the option to electronically consult with specialists. Uninsured patients may be seen by specialists in office visits for a defined set of services. This article describes the program, identifies aspects that have worked well and areas that need improvement, and offers lessons learned. Methods: We quantified electronic consultations (e-consults) between safety-net clinicians and specialists, and face-to-face specialist visits between May 2013 and December 2014. We reviewed and categorized all e-consults from November and December 2014. In 2015, we interviewed 21 safety-net clinicians and staff, 12 specialists, and 10 patients, and conducted a thematic analysis to determine factors facilitating and limiting optimal program use. Results: In the first 20 months of the program, safety-net clinicians at 23 clinics made 602 e-consults to specialists, and 81 patients received face-to-face specialist visits. Of 204 primary care clinicians, 103 made e-consults; 65 specialists participated in the program. Aspects facilitating program use were referral case managers’ involvement and the use of clear, concise questions in e-consults. Key recommendations for process improvement were to promote an understanding of the different health care contexts, support provider-to-provider communication, facilitate hand-offs between settings, and clarify program scope. Conclusion: Participants perceived the program as responsive to their needs, yet opportunities exist for continued uptake and expansion. Communitywide efforts to assess and address needs remain important. PMID:28241908

Faculty Development for Medical School Community-Based Faculty: A Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance Study Exploring Institutional Requirements and Challenges.

PubMed

Drowos, Joanna; Baker, Suzanne; Harrison, Suzanne Leonard; Minor, Suzanne; Chessman, Alexander W; Baker, Dennis

2017-08-01

Community-based faculty play a large role in training medical students nationwide and require faculty development. The authors hypothesized that positive relationships exist between clerkships paying preceptors and requiring faculty development, and between protected clerkship directors' time and delivering face-to-face preceptor training, as well as with the number or length of community-based preceptor visits. Through under standing the quantity, delivery methods, barriers, and institutional support for faculty development provided to community-based preceptors teaching in family medicine clerkships, best practices can be developed. Data from the 2015 Council of Academic Family Medicine's Educational Research Alliance survey of Family Medicine Clerkship Directors were analyzed. The cross-sectional survey of clerkship directors is distributed annually to institutional representatives of U.S. and Canadian accredited medical schools. Survey questions focused on the requirements, delivery methods, barriers, and institutional support available for providing faculty development to community-based preceptors. Paying community-based preceptors was positively correlated with requiring faculty development in family medicine clerkships. The greatest barrier to providing faculty development was community-based preceptor time availability; however, face-to-face methods remain the most common delivery strategy. Many family medicine clerkship directors perform informal or no needs assessment in developing faculty development topics for community-based faculty. Providing payment to community preceptors may allow schools to enhance faculty development program activities and effectiveness. Medical schools could benefit from constructing a formal curriculum for faculty development, including formal preceptor needs assessment and program evaluation. Clerkship directors may consider recruiting and retaining community-based faculty by employing innovative faculty development delivery methods.

Blending Synchronous Face-to-Face and Computer-Supported Cooperative Learning in a Hybrid Doctoral Seminar

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roseth, Cary; Akcaoglu, Mete; Zellner, Andrea

2013-01-01

Online education is often assumed to be synonymous with asynchronous instruction, existing apart from or supplementary to face-to-face instruction in traditional bricks-and-mortar classrooms. However, expanding access to computer-mediated communication technologies now make new models possible, including distance learners synchronous online…

Barriers and Benefits to Learning in Natural Environments: Towards a Reconceptualisation of the Possibilities for Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dillon, Justin

2013-06-01

Policies designed to increase public engagement with biodiversity advocate increased education across a range of educational contexts. Evidence of the benefits of learning in natural environments (LINE) continues to be amassed. LINE affords direct benefits as diverse as educational, health and psychological and indirect benefits ranging from social to financial. Research into the value of LINE has failed to address the full range of benefits. Instead, there has been a narrow focus on easily measurable outcomes and a desire to seek answers to simplistic questions such as "does LINE raise standards more than learning in the classroom?" An attempt is made to outline the full range of benefits which are available to all school students. The outcomes include: benefits to individual participants (knowledge and understanding; skills; attitudes and behaviours; health and well-being; self-efficacy and self-worth); benefits to teachers, schools and the wider community, and benefits to the natural environment sector. Several barriers exist to the effective delivery of LINE. These barriers can be grouped into those that challenge the natural environment sector and those that challenge schools. The challenges facing the sector include a lack of a coordinated effective approach to working with schools at a local level. The challenges facing schools include those frequently mentioned such as the risk of accidents, cost and curriculum pressures. However, another set of challenges exists, at local, institutional and personal levels. These challenges include teachers' confidence, self-efficacy and their access to training in using natural environments close to the school and further afield.

Barriers and Benefits to Learning in Natural Environments: Towards a Reconceptualisation of the Possibilities for Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dillon, Justin

2012-12-01

Policies designed to increase public engagement with biodiversity advocate increased education across a range of educational contexts. Evidence of the benefits of learning in natural environments (LINE) continues to be amassed. LINE affords direct benefits as diverse as educational, health and psychological and indirect benefits ranging from social to financial. Research into the value of LINE has failed to address the full range of benefits. Instead, there has been a narrow focus on easily measurable outcomes and a desire to seek answers to simplistic questions such as "does LINE raise standards more than learning in the classroom?" An attempt is made to outline the full range of benefits which are available to all school students. The outcomes include: benefits to individual participants (knowledge and understanding; skills; attitudes and behaviours; health and well-being; self-efficacy and self-worth); benefits to teachers, schools and the wider community, and benefits to the natural environment sector. Several barriers exist to the effective delivery of LINE. These barriers can be grouped into those that challenge the natural environment sector and those that challenge schools. The challenges facing the sector include a lack of a coordinated effective approach to working with schools at a local level. The challenges facing schools include those frequently mentioned such as the risk of accidents, cost and curriculum pressures. However, another set of challenges exists, at local, institutional and personal levels. These challenges include teachers' confidence, self-efficacy and their access to training in using natural environments close to the school and further afield.

Reflections on international medical law.

PubMed

Wattad, Mohammed S; Hrevtsova, Radmyla Yu

2011-12-01

Does international medical law exist, in the first place, as an independent area of study? If so, is it urgently required in an era of comparative studies? Namely, to what extent, if at all, international studies differ from comparative ones? Besides, what are the particular characteristics of such international discipline? Namely, what are the particular features of this field that elaborate on our legal and scientific understanding in sketching possible definition for this notion of "international medical law?" In addition, how does international medical law correlate with health, ethics and health policies in our globalized world? And finally, what are the challenges that might face the international community, once the concept of "international medical law" is acknowledged? This papers aims at establishing the conceptual grounds for these questions, thus calling for the acknowledgment of a new field of study described as "international medical law".

[Comparison between methods as polling booth survey and face-to-face interview in understanding the high-risk behavior among HIV-positive clients of female sex workers].

PubMed

Wu, Peili; Zhou, Chu; Zhou, Yang; Ren, Xianlong; Chen, Xi; Zhao, Junshi; Deng, Xiaojun; Rou, Keming; Wu, Zunyou

2015-04-01

Face-to-face interview (FTFI) and polling booth survey (PBS) were applied to compare the high risk behavior among HIV-positive clients of female sex workers (CFSWs). This study was conducted in antiretroviral therapy (ART) out-patients centers in Hengyang city, where clients who had been informed on their HIV-positive status for 6 months or longer were recruited. FTFI was first used to tackle on 8 sensitive questions related to sexual behavior, followed by PBS to poke on the same questions. Results from FTFI and PBS were then compared. Compared with FIFI, results in the PBS showed higher proportion of participants who reported "having had history of sexually transmitted diseases before knowing that they were infected with HIV" (40.6% vs. 24.2%) but lower proportions on "frequency of having sex with regular sexual partner less than 4 times per month" and "using condoms consistently with regular sexual partners in past 6 months (44.4% vs. 63.0%)". There were no significant differences in the remaining 5 questions shown in the results from the two methods. HIV-positive CFSWs continued to practice unsafe sexual behaviors after knowing their HIV related status. Compared with FTFI, PBS seemed to have revealed higher proportion of unsafe sex behaviors, so as to generated more reliable data. While comparing with PBS, the traditional FTFI might have underestimated the risk behaviors among those HIV-positive CFSWs.

Tourniquet use in orthopedic surgery: a descriptive survey study among Turkish orthopedic surgeons and residents in Istanbul.

PubMed

Yalçınkaya, Merter; Sökücü, Sami; Erdoğan, Sinan; Kabukçuoğlu, Yavuz S

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate and interpret the trends in tourniquet use and the accuracy of knowledge among Turkish orthopedic physicians through face-to-face survey. Turkish orthopedic physicians actively practicing operative orthopedics were questioned in a 12 question face-to-face survey. Personal information of physicians, preferred cuff pressure (CP) and tourniquet inflation time (TIT) and the source of the information for these preferences were questioned. Answers gathered were analyzed statistically. The survey was completed by 211 orthopedic physicians. Mean preferred CP and TIT was 247.1 mmHg and 108.6 minutes, respectively, in the upper limb (UL) and 345.02 mmHg and 122.4 minutes, respectively, in the lower limb (LL). A statistically significant correlation was found between the amount of pressure preferred in the LL and the years of practice; longer the years in practice, higher the amount of pressure preferred (r=0.144, p=0.04). Tourniquets were used for a maximum period of 120 minutes for the UL by 95.7% of participants and for the LL by 84.8%. The amount of CP used by the orthopedic physicians surveyed is inconsistent with the literature with frequent use of CP higher than those scientifically recommended. The outcomes of the survey should be cautionary for orthopedic physicians to review the current utilization and replace personal teachings and experience-based methods with evidence-based best practices for tourniquet application.

Nuclear DNA analyses in genetic studies of populations: practice, problems and prospects.

PubMed

Zhang, De-Xing; Hewitt, Godfrey M

2003-03-01

Population-genetic studies have been remarkably productive and successful in the last decade following the invention of PCR technology and the introduction of mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA markers. While mitochondrial DNA has proven powerful for genealogical and evolutionary studies of animal populations, and microsatellite sequences are the most revealing DNA markers available so far for inferring population structure and dynamics, they both have important and unavoidable limitations. To obtain a fuller picture of the history and evolutionary potential of populations, genealogical data from nuclear loci are essential, and the inclusion of other nuclear markers, i.e. single copy nuclear polymorphic (scnp) sequences, is clearly needed. Four major uncertainties for nuclear DNA analyses of populations have been facing us, i.e. the availability of scnp markers for carrying out such analysis, technical laboratory hurdles for resolving haplotypes, difficulty in data analysis because of recombination, low divergence levels and intraspecific multifurcation evolution, and the utility of scnp markers for addressing population-genetic questions. In this review, we discuss the availability of highly polymorphic single copy DNA in the nuclear genome, describe patterns and rate of evolution of nuclear sequences, summarize past empirical and theoretical efforts to recover and analyse data from scnp markers, and examine the difficulties, challenges and opportunities faced in such studies. We show that although challenges still exist, the above-mentioned obstacles are now being removed. Recent advances in technology and increases in statistical power provide the prospect of nuclear DNA analyses becoming routine practice, allowing allele-discriminating characterization of scnp loci and microsatellite loci. This certainly will increase our ability to address more complex questions, and thereby the sophistication of genetic analyses of populations.

Exploring the experiences and coping strategies of international medical students

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Few studies have addressed the challenges that international medical students face and there is a dearth of information on the behavioural strategies these students adopt to successfully progress through their academic program in the face of substantial difficulties of language barrier, curriculum overload, financial constraints and assessment tasks that require high proficiency in communication skills. Methods This study was designed primarily with the aim of enhancing understanding of the coping strategies, skill perceptions and knowledge of assessment expectations of international students as they progress through the third and fourth years of their medical degree at the School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Australia. Results Survey, focus group discussion and individual interviews revealed that language barriers, communication skills, cultural differences, financial burdens, heavy workloads and discriminatory bottlenecks were key factors that hindered their adaptation to the Australian culture. Quantitative analyses of their examination results showed that there were highly significant (p < 0.001) variations between student performances in multiple choice questions, short answer questions and objective structured clinical examinations (70.3%, 49.7% & 61.7% respectively), indicating existence of communication issues. Conclusions Despite the challenges, these students have adopted commendable coping strategies and progressed through the course largely due to their high sense of responsibility towards their family, their focus on the goal of graduating as medical doctors and their support networks. It was concluded that faculty needs to provide both academic and moral support to their international medical students at three major intervention points, namely point of entry, mid way through the course and at the end of the course to enhance their coping skills and academic progression. Finally, appropriate recommendations were made. PMID:21702988

Non-randomized response model for sensitive survey with noncompliance.

PubMed

Wu, Qin; Tang, Man-Lai

2016-12-01

Collecting representative data on sensitive issues has long been problematic and challenging in public health prevalence investigation (e.g. non-suicidal self-injury), medical research (e.g. drug habits), social issue studies (e.g. history of child abuse), and their interdisciplinary studies (e.g. premarital sexual intercourse). Alternative data collection techniques that can be adopted to study sensitive questions validly become more important and necessary. As an alternative to the famous Warner randomized response model, non-randomized response triangular model has recently been developed to encourage participants to provide truthful responses in surveys involving sensitive questions. Unfortunately, both randomized and non-randomized response models could underestimate the proportion of subjects with the sensitive characteristic as some respondents do not believe that these techniques can protect their anonymity. As a result, some authors hypothesized that lack of trust and noncompliance should be highest among those who have the most to lose and the least to use for the anonymity provided by using these techniques. Some researchers noticed the existence of noncompliance and proposed new models to measure noncompliance in order to get reliable information. However, all proposed methods were based on randomized response models which require randomizing devices, restrict the survey to only face-to-face interview and are lack of reproductivity. Taking the noncompliance into consideration, we introduce new non-randomized response techniques in which no covariate is required. Asymptotic properties of the proposed estimates for sensitive characteristic as well as noncompliance probabilities are developed. Our proposed techniques are empirically shown to yield accurate estimates for both sensitive and noncompliance probabilities. A real example about premarital sex among university students is used to demonstrate our methodologies. © The Author(s) 2014.

Integration and Development in Schizotypy Research: An Introduction to the Special Supplement

PubMed Central

Debbané, Martin; Mohr, Christine

2015-01-01

In its fifth decade of existence, the construct of schizotypy is recapturing the early scientific interest it attracted when Paul E. Meehl (1920–2003), who coined the term, pioneered the field of schizotypy research. The International Lemanic Workshop on Schizotypy, hosted at the University of Geneva in December 2013, recently offered an opportunity to address some of the fundamental questions in contemporary schizotypy research and situate the construct in the greater scheme of future scientific projects on schizophrenia and psychological health research. What kind of knowledge has schizotypy research provided in furthering our understanding of schizophrenia? What types of questions can schizotypy research tackle, and which are the conceptual and methodological frameworks to address them? How will schizotypy research contribute to future scientific endeavors? The International Lemanic Workshop brought together leading experts in the field around the tasks of articulating the essential findings in schizotypy research, as well as providing some key insights and guidance to face scientific challenges of the future. The current supplement contains 8 position articles, 4 research articles, and 1 invited commentary that outline the state of the art in schizotypy research today. PMID:25810053

Current status and evolving role of abuse-deterrent opioids in managing patients with chronic pain.

PubMed

Webster, Lynn; St Marie, Barbara; McCarberg, Bill; Passik, Steven D; Panchal, Sunil J; Voth, Eric

2011-01-01

Opioids are widely used for the treatment of patients with chronic pain; yet, the increase in their abuse, misuse, and diversion is an ongoing focus of regulatory, governmental, and legal scrutiny. As a consequence, clinicians are faced with numerous challenges in an effort to use opioids in appropriate patients with pain while minimizing the potential for opioid abuse, misuse, and diversion. Policies and programs such as state prescription monitoring programs, which have been in existence for decades, are but one attempt to address some of the issues regarding the prescribing of opioids. Another is a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy for opioids under consideration by the US Food and Drug Administration. At the clinical level, a universal precautions and risk management package that includes risk assessment and patient monitoring is a recommended approach. This approach can also include the use of abuse-deterrent and abuse-resistant formulations designed to reduce the nonmedical use of opioids. Several of these opioid formulations have been approved or should soon be on the market for use in the United States; however, their role and other questions regarding their use remain unanswered. The authors offer their clinical perspective on several of these key questions.

California legislator cites many ways states can alleviate energy crunch. [Functions of state energy commissions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

In this interview, Charles Warren, chairman of a committee on resources, land use, and energy in the California State Assembly, answers several questions relating to the functions and effectiveness of state governments in energy-related problems. For California, in particular, he points to the fairly recently established Energy Resources, Conservation, and Development Commission and its past activities in electric power forecasting and energy conservation, the latter particularly for the building sector. In the future, possibly the biggest problem facing the Commission will be establishing a mechanism for California's handling of Alaskan crude and, probably, liquefied natural gas; e.g., if deep-water portsmore » are necessary, it would probably be desirable to have one port available to all companies bringing crude to California, instead of each company building its own port. Answers are provided to other questions regarding: (1) cooperation among states; (2) organization of the Commission and the acceptance of its actions, both by Gov. Brown and the people; (3) Commission's existence enhancing California's chances of federal R and D funds; (4) relationship with California's university system; and (5) California's nuclear initiative. (LMT)« less

Hyperspectral face recognition with spatiospectral information fusion and PLS regression.

PubMed

Uzair, Muhammad; Mahmood, Arif; Mian, Ajmal

2015-03-01

Hyperspectral imaging offers new opportunities for face recognition via improved discrimination along the spectral dimension. However, it poses new challenges, including low signal-to-noise ratio, interband misalignment, and high data dimensionality. Due to these challenges, the literature on hyperspectral face recognition is not only sparse but is limited to ad hoc dimensionality reduction techniques and lacks comprehensive evaluation. We propose a hyperspectral face recognition algorithm using a spatiospectral covariance for band fusion and partial least square regression for classification. Moreover, we extend 13 existing face recognition techniques, for the first time, to perform hyperspectral face recognition.We formulate hyperspectral face recognition as an image-set classification problem and evaluate the performance of seven state-of-the-art image-set classification techniques. We also test six state-of-the-art grayscale and RGB (color) face recognition algorithms after applying fusion techniques on hyperspectral images. Comparison with the 13 extended and five existing hyperspectral face recognition techniques on three standard data sets show that the proposed algorithm outperforms all by a significant margin. Finally, we perform band selection experiments to find the most discriminative bands in the visible and near infrared response spectrum.

[Comparative studies of face recognition].

PubMed

Kawai, Nobuyuki

2012-07-01

Every human being is proficient in face recognition. However, the reason for and the manner in which humans have attained such an ability remain unknown. These questions can be best answered-through comparative studies of face recognition in non-human animals. Studies in both primates and non-primates show that not only primates, but also non-primates possess the ability to extract information from their conspecifics and from human experimenters. Neural specialization for face recognition is shared with mammals in distant taxa, suggesting that face recognition evolved earlier than the emergence of mammals. A recent study indicated that a social insect, the golden paper wasp, can distinguish their conspecific faces, whereas a closely related species, which has a less complex social lifestyle with just one queen ruling a nest of underlings, did not show strong face recognition for their conspecifics. Social complexity and the need to differentiate between one another likely led humans to evolve their face recognition abilities.

Face recognition in newly hatched chicks at the onset of vision.

PubMed

Wood, Samantha M W; Wood, Justin N

2015-04-01

How does face recognition emerge in the newborn brain? To address this question, we used an automated controlled-rearing method with a newborn animal model: the domestic chick (Gallus gallus). This automated method allowed us to examine chicks' face recognition abilities at the onset of both face experience and object experience. In the first week of life, newly hatched chicks were raised in controlled-rearing chambers that contained no objects other than a single virtual human face. In the second week of life, we used an automated forced-choice testing procedure to examine whether chicks could distinguish that familiar face from a variety of unfamiliar faces. Chicks successfully distinguished the familiar face from most of the unfamiliar faces-for example, chicks were sensitive to changes in the face's age, gender, and orientation (upright vs. inverted). Thus, chicks can build an accurate representation of the first face they see in their life. These results show that the initial state of face recognition is surprisingly powerful: Newborn visual systems can begin encoding and recognizing faces at the onset of vision. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

The Making of the Principal: Five Lessons in Leadership Training. Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitgang, Lee

2012-01-01

States and districts facing pressure to have all children meet high standards have been paying overdue attention to improving school leadership as a way to advance instruction and drive needed changes throughout schools. What will it take to ensure that "all" public schools have leaders equal to the challenges facing them? That question has placed…

Using Clickers for Deliberate Practice in Five Large Science Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hodges, Linda C.; Anderson, Eric C.; Carpenter, Tara S.; Cui, Lili; Feeser, Elizabeth A.; Gierasch, Tiffany Malinky

2017-01-01

Clickers are often used as an active learning tool in face-to-face classes to enhance student engagement and assess student learning. In this article we share the variety of ways that we use clicker questions to promote deliberate practice in large science courses. Deliberate practice is the use of specifically structured exercises that develop…

How the Visual Rhetoric of Online Discussions Enables and Constrains Students' Participation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sherry, Michael B.

2017-01-01

Whole-class discussions, in which students share and refine ideas with others, can now take place in online forums. In face-to-face classrooms, previous research has identified conversational techniques, such as open-ended questions and uptake of what others have said, that can promote dialogic, whole-class discussions. However, few studies have…

Teaching "The Reckoning": Understanding the International Criminal Court. A Facing History and Ourselves Study Guide

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kanner, Elisabeth Fieldstone

2010-01-01

Facing History and Ourselves has developed "Teaching The Reckoning" to help classrooms explore essential questions about judgment by studying the creation of the International Criminal Court. Ever since the Nuremberg Trials, individuals around the world have imagined how an international judicial body could be used to prevent genocide,…

Youth Civic Engagement: An Institutional Turn. Circle Working Paper 45

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levine, Peter, Ed.; Youniss, James

2006-01-01

The papers in this collection were written by an interdisciplinary group to address two main questions: What conditions deter young 'involvement in politics and civic life? What reforms could enhance youth engagement? Most of the contributors met face-to-face in Washington, DC in March 2005 to discuss their papers and the general issue of youth…

Challenges Facing Canadian Federal Offenders Newly Released to the Community: A Concept Map

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Jason D.

2004-01-01

The purpose of the study was to describe the needs of newly released Canadian federal offenders as perceived by community parole supervisors. Seventy-four Canadian parole supervisors were asked to answer the following question: "What challenges do parolees face in the first 90 days after release?" The data were analyzed using…

Managing Digital Identity on Twitter: The Case of School Administrators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cho, Vincent; Jimerson, Jo Beth

2017-01-01

What does it mean to be and to act like a school leader online? Although many school leaders might be comfortable navigating issues of identity in face-to-face environments, online environments may present new and unprecedented challenges. These challenges may range from concerns about privacy and surveillance to questions about how best to…

Issues Facing Urban Agriscience Teachers: A Delphi Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warner, Wendy J.; Washburn, Shannon G.

2009-01-01

This national study used the Delphi technique to identify the issues facing urban agriscience teachers. The first round of the study used a questionnaire with one open-ended question to generate responses from the expert panel. In the second round, respondents were asked to rate their level of agreement with 72 issues identified in round one using…

Language and Cultural Challenges Facing Business Faculty in the Ever-Expanding Global Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vogel, Glen M.

2013-01-01

More than 690,000 foreign students studied in the United States during the 2009-10 academic year. As non-native English-speaking students continue to pour into American educational institutions, one question many educators have is: are these international students adequately prepared for the language and cultural demands they will face when they…

Reflections on Building and Teaching an Undergraduate Strategic Management Course in a Blended Format

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ross, Douglas N.; Rosenbloom, Al

2011-01-01

This article is a personal reflection on the challenges, frustrations, and rewards of transforming a traditional face-to-face strategic management course into a blended format. The article describes both the discovery process that leads to a significantly redesigned course and the distillation of that experience into six core questions that can…

Impact of the Digital Divide on Computer Use and Internet Access on the Poor in Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tayo, Omolara; Thompson, Randall; Thompson, Elizabeth

2016-01-01

We recruited 20 community members in Ido Local Government Area, Oyo state and Yewa Local Government Area, Ogun state in Nigeria to explore experiences and perceptions of Internet access and computer use. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using open-ended questions to collect qualitative data regarding accessibility of information and…

Blackboard as an Online Learning Environment: What Do Teacher Education Students and Staff Think?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heirdsfield, Ann; Walker, Susan; Tambyah, Mallihai; Beutel, Denise

2011-01-01

As online learning environments now have an established presence in higher education we need to ask the question: How effective are these environments for student learning? Online environments can provide a different type of learning experience than traditional face-to-face contexts (for on-campus students) or print-based materials (for distance…

Effects of Online Testing on Student Exam Performance and Test Anxiety

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stowell, Jeffrey R.; Bennett, Dan

2010-01-01

Increased use of course management software to administer course exams online for face-to-face classes raises the question of how well test anxiety and other emotions generalize from the classroom to an online setting. We hypothesized that administering regular course exams in an online format would reduce test anxiety experienced at the time of…

The Use of Face-to-Face and Out-of-Classroom Technology in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hollowell, Meghan Yancy

2010-01-01

National standards and funds have helped ensure that technology access is no longer as problematic as it once was in education, but some questions remain about how effectively educational technologies are being utilized prepare students with 21st century skills that include higher-order thinking skills. For this reason, scholars have emphasized…

Faces in Context: Does Face Perception Depend on the Orientation of the Visual Scene?

PubMed

Taubert, Jessica; van Golde, Celine; Verstraten, Frans A J

2016-10-01

The mechanisms held responsible for familiar face recognition are thought to be orientation dependent; inverted faces are more difficult to recognize than their upright counterparts. Although this effect of inversion has been investigated extensively, researchers have typically sliced faces from photographs and presented them in isolation. As such, it is not known whether the perceived orientation of a face is inherited from the visual scene in which it appears. Here, we address this question by measuring performance in a simultaneous same-different task while manipulating both the orientation of the faces and the scene. We found that the face inversion effect survived scene inversion. Nonetheless, an improvement in performance when the scene was upside down suggests that sensitivity to identity increased when the faces were more easily segmented from the scene. Thus, while these data identify congruency with the visual environment as a contributing factor in recognition performance, they imply different mechanisms operate on upright and inverted faces. © The Author(s) 2016.

Employee Reactions to Merit Pay: Cognitive Approach and Social Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Yingchun

2010-01-01

The dissertation aims to tackle one of the most pressing questions facing the merit pay system researchers and practitioners: Why do merit pay raises have such a small effect on employees' satisfaction, commitment and job performance? My approach to the study of this question is to develop explanatory frameworks from two perspectives: cognitive…

Equity from a Large City Director's Perspective. Research and Development Series No. 214P.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell-Thrane, Lucille

Equity in vocational education cannot be addressed until the question of urban cultural pluralism has been fully analyzed. This question involves problems of minorities, the disadvantaged, and those with limited English proficiency. Barriers facing urban youths enrolling in vocational education include close-knit ethnic pockets attempting to…

TIAA-CREF and the Sex-Based Mortality Table Controversy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tytel, Judith E.

1980-01-01

Various federal agencies and the courts are facing questions about the legality and potential discrimination in sex-segregated mortality tables and discrepancies in retirement and insurance benefits. By using unisex mortality tables, TIAA-CREF is an unwilling pioneer in the insurance industry, but the tables' ultimate form remains in question.…

Questions and Answers about RTI: A Guide to Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moran, Heather; Petruzzelli, Anthony

2011-01-01

As Response-to-Intervention (RTI) models continue to attract a great deal of attention, school and district leaders need to understand the structures needed, the personnel required, the challenges faced, and rewards realized from RTI. "Questions and Answers About RTI: A Guide to Success" is designed to guide a school or district through the…

Optimal Weighting for Exam Composition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ganzfried, Sam; Yusuf, Farzana

2018-01-01

A problem faced by many instructors is that of designing exams that accurately assess the abilities of the students. Typically, these exams are prepared several days in advance, and generic question scores are used based on rough approximation of the question difficulty and length. For example, for a recent class taught by the author, there were…

School Counselors and Social Justice Advocacy for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bidell, Markus P.

2011-01-01

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) students often face considerable isolation, discrimination, and violence at school, which can exacerbate the acute psychosocial and academic problems they already encounter. The purpose of this article is to introduce gay-straight alliances (GSAs) as a social justice and advocacy approach…

Being Mindful about the Use of Mindfulness in Clinical Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dimidjian, Sona; Kleiber, Blair

2013-01-01

Over the last 10 years, interest in the use and investigation of mindfulness-based interventions in clinical settings has expanded greatly. This commentary addresses key questions facing clinicians and researchers in order to undertake future work with rigor and care. We consider, in particular, questions regarding the definition of mindfulness,…

Judicious Discipline: Citizenship Values as a Framework for Moral Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McEwan, Barbara

When teaching moral education, the ethical dilemma often faced by educators revolves around the question of whose morals should be taught. Judicious Discipline, a constitutional model for classroom management, proposes to answer this question by offering educators the opportunity to teach the moral standards of the U.S. democratic system of…

Student Learning Outcomes and Pedagogy in Online and Face-to-Face College English Composition: A Mixed Methods Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Montagne, Lisa

2012-01-01

This mixed methods study combined quantitative statistics and qualitative inquiry to determine if any differences exist between how students in face-to-face and online college English composition courses performed on and demonstrated knowledge of the California state curriculum standards, and to explore the online learning environment in this…

ERP profiles for face and word recognition are based on their status in semantic memory not their stimulus category.

PubMed

Nie, Aiqing; Griffin, Michael; Keinath, Alexander; Walsh, Matthew; Dittmann, Andrea; Reder, Lynne

2014-04-04

Previous research has suggested that faces and words are processed and remembered differently as reflected by different ERP patterns for the two types of stimuli. Specifically, face stimuli produced greater late positive deflections for old items in anterior compared to posterior regions, while word stimuli produced greater late positive deflections in posterior compared to anterior regions. Given that words have existing representations in subjects׳ long-term memories (LTM) and that face stimuli used in prior experiments were of unknown individuals, we conducted an ERP study that crossed face and letter stimuli with the presence or absence of a prior (stable or existing) memory representation. During encoding, subjects judged whether stimuli were known (famous face or real word) or not known (unknown person or pseudo-word). A surprise recognition memory test required subjects to distinguish between stimuli that appeared during the encoding phase and stimuli that did not. ERP results were consistent with previous research when comparing unknown faces and words; however, the late ERP pattern for famous faces was more similar to that for words than for unknown faces. This suggests that the critical ERP difference is mediated by whether there is a prior representation in LTM, and not whether the stimulus involves letters or faces. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Does virtual intimacy exist? A brief exploration into reported levels of intimacy in online relationships.

PubMed

Scott, Veronica M; Mottarella, Karen E; Lavooy, Maria J

2006-12-01

This study examined the levels of intimacy reported by individuals in face-to-face and computer-mediated (or "virtual") romantic relationships. As suggested by the media and promised by online dating services, some degree of intimacy was reported in computer-mediated relationships, but stronger intimacy was reported in all participants' face-to-face relationships. Results also indicated that individuals who had online, virtual relationships reported less intimacy in their own face-to-face relationships compared to individuals who had engaged exclusively in face-to-face relationships, suggesting that people may turn to virtual relating after challenges in their face-to-face experiences.

Determining Water Quality Trends in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Watershed in the Face of Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kynett, K.; Azimi-Gaylon, S.; Doidic, C.

2014-12-01

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Suisun Marsh (Delta) is the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas and is a resource of local, State, and national significance. The Delta is simultaneously the most critical component of California's water supply, a primary focus of the state's ecological conservation measures, and a vital resource deeply imperiled by degraded water quality. Delta waterbodies are identified as impaired by salinity, excess nutrients, low dissolved oxygen, pathogens, pesticides, heavy metals, and other contaminants. Climate change is expected to exacerbate the impacts of existing stressors in the Delta and magnify the challenges of managing this natural resource. A clear understanding of the current state of the watershed is needed to better inform scientists, decision makers, and the public about potential impacts from climate change. The Delta Watershed Initiative Network (Delta WIN) leverages the ecological benefits of healthy watersheds, and enhances, expands and creates opportunities for greater watershed health by coordinating with agencies, established programs, and local organizations. At this critical junction, Delta WIN is coordinating data integration and analysis to develop better understanding of the existing and emerging water quality concerns. As first steps, Delta WIN is integrating existing water quality data, analyzing trends, and monitoring to fill data gaps and to evaluate indicators of climate change impacts. Available data will be used for trend analysis; Delta WIN will continue to monitor where data is incomplete and new questions arise. Understanding how climate change conditions may affect water quality will be used to inform efforts to build resilience and maintain water quality levels which sustain aquatic life and human needs. Assessments of historical and new data will aid in recognition of potential climate change impacts and in initiating implementation of best management practices in collaboration with State and local agencies. Ultimately, Delta WIN can inform responsive science and adaptive management in other estuaries and critical natural resource areas facing times of change.

16 CFR 300.26 - Pile fabrics and products composed thereof.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... the face or pile and of the back or base, with the percentages of the respective fibers as they exist in the face or pile and in the back or base: Provided, That in such disclosure the respective percentages of the face and the back be given in such manner as will show the ratio between the face and the...

16 CFR 300.26 - Pile fabrics and products composed thereof.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... the face or pile and of the back or base, with the percentages of the respective fibers as they exist in the face or pile and in the back or base: Provided, That in such disclosure the respective percentages of the face and the back be given in such manner as will show the ratio between the face and the...

16 CFR 300.26 - Pile fabrics and products composed thereof.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... the face or pile and of the back or base, with the percentages of the respective fibers as they exist in the face or pile and in the back or base: Provided, That in such disclosure the respective percentages of the face and the back be given in such manner as will show the ratio between the face and the...

Face lift.

PubMed

Warren, Richard J; Aston, Sherrell J; Mendelson, Bryan C

2011-12-01

After reading this article, the participant should be able to: 1. Identify and describe the anatomy of and changes to the aging face, including changes in bone mass and structure and changes to the skin, tissue, and muscles. 2. Assess each individual's unique anatomy before embarking on face-lift surgery and incorporate various surgical techniques, including fat grafting and other corrective procedures in addition to shifting existing fat to a higher position on the face, into discussions with patients. 3. Identify risk factors and potential complications in prospective patients. 4. Describe the benefits and risks of various techniques. The ability to surgically rejuvenate the aging face has progressed in parallel with plastic surgeons' understanding of facial anatomy. In turn, a more clear explanation now exists for the visible changes seen in the aging face. This article and its associated video content review the current understanding of facial anatomy as it relates to facial aging. The standard face-lift techniques are explained and their various features, both good and bad, are reviewed. The objective is for surgeons to make a better aesthetic diagnosis before embarking on face-lift surgery, and to have the ability to use the appropriate technique depending on the clinical situation.

Face identity recognition in autism spectrum disorders: a review of behavioral studies.

PubMed

Weigelt, Sarah; Koldewyn, Kami; Kanwisher, Nancy

2012-03-01

Face recognition--the ability to recognize a person from their facial appearance--is essential for normal social interaction. Face recognition deficits have been implicated in the most common disorder of social interaction: autism. Here we ask: is face identity recognition in fact impaired in people with autism? Reviewing behavioral studies we find no strong evidence for a qualitative difference in how facial identity is processed between those with and without autism: markers of typical face identity recognition, such as the face inversion effect, seem to be present in people with autism. However, quantitatively--i.e., how well facial identity is remembered or discriminated--people with autism perform worse than typical individuals. This impairment is particularly clear in face memory and in face perception tasks in which a delay intervenes between sample and test, and less so in tasks with no memory demand. Although some evidence suggests that this deficit may be specific to faces, further evidence on this question is necessary. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Online versus Live Delivery of Education to Pharmacists in a Large Multicentre Health Region: A Non-inferiority Assessment of Learning Outcomes.

PubMed

Taylor, Robert; Jung, Joanne; Loewen, Peter; Spencer, Carrie; Dossa, Anar; de Lemos, Jane

2013-07-01

The prevalence of online modules for continuing education in the health professions has been increasing in recent years. However, the effectiveness of online modules for pharmacist learning has not been thoroughly studied. The primary aim of this study was to determine if providing education to pharmacists through a self-paced enhanced online module was non-inferior to a face-to-face learning module with respect to knowledge application on the topic of postoperative insulin dosing. Secondary aims were to determine pharmacists' knowledge gain and retention, as well as their satisfaction with the modules. The participants in this prospective, randomized, parallel-group non-inferiority trial were pharmacists in a large multicentre health region. Outcomes were measured by comparing scores obtained on pre- and post-module knowledge-assessment questionnaires. A between-group difference in change on knowledge application scores of less than 25 percentage points was the predetermined non-inferiority margin. A total of 74 pharmacists consented to participate, 38 randomly assigned to use the enhanced online module and 36 to attend the face-to-face learning session. For questions examining knowledge application, the mean improvement achieved by the online learning group was 26 percentage points greater than that achieved by the face-to-face learning group (95% confidence interval [CI] 25 to 27; p < 0.001). For questions testing knowledge gain, the improvement achieved by the online learning group was 7 percentage points less than that achieved by the face-to-face learning group (95% CI 2 to 12; p = 0.008). Therefore, the enhanced online module was deemed to be non-inferior to the face-to-face learning session in terms of knowledge application and knowledge gain. Insufficient data were available to analyze the secondary outcome of knowledge retention over time. Participant satisfaction was similar for the 2 groups (p = 0.62). The self-paced enhanced online module was non-inferior to facilitated face-to-face learning in terms of improving application and knowledge of insulin dosing. Pharmacists had similar levels of satisfaction with the 2 modes of learning.

To Hybrid or Not to Hybrid, that Is the Question! Incorporating VoiceThread Technology into a Traditional Communication Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pecot-Hebert, Lisa

2012-01-01

A hybrid course, which combines the face-to-face interactions of a traditional course with the flexibility of an online course, provides an alternative option for educating students in a new media environment. While educators often interact with their students through various electronic learning management systems that are set up within the…

The Psychology of the Affirmed Learner: Spontaneous Self-Affirmation in the Face of Stress

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brady, Shannon T.; Reeves, Stephanie L.; Garcia, Julio; Purdie-Vaughns, Valerie; Cook, Jonathan E.; Taborsky-Barba, Suzanne; Tomasetti, Sarah; Davis, Eden M.; Cohen, Geoffrey L.

2016-01-01

A key question about achievement motivation is how to maintain it over time and in the face of stress and adversity. The present research examines how a motivational process triggered by a social-psychological intervention propagates benefits over a long period of time and creates an enduring shift in the way people interpret subsequent adversity.…

Resilience in the Midst of the Storm

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patteron, Jerry F.; Kelleher, Paul

2007-01-01

Resilience is a trait that can help school leaders use their energy wisely when faced with adversity. But why do some leaders emerge from adversity with a balance in their account and others with a deficit? To explore this question, the authors conducted a case study with a single focus: "How do resilient school leaders move ahead in the face of…

Managing the Legal Proceedings: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Sexually Abused Children's Experience with the Legal Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Back, Christina; Gustafsson, Per A.; Larsson, IngBeth; Bertero, Carina

2011-01-01

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe how sexually abused children experience the legal process, a process that includes being questioned by the police during the preliminary investigation and by lawyers and the prosecutor in the courtroom, and meeting other professionals from various agencies. Method: Face-to-face in-depth interviews…

Intended and Unintended Consequences of Student Use of an Online Questioning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ng'ambi, Dick; Brown, Irwin

2009-01-01

While supplementation of face-to-face (F2F) teaching with online engagement is increasingly common, the educators' challenge of teaching F2F personalities and facilitating online personalities has not been widely explored. In this paper, we report on a project in which 1st-year students attended F2F sessions and engaged with an anonymous online…

Lecturers' Perception of Constraints Facing the Teaching of Entrepreneurship Education in Colleges of Education in South South Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Okoro, James

2015-01-01

The study investigated the constraints facing the teaching of entrepreneurship education in colleges of education in South South Nigeria. A research question was raised and three hypotheses were formulated for the study. A descriptive survey design was used for the study. The population which also served as sample comprised 206 Business Education…

The Vermont Survey of Employer Receptivity to Wage Subsidy Programs in the Private Sector.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cashman, John R.; Mattson, Robert E.

The Vermont study details employer responses to a two-phase survey designed to gauge employer receptivity to the use of wage subsidies in the private sector. The "mail survey" obtained from a sample of 1,084 employers (of whom 71% responded) elicited responses to a limited number of questions, while the "face-to-face survey"…

Facing Substance Abuse: Discussion-Starting Skits for Teenagers. Acting It Out Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pike, William R.

This text attempts to "put a face" on the statistics surrounding drug abuse. It presents real problems, real people, and real dilemmas through the use of plays or skits that tell the story of substance abuse. It attempts to challenge readers--both teachers and students--with hard questions and asks them to look at their own behaviors and to…

Spontaneous Gender Categorization in Masking and Priming Studies: Key for Distinguishing Jane from John Doe but Not Madonna from Sinatra

PubMed Central

Habibi, Ruth; Khurana, Beena

2012-01-01

Facial recognition is key to social interaction, however with unfamiliar faces only generic information, in the form of facial stereotypes such as gender and age is available. Therefore is generic information more prominent in unfamiliar versus familiar face processing? In order to address the question we tapped into two relatively disparate stages of face processing. At the early stages of encoding, we employed perceptual masking to reveal that only perception of unfamiliar face targets is affected by the gender of the facial masks. At the semantic end; using a priming paradigm, we found that while to-be-ignored unfamiliar faces prime lexical decisions to gender congruent stereotypic words, familiar faces do not. Our findings indicate that gender is a more salient dimension in unfamiliar relative to familiar face processing, both in early perceptual stages as well as later semantic stages of person construal. PMID:22389697

Validation of the adherence questionnaire for Brazilian chronic kidney disease patients under hemodialysis.

PubMed

Lins, Silvia Maria de Sá Basilio; Leite, Josete Luzia; Godoy, Simone de; Fuly, Patrícia Dos Santos Claro; Araújo, Silvia Teresa Carvalho de; Silva, Ítalo Rodolfo

2017-01-01

To validate the evaluation questionnaire on adherence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients under hemodialysis. We verified the following psychometric properties of the instrument: reliability (stability and internal consistency) and validity (face, content, and construct). The intraclass correlation coefficient reached a value of 0.98 for the adherence questions and 0.91 for the perception questions. Regarding the kappa of the 14 questions examined, 12 had a value > 0.8, whereas the Cronbach's alpha had a value of 0.57. Experts ensured the face and content validity of the instrument, giving it an overall content validity index of 0.96. Construct validity, analyzed by Mann-Whitney test, was achieved as all domains showed a significant association with p<0.01. We verified, by the presented results, that the instrument has been validated for use in Brazil. Validar o questionário de avaliação sobre a adesão do portador de doença renal crônica em hemodiálise. Foram verificadas as seguintes propriedades psicométricas do instrumento: confiabilidade (estabilidade e consistência interna) e validade (de face, de conteúdo e de construto). O coeficiente de correlação intraclasse atingiu valor de 0,98 para as questões de adesão e 0,91 para as questões de percepção. Quanto ao kappa das 14 questões analisadas, 12 obtiveram um valor > 0,8. Já o alfa de Cronbach obteve valor de 0,57. Os especialistas asseguraram a validade de face e de conteúdo do instrumento, conferindo-lhe um índice de validade de conteúdo global de 0,96. A validade de construto, analisada por meio do teste de Mann-Whitney, foi alcançada na medida em que todos os domínios apresentaram uma associação significativa com p < 0,01. Verifica-se, pelos resultados apresentados, que o instrumento foi validado para uso no Brasil.

Contrasting Specializations for Facial Motion Within the Macaque Face-Processing System

PubMed Central

Fisher, Clark; Freiwald, Winrich A.

2014-01-01

SUMMARY Facial motion transmits rich and ethologically vital information [1, 2], but how the brain interprets this complex signal is poorly understood. Facial form is analyzed by anatomically distinct face patches in the macaque brain [3, 4], and facial motion activates these patches and surrounding areas [5, 6]. Yet it is not known whether facial motion is processed by its own distinct and specialized neural machinery, and if so, what that machinery’s organization might be. To address these questions, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor the brain activity of macaque monkeys while they viewed low- and high-level motion and form stimuli. We found that, beyond classical motion areas and the known face patch system, moving faces recruited a heretofore-unrecognized face patch. Although all face patches displayed distinctive selectivity for face motion over object motion, only two face patches preferred naturally moving faces, while three others preferred randomized, rapidly varying sequences of facial form. This functional divide was anatomically specific, segregating dorsal from ventral face patches, thereby revealing a new organizational principle of the macaque face-processing system. PMID:25578903

Do Facilitated Online Dual Credit Classes Result in Deep Learning?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stark Education Partnership, 2015

2015-01-01

This study, with funding from the Jennings Foundation, sought to answer the following broad research question: Do facilitated online dual credit courses result in deep learning? The answer to this question is key to addressing barriers many students face in bridging from high school to college. This report includes a descriptive case study that…

Making Schools Safer and Healthier for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Questioning Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benton, Jeremy

2003-01-01

This article describes some of the special health and safety concerns that many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning youth face in schools. Among these problems are increased drug and alcohol use, sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy risks, depression and suicidality, and increased likelihood of being a victim of harassment or assault.…

The Compensation Question: Are Public School Teachers Underpaid? Analysis and Opinion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mishel, Lawrence

2012-01-01

Over the past few years, as cash-strapped states and school districts have faced tough budget decisions, spending on teacher compensation has come under the microscope. The underlying question is whether teachers are fairly paid, underpaid, or overpaid. In this forum, two pairs of respected economists offer very different answers. Andrew Biggs of…

Socratic Questioning in the Paideia Method to Encourage Dialogical Discussions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davies, Maree; Sinclair, Anne

2014-01-01

This study focused on the impact of using Socratic questioning, based on the Paideia Method, on the nature of middle-schools students' patterns of interaction and on the cognitive complexity of their discussions. The hypothesis is that an experimental group will increase in both interaction focus and complexity at T3, which is the face-to-face…

Science and Public Policy: Uses and Control of Knowledge. Public Issues Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singleton, Laurel R., Ed.

This booklet is part of a series designed to help students take and defend a position on public issues. This booklet addresses the issues faced by society and individuals due to advances in scientific knowledge. It presents questions, stories, and scenarios for student discussion. Students are instructed to identify three kinds of questions in a…

Pretending to Be Japanese: Artistic Play in a Japanese-American Church and Family

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goto, Courtney T.

2008-01-01

With high rates of out-marriage and dwindling need for bilingual worship, Japanese-American churches face a critical question: "Why retain the Japanese part of our identity?" This article explores how one layperson (Naomi Takahashi Goto) draws from her experience as an artist, teacher, and mother to help her congregation answer this question.…

Impact and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of the National School-Based Sexuality Education Programme in Estonia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kivela, Jari; Haldre, Kai; Part, Kai; Ketting, Evert; Baltussen, Rob

2014-01-01

Policy-makers making decisions on the implementation of school-based sexuality education (SE) programmes face two important questions: (1) what are the costs of implementing and scaling up SE programmes, and (2) what are the impacts? This paper responds to these questions by retrospectively assessing costs, impact and cost-effectiveness of the…

Preparing Parents to Advocate for a Child with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foster, Anne; Rude, Debbie; Grannan, Caroline

2012-01-01

For parents living with children diagnosed with autism, advocating for their child presents a new reality in parenthood, often unexpected and with more questions than answers. Once they have passed the various stages of denial and sadness, questioned the experts, and finally accepted the reality of the challenges their child will face, it is time…

Democratic Education and Agonism: Exploring the Critique from Deliberative Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tryggvason, Ásgeir

2018-01-01

Due to the current political challenges facing democratic societies, including an apparent presence of populist rhetoric, the question of how political discussions should take place in democratic education is as urgent as ever. In the last two decades, one of the most prominent approaches to this question has been the use of deliberative theory.…

Encountering the Foreign: Teaching and Learning with Difficult Artworks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanson, Kristan M.

2014-01-01

In this article the author addresses one of the essential questions that face teachers today: How can we welcome the foreign into our lessons in an authentic way that makes education relevant to the ongoing social, cultural, and political dialogues through which diverse learners understand themselves and their worlds? In response to this question,…

Evolution and Revolution in China's Skill Formation System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xu, Jing

2011-01-01

This article outlines the current problems facing vocational education in China in order to raise the question as to how deep-seated and intractable they might be. In order to address this question a historical analysis of vocational education from the turn of the twentieth century to the end of Mao's period of office is undertaken. The rise of…

Multiple Questions Require Multiple Designs: An Evaluation of the 1981 Changes to the AFDC Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hedrick, Terry E.; Shipman, Stephanie L.

1988-01-01

Changes made in 1981 to the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act were evaluated. Multiple quasi-experimental designs (interrupted time series, non-equivalent comparison groups, and simple pre-post designs) used to address evaluation questions illustrate the issues faced by evaluators in…

Private Faith and Public Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trigg, Roger

2008-01-01

Must faith be privatized? Taken at face value, this could seem a curious question, since no one is in a position to "sell off" any religion to private interests, in the way that, for example, British Rail was dismembered. Yet the question is an important one in a contemporary society, characterized as it is by a significant divergence of views…

A Dialogue about MCQs, Reliability, and Item Response Modelling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, Daniel B.; Skagerberg, Elin M.

2006-01-01

Multiple choice questions (MCQs) are becoming more common in UK psychology departments and the need to assess their reliability is apparent. Having examined the reliability of MCQs in our department we faced many questions from colleagues about why we were examining reliability, what it was that we were doing, and what should be reported when…

Visions of CSCL: Eight Provocations for the Future of the Field

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wise, Alyssa Friend; Schwarz, Baruch B.

2017-01-01

The field of Computer Supported Computer Learning (CSCL) is at a critical moment in its development. Internally we face issues of fragmentation and questions about what progress is being made. Externally the rise of social media and a variety of research communities that study the interactions within it raise questions about our unique identity…

Stem respiration of Populus species in the third year of free-air CO2 enrichment.

PubMed

Gielen, Birgit; Scarascia-Mugnozza, Giuseppe; Ceulemans, Reinhart

2003-04-01

Carbon cycling in ecosystems, and especially in forests, is intensively studied to predict the effects of global climate change, and the role which forests may play in 'changing climate change'. One of the questions is whether the carbon balance of forests will be affected by increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Regarding this question, effects of elevated [CO2] on woody-tissue respiration have frequently been neglected. Stem respiration of three Populus species (P. alba L. (Clone 2AS-11), P. nigra L. (Clone Jean Pourtet), and P. x euramericana (Clone I-214)) was measured in a managed, high-density forest plantation exposed to free-air CO2 enrichment (POPFACE). During the period of measurements, in May of the third year, stem respiration rates were not affected by the FACE treatment. Moreover, FACE did not influence the relationships between respiration rate and both stem temperature and relative growth rate. The results were supported by the reported absence of a FACE-effect on growth and stem wood density.

Teaching face-name associations to survivors of traumatic brain injury: a sequential treatment approach.

PubMed

Manasse, N J; Hux, K; Snell, J

2005-08-10

Recalling names in real-world contexts is often difficult for survivors of traumatic brain injury despite successful completion of face-name association training programmes. This small number study utilized a sequential treatment approach in which a traditional training programme preceded real-world training. The traditional training component was identical across programmes: one-on-one intervention using visual imagery and photographs to assist in mastery of face-name associations. The real-world training component compared the effectiveness of three cueing strategies--name restating, phonemic cueing and visual imagery--and was conducted by the actual to-be-named people. Results revealed improved name learning and use by the participants regardless of cueing strategy. After treatment targeting six names, four of five participants consistently used two or more names spontaneously and consistently knew three or more names in response to questioning. In addition to documenting the effectiveness of real-world treatment paradigms, the findings call into question the necessity for preliminary traditional intervention.

Babesiosis

MedlinePlus

... is shown on the face of a penny. (Credit: G. Hickling, University of Tennessee) About Babesiosis Most common questions answered... Epidemiology & Risk Factors Who gets it and how... Biology Stages ...

Unconscious Evaluation of Faces on Social Dimensions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stewart, Lorna H.; Ajina, Sara; Getov, Spas; Bahrami, Bahador; Todorov, Alexander; Rees, Geraint

2012-01-01

It has been proposed that two major axes, dominance and trustworthiness, characterize the social dimensions of face evaluation. Whether evaluation of faces on these social dimensions is restricted to conscious appraisal or happens at a preconscious level is unknown. Here we provide behavioral evidence that such preconscious evaluations exist and…

Attention to Faces in Williams Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riby, Deborah M.; Jones, Nicola; Brown, Philippa H.; Robinson, Lucy J.; Langton, Stephen R. H.; Bruce, Vicki; Riby, Leigh M.

2011-01-01

Williams syndrome (WS) is associated with distinct social behaviours. One component of the WS social phenotype is atypically prolonged face fixation. This behaviour co-exists with attention difficulties. Attention is multi-faceted and may impact on gaze behaviour in several ways. Four experiments assessed (i) attention capture by faces, (ii)…

Matched Comparison Group Design Standards in Systematic Reviews of Early Childhood Interventions.

PubMed

Thomas, Jaime; Avellar, Sarah A; Deke, John; Gleason, Philip

2017-06-01

Systematic reviews assess the quality of research on program effectiveness to help decision makers faced with many intervention options. Study quality standards specify criteria that studies must meet, including accounting for baseline differences between intervention and comparison groups. We explore two issues related to systematic review standards: covariate choice and choice of estimation method. To help systematic reviews develop/refine quality standards and support researchers in using nonexperimental designs to estimate program effects, we address two questions: (1) How well do variables that systematic reviews typically require studies to account for explain variation in key child and family outcomes? (2) What methods should studies use to account for preexisting differences between intervention and comparison groups? We examined correlations between baseline characteristics and key outcomes using Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort data to address Question 1. For Question 2, we used simulations to compare two methods-matching and regression adjustment-to account for preexisting differences between intervention and comparison groups. A broad range of potential baseline variables explained relatively little of the variation in child and family outcomes. This suggests the potential for bias even after accounting for these variables, highlighting the need for systematic reviews to provide appropriate cautions about interpreting the results of moderately rated, nonexperimental studies. Our simulations showed that regression adjustment can yield unbiased estimates if all relevant covariates are used, even when the model is misspecified, and preexisting differences between the intervention and the comparison groups exist.

Copyright at the Bedside: Should We Stop the Spread?

PubMed Central

Feldman, Robin; Newman, John

2014-01-01

We recently published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine describing a crisis in cognitive testing, as doctors and medical researchers increasingly face copyright claims in sets of questions used for testing mental state. We encouraged the creation of a cultural norm in medicine, in which medical researchers would ensure continued availability of their tests through open source licensing for any copyrights that might exist. In this piece, we consider the legal side of the question. Although copyrights are being copiously asserted in medical testing, are those rights valid, and should they be upheld? The legal precedents in this area are anything but clear, and the courts are divided in the few analogous circumstances that have arisen. We examine analogies in standardized testing, computer compilations and baseball pitching forms to consider the marvelous question of how to conceptualize a process—which is the purview of patent law—when that process consists of words—which are the purview of copyright law. We also look from an economics perspective at the issue of investment and value creation in the development of de facto standards. Legal scholars are so often in the position of looking backwards, teasing out solutions to problems that have developed within a doctrinal or theoretical area. Rarely does one have the opportunity to affect the course of events before problems become so deeply entrenched that they are intractable. This is such a moment, and the legal and medical fields should take advantage of the opportunities presented. PMID:25221427

[Adherence as a result of a "particular relationship". HIV-infected patients about their physician-patient relationship].

PubMed

Engelbach, Ute; Dannecker, Martin; Kaufhold, Johannes; Lenz, Cynthia; Grabhorn, Ralph

2008-06-01

This qualitative study examines the relationship between doctors and HIV-infected patients with regard to problems of adherence. Objective hermeneutics was used to analyze the scene of a doctor-patient conversation produced through psychodrama. Specific traits shared by the patients in question were a confused regulation of closeness and distance as well as a non-maintenance of the traditional asymmetry within the doctor-patient relation. The patients faced the doctors on a level of diffuse social relations and showed the tendency to involve the doctor into their community. The conclusion for a model explaining patients' adherence may be: it exist an individual level of the need for being accepted by the doctor as somebody particular. If this level is reached, i. e. individual claims are met and personal desires are satisfied, the patient will follow the physician's advice. Authors discuss whether the model is compatible with the conflict of self-esteem.

Review of the damage mechanism in wind turbine gearbox bearings under rolling contact fatigue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Yun-Shuai; Yu, Shu-Rong; Li, Shu-Xin; He, Yan-Ni

2017-12-01

Wind turbine gearbox bearings fail with the service life is much shorter than the designed life. Gearbox bearings are subjected to rolling contact fatigue (RCF) and they are observed to fail due to axial cracking, surface flaking, and the formation of white etching areas (WEAs). The current study reviewed these three typical failure modes. The underlying dominant mechanisms were discussed with emphasis on the formation mechanism of WEAs. Although numerous studies have been carried out, the formation of WEAs remains unclear. The prevailing mechanism of the rubbing of crack faces that generates WEAs was questioned by the authors. WEAs were compared with adiabatic shear bands (ASBs) generated in the high strain rate deformation in terms of microstructural compositions, grain refinement, and formation mechanism. Results indicate that a number of similarities exist between them. However, substantial evidence is required to verify whether or not WEAs and ASBs are the same matters.

Reproduction and pregnancy in transplant recipients: current practices.

PubMed

McKay, Dianne B; Adams, Patricia L; Bumgardner, Ginny L; Davis, Connie L; Fine, Richard N; Krams, Sheri M; Martinez, Olivia M; Murphy, Barbara; Pavlakis, Martha; Tolkoff-Rubin, Nina; Sherman, Michael S; Josephson, Michelle A

2006-06-01

Many transplant physicians are faced with questions from their patients about the safety and long-term consequences of pregnancy following transplantation. To better understand how pregnancies are managed and to clarify the outcome of pregnancy after transplantation, a survey questionnaire was developed and mailed to all medical and surgical directors of transplant centers throughout the United States; responses were obtained from 59.1% of the transplant centers. Although many opinions were collected, most respondents conceded that their opinions were based on personal experience rather than evidence-based. The underutilization of existing information was revealing and highlighted a need for an evidence-based approach to care of the pregnant transplant recipient and her offspring. The survey results, reported in this article, led to formation of a consensus conference to determine the optimal approach to pregnant transplant recipients and to define what is currently known and unknown about reproduction and transplantation.

Anticipating issues related to increasing preimplantation genetic diagnosis use: a research agenda.

PubMed

Klitzman, Robert; Appelbaum, Paul S; Chung, Wendy; Sauer, Mark

2008-01-01

Increasing use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) poses numerous clinical, social, psychological, ethical, legal and policy dilemmas, many of which have received little attention. Patients and providers are now considering and using PGD for a widening array of genetic disorders, and patients may increasingly seek 'designer babies.' In the USA, although governmental oversight policies have been discussed, few specific guidelines exist. Hence, increasingly, patients and providers will face challenging ethical and policy questions of when and for whom to use PGD, and how it should be financed. These issues should be better clarified and addressed through collection of data concerning the current use of PGD in the USA, including factors involved in decision making about PGD use, as well as the education of the various communities that are, and should be, involved in its implementation. Improved understanding of these issues will ultimately enhance the development and implementation of future clinical guidelines and policies.

Taking stock: A meta-analysis of studies on the media's coverage of science.

PubMed

Schäfer, Mike S

2012-08-01

The presentation of science in the mass media is one of the most important questions facing social scientists who analyse science. Accordingly, media coverage of science has been a constant focal point in the respective literature, and a flurry of such publications has appeared in the past few years. Yet the activity and growth of the respective research have not been accompanied by systematic overviews. This article aims to provide such an overview by means of a meta-analysis: it analyses existing studies systematically and provides an empirical overview of the literature. The analysis shows that while the research field grew significantly in the past few years and employs a variety of research strategies and methods, it has been biased in three ways: mainly natural sciences (and namely biosciences and medicine), Western countries, and print media have been analysed.

Ethical Guidelines for Computer Security Researchers: "Be Reasonable"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sassaman, Len

For most of its existence, the field of computer science has been lucky enough to avoid ethical dilemmas by virtue of its relatively benign nature. The subdisciplines of programming methodology research, microprocessor design, and so forth have little room for the greater questions of human harm. Other, more recently developed sub-disciplines, such as data mining, social network analysis, behavioral profiling, and general computer security, however, open the door to abuse of users by practitioners and researchers. It is therefore the duty of the men and women who chart the course of these fields to set rules for themselves regarding what sorts of actions on their part are to be considered acceptable and what should be avoided or handled with caution out of ethical concerns. This paper deals solely with the issues faced by computer security researchers, be they vulnerability analysts, privacy system designers, malware experts, or reverse engineers.

Stationarity: Wanted dead or alive?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lins, H.F.; Cohn, T.A.

2011-01-01

Aligning engineering practice with natural process behavior would appear, on its face, to be a prudent and reasonable course of action. However, if we do not understand the long-term characteristics of hydroclimatic processes, how does one find the prudent and reasonable course needed for water management? We consider this question in light of three aspects of existing and unresolved issues affecting hydroclimatic variability and statistical inference: Hurst-Kolmogorov phenomena; the complications long-term persistence introduces with respect to statistical understanding; and the dependence of process understanding on arbitrary sampling choices. These problems are not easily addressed. In such circumstances, humility may be more important than physics; a simple model with well-understood flaws may be preferable to a sophisticated model whose correspondence to reality is uncertain. ?? 2011 American Water Resources Association. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Theodicy and End-of-Life Care

PubMed Central

Swinton, John; Abbas, Syed Qamar

2013-01-01

This article examines theodicy—the vindication of God's goodness and justice in the face of the existence of evil from the perspectives of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. We focus on the thought processes that chaplains, social workers, and other professionals may use in their care interventions to address issues of theodicy for patients. Theodical issues may cause anxiety and distress for believers, but they can also potentially be a source of relief and release. Palliative care patients with a religious worldview often struggle with whether God cares about, or has sent, their pain. How social workers and other clinicians respond to such questions will have a great impact on how patients express themselves and use their religious beliefs to cope with their situations. For patients holding religious/spiritual perspectives, discussion of theodicy may facilitate closer relationships between patients and their caregivers and result in more compassionate and empathic care. PMID:23777234

The knowledge of "Facts for Life".

PubMed

Alper, Zuleyha; Ozdemir, Hakan; Bilgel, Nazan

2005-07-01

"Facts for Life" is an essential tool for saving the lives of children. In this study we wanted to evaluate the knowledge of "Facts for Life" among Turkish women. This is a cross-sectional field study. We used 25 indicator questions to evaluate the knowledge of women in the following main subjects: safe motherhood, childhood immunization, childhood diarrhoea, children's acute respiratory diseases, and household hygiene. We filled out printed questionnaires during face-to-face interviews. For each correct answer we gave 4 points, and the sum of the points was accepted as the knowledge score. Bursa metropolitan area in Turkey. Married women between 15-44 years of age. We selected 1000 of them from the household cards of the health centers that were located at the Bursa metropolitan area by using a random selection method. Mean knowledge score was 72.0 +/- 0.3. About 3/5 had moderate, 1/5 good + very good, and 1/5 bad knowledge scores. Childhood diarrhoea was better known than acute respiratory diseases. The very well known "Facts for Life" were those concerning food and household hygiene. Women's knowledge about "Facts for Life" was at a moderate level. The knowledge level of older women was better than the younger. Some false beliefs still existed. Knowledge about ARI and diarrhoeal diseases in childhood were the least known facts.

Public Perception of Extreme Cold Weather-Related Health Risk in a Cold Area of Northeast China.

PubMed

Ban, Jie; Lan, Li; Yang, Chao; Wang, Jian; Chen, Chen; Huang, Ganlin; Li, Tiantian

2017-08-01

A need exists for public health strategies regarding extreme weather disasters, which in recent years have become more frequent. This study aimed to understand the public's perception of extreme cold and its related health risks, which may provide detailed information for public health preparedness during an extreme cold weather event. To evaluate public perceptions of cold-related health risk and to identify vulnerable groups, we collected responses from 891 participants in a face-to-face survey in Harbin, China. Public perception was measured by calculating the score for each perception question. Locals perceived that extreme cold weather and related health risks were serious, but thought they could not avoid these risks. The significant difference in perceived acceptance level between age groups suggested that the elderly are a "high health risk, low risk perception" group, meaning that they are relatively more vulnerable owing to their high susceptibility and low awareness of the health risks associated with extreme cold weather. The elderly should be a priority in risk communication and health protective interventions. This study demonstrated that introducing risk perception into the public health field can identify vulnerable groups with greater needs, which may improve the decision-making of public health intervention strategies. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:417-421).

CLS to higher education administrator: the price they paid.

PubMed

Campbell, Suzanne; LaCost, Barbara Y

2010-01-01

To identify the barriers and/or obstacles these women experienced during their career paths as women clinical laboratory scientists who transitioned to higher education administration. To identify how being a woman influenced their careers as higher education administrators. A multi-site case study design was selected for this qualitative research involving a purposive sample of eight research participants. Data collection was guided by ten open-ended questions in seven face-to-face and one telephone semi-formal interviews. The purposive sample included women clinical laboratory scientists who held a current higher education administrative position at the dean's level, including associate and assistant dean positions, in a university setting. The participants were located in eight higher education institutions in Nebraska, Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, Missouri, and Texas. The price women pay, gender considerations, a need for balance, existence/absence of the glass ceiling for women in higher education administration. Making personal sacrifices, struggling with gender stereotypes, being a woman, knowing you are okay, and possessing the ability to separate the personal from the professional were identified by this group of women as challenging experiences as they obtained and maintained a position as a higher education administrator. Additionally, they described the need for balance, a support system, and how they successfully managed their marriage, family, and career. The participants presented conflicting statements concerning

Serial block face scanning electron microscopy--the future of cell ultrastructure imaging.

PubMed

Hughes, Louise; Hawes, Chris; Monteith, Sandy; Vaughan, Sue

2014-03-01

One of the major drawbacks in transmission electron microscopy has been the production of three-dimensional views of cells and tissues. Currently, there is no one suitable 3D microscopy technique that answers all questions and serial block face scanning electron microscopy (SEM) fills the gap between 3D imaging using high-end fluorescence microscopy and the high resolution offered by electron tomography. In this review, we discuss the potential of the serial block face SEM technique for studying the three-dimensional organisation of animal, plant and microbial cells.

Infants prefer the faces of strangers or mothers to morphed faces: an uncanny valley between social novelty and familiarity.

PubMed

Matsuda, Yoshi-Taka; Okamoto, Yoko; Ida, Misako; Okanoya, Kazuo; Myowa-Yamakoshi, Masako

2012-10-23

The 'uncanny valley' response is a phenomenon involving the elicitation of a negative feeling and subsequent avoidant behaviour in human adults and infants as a result of viewing very realistic human-like robots or computer avatars. It is hypothesized that this uncanny feeling occurs because the realistic synthetic characters elicit the concept of 'human' but fail to satisfy it. Such violations of our normal expectations regarding social signals generate a feeling of unease. This conflict-induced uncanny valley between mutually exclusive categories (human and synthetic agent) raises a new question: could an uncanny feeling be elicited by other mutually exclusive categories, such as familiarity and novelty? Given that infants prefer both familiarity and novelty in social objects, we address this question as well as the associated developmental profile. Using the morphing technique and a preferential-looking paradigm, we demonstrated uncanny valley responses of infants to faces of mothers (i.e. familiarity) and strangers (i.e. novelty). Furthermore, this effect strengthened with the infant's age. We excluded the possibility that infants detect and avoid traces of morphing. This conclusion follows from our finding that the infants equally preferred strangers' faces and the morphed faces of two strangers. These results indicate that an uncanny valley between familiarity and novelty may accentuate the categorical perception of familiar and novel objects.

Factorial Invariance of an Integrated Measure of Classroom Sense of Community in Face-to-Face and Online Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cho, YoonJung; Hathcoat, John D.; Bridges, Stacey L.; Mathew, Susan; Bang, Hyeyoung

2014-01-01

The aim of the present study was to develop a more integrated measure of classroom sense of community (SOC) while testing factorial invariance of the measurement structure across face-to-face and online courses. We incorporated two existing SOC measures to capture both context-specific and context-general characteristics of SOC and developed an…

Implementation of a Flexible Online Delivery Model to Replace a Traditional Face-to-Face Delivery of a PGCE ICT Module

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watts, Martin

2007-01-01

This paper describes aspects of the planning and delivery of a 10 credit module to learners participating in a full-time, Secondary Informational Communication Technology (ICT) PGCE course and the decision to replace an existing face-to-face delivery with a flexible, online delivery. The paper focuses upon four associated aspects of the module,…

FAA Pilot Knowledge Tests: Learning or Rote Memorization?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Casner, Stephen M.; Jones, Karen M.; Puentes, Antonio; Irani, Homi

2004-01-01

The FAA pilot knowledge test is a multiple-choice assessment tool designed to measure the extent to which applicants for FAA pilot certificates and ratings have mastered a corpus of required aeronautical knowledge. All questions that appear on the test are drawn from a database of questions that is made available to the public. The FAA and others are concerned that releasing test questions may encourage students to focus their study on memorizing test questions. To investigate this concern, we created our own database of questions that differed from FAA questions in four different ways. Our first three question types were derived by modifying existing FAA questions: (1) rewording questions and answers; (2) shuffling answers; and (3) substituting different figures for problems that used figures. Our last question type posed a question about required knowledge for which no FAA question currently exists. Forty-eight student pilots completed one of two paper-and-pencil knowledge tests that contained a mix of these experimental questions. The results indicate significantly lower scores for some question types when compared to unaltered FAA questions to which participants had prior access.

Polling booth surveys: a novel approach for reducing social desirability bias in HIV-related behavioural surveys in resource-poor settings.

PubMed

Lowndes, Catherine M; Jayachandran, A A; Banandur, Pradeep; Ramesh, Banadakoppa M; Washington, Reynold; Sangameshwar, B M; Moses, Stephen; Blanchard, James; Alary, Michel

2012-05-01

This study compared rates of HIV-related sexual risk behaviours reported in individual face-to-face (FTFI) and group anonymous polling booth (PBS) interviews in India. In PBS, respondents grouped by gender and marital status answered yes/no questions by putting tokens with question numbers in colour-coded containers. Data were subsequently collated for each group as a whole, so responses were not traceable back to individuals. Male and female PBS participants reported substantially higher rates of pre-marital, extra-marital, commercial and anal sex than FTFI participants; e.g. 11 vs. 2% married males reported paying for sex; 6 vs. 1% unmarried males reported homosexual anal sex.

Taking patient and public involvement online: qualitative evaluation of an online forum for palliative care and rehabilitation research.

PubMed

Brighton, Lisa Jane; Pask, Sophie; Benalia, Hamid; Bailey, Sylvia; Sumerfield, Marion; Witt, Jana; de Wolf-Linder, Susanne; Etkind, Simon Noah; Murtagh, Fliss E M; Koffman, Jonathan; Evans, Catherine J

2018-01-01

Patient and public involvement (PPI) is increasingly recognised as important in research. Most PPI takes place face-to-face, but this can be difficult for people who are unwell or have caring responsibilities. As these challenges are particularly common in palliative care and rehabilitation research, we developed an online forum for PPI: www.csipublicinvolvement.co.uk. In this study, we explored how well the online forum worked, if it is a suitable method for PPI, and how PPI members and researchers reacted to using it. We used an existing theory about online interventions to help choose the 'right' questions to ask participants. We invited PPI members and researchers who had used the online forum to participate in focus groups, and identified the most important themes discussed. Within this study, PPI members have helped with the interview questions, analysis, and write up. Overall, four PPI members and five researchers participated in the focus groups. Participants felt the online forum worked well and had multiple benefits. From the discussions, we identified four key questions to consider when developing online methods for PPI: how does the forum work, how does it engage people, how does it empower people, and what is the impact? Participants suggested the forum could be improved by being more PPI and less researcher focused. We conclude that when developing online methods of PPI, a functioning forum is not enough: it also needs to be engaging and empowering to have an impact. Future work can use these four domains when developing their own online PPI methods. Patient and public involvement (PPI) in research is increasingly recognised as important. Most PPI activities take place face-to-face, yet this can be difficult for people with ill health or caring responsibilities, and may exclude people from hard-to-reach populations (e.g. living in vulnerable social circumstances and/or remote geographical locations). These challenges are particularly pertinent in palliative care and rehabilitation research where people often live with, or care for someone with, advanced illness. In response to this, we aimed to test the functionality, feasibility, and acceptability of an online forum for PPI for palliative care and rehabilitation research (www.csipublicinvolvement.co.uk). We conducted separate focus groups with PPI members and researchers who had used the online forum. Data collection was underpinned by DeLone and Mclean's model of information systems success. Focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Dual coding by two authors ensured rigour, and attention was paid to divergent cases. Four PPI members and five researchers participated in the focus groups (two PPI focus groups, one researcher focus group). The online forum was perceived as functional, feasible, and acceptable. Our analysis identified four key questions to consider when developing online methods for PPI: (1) how does the forum work, (2) how does it engage people, (3) how does it empower people, and (4) what is the impact? PPI members felt that the online forum was too researcher led, and needed to be more PPI focussed. When developing online methods of PPI, a functioning forum is not enough: it also needs to be engaging and empowering to have an impact. To optimise online involvement, future work should refer to these four domains and balance the needs of researchers and PPI members.

RESOLVE - Starting Point for Partnerships in Lunar and Mars Resource Characterization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sanders, Gerald B.; Rosenbaum, Bernard; Simon, Thomas; Larson, William E.; Luecke, Dale; Captain, Jainine; Sacksteder, Kurt; Johnson, Kenneth R.; Boucher, Dale; Taylor, Jeffrey

2007-01-01

The mystery and controversy surrounding the possibility of finding water/ice at the lunar poles of the Moon based on the interpretation of neutron spectrometer data from Lunar Prospector and radar data from Clementine raises questions that both Science and the Human Exploration proponents want answered. From the Science perspective, the determination of lunar volatiles and in particular the increased hydrogen concentration detected at the lunar poles was identified as an important objectives for lunar exploration and understanding the history of the Moon, Sun, and the solar system. From the Human Exploration perspective, the potential for large concentrations of accessible water opens up possibilities for utilizing in-situ resources, known as In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), to implement a sustained and affordable human exploration program of the Moon and beyond through production of propellants, fuel cell reagents, and life support consumables for lunar surface operations and mobility, and Earth-Moon transportation. Both the Science and Human Exploration proponents agree that a mission to the lunar poles to obtain ground truth data is the only means to conclusively answer the questions of whether water/ice exists, how much, what form, and where did it come from. In 2005, NASA initiated the Regolith and Environment Science & Oxygen and Lunar Volatiles Extraction (RESOLVE) project, and is currently developing hardware under the NASA Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP). The purpose of the project was to begin developing technologies and operations that would answer the fundamental science questions, such as What resources are available on the Moon, where are they, what form, and where did they come from? as well as critical engineering questions, such as How will we mine these resources, what chemical extraction processes are the most practical and efficient, and what are the engineering challenges to be faced in this environment? .

Missed Opportunities for Science Learning: Unacknowledged Unscientific Arguments in Asynchronous Online and Face-to-Face Discussions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Callis-Duehl, Kristine; Idsardi, Robert; Humphrey, Eve A.; Gougis, Rebekka Darner

2018-02-01

We explored the scientific argumentation that occurs among university biology students during an argumentation task implemented in two environments: face-to-face in a classroom and online in an asynchronous discussion. We observed 10 student groups, each composed of three students. Our analysis focused on how students respond to their peers' unscientific arguments, which we define as assertions, hypotheses, propositions, or explanations that are inaccurate or incomplete from a scientific perspective. Unscientific arguments provide opportunities for productive dissent, scientific argumentation, and conceptual development of scientifically desirable conceptions. We found that students did not respond to the majority of unscientific arguments in both environments. Challenges to unscientific arguments were expressed as a question or through explanation, although the latter was more common online than face-to-face. Students demonstrated significantly more epistemic distancing in the face-to-face environment than the online environment. We discuss the differences in discourse observed in both environments and teaching implications. We also provide direction for future research seeking to address the challenges of engaging students in productive scientific argumentation in both face-to-face and online environments.

The comparison of road safety survey answers between web-panel and face-to-face; Dutch results of SARTRE-4 survey.

PubMed

Goldenbeld, C; de Craen, S

2013-09-01

In the Netherlands, a comparison of an online and a face-to-face sample of car drivers was made to study differences on a number of selected questions from the SARTRE-4 road safety survey. Contrary to expectations, there was no indication that online respondents were more likely to come from higher educated or more privileged social groups. Confirming earlier research, the results indicated that online respondents were less inclined to give socially desirable answers and were less inclined to use more extreme ratings in their opinions about measures. Contrary to expectations, face-to-face respondents did not tend to give more positive answers in judgment of road safety measures. Weighting to make samples comparable on gender, age, and education had almost no effect on outcomes. The implications for a transition from face-to-face survey to online panel method are discussed. Copyright © 2013 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experimental comparisons of face-to-face and anonymous real-time team competition in a networked gaming learning environment.

PubMed

Yu, Fu-Yun; Han, Chialing; Chan, Tak-Wai

2008-08-01

This study investigates the impact of anonymous, computerized, synchronized team competition on students' motivation, satisfaction, and interpersonal relationships. Sixty-eight fourth-graders participated in this study. A synchronous gaming learning system was developed to have dyads compete against each other in answering multiple-choice questions set in accordance with the school curriculum in two conditions (face-to-face and anonymous). The results showed that students who were exposed to the anonymous team competition condition responded significantly more positively than those in the face-to-face condition in terms of motivation and satisfaction at the 0.050 and 0.056 levels respectively. Although further studies regarding the effects of anonymous interaction in a networked gaming learning environment are imperative, the positive effects detected in this preliminary study indicate that anonymity is a viable feature for mitigating the negative effects that competition may inflict on motivation and satisfaction as reported in traditional face-to-face environments.

Automatic natural acquisition of a semantic network for information retrieval systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Enguehard, Chantal; Malvache, Pierre; Trigano, Philippe

1992-03-01

The amount of information is becoming greater and greater, in industries where complex processes are performed it is becoming increasingly difficult to profit from all the documents produced when fresh knowledge becomes available (reports, experiments, findings). This situation causes a considerable and expensive waste of precious time lost searching for documents or, quite simply, results in outright repeating what has been done. One solution is to transform all paper information into computerized information. We might imagine that we are in a science-fiction world and that we have the perfect computer. We tell it everything we know, we make it read all the books, and if we ask it any question, it will find the response if that response exists. But unfortunately, we are in the real world and the last four decades have taught us to minimize our expectations of computers. During the 1960s, the information retrieval systems appeared. Their purpose is to provide access to any desired documents, in response to a question about a subject, even if it is not known to exist. Here we focus on the problem of selecting items to index the documents. In 1966, Salton identified this problem as crucial when he saw that his system, Medlars, did not find a relevant text because of the wrong indexation. Faced with this problem, he imagined a guide to help authors choose the correct indexation, but he anticipated the automation of this operation with the SMART system. It was stated previously that a manual language analysis for information items by subjects experts is likely to prove impractical in the long run. After a brief survey of the existing responses to the index choice problem, we shall present the system automatic natural acquisition (ANA) which chooses items to index texts by using as little knowledge as possible- -just by learning the language. This system does not use any grammar or lexicon, so the selected indexes will be very close to the field concerned in the texts.

Educational strategies and challenges in peritoneal dialysis: a qualitative study of renal nurses' experiences.

PubMed

Bergjan, Manuela; Schaepe, Christiane

2016-06-01

The aim of the study was to explore renal nurses' experiences, strategies and challenges with regard to the patient education process in peritoneal dialysis. Patient education in peritoneal dialysis is essential to developing a successful home-based peritoneal dialysis program. In this area research is scarce and there is a particular lack of focus on the perspective of the renal nurse. Qualitative design formed by thematic qualitative text analysis. Five group interviews (n = 20) were used to explore the challenges peritoneal dialysis nurses face and the training strategies they use. The interviews were analyzed with thematic qualitative content analysis using deductive and inductive subcategory application. The findings revealed the education barriers perceived by nurses that patients may face. They also showed that using assessment tools is important in peritoneal dialysis patient education, as is developing strategies to promote patient self-management. There is a need for a deeper understanding of affective learning objectives, and existing teaching activities and materials should be revised to incorporate the patient's perspective. Patients usually begin having questions about peritoneal dialysis when they return home and are described as feeling overwhelmed. Adapting existing conditions is considered a major challenge for patients and nurses. The results provided useful insights into the best approaches to educating peritoneal dialysis patients and served to raise awareness of challenges experienced by renal nurses. Findings underline the need for nosogogy - an approach of teaching adults (andragogy) with a chronic disease. Flexibility and cooperation are competencies that renal nurses must possess. Still psychomotor skills dominate peritoneal dialysis patient training, there is a need of both a deeper understanding of affective learning objectives and the accurate use of (self-)assessment tools, particularly for health literacy. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Insights, attitudes and perceptions about asthma and its treatment: findings from a multinational survey of patients from 8 Asia-Pacific countries and Hong Kong.

PubMed

Thompson, Philip J; Salvi, Sundeep; Lin, Jiangtao; Cho, Young Joo; Eng, Philip; Abdul Manap, Roslina; Boonsawat, Watchara; Hsu, Jeng-Yuan; Faruqi, Rab A; Moreno-Cantu, Jorge J; Fish, James E; Ho, James Chung-Man

2013-08-01

The Asthma Insight and Management (AIM) survey was conducted in North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America to characterize patients' insights, attitudes and perceptions about their asthma and its treatment. We report findings from the Asia-Pacific survey. Asthma patients (≥12 years) from Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand were surveyed. Patients answered 53 questions exploring general health, diagnosis/history, symptoms, exacerbations, patient burden, disease management, medications/treatments and patient's attitudes. The Global Initiative for Asthma guidelines were used to assess asthma control. The survey was conducted by random digit telephone dialling (Australia, China and Hong Kong) or by random face-to-face interviews (India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand). There were 80 761 households screened. Data from 3630 patients were collected. Wide disparity existed between objective measures of control and patient perception. Reported exacerbations during the previous year ranged from 19% (Hong Kong) to 67% (India). Reported unscheduled urgent/emergency visits to a doctor's office/hospital/clinic in the previous year ranged from 15% (Hong Kong) to 46% (Taiwan). Patients who reported having controlled asthma in the previous month ranged from 27% (South Korea) to 84% (Taiwan). Substantial functional and emotional limitations due to asthma were identified by 13% (South Korea) to 78% (India) of patients. Asthma has a profound impact on patients' well-being despite the availability of effective treatments and evidence-based management guidelines. Substantial differences across the surveyed countries exist, suggesting unmet, country-specific cultural and educational needs. A large proportion of asthma patients overestimate their level of control. © 2013 The Authors. Respirology © 2013 Asian Pacific Society of Respirology.

Computer-mediated communication and interpersonal attraction: an experimental test of two explanatory hypotheses.

PubMed

Antheunis, Marjolijn L; Valkenburg, Patti M; Peter, Jochen

2007-12-01

The aims of this study were (a) to investigate the influence of computer-mediated communication (CMC) on interpersonal attraction and (b) to examine two underlying processes in the CMC-interpersonal attraction relationship. We identified two variables that may mediate the influence of CMC on interpersonal attraction: self-disclosure and direct questioning. Focusing on these potential mediating variables, we tested two explanatory hypotheses: the CMC-induced direct questioning hypothesis and the CMC-induced self-disclosure hypothesis. Eighty-one cross-sex dyads were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: text-only CMC, visual CMC, and face-to-face communication. We did not find a direct effect of CMC on interpersonal attraction. However, we did find two positive indirect effects of text-only CMC on interpersonal attraction: text-only CMC stimulated both self-disclosure and direct questioning, both of which in turn enhanced interpersonal attraction. Results are discussed in light of uncertainty reduction theory and CMC theories.

Facial Asymmetry-Based Age Group Estimation: Role in Recognizing Age-Separated Face Images.

PubMed

Sajid, Muhammad; Taj, Imtiaz Ahmad; Bajwa, Usama Ijaz; Ratyal, Naeem Iqbal

2018-04-23

Face recognition aims to establish the identity of a person based on facial characteristics. On the other hand, age group estimation is the automatic calculation of an individual's age range based on facial features. Recognizing age-separated face images is still a challenging research problem due to complex aging processes involving different types of facial tissues, skin, fat, muscles, and bones. Certain holistic and local facial features are used to recognize age-separated face images. However, most of the existing methods recognize face images without incorporating the knowledge learned from age group estimation. In this paper, we propose an age-assisted face recognition approach to handle aging variations. Inspired by the observation that facial asymmetry is an age-dependent intrinsic facial feature, we first use asymmetric facial dimensions to estimate the age group of a given face image. Deeply learned asymmetric facial features are then extracted for face recognition using a deep convolutional neural network (dCNN). Finally, we integrate the knowledge learned from the age group estimation into the face recognition algorithm using the same dCNN. This integration results in a significant improvement in the overall performance compared to using the face recognition algorithm alone. The experimental results on two large facial aging datasets, the MORPH and FERET sets, show that the proposed age group estimation based on the face recognition approach yields superior performance compared to some existing state-of-the-art methods. © 2018 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Functional architecture of visual emotion recognition ability: A latent variable approach.

PubMed

Lewis, Gary J; Lefevre, Carmen E; Young, Andrew W

2016-05-01

Emotion recognition has been a focus of considerable attention for several decades. However, despite this interest, the underlying structure of individual differences in emotion recognition ability has been largely overlooked and thus is poorly understood. For example, limited knowledge exists concerning whether recognition ability for one emotion (e.g., disgust) generalizes to other emotions (e.g., anger, fear). Furthermore, it is unclear whether emotion recognition ability generalizes across modalities, such that those who are good at recognizing emotions from the face, for example, are also good at identifying emotions from nonfacial cues (such as cues conveyed via the body). The primary goal of the current set of studies was to address these questions through establishing the structure of individual differences in visual emotion recognition ability. In three independent samples (Study 1: n = 640; Study 2: n = 389; Study 3: n = 303), we observed that the ability to recognize visually presented emotions is based on different sources of variation: a supramodal emotion-general factor, supramodal emotion-specific factors, and face- and within-modality emotion-specific factors. In addition, we found evidence that general intelligence and alexithymia were associated with supramodal emotion recognition ability. Autism-like traits, empathic concern, and alexithymia were independently associated with face-specific emotion recognition ability. These results (a) provide a platform for further individual differences research on emotion recognition ability, (b) indicate that differentiating levels within the architecture of emotion recognition ability is of high importance, and (c) show that the capacity to understand expressions of emotion in others is linked to broader affective and cognitive processes. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

The use of technology enhanced learning in health research capacity development: lessons from a cross country research partnership.

PubMed

Byrne, E; Donaldson, L; Manda-Taylor, L; Brugha, R; Matthews, A; MacDonald, S; Mwapasa, V; Petersen, M; Walsh, A

2016-05-10

With the recognition of the need for research capacity strengthening for advancing health and development, this research capacity article explores the use of technology enhanced learning in the delivery of a collaborative postgraduate blended Master's degree in Malawi. Two research questions are addressed: (i) Can technology enhanced learning be used to develop health research capacity?, and: (ii) How can learning content be designed that is transferrable across different contexts? An explanatory sequential mixed methods design was adopted for the evaluation of technology enhanced learning in the Masters programme. A number of online surveys were administered, student participation in online activities monitored and an independent evaluation of the programme conducted. Remote collaboration and engagement are paramount in the design of a blended learning programme and support was needed for selecting the most appropriate technical tools. Internet access proved problematic despite developing the content around low bandwidth availability and training was required for students and teachers/trainers on the tools used. Varying degrees of engagement with the tools used was recorded, and the support of a learning technologist was needed to navigate through challenges faced. Capacity can be built in health research through blended learning programmes. In relation to transferability, the support required institutionally for technology enhanced learning needs to be conceptualised differently from support for face-to-face teaching. Additionally, differences in pedagogical approaches and styles between institutions, as well as existing social norms and values around communication, need to be embedded in the content development if the material is to be used beyond the pilot resource-intensive phase of a project.

The Face of War: A Study Guide for the Exhibition at the National Archives. March 1994 - September 1995.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC.

This document is a study guide to "The Face of War," an exhibition of documents and photographs from the vast World War II holdings of the National Archives. This brochure contains reproductions of selected documents from the exhibit as well as discussion questions. The guide can be used by individuals, families, or school groups while…

Inheritance of germinative energy and germinative capacity in Douglas-fir

Treesearch

Thomas E. Greathouse

1966-01-01

In the West foresters have had considerable difficulty in reforesting south-facing slopes. We considered this problem when we selected plus-trees for the first Douglas-fir seed orchard in Region 6. We were, however, faced with the need to answer such questions as these: (1) Should we try to produce seed inherently suited for south slopes? (2) If so, should we strive to...

Personalised Virtual Learning Spaces to Support Undergraduates in Producing Research Reports: Two Case Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kallkvist, Marie; Gomez, Stephen; Andersson, Holger; Lush, David

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to create and evaluate personalised virtual learning spaces (PVLSs) in a course that was previously delivered face-to-face only. The study addressed three related questions: (1) Can a PVLS successfully be introduced into a course where IT has not previously featured? (2) Can the PVLSs be used to enhance the assessment…

Online Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Software Training through the Behavioral Modeling Approach: A Longitudinal Field Experiment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Charlie C.; Shaw, Ruey-shiang

2006-01-01

The continued and increasing use of online training raises the question of whether the most effective training methods applied in live instruction will carry over to different online environments in the long run. Behavior Modeling (BM) approach--teaching through demonstration--has been proven as the most effective approach in a face-to-face (F2F)…

The changing face of beauty.

PubMed

Romm, S

1989-01-01

Beautiful faces, like clothing and body conformation, go in and out of fashion. Yet, certain women in every era are considered truly beautiful. Who, then, sets standards of facial beauty and how are women chosen as representative of an ideal? Identifying great beauties is easier than explaining why they are chosen, but answers to these elusive questions are suggested in art, literature, and a review of past events.

Parenting after a Natural Disaster: A Qualitative Study of Norwegian Families Surviving the 2004 Tsunami in Southeast Asia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hafstad, Gertrud S.; Haavind, Hanne; Jensen, Tine K.

2012-01-01

How do parents support their children after a high-impact disaster? To answer this question, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 51 Norwegian parents. These parents and children were all severely exposed to the trauma of the tsunami disaster. The analyses show how parents interpret their children's signs of distress, as well as their own…

The Europeanisation of the Measurement of Diversity in Education: A Soft Instrument of Public Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goastellec, Gaele

2012-01-01

Faced with an increasing number of data and rankings, the author questions the roles of the different groups of actors who were originally involved in questioning the use of statistical indicators as a means of addressing issues of access to higher education. The comparison and nature of these international (UNESCO, OECD, EUROSTAT) and national…

Parenting the Very Young Gifted Child. Parenting Research Based Decision Making Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, Nancy M.

This report provides research-based answers to questions facing families of young, gifted children. Questions include: (1) "what does "giftedness" mean in a very young child?"; (2) "how does one know whether a child is gifted?"; (3) "should my young child be tested?"; (4) "how do adults promote the development of gifted children?"; (5) "does a…

A defense of the subordinate-level expertise account for the N170 component.

PubMed

Rossion, Bruno; Curran, Tim; Gauthier, Isabel

2002-09-01

A recent paper in this journal reports two event-related potential (ERP) experiments interpreted as supporting the domain specificity of the visual mechanisms implicated in processing faces (Cognition 83 (2002) 1). The authors argue that because a large neurophysiological response to faces (N170) is less influenced by the task than the response to objects, and because the response for human faces extends to ape faces (for which we are not expert), we should reject the hypothesis that the face-sensitivity reflected by the N170 can be accounted for by the subordinate-level expertise model of object recognition (Nature Neuroscience 3 (2000) 764). In this commentary, we question this conclusion based on some of our own ERP work on expert object recognition as well as the work of others.

Establishing a Presence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McCandless, Jeffrey

2005-01-01

The basis for this successful collaboration was face-to-face communication. Though it was sometimes stressful being on the road so much, I really learned the importance of being present to work together and ask questions in person. Another measure of success was that in the midst of this project and traveling, my wife and I managed to start a family. My oldest boy got a real kick out of visiting Space Center Houston when he was two to learn all about the "face futtle" which goes way up in the sky. When practical, collocation and face-to-face communication on a project eliminate misunderstandings, establish relationships, make information more easily accessible, and promote a team atmosphere. Compromise is key to balancing both family and career goals. Knowing when to prioritize each is important to success in both aspects.

77 FR 2293 - Federal Open Market Committee; Domestic Policy Directive of December 13, 2011

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-17

..., Treasury securities with remaining maturities of approximately 6 years to 30 years with a total face value... total face value of $400 billion. The Committee also directs the Desk to maintain its existing policies... mortgage-backed securities in order to maintain the total face value of domestic securities at...

The origins of the universe: why is there something rather than nothing?

PubMed

Paulson, Steve; Albert, David; Holt, Jim; Turok, Neil

2015-12-01

Perhaps the greatest mystery is why the universe exists in the first place. How is it possible for something to emerge from nothing, or has a universe in some form always existed? This question of origins-both of the universe as a whole and of the fundamental laws of physics-raises profound scientific, philosophical, and religious questions, culminating in the most basic existential question of all: Why are we here? Discussion of this and related questions is presented in this paper. © 2015 New York Academy of Sciences.

Concept Innateness, Concept Continuity, and Bootstrapping

PubMed Central

Carey, Susan

2011-01-01

The commentators raised issues relevant to all three important theses of The Origin of Concepts (TOOC). Some questioned the very existence of innate representational primitives, and others questioned my claims about their richness and whether they should be thought of as concepts. Some questioned the existence of conceptual discontinuity in the course of knowledge acquisition and others argued that discontinuity is much more common than portrayed in TOOC. Some raised issues with my characterization of Quinian bootstrapping, and others questioned the dual factor theory of concepts motivated by my picture of conceptual development. PMID:23264705

[The Moodle platform: A useful tool for training in life support. Analysis of satisfaction questionnaires from students and instructors of the semFYC advanced life support courses].

PubMed

Cordero Torres, Juan Antonio; Caballero Oliver, Antonio

2015-01-01

The aim of this study is to assess the validity and use of a mixed method of training in life support. The use of Moodle to implement an online pre-sessional phase prior to a "classic" classroom phase of teaching in this type of course is the main novelty. Analysis of satisfaction questionnaires of students and instructors of a mixed course in the advanced life support program of SemFYC (ESVAP). Moodle platform. semFYC Virtual Classroom. Students and instructors participating in the semFYC advanced life support program, ESVAP. Qualitative analysis. The majority of students rate as very useful (50%) or useful (45.37%) the existence of an online pre-sessional phase, and consider that it has helped them very much (42.20%) or quite a lot (48.62%) to make the most of the face-to-face sessions. For instructors, they considered that the existence of an online pre-sessional phase was very useful (89%) or useful (11%) for the development of the face-to-face sessions. The analysis of the results concluded that: 1) the students considered a prior non-face to face phase as very useful, and it helped them much/very much in the face to face phase, and 2) the instructors believe that the non-face to face phase had helped them a lot in the presentations and efficiency of the workshops in the face-to-face phase. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) information needs: a theoretical framework

PubMed Central

Marlow, Laura A V; Wardle, Jane; Waller, Jo; Grant, Nina

2009-01-01

Background With the introduction of human papillomavirus (HPV) testing and vaccination in the UK, health professionals will start to receive questions about the virus from their patients. This study aimed to identify the key questions about HPV that British women will ask when considering having an HPV test or vaccination. Methods Face-to-face interviews were carried out with 21 women to discover what they wanted to know about HPV. A thematic framework approach was used to analyse the data and identify key themes in women's HPV knowledge requirements. Results Women's questions about HPV fell into six areas: identity (e.g. What are the symptoms?), cause (e.g. How do you get HPV?), timeline (e.g. How long does it last?), consequences (e.g. Does it always cause cervical cancer?) and control-cure (e.g. Can you prevent infection?). In addition, they asked procedural questions about testing and vaccination (e.g. Where do I get an HPV test?). These mapped well onto the dimensions identified in Leventhal's description of lay models of illness, called the 'Common Sense Model' (CSM). Discussion and conclusions These results indicated that the majority of the questions women asked about HPV fitted well into the CSM, which therefore provides a structure for women's information needs. The findings could help health professionals understand what questions they may be expected to answer. Framing educational materials using the CSM themes may also help health educators achieve a good fit with what the public want to know. PMID:19126314

Who Will Answer?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Law, Charles J., Jr.

1970-01-01

Discussing the changing role of the vocational agriculture teacher, this article relates pertinent questions and suggestions about specific problems facing the local vocational agriculture program to the vocational agriculture teachers. (GB)

Face-specific and domain-general visual processing deficits in children with developmental prosopagnosia.

PubMed

Dalrymple, Kirsten A; Elison, Jed T; Duchaine, Brad

2017-02-01

Evidence suggests that face and object recognition depend on distinct neural circuitry within the visual system. Work with adults with developmental prosopagnosia (DP) demonstrates that some individuals have preserved object recognition despite severe face recognition deficits. This face selectivity in adults with DP indicates that face- and object-processing systems can develop independently, but it is unclear at what point in development these mechanisms are separable. Determining when individuals with DP first show dissociations between faces and objects is one means to address this question. In the current study, we investigated face and object processing in six children with DP (5-12-years-old). Each child was assessed with one face perception test, two different face memory tests, and two object memory tests that were matched to the face memory tests in format and difficulty. Scores from the DP children on the matched face and object tasks were compared to within-subject data from age-matched controls. Four of the six DP children, including the 5-year-old, showed evidence of face-specific deficits, while one child appeared to have more general visual-processing deficits. The remaining child had inconsistent results. The presence of face-specific deficits in children with DP suggests that face and object perception depend on dissociable processes in childhood.

Long-Lasting Effects of Subliminal Affective Priming from Facial Expressions

PubMed Central

Sweeny, Timothy D.; Grabowecky, Marcia; Suzuki, Satoru; Paller, Ken A.

2009-01-01

Unconscious processing of stimuli with emotional content can bias affective judgments. Is this subliminal affective priming merely a transient phenomenon manifested in fleeting perceptual changes, or are long-lasting effects also induced? To address this question, we investigated memory for surprise faces 24 hours after they had been shown with 30-ms fearful, happy, or neutral faces. Surprise faces subliminally primed by happy faces were initially rated as more positive, and were later remembered better, than those primed by fearful or neutral faces. Participants likely to have processed primes supraliminally did not respond differentially as a function of expression. These results converge with findings showing memory advantages with happy expressions, though here the expressions were displayed on the face of a different person, perceived subliminally, and not present at test. We conclude that behavioral biases induced by masked emotional expressions are not ephemeral, but rather can last at least 24 hours. PMID:19695907

Increasing the power for detecting impairment in older adults with the Faces subtest from Wechsler Memory Scale-III: an empirical trial.

PubMed

Levy, Boaz

2006-10-01

Empirical studies have questioned the validity of the Faces subtest from the WMS-III for detecting impairment in visual memory, particularly among the elderly. A recent examination of the test norms revealed a significant age related floor effect already emerging on Faces I (immediate recall), implying excessive difficulty in the acquisition phase among unimpaired older adults. The current study compared the concurrent validity of the Faces subtest with an alternative measure between 16 Alzheimer's patients and 16 controls. The alternative measure was designed to facilitate acquisition by reducing the sequence of item presentation. Other changes aimed at increasing the retrieval challenge, decreasing error due to guessing and standardizing the administration. Analyses converged to indicate that the alternative measure provided a considerably greater differentiation than the Faces subtest between Alzheimer's patients and controls. Steps for revising the Faces subtest are discussed.

Long-lasting effects of subliminal affective priming from facial expressions.

PubMed

Sweeny, Timothy D; Grabowecky, Marcia; Suzuki, Satoru; Paller, Ken A

2009-12-01

Unconscious processing of stimuli with emotional content can bias affective judgments. Is this subliminal affective priming merely a transient phenomenon manifested in fleeting perceptual changes, or are long-lasting effects also induced? To address this question, we investigated memory for surprise faces 24 h after they had been shown with 30-ms fearful, happy, or neutral faces. Surprise faces subliminally primed by happy faces were initially rated as more positive, and were later remembered better, than those primed by fearful or neutral faces. Participants likely to have processed primes supraliminally did not respond differentially as a function of expression. These results converge with findings showing memory advantages with happy expressions, though here the expressions were displayed on the face of a different person, perceived subliminally, and not present at test. We conclude that behavioral biases induced by masked emotional expressions are not ephemeral, but rather can last at least 24 h.

Individual differences in the ability to recognise facial identity are associated with social anxiety.

PubMed

Davis, Joshua M; McKone, Elinor; Dennett, Hugh; O'Connor, Kirsty B; O'Kearney, Richard; Palermo, Romina

2011-01-01

Previous research has been concerned with the relationship between social anxiety and the recognition of face expression but the question of whether there is a relationship between social anxiety and the recognition of face identity has been neglected. Here, we report the first evidence that social anxiety is associated with recognition of face identity, across the population range of individual differences in recognition abilities. Results showed poorer face identity recognition (on the Cambridge Face Memory Test) was correlated with a small but significant increase in social anxiety (Social Interaction Anxiety Scale) but not general anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory). The correlation was also independent of general visual memory (Cambridge Car Memory Test) and IQ. Theoretically, the correlation could arise because correct identification of people, typically achieved via faces, is important for successful social interactions, extending evidence that individuals with clinical-level deficits in face identity recognition (prosopagnosia) often report social stress due to their inability to recognise others. Equally, the relationship could arise if social anxiety causes reduced exposure or attention to people's faces, and thus to poor development of face recognition mechanisms.

Individual Differences in the Ability to Recognise Facial Identity Are Associated with Social Anxiety

PubMed Central

Davis, Joshua M.; McKone, Elinor; Dennett, Hugh; O'Connor, Kirsty B.; O'Kearney, Richard; Palermo, Romina

2011-01-01

Previous research has been concerned with the relationship between social anxiety and the recognition of face expression but the question of whether there is a relationship between social anxiety and the recognition of face identity has been neglected. Here, we report the first evidence that social anxiety is associated with recognition of face identity, across the population range of individual differences in recognition abilities. Results showed poorer face identity recognition (on the Cambridge Face Memory Test) was correlated with a small but significant increase in social anxiety (Social Interaction Anxiety Scale) but not general anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory). The correlation was also independent of general visual memory (Cambridge Car Memory Test) and IQ. Theoretically, the correlation could arise because correct identification of people, typically achieved via faces, is important for successful social interactions, extending evidence that individuals with clinical-level deficits in face identity recognition (prosopagnosia) often report social stress due to their inability to recognise others. Equally, the relationship could arise if social anxiety causes reduced exposure or attention to people's faces, and thus to poor development of face recognition mechanisms. PMID:22194916

Randomized controlled trials and meta-analysis in medical education: what role do they play?

PubMed

Cook, David A

2012-01-01

Education researchers seek to understand what works, for whom, in what circumstances. Unfortunately, educational environments are complex and research itself is highly context dependent. Faced with these challenges, some have argued that qualitative methods should supplant quantitative methods such as randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and meta-analysis. I disagree. Good qualitative and mixed-methods research are complementary to, rather than exclusive of, quantitative methods. The complexity and challenges we face should not beguile us into ignoring methods that provide strong evidence. What, then, is the proper role for RCTs and meta-analysis in medical education? First, the choice of study design depends on the research question. RCTs and meta-analysis are appropriate for many, but not all, study goals. They have compelling strengths but also numerous limitations. Second, strong methods will not compensate for a pointless question. RCTs do not advance the science when they make confounded comparisons, or make comparison with no intervention. Third, clinical medicine now faces many of the same challenges we encounter in education. We can learn much from other fields about how to handle complexity in RCTs. Finally, no single study will definitively answer any research question. We need carefully planned, theory-building, programmatic research, reflecting a variety of paradigms and approaches, as we accumulate evidence to change the art and science of education.

Linking molecular models with ion mobility experiments. Illustration with a rigid nucleic acid structure

PubMed Central

D'Atri, Valentina; Porrini, Massimiliano; Rosu, Frédéric; Gabelica, Valérie

2015-01-01

Ion mobility spectrometry experiments allow the mass spectrometrist to determine an ion's rotationally averaged collision cross section ΩEXP. Molecular modelling is used to visualize what ion three-dimensional structure(s) is(are) compatible with the experiment. The collision cross sections of candidate molecular models have to be calculated, and the resulting ΩCALC are compared with the experimental data. Researchers who want to apply this strategy to a new type of molecule face many questions: (1) What experimental error is associated with ΩEXP determination, and how to estimate it (in particular when using a calibration for traveling wave ion guides)? (2) How to generate plausible 3D models in the gas phase? (3) Different collision cross section calculation models exist, which have been developed for other analytes than mine. Which one(s) can I apply to my systems? To apply ion mobility spectrometry to nucleic acid structural characterization, we explored each of these questions using a rigid structure which we know is preserved in the gas phase: the tetramolecular G-quadruplex [dTGGGGT]4, and we will present these detailed investigation in this tutorial. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Mass Spectrometry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. PMID:26259654

Application of scenario analysis and multiagent technique in land-use planning: a case study on Sanjiang wetlands.

PubMed

Yu, Huan; Ni, Shi-Jun; Kong, Bo; He, Zheng-Wei; Zhang, Cheng-Jiang; Zhang, Shu-Qing; Pan, Xin; Xia, Chao-Xu; Li, Xuan-Qiong

2013-01-01

Land-use planning has triggered debates on social and environmental values, in which two key questions will be faced: one is how to see different planning simulation results instantaneously and apply the results back to interactively assist planning work; the other is how to ensure that the planning simulation result is scientific and accurate. To answer these questions, the objective of this paper is to analyze whether and how a bridge can be built between qualitative and quantitative approaches for land-use planning work and to find out a way to overcome the gap that exists between the ability to construct computer simulation models to aid integrated land-use plan making and the demand for them by planning professionals. The study presented a theoretical framework of land-use planning based on scenario analysis (SA) method and multiagent system (MAS) simulation integration and selected freshwater wetlands in the Sanjiang Plain of China as a case study area. Study results showed that MAS simulation technique emphasizing quantitative process effectively compensated for the SA method emphasizing qualitative process, which realized the organic combination of qualitative and quantitative land-use planning work, and then provided a new idea and method for the land-use planning and sustainable managements of land resources.

Application of Scenario Analysis and Multiagent Technique in Land-Use Planning: A Case Study on Sanjiang Wetlands

PubMed Central

Ni, Shi-Jun; He, Zheng-Wei; Zhang, Cheng-Jiang; Zhang, Shu-Qing; Pan, Xin; Xia, Chao-Xu; Li, Xuan-Qiong

2013-01-01

Land-use planning has triggered debates on social and environmental values, in which two key questions will be faced: one is how to see different planning simulation results instantaneously and apply the results back to interactively assist planning work; the other is how to ensure that the planning simulation result is scientific and accurate. To answer these questions, the objective of this paper is to analyze whether and how a bridge can be built between qualitative and quantitative approaches for land-use planning work and to find out a way to overcome the gap that exists between the ability to construct computer simulation models to aid integrated land-use plan making and the demand for them by planning professionals. The study presented a theoretical framework of land-use planning based on scenario analysis (SA) method and multiagent system (MAS) simulation integration and selected freshwater wetlands in the Sanjiang Plain of China as a case study area. Study results showed that MAS simulation technique emphasizing quantitative process effectively compensated for the SA method emphasizing qualitative process, which realized the organic combination of qualitative and quantitative land-use planning work, and then provided a new idea and method for the land-use planning and sustainable managements of land resources. PMID:23818816

Risk-based flood protection planning under climate change and modeling uncertainty: a pre-alpine case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dittes, Beatrice; Kaiser, Maria; Špačková, Olga; Rieger, Wolfgang; Disse, Markus; Straub, Daniel

2018-05-01

Planning authorities are faced with a range of questions when planning flood protection measures: is the existing protection adequate for current and future demands or should it be extended? How will flood patterns change in the future? How should the uncertainty pertaining to this influence the planning decision, e.g., for delaying planning or including a safety margin? Is it sufficient to follow a protection criterion (e.g., to protect from the 100-year flood) or should the planning be conducted in a risk-based way? How important is it for flood protection planning to accurately estimate flood frequency (changes), costs and damage? These are questions that we address for a medium-sized pre-alpine catchment in southern Germany, using a sequential Bayesian decision making framework that quantitatively addresses the full spectrum of uncertainty. We evaluate different flood protection systems considered by local agencies in a test study catchment. Despite large uncertainties in damage, cost and climate, the recommendation is robust for the most conservative approach. This demonstrates the feasibility of making robust decisions under large uncertainty. Furthermore, by comparison to a previous study, it highlights the benefits of risk-based planning over the planning of flood protection to a prescribed return period.

Age-related increase of image-invariance in the fusiform face area.

PubMed

Nordt, Marisa; Semmelmann, Kilian; Genç, Erhan; Weigelt, Sarah

2018-06-01

Face recognition undergoes prolonged development from childhood to adulthood, thereby raising the question which neural underpinnings are driving this development. Here, we address the development of the neural foundation of the ability to recognize a face across naturally varying images. Fourteen children (ages, 7-10) and 14 adults (ages, 20-23) watched images of either the same or different faces in a functional magnetic resonance imaging adaptation paradigm. The same face was either presented in exact image repetitions or in varying images. Additionally, a subset of participants completed a behavioral task, in which they decided if the face in consecutively presented images belonged to the same person. Results revealed age-related increases in neural sensitivity to face identity in the fusiform face area. Importantly, ventral temporal face-selective regions exhibited more image-invariance - as indicated by stronger adaptation for different images of the same person - in adults compared to children. Crucially, the amount of adaptation to face identity across varying images was correlated with the ability to recognize individual faces in different images. These results suggest that the increase of image-invariance in face-selective regions might be related to the development of face recognition skills. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Identification of Extraterrestrial Microbiology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Flynn, Michael; Rasky, Daniel J. (Technical Monitor)

1998-01-01

Many of the key questions addressed in the field of Astrobiology are based upon the assumption that life exists, or at one time existed, in locations throughout the universe. However, this assumption is just that, an assumption. No definitive proof exists. On Earth, life has been found to exist in many diverse environment. We believe that this tendency towards diversity supports the assumption that life could exists throughout the universe. This paper provides a summary of several innovative techniques for the detection of extraterrestrial life forms. The primary questions addressed are does life currently exist beyond Earth and if it does, is that life evolutionary related to life on Earth?

Should I take this course online?

PubMed

O'Neil, Carol; Fisher, Cheryl

2008-02-01

As the number of online nursing courses increases, students are faced with the daunting question, "Should I take this course online?" Although online courses are convenient, convenience should not be the sole factor for making this decision. Students and their advisors should discuss the characteristics of successful online students before deciding to take a course online. A study was conducted in which the same face-to-face and online version of a course were compared using Ragan's framework. The results of the study describe characteristics that can serve as useful criteria for predicting student success in an online course.

Coal-Face Fracture With A Two-Phase Liquid

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Collins, E. R., Jr.

1985-01-01

In new method for mining coal without explosive, two-phase liquid such as CO2 and water, injected at high pressure into deeper ends of holes drilled in coal face. Liquid permeates coal seam through existing microfractures; as liquid seeps back toward face, pressure eventually drops below critical value at which dissolved gas flashvaporizes, breaking up coal.

77 FR 31015 - Federal Open Market Committee; Domestic Policy Directive of April 24-25, 2012

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-24

..., Treasury securities with remaining maturities of approximately 6 years to 30 years with a total face value... total face value of $400 billion. The Committee also directs the Desk to maintain its existing policies... mortgage-backed securities in order to maintain the total face value of domestic securities at...

A Case Study of American and Chinese College Students' Motivation Differences in Online Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhao, Chunjuan; Mei, Zongxiang

2016-01-01

Motivating students has been a key challenge facing instructors in non-face-to-face instructional contexts. Existing researches into motivation in online learning environment have revealed that there are learning motivation differences among students from different cultural backgrounds. The purpose of this study is to identify whether American and…

Addressing the Economic Security Issues Facing Same-Sex Couples.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dolan, Elizabeth M.; Stum, Marlene S.; Rupured, Michael

1999-01-01

Provides educators and researchers with an awareness of the financial security issues faced by same-sex couples and offers suggestions for incorporating the discussion of these ideas into existing curricula and research. (Author/JOW)

To Break it Down or Not Break it Down: That is the Question!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coker, Cheryl A.

2006-01-01

Learning a new skill, even a seemingly simple one, can be an overwhelming task for a beginner. A question often faced by the practitioner as a result is whether or not to break the skill into parts for initial practice. Skill complexity and skill organization interact to provide direction as to whether whole or part practice should be employed in…

JPRS Report, West Europe

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-04-01

Official Interviewed on Navy’s Role , Prospects 19 GREECE Details on Production of Artemis-30 Antiaircraft System 20 High Cost Pointed Out 20...face. I would stress that it is impossible for all the mixed intermuni- cipal projects to become pure ones. [Question] Is the regional issue a...providing an enthusiastic vision of Wallonia, dynamic and rejuvenated. I would stress that the demographic problem is enormously important. [Question

Whose Side Are We on and for Whom Do We Write? Notes on Issues and Challenges Facing Those Researching and Evaluating Public Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warren, Jon; Garthwaite, Kayleigh

2015-01-01

Becker (1967) poses the question "Whose side are we on?," a question which has become an enduring part of discussions within social scientific methodology. This paper explores the key issues in Becker's argument and considers its relevance to researchers today, locating this within a consideration of evaluation-based research and policy.…

Drag Measurements of Porous Plate Acoustic Liners

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolter, John D.

2005-01-01

This paper presents the results of direct drag measurements on a variety of porous plate acoustic liners. The existing literature describes numerous studies of drag on porous walls with injection or suction, but relatively few of drag on porous plates with neither injection nor suction. Furthermore, the porosity of the porous plate in existing studies is much lower than typically used in acoustic liners. In the present work, the acoustic liners consisted of a perforated face sheet covering a bulk acoustic absorber material. Factors that were varied in the experiment were hole diameter, hole pattern, face sheet thickness, bulk material type, and size of the gap (if any) between the face sheet and the absorber material.

Color-Biased Regions of the Ventral Visual Pathway Lie between Face- and Place-Selective Regions in Humans, as in Macaques

PubMed Central

Conway, Bevil R.; Kanwisher, Nancy G.

2016-01-01

The existence of color-processing regions in the human ventral visual pathway (VVP) has long been known from patient and imaging studies, but their location in the cortex relative to other regions, their selectivity for color compared with other properties (shape and object category), and their relationship to color-processing regions found in nonhuman primates remain unclear. We addressed these questions by scanning 13 subjects with fMRI while they viewed two versions of movie clips (colored, achromatic) of five different object classes (faces, scenes, bodies, objects, scrambled objects). We identified regions in each subject that were selective for color, faces, places, and object shape, and measured responses within these regions to the 10 conditions in independently acquired data. We report two key findings. First, the three previously reported color-biased regions (located within a band running posterior–anterior along the VVP, present in most of our subjects) were sandwiched between face-selective cortex and place-selective cortex, forming parallel bands of face, color, and place selectivity that tracked the fusiform gyrus/collateral sulcus. Second, the posterior color-biased regions showed little or no selectivity for object shape or for particular stimulus categories and showed no interaction of color preference with stimulus category, suggesting that they code color independently of shape or stimulus category; moreover, the shape-biased lateral occipital region showed no significant color bias. These observations mirror results in macaque inferior temporal cortex (Lafer-Sousa and Conway, 2013), and taken together, these results suggest a homology in which the entire tripartite face/color/place system of primates migrated onto the ventral surface in humans over the course of evolution. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Here we report that color-biased cortex is sandwiched between face-selective and place-selective cortex on the bottom surface of the brain in humans. This face/color/place organization mirrors that seen on the lateral surface of the temporal lobe in macaques, suggesting that the entire tripartite system is homologous between species. This result validates the use of macaques as a model for human vision, making possible more powerful investigations into the connectivity, precise neural codes, and development of this part of the brain. In addition, we find substantial segregation of color from shape selectivity in posterior regions, as observed in macaques, indicating a considerable dissociation of the processing of shape and color in both species. PMID:26843649

To Remodel or To Build?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenblum, Todd

2009-01-01

The question of remodeling an existing house to make it wheelchair accessible or building a new barrier-free house is a difficult decision. This article presents some initial questions and considerations followed by a list of pros and cons for remodeling an existing house vs. building a new house.

The nature of face representations in subcortical regions.

PubMed

Gabay, Shai; Burlingham, Charles; Behrmann, Marlene

2014-07-01

Studies examining the neural correlates of face perception in humans have focused almost exclusively on the distributed cortical network of face-selective regions. Recently, however, investigations have also identified subcortical correlates of face perception and the question addressed here concerns the nature of these subcortical face representations. To explore this issue, we presented to participants pairs of images sequentially to the same or to different eyes. Superior performance in the former over latter condition implicates monocular, prestriate portions of the visual system. Over a series of five experiments, we manipulated both lower-level (size, location) as well as higher-level (identity) similarity across the pair of faces. A monocular advantage was observed even when the faces in a pair differed in location and in size, implicating some subcortical invariance across lower-level image properties. A monocular advantage was also observed when the faces in a pair were two different images of the same individual, indicating the engagement of subcortical representations in more abstract, higher-level aspects of face processing. We conclude that subcortical structures of the visual system are involved, perhaps interactively, in multiple aspects of face perception, and not simply in deriving initial coarse representations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Body That Speaks: Recombining Bodies and Speech Sources in Unscripted Face-to-Face Communication.

PubMed

Gillespie, Alex; Corti, Kevin

2016-01-01

This article examines advances in research methods that enable experimental substitution of the speaking body in unscripted face-to-face communication. A taxonomy of six hybrid social agents is presented by combining three types of bodies (mechanical, virtual, and human) with either an artificial or human speech source. Our contribution is to introduce and explore the significance of two particular hybrids: (1) the cyranoid method that enables humans to converse face-to-face through the medium of another person's body, and (2) the echoborg method that enables artificial intelligence to converse face-to-face through the medium of a human body. These two methods are distinct in being able to parse the unique influence of the human body when combined with various speech sources. We also introduce a new framework for conceptualizing the body's role in communication, distinguishing three levels: self's perspective on the body, other's perspective on the body, and self's perspective of other's perspective on the body. Within each level the cyranoid and echoborg methodologies make important research questions tractable. By conceptualizing and synthesizing these methods, we outline a novel paradigm of research on the role of the body in unscripted face-to-face communication.

The Body That Speaks: Recombining Bodies and Speech Sources in Unscripted Face-to-Face Communication

PubMed Central

Gillespie, Alex; Corti, Kevin

2016-01-01

This article examines advances in research methods that enable experimental substitution of the speaking body in unscripted face-to-face communication. A taxonomy of six hybrid social agents is presented by combining three types of bodies (mechanical, virtual, and human) with either an artificial or human speech source. Our contribution is to introduce and explore the significance of two particular hybrids: (1) the cyranoid method that enables humans to converse face-to-face through the medium of another person's body, and (2) the echoborg method that enables artificial intelligence to converse face-to-face through the medium of a human body. These two methods are distinct in being able to parse the unique influence of the human body when combined with various speech sources. We also introduce a new framework for conceptualizing the body's role in communication, distinguishing three levels: self's perspective on the body, other's perspective on the body, and self's perspective of other's perspective on the body. Within each level the cyranoid and echoborg methodologies make important research questions tractable. By conceptualizing and synthesizing these methods, we outline a novel paradigm of research on the role of the body in unscripted face-to-face communication. PMID:27660616

Dissociated neural basis of two behavioral hallmarks of holistic face processing: The whole-part effect and composite-face effect.

PubMed

Li, Jin; Huang, Lijie; Song, Yiying; Liu, Jia

2017-07-28

It has been long proposed that our extraordinary face recognition ability stems from holistic face processing. Two widely-used behavioral hallmarks of holistic face processing are the whole-part effect (WPE) and composite-face effect (CFE). However, it remains unknown whether these two effects reflect similar or different aspects of holistic face processing. Here we investigated this question by examining whether the WPE and CFE involved shared or distinct neural substrates in a large sample of participants (N=200). We found that the WPE and CFE showed hemispheric dissociation in the fusiform face area (FFA), that is, the WPE was correlated with face selectivity in the left FFA, while the CFE was correlated with face selectivity in the right FFA. Further, the correlation between the WPE and face selectivity was largely driven by the FFA response to faces, whereas the association between the CFE and face selectivity resulted from suppressed response to objects in the right FFA. Finally, we also observed dissociated correlation patterns of the WPE and CFE in other face-selective regions and across the whole brain. These results suggest that the WPE and CFE may reflect different aspects of holistic face processing, which shed new light on the behavioral dissociations of these two effects demonstrated in literature. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reverse engineering the face space: Discovering the critical features for face identification.

PubMed

Abudarham, Naphtali; Yovel, Galit

2016-01-01

How do we identify people? What are the critical facial features that define an identity and determine whether two faces belong to the same person or different people? To answer these questions, we applied the face space framework, according to which faces are represented as points in a multidimensional feature space, such that face space distances are correlated with perceptual similarities between faces. In particular, we developed a novel method that allowed us to reveal the critical dimensions (i.e., critical features) of the face space. To that end, we constructed a concrete face space, which included 20 facial features of natural face images, and asked human observers to evaluate feature values (e.g., how thick are the lips). Next, we systematically and quantitatively changed facial features, and measured the perceptual effects of these manipulations. We found that critical features were those for which participants have high perceptual sensitivity (PS) for detecting differences across identities (e.g., which of two faces has thicker lips). Furthermore, these high PS features vary minimally across different views of the same identity, suggesting high PS features support face recognition across different images of the same face. The methods described here set an infrastructure for discovering the critical features of other face categories not studied here (e.g., Asians, familiar) as well as other aspects of face processing, such as attractiveness or trait inferences.

What Does the Patient Say? Levinas and Medical Ethics.

PubMed

Burns, Lawrence

2017-04-01

The patient-physician relationship is of primary importance for medical ethics, but it also teaches broader lessons about ethics generally. This is particularly true for the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas whose ethics is grounded in the other who "faces" the subject and whose suffering provokes responsibility. Given the pragmatic, situational character of Levinasian ethics, the "face of the other" may be elucidated by an analogy with the "face of the patient." To do so, I draw on examples from Martin Winckler's fictional physician narratives. In addition, I explore how the standpoint of the physician conceals a related but often unacknowledged dimension of care: the obligation to nurse. For both nurse and physician, one question encapsulates Levinas' medical ethics: "What does the patient say?" Using this as my guiding question, I examine the context within which physician, nurse, and patient meet in order to highlight their shared vulnerability and the care relationship that binds them together. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Inc. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Attention selectively modifies the representation of individual faces in the human brain

PubMed Central

Gratton, Caterina; Sreenivasan, Kartik K.; Silver, Michael A.; D’Esposito, Mark

2013-01-01

Attention modifies neural tuning for low-level features, but it is unclear how attention influences tuning for complex stimuli. We investigated this question in humans using fMRI and face stimuli. Participants were shown six faces (F1-F6) along a morph continuum, and selectivity was quantified by constructing tuning curves for individual voxels. Face-selective voxels exhibited greater responses to their preferred face than to non-preferred faces, particularly in posterior face areas. Anterior face areas instead displayed tuning for face categories: voxels in these areas preferred either the first (F1-F3) or second (F4-F6) half of the morph continuum. Next, we examined the effects of attention on voxel tuning by having subjects direct attention to one of the superimposed images of F1 and F6. We found that attention selectively enhanced responses in voxels preferring the attended face. Taken together, our results demonstrate that single voxels carry information about individual faces and that the nature of this information varies across cortical face areas. Additionally, we found that attention selectively enhances these representations. Our findings suggest that attention may act via a unitary principle of selective enhancement of responses to both simple and complex stimuli across multiple stages of the visual hierarchy. PMID:23595755

Student Success in Face-to-Face and Online Sections of Biology Courses at a Community College in East Tennessee

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garman, Deanna Essington

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if there were significant differences in student success in face-to-face and online biology courses as categorized by gender, major, and age; and as measured by lecture grades, lab grades, and final course grades. The data used for analyses included data from 170 face-to-face sections and 127 online sections from a biology course during the fall and spring semesters beginning fall 2008 through spring 2011. Researchers have reported mixed findings in previous studies juxtaposing online and face-to-face course delivery formats, from no significant differences to differences in grades, learning styles, and satisfaction levels. Four research questions guided this study with data analysis involving t-tests for independent groups and chi-square tests. This researcher noted significant differences in the results of this study: grades, success rates by gender, success rates by health and nonhealth majors, and nontraditional age (≥25) success rate were higher for students in the face-to-face courses; and the attrition rate was higher for students in the online course sections. There was no significant difference found in the success rate for traditional age (<25) students in the face-to-face sections compared to those in the online sections.

Enhanced Facial Symmetry Assessment in Orthodontists

PubMed Central

Jackson, Tate H.; Clark, Kait; Mitroff, Stephen R.

2013-01-01

Assessing facial symmetry is an evolutionarily important process, which suggests that individual differences in this ability should exist. As existing data are inconclusive, the current study explored whether a group trained in facial symmetry assessment, orthodontists, possessed enhanced abilities. Symmetry assessment was measured using face and non-face stimuli among orthodontic residents and two control groups: university participants with no symmetry training and airport security luggage screeners, a group previously shown to possess expert visual search skills unrelated to facial symmetry. Orthodontic residents were more accurate at assessing symmetry in both upright and inverted faces compared to both control groups, but not for non-face stimuli. These differences are not likely due to motivational biases or a speed-accuracy tradeoff—orthodontic residents were slower than the university participants but not the security screeners. Understanding such individual differences in facial symmetry assessment may inform the perception of facial attractiveness. PMID:24319342

Asking Questions: Will Army Tactical Interrogation be Ready for War?

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-12-17

still never answer the basic question: "Is there enough?" It is the interrogator portion of this question that this paper will address to provide a...tenative answer for the near to midrange future. Section II of this paper will examine the historical 2 AA 4 importance of interrogator derived...the former that this paper will concern itself. In addition to interrogators, there have historically existed, and there continue to exist today (almost

Effectiveness and acceptance of web-based learning compared to traditional face-to-face learning for performance nutrition education.

PubMed

Margolis, Lee M; Grediagin, Ann; Koenig, Chad; Sanders, LesLee F

2009-10-01

The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness and acceptance of Web-based (WB) versus face-to-face (FF) lecturing. There were 48 soldiers stationed at Fort Bragg, NC who completed the study, participating in either a Web-based or face-to-face lecture on nutrition for performance. The lecture was 30 minutes long. Participants completed a prequiz and survey before the lecture and a postquiz and survey at its conclusion. Results showed there was no difference in the effectiveness of the two mediums on the basis of postquiz scores (Web-based group = 75.68; face-to-face group = 73.27; p = 0.436). Change in scores from pre to post also showed no difference between the two groups (p = 0.375). Assessing the acceptance of the two teaching mediums, there was no significant difference reported, except for the instructor's ability to answer questions (p = 0.05). The conclusion of this study is that Web-based learning can be an effective and acceptable tool for registered dietitians to educate soldiers on nutrition for performance.

Relative expertise affects N170 during selective attention to superimposed face-character images.

PubMed

Ip, Chengteng; Wang, Hailing; Fu, Shimin

2017-07-01

It remains unclear whether the N170 of ERPs reflects domain-specific or domain-general visual object processing. In this study, we used superimposed images of a face and a Chinese character such that participants' relative expertise for the two object types was either similar (Experiment 1 and 2) or different (Experiment 3). Experiment 1 showed that N170 amplitude was larger when participants attended to the character instead of the face of a face-character combination. This result was unchanged in Experiment 2, in which task difficulty was selectively increased for the face component of the combined stimuli. Experiment 3 showed that, although this N170 enhancement for attending to characters relative to faces persisted for false characters with recognizable parts, it disappeared for unrecognizable characters. Therefore, N170 amplitude was significantly greater for Chinese characters than for faces presented within a combined image, independent of the relative task difficulty. This result strongly calls N170 face selectivity into question, demonstrating that, contrary to the expectations established by a domain-specific account, N170 is modulated by expertise. © 2017 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

It is all in the face: carotenoid skin coloration loses attractiveness outside the face.

PubMed

Lefevre, C E; Ewbank, M P; Calder, A J; von dem Hagen, E; Perrett, D I

2013-01-01

Recently, the importance of skin colour for facial attractiveness has been recognized. In particular, dietary carotenoid-induced skin colour has been proposed as a signal of health and therefore attractiveness. While perceptual results are highly consistent, it is currently not clear whether carotenoid skin colour is preferred because it poses a cue to current health condition in humans or whether it is simply seen as a more aesthetically pleasing colour, independently of skin-specific signalling properties. Here, we tested this question by comparing attractiveness ratings of faces to corresponding ratings of meaningless scrambled face images matching the colours and contrasts found in the face. We produced sets of face and non-face stimuli with either healthy (high-carotenoid coloration) or unhealthy (low-carotenoid coloration) colour and asked participants for attractiveness ratings. Results showed that, while for faces increased carotenoid coloration significantly improved attractiveness, there was no equivalent effect on perception of scrambled images. These findings are consistent with a specific signalling system of current condition through skin coloration in humans and indicate that preferences are not caused by sensory biases in observers.

The multi-faceted assessment of independence in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: preliminary validation from the ATTAIN study.

PubMed

Hassett, Afton L; Li, Tracy; Buyske, Steven; Savage, Shantal V; Gignac, Monique A M

2008-05-01

To consider the feasibility of assessing multiple facets of independence in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using a measure developed from existing items and examining its face validity, construct validity and responsiveness to change. The ATTAIN (Abatacept Trial in Treatment of Anti-tumor necrosis factor [TNF] Inadequate responders) database was used. Patients with RA were randomized 2:1, abatacept (n = 258) and placebo (n = 133). A multi-faceted scale to measure physical and psychosocial independence was constructed using items from the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36). Questions assessing activity limitations and need for outside caregiver help were also examined. Interviews with 20 RA patients assessed face validity. Item Response Theory analysis yielded two traits - 'Psychosocial Independence', derived from the number of days with activity limitations plus the Role Emotional, Social Functioning and Role Physical subscale items from the SF-36; and 'Physical Independence', derived from 15 HAQ items assessing need for help from another. The two traits showed no significant differential item functioning for age or gender and demonstrated good face validity. Changes over 169 days on Psychosocial Independence were greater (mean 0.46 units, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.17-0.75) for the abatacept group than for placebo (p = 0.002). Changes in Physical Independence were greater (mean 0.59 units, 95% CI: 0.35-0.82) for the abatacept group than for placebo (p < 0.001). The multi-faceted assessment of independence in RA based on items from commonly used instruments is feasible suggesting promise for evaluating independence in future clinical trials. This approach demonstrated good face and construct validity and responsiveness in RA patients who had previously failed anti-TNF therapy. However, we caution against an interpretation that these data suggest that abatacept improves independence because the component parts of this assessment came from instruments used in the ATTAIN trial where data had been previously analyzed.

BCQ+: a body constitution questionnaire to assess Yang-Xu. Part I: establishment of a first final version through a Delphi process.

PubMed

Su, Yi-Chang; Chen, Li-Li; Lin, Jun-Dai; Lin, Jui-Shan; Huang, Yi-Chia; Lai, Jim-Shoung

2008-12-01

Assessing an individual's level of Yang deficiency (Yang-Xu) by its manifestations is a frequent issue in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinical trials. To this end, an objective, reliable and rigorous diagnostic tool is required. This study aimed to develop a first final version of the Yang-Xu Constitution Questionnaire. We conducted 3 steps to develop such an objective measurement tool: 1) the research team was formed and a panel of 26 experts was selected for the Delphi process; 2) items for the questionnaire were generated by literature review and a Delphi process; items were reworded into colloquial questions; face and content validity of the items were evaluated through a Delphi process again; 3) the difficulty of the questionnaire was evaluated in a pilot study with 81 subjects aged 20-60 years. The literature review retrieved 35 relevant items which matched the definition of 'constitution' and 'Yang-Xu'. After a first Delphi process, 22 items were retained and translated into colloquial questions. According to the second part of the Delphi process, the content validity index of each of the 22 questions ranged between 0.85-1. These 22 questions were evaluated by 81 subjects, 2 questions that were hard to tell the difference were combined; 3 questions were modified after the research team had discussed the participants' feedback. Finally, the questionnaire was established with 21 questions. This first final version of a questionnaire to assess Yang-Xu constitution with considerable face and content validity may serve as a basis to develop an advanced Yang-Xu questionnaire. 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Combinatorial Interdependence in Lottery

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Helman, Danny

2005-01-01

This paper examines a real life question of gamble facing lottery players. Combinatorial dependence plays a central role in shaping the game probabilistic structure, but might not carry the merited weight in punters' considerations.

76 FR 67731 - Federal Open Market Committee; Domestic Policy Directive of September 20 and 21, 2011

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-02

..., Treasury securities with remaining maturities of approximately 6 years to 30 years with a total face value... total face value of $400 billion. The Committee also directs the Desk to maintain its existing policy of...- backed securities in order to maintain the total face value of domestic securities at approximately $2.6...

16 CFR 303.24 - Pile fabrics and products composed thereof.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... stated on the label in such segregated form as will show the fiber content of the face or pile and of the back or base, with percentages of the respective fibers as they exist in the face or pile and in the back or base: Provided, That in such disclosure the respective percentages of the face and back be...

16 CFR 303.24 - Pile fabrics and products composed thereof.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... stated on the label in such segregated form as will show the fiber content of the face or pile and of the back or base, with percentages of the respective fibers as they exist in the face or pile and in the back or base: Provided, That in such disclosure the respective percentages of the face and back be...

16 CFR 303.24 - Pile fabrics and products composed thereof.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... stated on the label in such segregated form as will show the fiber content of the face or pile and of the back or base, with percentages of the respective fibers as they exist in the face or pile and in the back or base: Provided, That in such disclosure the respective percentages of the face and back be...

16 CFR 303.24 - Pile fabrics and products composed thereof.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... stated on the label in such segregated form as will show the fiber content of the face or pile and of the back or base, with percentages of the respective fibers as they exist in the face or pile and in the back or base: Provided, That in such disclosure the respective percentages of the face and back be...

The Categorization-Individuation Model: An Integrative Account of the Other-Race Recognition Deficit

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hugenberg, Kurt; Young, Steven G.; Bernstein, Michael J.; Sacco, Donald F.

2010-01-01

The "other-race effect" (ORE), or the finding that same-race faces are better recognized than other-race faces, is one of the best replicated phenomena in face recognition. The current article reviews existing evidence and theory and proposes a new theoretical framework for the ORE, which argues that the effect results from a confluence of social…

Perception of faces in schizophrenia: Subjective (self-report) vs. objective (psychophysics) assessments.

PubMed

Chen, Yue; Ekstrom, Tor

2016-05-01

Face perception impairment in schizophrenia has been demonstrated, mostly through experimental studies. How this laboratory-defined behavioral impairment is associated with patients' perceptual experience of various faces in everyday life is however unclear. This question is important because a first-person account of face perception has direct consequences on social functioning of patients. In this study, we adapted and administered a self-reported questionnaire on narrative perceptual experience of faces along with psychophysical assessments of face perception in schizophrenia. The self-reported questionnaire includes six rating items of face-related functioning in everyday life, providing a subjective measure of face perception. The psychophysical assessment determines perceptual threshold for discriminating different facial identities, providing an objective measure of face perception. Compared to controls (n = 25), patients (n = 35) showed significantly lower scores (worse performance) in the subjective assessment and significantly higher thresholds (worse performance) in the objective assessment. The subjective and objective face perception assessments were moderately correlated in controls but not in patients. The subjective face perception assessments were significantly correlated with measurements of a social cognitive ability (Theory of Mind), again in controls but not in patients. These results suggest that in schizophrenia the quality of face-related functioning in everyday life is degraded and the role that basic face discrimination capacity plays in face-related everyday functioning is disrupted. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Perception of faces in schizophrenia: Subjective (self-report) vs. objective (psychophysics) assessments

PubMed Central

Chen, Yue; Ekstrom, Tor

2016-01-01

Objectives Face perception impairment in schizophrenia has been demonstrated, mostly through experimental studies. How this laboratory-defined behavioral impairment is associated with patients’ perceptual experience of various faces in everyday life is however unclear. This question is important because a first-person account of face perception has direct consequences on social functioning of patients. In this study, we adapted and administered a self-reported questionnaire on narrative perceptual experience of faces along with psychophysical assessments of face perception in schizophrenia. Methods The self-reported questionnaire includes six rating items of face-related functioning in everyday life, providing a subjective measure of face perception. The psychophysical assessment determines perceptual threshold for discriminating different facial identities, providing an objective measure of face perception. Results Compared to controls (n=25), patients (n=35) showed significantly lower scores (worse performance) in the subjective assessment and significantly higher thresholds (worse performance) in the objective assessment. The subjective and objective face perception assessments were moderately correlated in controls but not in patients. The subjective face perception assessments were significantly correlated with measurements of a social cognitive ability (Theory of Mind), again in controls but not in patients. Conclusion These results suggest that in schizophrenia the quality of face-related functioning in everyday life is degraded and the role that basic face discrimination capacity plays in face-related everyday functioning is disrupted. PMID:26938027

Crossing the “Uncanny Valley”: adaptation to cartoon faces can influence perception of human faces

PubMed Central

Chen, Haiwen; Russell, Richard; Nakayama, Ken; Livingstone, Margaret

2013-01-01

Adaptation can shift what individuals identify to be a prototypical or attractive face. Past work suggests that low-level shape adaptation can affect high-level face processing but is position dependent. Adaptation to distorted images of faces can also affect face processing but only within sub-categories of faces, such as gender, age, and race/ethnicity. This study assesses whether there is a representation of face that is specific to faces (as opposed to all shapes) but general to all kinds of faces (as opposed to subcategories) by testing whether adaptation to one type of face can affect perception of another. Participants were shown cartoon videos containing faces with abnormally large eyes. Using animated videos allowed us to simulate naturalistic exposure and avoid positional shape adaptation. Results suggest that adaptation to cartoon faces with large eyes shifts preferences for human faces toward larger eyes, supporting the existence of general face representations. PMID:20465173

[The Belgian and French medicine and the "Ordres" facing the "jewish question" during the Second World War].

PubMed

Noterman, J

2014-01-01

The attitude of the medical community and the "Ordres" to the "jewish question" differs in Belgium and France. This difference originates before the Second World War. Xenophobia and antisemitism were stronger in France. In addition, the Belgian capitulation of May 1940 and the armistice of June 22 in France do not represent the same situation. In France, a legal government, under the direction of Marshal Pétain, took a series of xenophobic measures of which the Jews were the first victims. In Belgium, in the absence of any government, the General Secretaries in Ministries were the ones who had to apply the antijewish measures dictated by the German occupant. By law, they could not legislate on the political level. The "Ordre", of French physicians was created in late 1940 by the Vichy government. In Belgium, the "Ordre " had existed since 1938 but had been unable to meet in the absence of implement decrees. An "Ordre bis" was created in late 1941, the legality of which was questioned by many lawyers and physicians. The French "Ordre" was to apply the antijewish measures by taking responsibility for the selection of Jewish physicians entitled to practice. In Belgium, the "Ordre" frowned upon by the physicians, played no official role in this regard. It simply applied the antijewish measures dictated by the Germans without protesting. After the conflict, the leaders of the "Ordres" had a different fate in both countries. In France, they escaped sentences. In Belgium, they were heavily condemned.

Visual body recognition in a prosopagnosic patient.

PubMed

Moro, V; Pernigo, S; Avesani, R; Bulgarelli, C; Urgesi, C; Candidi, M; Aglioti, S M

2012-01-01

Conspicuous deficits in face recognition characterize prosopagnosia. Information on whether agnosic deficits may extend to non-facial body parts is lacking. Here we report the neuropsychological description of FM, a patient affected by a complete deficit in face recognition in the presence of mild clinical signs of visual object agnosia. His deficit involves both overt and covert recognition of faces (i.e. recognition of familiar faces, but also categorization of faces for gender or age) as well as the visual mental imagery of faces. By means of a series of matching-to-sample tasks we investigated: (i) a possible association between prosopagnosia and disorders in visual body perception; (ii) the effect of the emotional content of stimuli on the visual discrimination of faces, bodies and objects; (iii) the existence of a dissociation between identity recognition and the emotional discrimination of faces and bodies. Our results document, for the first time, the co-occurrence of body agnosia, i.e. the visual inability to discriminate body forms and body actions, and prosopagnosia. Moreover, the results show better performance in the discrimination of emotional face and body expressions with respect to body identity and neutral actions. Since FM's lesions involve bilateral fusiform areas, it is unlikely that the amygdala-temporal projections explain the relative sparing of emotion discrimination performance. Indeed, the emotional content of the stimuli did not improve the discrimination of their identity. The results hint at the existence of two segregated brain networks involved in identity and emotional discrimination that are at least partially shared by face and body processing. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development and validation of health related quality of life questionnaire (Indian scenario) in diabetic foot ulcer patients.

PubMed

Kateel, Ramya; Augustine, Alfred J; Ullal, Sheetal; Prabhu, Shivananda; Bhat, Rahul; Adhikari, Prabha

2017-12-01

To develop and validate Health Related Quality of Life Questionnaire in Diabetic Foot Ulcer Patients (HRQLQDFU) for Indian scenario. This study was conducted in two phases. First phase was Development of HRQLQDFU which included literature search and expert interview. Second phase was validation of HRQLQDFL which included face validation, content validation and construct validation. Face validation was done by ten diabetic foot ulcer patients, ten practicing nurses and ten care givers. They were asked to read and respond to questionnaire and report any difficulty in understanding the questions. Further they were asked to add any item to the questionnaire which according to them has a significant effect on quality of life. Content validation was done by six subject experts who judged the content relevance of questionnaire with score ranging from zero to four; zero being least relevant and four being most relevant. Content validity index was calculated for each question. Questions having content validity index≥0.8 were selected for the study. Reliability was tested by calculating Cronbach's alpha. In the development phase a questionnaire containing 37 questions with six domains was developed. None of patient had difficulty in understanding questions. After content validation a new questionnaire containing 20 questions was developed. Cronbach's alpha was 0.86 which shows good reliability. The new health related quality of life questionnaire on diabetic foot ulcer patients for an Indian scenario is validated and can be a reliably measure for quality of life in diabetic foot ulcer patients. Copyright © 2017 Diabetes India. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterizing Indian Students Pursuing Global Higher Education: A Conceptual Framework of Pathways to Internationalization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gopinath, Deepak

2015-01-01

One might argue that an Indian student entering higher education is faced with a critical question--Where to study, in India or abroad? With a gross enrollment ratio of around 20% in the tertiary sector, only one in five in the 18 to 23 age group of a 140 million eventually gets to answer the question. But those who do, and whose numbers are…

"What Do You Want to Talk about?"--p4c Lessons in the Family

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Albertini, Tamara

2012-01-01

The author was surprised by the question her son Peter asked her, "What do you want to talk about?" This is the first time her son is inquiring about something that she would like to share with him. No matter how often she hears it, it always makes her smile. It isn't just the question. It's also the very earnest face that Peter wears…

Organ Transplantation: Frequently Asked Questions

MedlinePlus

... transplanted at the same time) intestine vascularized composite allografts (VCAs), such as face and hand transplantation Are ... including organ size, and condition, blood type and tissue type. UNOS generates a list of potential recipients. ...

Bioethics and Health Education: Some Issues of the Biological Revolution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fulton, Gere B.

1977-01-01

With the development of sophisticated techniques in the biology of conception, fetal research, sustaining life after functional death, and abortion, legal and ethical questions face the medical community. (JD)

[Ethical problems in organ transplantation].

PubMed

Bosshard, Georg

2009-08-01

Since the early 1960s transplantation surgery has rapidly developed into a flagship technique of modern high-tech medicine with convincing therapeutic success. However, transplantation surgery also raises a number of serious ethical issues. The majority of solid organ transplants are procured from so-called brain-dead donors, i.e., from individuals with irreversible loss of all brain functions. This imposes the question whether and how the well-defined irreversible brain death can be equated with the death of an individual. The distribution of organs from brain-dead donors raises additional ethical questions and concerns. In the face of an increasing shortage of donor organs, what are the best criteria for setting priorities among the recipients? Is it urgency, need, or cost-effectiveness of the transplantation? And how can these parameters be appropriately defined? Moreover, as living organ donation (kidney, liver) becomes rife we are faced with the question of what voluntariness means in such exceptional conditions and how voluntariness can be adequately assessed. Finally, serious ethical concerns evolve from the so-called 'transplant tourism' and 'organ trafficking', accounting for approximately 5 to 10 % of all kidney transplantations world-wide.

The left perceptual bias for adult and infant faces in adults and 5-year-old children: face age matters.

PubMed

Proietti, Valentina; Pavone, Sarah; Ricciardelli, Paola; Macchi Cassia, Viola

2015-01-01

A large number of studies have shown that adults rely more heavily on information conveyed by the left side of the face in judging emotional state, gender and identity. This phenomenon, called left perceptual bias (LPB), suggests a right hemisphere lateralization of face processing mechanisms. Although specialization of neural mechanisms for processing over-experienced face categories begins during the first year of life, little is known about the developmental trajectory of the LPB and whether or when the bias becomes selective for specific face categories as a result of experience. To address these questions we tested adults (Experiment 1) and 5-year-old children (Experiment 2) with null or limited experience with infants in an identity matching-to-sample task with chimeric adult and infant faces, for which both adults and children have been shown to manifest differential processing abilities. Results showed that 5-year-olds manifest a leftward bias selective for adult faces, and the magnitude of the bias is larger for adult compared to infant faces in adults. This evidence is in line with earlier demonstrations of a perceptual processing advantage for adult faces in adults and children and points to the role of experience in shaping neurocognitive specialization for face processing.

Validating Facial Aesthetic Surgery Results with the FACE-Q.

PubMed

Kappos, Elisabeth A; Temp, Mathias; Schaefer, Dirk J; Haug, Martin; Kalbermatten, Daniel F; Toth, Bryant A

2017-04-01

In aesthetic clinical practice, surgical outcome is best measured by patient satisfaction and quality of life. For many years, there has been a lack of validated questionnaires. Recently, the FACE-Q was introduced, and the authors present the largest series of face-lift patients evaluated by the FACE-Q with the longest follow-up to date. Two hundred consecutive patients were identified who underwent high-superficial musculoaponeurotic system face lifts, with or without additional facial rejuvenation procedures, between January of 2005 and January of 2015. Patients were sent eight FACE-Q scales and were asked to answer questions with regard to their satisfaction. Rank analysis of covariance was used to compare different subgroups. The response rate was 38 percent. Combination of face lift with other procedures resulted in higher satisfaction than face lift alone (p < 0.05). Patients who underwent lipofilling as part of their face lift showed higher satisfaction than patients without lipofilling in three subscales (p < 0.05). Facial rejuvenation surgery, combining a high-superficial musculoaponeurotic system face lift with lipofilling and/or other facial rejuvenation procedures, resulted in a high level of patient satisfaction. The authors recommend the implementation of the FACE-Q by physicians involved in aesthetic facial surgery, to validate their clinical outcomes from a patient's perspective.

Spatial location in brief, free-viewing face encoding modulates contextual face recognition

PubMed Central

Felisberti, Fatima M.; McDermott, Mark R.

2013-01-01

The effect of the spatial location of faces in the visual field during brief, free-viewing encoding in subsequent face recognition is not known. This study addressed this question by tagging three groups of faces with cheating, cooperating or neutral behaviours and presenting them for encoding in two visual hemifields (upper vs. lower or left vs. right). Participants then had to indicate if a centrally presented face had been seen before or not. Head and eye movements were free in all phases. Findings showed that the overall recognition of cooperators was significantly better than cheaters, and it was better for faces encoded in the upper hemifield than in the lower hemifield, both in terms of a higher d′ and faster reaction time (RT). The d′ for any given behaviour in the left and right hemifields was similar. The RT in the left hemifield did not vary with tagged behaviour, whereas the RT in the right hemifield was longer for cheaters than for cooperators. The results showed that memory biases in contextual face recognition were modulated by the spatial location of briefly encoded faces and are discussed in terms of scanning reading habits, top-left bias in lighting preference and peripersonal space. PMID:24349694

Educational Choice: Practical Policy Questions. Occasional Paper Series No. 7.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

First, Patricia F.

The consideration of school choice plans raises policy questions for school administrators. This paper addresses pragmatic concerns about definitions and policy questions related to educational finance. Interdistrict choice, emphasizing families' right to choose among existing public schools, raises questions regarding transportation and…

A retrospective analysis of medical record use in e-consultations.

PubMed

Pecina, Jennifer L; North, Frederick

2017-06-01

Introduction Under certain circumstances, e-consultations can substitute for a face-to-face consultation. A basic requirement for a successful e-consultation is that the e-consultant has access to important medical history and exam findings along with laboratory and imaging results. Knowing just what information the specialist needs to complete an e-consultation is a major challenge. This paper examines differences between specialties in their need for past information from laboratory, imaging and clinical notes. Methods This is a retrospective study of patients who had an internal e-consultation performed at an academic medical centre. We reviewed a random sample of e-consultations that occurred in the first half of 2013 for the indication for the e-consultation and whether the e-consultant reviewed data in the medical record that was older than one year to perform the e-consultation. Results Out of 3008 total e-consultations we reviewed 360 (12%) randomly selected e-consultations from 12 specialties. Questions on management (35.8%), image results (27.2%) and laboratory results (25%) were the three most common indications for e-consultation. E-consultants reviewed medical records in existence more than one year prior to the e-consultation 146 (40.6%) of the time with e-consultants in the specialties of endocrinology, haematology and rheumatology, reviewing records older than one year more than half the time. Labs (20.3%), office notes (20%) and imaging (17.8%) were the types of medical data older than one year that were reviewed the most frequently overall. Discussion Management questions appear to be the most common reason for e-consultation. E-consultants frequently reviewed historical medical data that is older than one year at the time of the e-consultation, especially in endocrinology, haematology and rheumatology specialties. Practices engaging in e-consultations that require transfer of data may want to include longer time frames of historical information for those specialties.

Can cognitive assessment really discriminate early stages of Alzheimer's and behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia at initial clinical presentation?

PubMed

Reul, Sophia; Lohmann, Hubertus; Wiendl, Heinz; Duning, Thomas; Johnen, Andreas

2017-08-09

Neuropsychological testing is considered crucial for differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). In-depth neuropsychological assessment revealed specific dysfunctions in the two dementia syndromes. However, a significant overlap of cognitive impairments exists in early disease stages. We questioned whether a standard neuropsychological assessment at initial clinical presentation can delineate patients with AD versus bvFTD. In a retrospective approach, we evaluated and compared how cognitive profiles assessed at initial clinical presentation predicted the diagnosis of later verified AD (n = 43) and bvFTD (n = 26). Additionally, the neuropsychological standard domains memory, language, visuospatial skills, executive functions, praxis and social cognition were subjected to stepwise discriminant analysis to compare their differential contribution to diagnosis. Regardless of diagnosis, a percentage of patients presented with major deterioration in a wide range of cognitive domains when compared with age-matched normative data. Only few significant differences were detected on the group level: Patients with AD were relatively more impaired in the verbal recall, verbal recognition, figure copy, and surprisingly in the executive subdomains, set shifting and processing speed whereas bvFTD was characterised by more deficits in imitation of face postures. A combination of tests for verbal recall, imitation of limb and face postures, and figure copy showed the greatest discriminatory power. Our results imply that the contribution of a standard neuropsychological assessment is limited for differential diagnosis of AD and bvFTD at initial presentation. In contrast to current clinical guidelines, executive functions are neither particularly nor exclusively impaired in patients with bvFTD when assessed within a standard clinical neuropsychological test battery. The significant overlap of bvFTD and AD concerning the profile of cognitive impairments questions current neuropsychological diagnostic criteria and calls for revision, regarding both the degree and the profile of cognitive deficits.

Risk factors for trachoma in Mali.

PubMed

Schémann, J-F; Sacko, D; Malvy, D; Momo, G; Traore, L; Bore, O; Coulibaly, S; Banou, A

2002-02-01

Prior to commencing a campaign to eliminate blinding trachoma in Mali, a national disease prevalence survey was conducted from March 1996 to June 1997. The prevalence of trachoma was estimated and potential risk factors were studied. In each of Mali's seven regions (excluding the capital Bamako), a sample of 30 clusters was taken from the general population, in accordance with the principle of probability proportional to the size of the community. All children under 10 years of age were examined. The simplified clinical coding system proposed by the World Health Organization was used. The position of each village was established and subsequently related to the nearest meteorological station. Socioeconomic and environmental information was collected at both village and household level. The mother or caretaker of each child was questioned about availability and use of water for washing the child. At the time of examination, facial cleanliness and the presence of flies on the face were noted. A total of 15,187 children under 10 years of age were examined. The prevalence of active trachoma (follicular [TF] or intense trachoma [TI]) was 34.9% (95% CI : 32.3-37.6) and the prevalence of TI was 4.2% (95% CI : 3.5-5.0). Aridity/environmental dryness appears to be a risk factor influencing the current geographical distribution of trachoma. Small villages had considerably higher trachoma prevalence than their larger neighbours. The proximity of a medical centre and the existence of social organizations such as a women's association were associated with lower levels of trachoma. Crowded living conditions increased the risk. Using a monetary marker of wealth, we observed a linear inverse relation between wealth and trachoma prevalence. The presence of a dirty face was strongly associated with trachoma (odds ratio [OR] = 3.67) as was the presence of flies on the child's face (OR = 3.62). Trachoma prevalence increased with distance to a water source. Disease prevalence decreased with a higher frequency of both face washing and bathing. Of all the risk factors examined, facial cleanliness had the strongest association with the prevalence of trachoma. This was followed by the presence of flies on the child's face. Both face washing and bathing showed beneficial effects. Socioeconomic factors such as wealth were significantly explanatory. It is likely that hygiene education and fly control by environmental improvement could have a very significant impact on the prevalence of trachoma in Mali.

The State of Writing Instruction in America's Schools: What Existing Data Tell Us

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Applebee, Arthur N.; Langer, Judith A.

2006-01-01

This study examined student writing over the past decades. The National Study of Writing Instruction addressed questions through analyses of existing data sets, particularly those from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which include background questions on instructional practices in U.S. middle and high schools. NAEP…

Treatment Protocol for High Velocity/High Energy Gunshot Injuries to the Face

PubMed Central

Peled, Micha; Leiser, Yoav; Emodi, Omri; Krausz, Amir

2011-01-01

Major causes of facial combat injuries include blasts, high-velocity/high-energy missiles, and low-velocity missiles. High-velocity bullets fired from assault rifles encompass special ballistic properties, creating a transient cavitation space with a small entrance wound and a much larger exit wound. There is no dispute regarding the fact that primary emergency treatment of ballistic injuries to the face commences in accordance with the current advanced trauma life support (ATLS) recommendations; the main areas in which disputes do exist concern the question of the timing, sequence, and modes of surgical treatment. The aim of the present study is to present the treatment outcome of high-velocity/high-energy gunshot injuries to the face, using a protocol based on the experience of a single level I trauma center. A group of 23 injured combat soldiers who sustained bullet and shrapnel injuries to the maxillofacial region during a 3-week regional military conflict were evaluated in this study. Nine patients met the inclusion criteria (high-velocity/high-energy injuries) and were included in the study. According to our protocol, upon arrival patients underwent endotracheal intubation and were hemodynamically stabilized in the shock-trauma unit and underwent total-body computed tomography with 3-D reconstruction of the head and neck and computed tomography angiography. All patients underwent maxillofacial surgery upon the day of arrival according to the protocol we present. In view of our treatment outcomes, results, and low complication rates, we conclude that strict adherence to a well-founded and structured treatment protocol based on clinical experience is mandatory in providing efficient, appropriate, and successful treatment to a relatively large group of patients who sustain various degrees of maxillofacial injuries during a short period of time. PMID:23449809

The ultimate question of origins: God and the beginning of the Universe.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Craig, W. L.

Both cosmology and philosophy trace their roots to the wonder felt by the ancient Greeks as they contemplated the Universe. The ultimate question remains why the Universe exists rather than nothing. This question led Leibniz to postulate the existence of a metaphysically necessary being, which he identified as God. Leibniz's critics, however, disputed this identification, claiming that the space-time universe itself may be the metaphysically necessary being. The discovery during this century that the Universe began to exist, however, calls into question the Universe's status as metaphysically necessary, since any necessary being must be eternal in its existence. Although various cosmogonic models claiming to avert the beginning of the Universe predicted by the standard model have been and continue to be offered, no model involving an eternal universe has proved as plausible as the standard model. Unless we are to assert that the Universe simply sprang into being uncaused out of nothing, we are thus led to Leibniz's conclusion. Several objections to inferring a supernatural cause of the origin of the Universe are considered and found to be unsound.

The Ultimate Question of Origins: God and the Beginning of the Universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Craig, William Lane

1999-12-01

Both cosmology and philosophy trace their roots to the wonder felt by the ancient Greeks as they contemplated the universe. The ultimate question remains why the universe exists rather than nothing. This question led Leibniz to postulate the existence of a metaphysically necessary being, which he identified as God. Leibniz's critics, however, disputed this identification, claiming that the space-time universe itself may be the metaphysically necessary being. The discovery during this century that the universe began to exist, however, calls into question the universe's status as metaphysically necessary, since any necessary being must be eternal in its existence. Although various cosmogonic models claiming to avert the beginning of the universe predicted by the standard model have been and continue to be offered, no model involving an eternal universe has proved as plausible as the standard model. Unless we are to assert that the universe simply sprang into being uncaused out of nothing, we are thus led to Leibniz's conclusion. Several objections to inferring a supernatural cause of the origin of the universe are considered and found to be unsound.

Turner Syndrome: Four Challenges Across the Lifespan

PubMed Central

Sutton, Erica J; McInerney-Leo, Aideen; Bondy, Carolyn A; Gollust, Sarah E; King, Donnice; Biesecker, Barbara

2008-01-01

Turner syndrome (TS) is a sex chromosome condition that occurs in approximately 1/2500 live female births. Despite the prevalence of this chromosomal condition, the challenges these women face throughout their lives are not fully understood. This qualitative research study aimed to characterize the subjective experiences of individuals with Turner syndrome throughout their lifespan, to investigate their concerns and obstacles, and to offer insight into the strengths and weaknesses of health care delivery, as they perceived them. Ninety-seven girls and women with TS and 21 parents consented to participate in this interview study. Interviews were semi-structured and open-ended in design. Questions sought to elicit responses relating to existing concerns associated with their condition and positive and negative health care experiences. Participants were divided into four age categories (childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and mature adulthood) to facilitate a comparative analysis across the age spectrum. Regardless of age, infertility was the most frequently cited concern followed closely by short stature. Sexual development and function and general health were also viewed as challenges by a number of participants in each age group. Although the relative weight of these four concerns tended to shift based upon the individual’s age and life experiences, all four issues remained significant throughout the lifespan. Enhanced awareness of the evolving physical and psychological challenges faced by girls and women with TS may help health care providers improve the quality of life for these individuals. PMID:16252273

Mental Health Help-Seeking Intentions and Preferences of Rural Chinese Adults

PubMed Central

Yu, Yu; Liu, Zi-wei; Hu, Mi; Liu, Hui-ming; Yang, Joyce P.; Zhou, Liang; Xiao, Shui-yuan

2015-01-01

Purpose We aimed to investigate mental health help-seeking intentions and preferences of rural Chinese adults and determine predictors of the intentions. Methods A total of 2052 representative rural residents aged 18–60 completed a cross-sectional survey by face-to-face interviews. The survey included seven questions asking about respondents’ help-seeking intentions and preferences, and a series of internationally validated instruments to assess self-perceived health status, depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse, mental health literacy, and attitudes towards mental illness. Results Nearly 80% of respondents were willing to seek psychological help if needed, and 72.4% preferred to get help from medical organizations, yet only 12% knew of any hospitals or clinics providing such help. A multivariate analysis of help-seeking intention revealed that being female, having lower education, higher social health, higher mental health knowledge, and physical causal attribution for depression were positive predictors of help-seeking intention. Conclusion A huge gap exists between the relatively higher intention for help-seeking and significantly lower knowledge of helpful resources. Predictors of help-seeking intention for mental problems in the current study are consistent with previous studies. Interventions to increase help-seeking for mental problems by Chinese rural adults may be best served by focusing on increasing public awareness of help sources, as well as improving residents’ mental health literacy and social health, with special focus on males and those more educated. PMID:26545095

Challenges of recovery in medium-term residential centers (camps)

PubMed Central

Shamsalinia, Abbas; Nourozi, Kian; Khoshknab, Masoud Fallahi; Farhoudian, Ali

2014-01-01

Background: Addiction is a global problem for which effective treatment is crucial. Stopping the consumption of abused substances in a camp is a strong predictor of the success for the recovery process. The present study employed a qualitative approach to explore the camp recovery experiences in individuals with substance addictions. Methods: The research conducted in Iran’s northern cities with participants that included 17 men with a history of substance abuse, who were all engaged in the recovery process at the time of the study. They were invited to participate in the research based on a purposive and snowball sampling method. The data were collected by individual face-to-face and phone interviews using semi-structured questions. Data were then analyzed using conventional content analysis Results: three main categories were identified: selecting a camp: an appeal for rescue, substance deprivation crisis, and out of the frying pan into the frying pan or into the fire. Conclusion: Results showed that participants can be helped in the recovery process by the provision of public facilities and financial support for camps, by monitoring the performance of these centers and by attempting to address existing deficiencies. We concluded with three recommendations for improving services and preventing physical, psychological, and emotional damage to addicted individuals: remove unauthorized camps, establish camps with treatment designated to the needs of addicted individuals. PMID:25664307

Nurse Perceptions of Pain in Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: A Pilot Study.

PubMed

McCaa, Robin

2017-01-01

Pain assessment in the pediatric population is challenging because of age, developmental stage, and patient cooperation. Cognitive impairment, impaired communication, and physical disability that may accompany traumatic brain injury (TBI) further complicate pain assessments. A pilot descriptive qualitative research study was conducted to investigate nurse perceptions of pain in pediatric patients diagnosed with TBI. Specifically, this study sought to answer the following questions: a) Is pain accurately assessed in this population? b) Is pain adequately treated in this population? and c) What obstacles exist, if any, to the assessment and treatment of pain? A convenience sample of three registered nurses employed in a pediatric neurosurgery setting participated in this study. Each nurse participated in one individual, semi-structured, face-to-face interview lasting approximately 30 minutes. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed for common themes. Common themes identified across all interviews were a) challenging assessments; b) limited, although effective, treatments; and c) communication as an area of opportunity for improvement. Implications for practice and policy include a need for more sensitive pain assessment tools to improve the objectivity and accuracy of pain assessment, clarification of care priorities and organization of care from clinical and management perspectives, and additional research in alternative pain treatments for this population. Findings from this study will guide the development of a larger, more comprehensive study, with the aim of improving practice and policy in pain management for this population.

National Science Bowl Competitors Win Trip to Colorado

Science.gov Websites

-elimination contests. Student teams faced off in a fast-paced match of questions about physics, math, biology stimulate students' interests in science and math. NR-02497 Follow NREL

Dystonia: Emotional and Mental Health

MedlinePlus

... Support Frequently Asked Questions Faces of Dystonia Emotional & Mental Health Although dystonia is a movement disorder that impacts ... emotion as well as muscle movement. For years, mental health professionals have recognized that coping with a chronic ...

To boldly go where no relationship has gone before: Commentary on interpersonal relationships in the digital age.

PubMed

Okdie, Bradley M; Ewoldsen, David R

2018-01-01

Individuals have a need to maintain positive social interactions, and with the advent of new-media technologies, there are a myriad ways individuals can satisfy this need by engaging socially in mediated (non-face-to-face) communication, hence the need for a special issue on "Relationships in the Digital Age." The articles in this special issue reflect the need to answer theoretical questions brought forth by the increased tendency for individuals to create and maintain interpersonal relationships through mediated forms of communication. The commentary highlights the need for increased research on mediated interpersonal relationships by psychologists and discusses how the articles in the issue can be used to answer theoretical questions about mediated interpersonal communication. The article ends with speculation on how media may create social spaces that may be advantageous for some individuals.

To boldly go where no relationship has gone before: commentary on interpersonal relationships in the digital age.

PubMed

Okdie, Bradley M; Ewoldsen, David R

2018-04-19

Individuals have a need to maintain positive social interactions and with the advent of new media technologies, there are a myriad ways individuals can satisfy this need by engaging socially in mediated (non-face-to-face) communication, hence the need for a special issue on Relationships in the Digital Age. The articles in this special issue reflect the need to answer theoretical questions brought forth by the increased tendency for individuals to create and maintain interpersonal relationships through mediated forms of communication. The commentary highlights the need for increased research on mediated interpersonal relationships by psychologists and discusses how the articles in the issue can be used to answer theoretical questions about mediated interpersonal communication. The article ends with speculation on how media may create social spaces that may be advantageous for some individuals.

Adaptation of the U.S. Food Security Survey Module for Low-Income Pregnant Latinas: Qualitative Phase.

PubMed

Hromi-Fiedler, Amber; Bermúdez-Millán, Angela; Segura-Pérez, Sofia; Damio, Grace; Pérez-Escamilla, Rafael

2009-01-01

The objectives of this study were to: 1) assessed the face validity of the 18-items US Household Food Security Scale Module (US HFSSM) among low-income pregnant Latinas and 2) adapt the US HFSSM to the target population. This study was conducted in the United States in Hartford, Connecticut where 40% of residents are of Latina descent. Three focus groups (N=14(total)) were held with pregnant and postpartum Latinas from April - June 2004 to assess the understanding and applicability (face validity) of the US HFSSM as well as adapt the US HFSSM based on their recommendations. This was followed by pre-testing (N=7) to make final adaptations to the US HFSSM. Overall, the items in the US HFSSM were clear and understandable to participants, but some questions sounded repetitive to them. Participants felt the questions were applicable to other pregnant Latinas in their community and shared food security related experiences and strategies. Participants recommendations led to key adaptations to the US HFSSM including reducing the scale to 15-items, wording statements as questions, including two time periods, replacing the term "balanced meals" with "healthy and varied", replacing the term "low cost foods" with "cheap foods" and including a definition of the term, and including a coping mechanism of avoiding running out of food. The adapted US HFSSM was found to have good face validity among pregnant Latinas and can be used to assess food insecurity among this vulnerable population.

RECOGNIZING AND IDENTIFYING PEOPLE: A neuropsychological review

PubMed Central

Barton, Jason J S; Corrow, Sherryse L

2016-01-01

Recognizing people is a classic example of a cognitive function that involves multiple processing stages and parallel routes of information. Neuropsychological data have provided important evidence for models of this process, particularly from case reports; however, the quality and extent of the data varies widely between studies. In this review we first discuss the requirements and logical basis of the types of neuropsychological evidence to support conclusions about the modules in this process. We then survey the adequacy of the current body of reports to address two key issues. First is the question of which cognitive operation generates a sense of familiarity: the current debate revolves around whether familiarity arises in modality-specific recognition units or later amodal processes. Key evidence on this point comes from the search for dissociations between familiarity for faces, voices and names. The second question is whether lesions can differentially affect the abilities to link diverse sources of person information (e.g. face, voice, name, biographic data). Dissociations of these linkages may favour a distributed-only model of the organization of semantic knowledge, whereas a ‘person-hub’ model would predict uniform impairments of all linkages. While we conclude that there is reasonable evidence for dissociations in name, voice and face familiarity in regards to the first question, the evidence for or against dissociated linkages between information stores in regards to the second is tenuous at best. We identify deficiencies in the current literature that should motivate and inform the design of future studies. PMID:26773237

Creating a 'Born Digital' Introductory Online Geology Course with a Community of Inquiry that Supports Discussion of Societal Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

d'Alessio, M. A.; Schwartz, J. J.

2014-12-01

With earth science relevant to so many societal challenges, we created an introductory geology course as a forum for students to explore the interplay between geoscience and society. With new media and digital tools enabling such rich collaboration, we designed the course as a fully online lecture and laboratory experience that meets the natural science general education requirements of our university. We hook students by using popular Hollywood blockbusters paired with documentary films that address related science content. Student ask questions using an online question ranking tool (Google Moderator) to guide the direction of further content delivery using the slide sharing/collaboration tool 'VoiceThread.' It allows instructors to post slides, add video narration, and invite students to comment or answer specific questions using video, voice, or text. Students report that VoiceThread makes an asynchronous class feel like a face-to-face experience. Student also collect data using online tools and pool their data in Google Spreadsheets. They discuss their collective findings in VoiceThread. With these tools in place, each content unit culminates with a challenge scenario. Students work in teams to come to a consensus about a real-world decision that requires them to apply their geologic knowledge. Examples include whether or not to evacuate a town in light of volcanic activity, which house to purchase in an earthquake prone area, which industry was polluting local groundwater, and whether or not to sell mineral rights for hydraulic fracturing. While many of these activities are widely utilized, our approach using them in an integrated online lecture/lab environment is unique. A survey of student attitudes towards the course revealed that students felt a stronger personal connection to the course instructor and one another than typical face-to-face GE classes, including those from our own department. Students' self-report of how much they learned was strongly correlated to their perceived sense of community. We attribute the high course grades and low failure rates (30% A's with only 13% D/F/W) to this sense of community and the socially relevant content it enabled students to engage, as the scores were much higher than more traditional face-to-face courses taught by the same instructors.

The effect of face inversion for neurons inside and outside fMRI-defined face-selective cortical regions

PubMed Central

Van Belle, Goedele; Vanduffel, Wim; Rossion, Bruno; Vogels, Rufin

2014-01-01

It is widely believed that face processing in the primate brain occurs in a network of category-selective cortical regions. Combined functional MRI (fMRI)-single-cell recording studies in macaques have identified high concentrations of neurons that respond more to faces than objects within face-selective patches. However, cells with a preference for faces over objects are also found scattered throughout inferior temporal (IT) cortex, raising the question whether face-selective cells inside and outside of the face patches differ functionally. Here, we compare the properties of face-selective cells inside and outside of face-selective patches in the IT cortex by means of an image manipulation that reliably disrupts behavior toward face processing: inversion. We recorded IT neurons from two fMRI-defined face-patches (ML and AL) and a region outside of the face patches (herein labeled OUT) during upright and inverted face stimulation. Overall, turning faces upside down reduced the firing rate of face-selective cells. However, there were differences among the recording regions. First, the reduced neuronal response for inverted faces was independent of stimulus position, relative to fixation, in the face-selective patches (ML and AL) only. Additionally, the effect of inversion for face-selective cells in ML, but not those in AL or OUT, was impervious to whether the neurons were initially searched for using upright or inverted stimuli. Collectively, these results show that face-selective cells differ in their functional characteristics depending on their anatomicofunctional location, suggesting that upright faces are preferably coded by face-selective cells inside but not outside of the fMRI-defined face-selective regions of the posterior IT cortex. PMID:25520434

The biometric-based module of smart grid system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Engel, E.; Kovalev, I. V.; Ermoshkina, A.

2015-10-01

Within Smart Grid concept the flexible biometric-based module base on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and selective Neural Network is developed. The formation of the selective Neural Network the biometric-based module uses the method which includes three main stages: preliminary processing of the image, face localization and face recognition. Experiments on the Yale face database show that (i) selective Neural Network exhibits promising classification capability for face detection, recognition problems; and (ii) the proposed biometric-based module achieves near real-time face detection, recognition speed and the competitive performance, as compared to some existing subspaces-based methods.

Face-to-face handoff: improving transfer to the pediatric intensive care unit after cardiac surgery.

PubMed

Vergales, Jeffrey; Addison, Nancy; Vendittelli, Analise; Nicholson, Evelyn; Carver, D Jeannean; Stemland, Christopher; Hoke, Tracey; Gangemi, James

2015-01-01

The goal was to develop and implement a comprehensive, primarily face-to-face handoff process that begins in the operating room and concludes at the bedside in the intensive care unit (ICU) for pediatric patients undergoing congenital heart surgery. Involving all stakeholders in the planning phase, the framework of the handoff system encompassed a combination of a formalized handoff tool, focused process steps that occurred prior to patient arrival in the ICU, and an emphasis on face-to-face communication at the conclusion of the handoff. The final process was evaluated by the use of observer checklists to examine quality metrics and timing for all patients admitted to the ICU following cardiac surgery. The process was found to improve how various providers view the efficiency of handoff, the ease of asking questions at each step, and the overall capability to improve patient care regardless of overall surgical complexity. © 2014 by the American College of Medical Quality.

Facial biases on vocal perception and memory.

PubMed

Boltz, Marilyn G

2017-06-01

Does a speaker's face influence the way their voice is heard and later remembered? This question was addressed through two experiments where in each, participants listened to middle-aged voices accompanied by faces that were either age-appropriate, younger or older than the voice or, as a control, no face at all. In Experiment 1, participants evaluated each voice on various acoustical dimensions and speaker characteristics. The results showed that facial displays influenced perception such that the same voice was heard differently depending on the age of the accompanying face. Experiment 2 further revealed that facial displays led to memory distortions that were age-congruent in nature. These findings illustrate that faces can activate certain social categories and preconceived stereotypes that then influence vocal and person perception in a corresponding fashion. Processes of face/voice integration are very similar to those of music/film, indicating that the two areas can mutually inform one another and perhaps, more generally, reflect a centralized mechanism of cross-sensory integration. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ask Questions to Encourage Questions Asked

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

belcastro, sarah-marie

2017-01-01

We delineate some types of structured practice (modeling, requests, feedback, and space-making) that help students learn to pose appropriate questions and to initiate exploration of those questions. Developing skills requires practice, so we suggest ways to embed structured practice into existing class sessions. Including structured practice is…

Fusiform gyrus face selectivity relates to individual differences in facial recognition ability.

PubMed

Furl, Nicholas; Garrido, Lúcia; Dolan, Raymond J; Driver, Jon; Duchaine, Bradley

2011-07-01

Regions of the occipital and temporal lobes, including a region in the fusiform gyrus (FG), have been proposed to constitute a "core" visual representation system for faces, in part because they show face selectivity and face repetition suppression. But recent fMRI studies of developmental prosopagnosics (DPs) raise questions about whether these measures relate to face processing skills. Although DPs manifest deficient face processing, most studies to date have not shown unequivocal reductions of functional responses in the proposed core regions. We scanned 15 DPs and 15 non-DP control participants with fMRI while employing factor analysis to derive behavioral components related to face identification or other processes. Repetition suppression specific to facial identities in FG or to expression in FG and STS did not show compelling relationships with face identification ability. However, we identified robust relationships between face selectivity and face identification ability in FG across our sample for several convergent measures, including voxel-wise statistical parametric mapping, peak face selectivity in individually defined "fusiform face areas" (FFAs), and anatomical extents (cluster sizes) of those FFAs. None of these measures showed associations with behavioral expression or object recognition ability. As a group, DPs had reduced face-selective responses in bilateral FFA when compared with non-DPs. Individual DPs were also more likely than non-DPs to lack expected face-selective activity in core regions. These findings associate individual differences in face processing ability with selectivity in core face processing regions. This confirms that face selectivity can provide a valid marker for neural mechanisms that contribute to face identification ability.

Sub-pattern based multi-manifold discriminant analysis for face recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dai, Jiangyan; Guo, Changlu; Zhou, Wei; Shi, Yanjiao; Cong, Lin; Yi, Yugen

2018-04-01

In this paper, we present a Sub-pattern based Multi-manifold Discriminant Analysis (SpMMDA) algorithm for face recognition. Unlike existing Multi-manifold Discriminant Analysis (MMDA) approach which is based on holistic information of face image for recognition, SpMMDA operates on sub-images partitioned from the original face image and then extracts the discriminative local feature from the sub-images separately. Moreover, the structure information of different sub-images from the same face image is considered in the proposed method with the aim of further improve the recognition performance. Extensive experiments on three standard face databases (Extended YaleB, CMU PIE and AR) demonstrate that the proposed method is effective and outperforms some other sub-pattern based face recognition methods.

Super-recognizers: People with extraordinary face recognition ability

PubMed Central

Russell, Richard; Duchaine, Brad; Nakayama, Ken

2014-01-01

We tested four people who claimed to have significantly better than ordinary face recognition ability. Exceptional ability was confirmed in each case. On two very different tests of face recognition, all four experimental subjects performed beyond the range of control subject performance. They also scored significantly better than average on a perceptual discrimination test with faces. This effect was larger with upright than inverted faces, and the four subjects showed a larger ‘inversion effect’ than control subjects, who in turn showed a larger inversion effect than developmental prosopagnosics. This indicates an association between face recognition ability and the magnitude of the inversion effect. Overall, these ‘super-recognizers’ are about as good at face recognition and perception as developmental prosopagnosics are bad. Our findings demonstrate the existence of people with exceptionally good face recognition ability, and show that the range of face recognition and face perception ability is wider than previously acknowledged. PMID:19293090

Super-recognizers: people with extraordinary face recognition ability.

PubMed

Russell, Richard; Duchaine, Brad; Nakayama, Ken

2009-04-01

We tested 4 people who claimed to have significantly better than ordinary face recognition ability. Exceptional ability was confirmed in each case. On two very different tests of face recognition, all 4 experimental subjects performed beyond the range of control subject performance. They also scored significantly better than average on a perceptual discrimination test with faces. This effect was larger with upright than with inverted faces, and the 4 subjects showed a larger "inversion effect" than did control subjects, who in turn showed a larger inversion effect than did developmental prosopagnosics. This result indicates an association between face recognition ability and the magnitude of the inversion effect. Overall, these "super-recognizers" are about as good at face recognition and perception as developmental prosopagnosics are bad. Our findings demonstrate the existence of people with exceptionally good face recognition ability and show that the range of face recognition and face perception ability is wider than has been previously acknowledged.

[Nursing ethics in the face of the refusal of nursing care].

PubMed

Dauchy, Sarah; Charles, Cécile; Vérotte, Nelly; Block, Véronique; Adam, Virginie

2016-10-01

Caregivers can find themselves faced with a refusal of nursing care. A number of questions are then raised. While it is firstly important to understand the reasons for this refusal and what is at stake for the patient, there are a number of nursing strategies in place, not least of all dialogue and analysis. The role of the multi-disciplinary team is essential in such situations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of musculoskeletal pain management practices in rural nursing homes compared with evidence-based criteria.

PubMed

Decker, Sheila A; Culp, Kennith R; Cacchione, Pamela Z

2009-06-01

Chronic pain, mainly associated with musculoskeletal diagnoses, is inadequately and often inappropriately treated in nursing home residents. The purpose of this descriptive study is to identify the musculoskeletal diagnoses associated with pain and to compare pain management of a sample of nursing home residents with the 1998 evidence-based guideline proposed by the American Geriatrics Society (AGS). The sample consists of 215 residents from 13 rural Iowa nursing home homes. The residents answered a series of face-to-face questions that addressed the presence/absence of pain and completed the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Data on pain were abstracted from the Minimum Data Set (MDS). Analyses included descriptive statistics, cross tabulations, and one-way analysis of variance. Residents' responses to the face-to-face pain questions yielded higher rates of pain compared with the MDS pain data. Resident records showed that acetaminophen was the most frequently administered analgesic medication (30.9%). Propoxyphene, not an AGS-recommended opioid, was also prescribed for 23 residents (10.7%). Of the 70 residents (32.6%) expressing daily pain, 23 (32.9%) received no scheduled or pro re nata analgesics. There was no significant difference between MMSE scores and number of scheduled analgesics. Additionally, residents' self-reported use of topical agents was not documented in the charts. The findings suggest that the 1998 AGS evidence-based guideline for the management of chronic pain is inconsistently implemented.

Personality and facial morphology: Links to assertiveness and neuroticism in capuchins (Sapajus [Cebus] apella)

PubMed Central

Wilson, V.; Lefevre, C. E.; Morton, F. B.; Brosnan, S. F.; Paukner, A.; Bates, T. C.

2013-01-01

Personality has important links to health, social status, and life history outcomes (e.g. longevity and reproductive success). Human facial morphology appears to signal aspects of one’s personality to others, raising questions about the evolutionary origins of such associations (e.g. signals of mate quality). Studies in non-human primates may help to achieve this goal: for instance, facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) in the male face has been associated with dominance not only in humans but also in capuchin monkeys. Here we test the association of personality (assertiveness, openness, attentiveness, neuroticism, and sociability) with fWHR, face width/lower-face height, and lower face/face height ratio in 64 capuchins (Sapajus apella). In a structural model of personality and facial metrics, fWHR was associated with assertiveness, while lower face/face height ratio was associated with neuroticism (erratic vs. stable behaviour) and attentiveness (helpfulness vs. distractibility). Facial morphology thus appears to associate with three personality domains, which may act as a signal of status in capuchins. PMID:24347756

A new selective developmental deficit: Impaired object recognition with normal face recognition.

PubMed

Germine, Laura; Cashdollar, Nathan; Düzel, Emrah; Duchaine, Bradley

2011-05-01

Studies of developmental deficits in face recognition, or developmental prosopagnosia, have shown that individuals who have not suffered brain damage can show face recognition impairments coupled with normal object recognition (Duchaine and Nakayama, 2005; Duchaine et al., 2006; Nunn et al., 2001). However, no developmental cases with the opposite dissociation - normal face recognition with impaired object recognition - have been reported. The existence of a case of non-face developmental visual agnosia would indicate that the development of normal face recognition mechanisms does not rely on the development of normal object recognition mechanisms. To see whether a developmental variant of non-face visual object agnosia exists, we conducted a series of web-based object and face recognition tests to screen for individuals showing object recognition memory impairments but not face recognition impairments. Through this screening process, we identified AW, an otherwise normal 19-year-old female, who was then tested in the lab on face and object recognition tests. AW's performance was impaired in within-class visual recognition memory across six different visual categories (guns, horses, scenes, tools, doors, and cars). In contrast, she scored normally on seven tests of face recognition, tests of memory for two other object categories (houses and glasses), and tests of recall memory for visual shapes. Testing confirmed that her impairment was not related to a general deficit in lower-level perception, object perception, basic-level recognition, or memory. AW's results provide the first neuropsychological evidence that recognition memory for non-face visual object categories can be selectively impaired in individuals without brain damage or other memory impairment. These results indicate that the development of recognition memory for faces does not depend on intact object recognition memory and provide further evidence for category-specific dissociations in visual recognition. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Srl. All rights reserved.

Managed care purchasing under SCHIP: a nationwide analysis of freestanding SCHIP contracts.

PubMed

Rosenbaum, S; Shaw, K; Sonosky, C

2001-12-01

This Policy Brief is the third in a series that examines the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), in particular, those state programs that operate directly under the authority of Title XXI of the Social Security Act rather than as an expansion of Medicaid (or a Medicaid demonstration initiative). This series is designed to examine how states structure and administer insurance programs for low-income children when they elect to administer separate SCHIP plans that exist outside of the requirements and constraints of Medicaid. Understanding how states use their flexibility under "separate SCHIP programs" (as they are termed) has become an increasingly important policy question, in the face of heightened interest on the part of Governors, the Bush Administration, and others in comprehensive Medicaid reform. The first two policy briefs in this series analyzed the entitlement status of separately administered SCHIP programs, as well as issues related to coverage design and the definition of medical necessity. This Policy Brief provides the first nationwide overview of how separate SCHIP programs structure "freestanding" SCHIP managed care contracts, i.e., contracts that exist independently of a state's Medicaid managed care agreements. Fifteen such "freestanding" contracts existed as of Calendar Year 2000, and we report here on their general terms of coverage, access, and care coordination. A forthcoming related study will examine behavioral health care in freestanding SCHIP agreements. Following a brief background and discussion of research methods, we present our principal findings and discuss their implications.

Doctor-patient communication: a comparison between telemedicine consultation and face-to-face consultation.

PubMed

Liu, Xiao; Sawada, Yoshie; Takizawa, Takako; Sato, Hiroko; Sato, Mahito; Sakamoto, Hironosuke; Utsugi, Toshihiro; Sato, Kunio; Sumino, Hiroyuki; Okamura, Shinichi; Sakamaki, Tetsuo

2007-01-01

The objective of this study was to compare doctor-patient communications in clinical consultations via telemedicine technology to doctor-patient communications in face-to-face clinical consultations. Five doctors who had been practicing internal medicine for 8 to 18 years, and twenty patients were enrolled in this study; neither doctors nor patients had previous experience of telemedicine. The patients received both a telemedicine consultation and a face-to-face consultation. Three measures--video observation, medical record volume, and participants' satisfaction--were used for the assessment. It was found that the time spent on the telemedicine consultation was substantially longer than the time spent on the face-to-face consultation. No statistically significant differences were found in the number of either closed or open-ended questions asked by doctors between both types of consultation. Empathy-utterances, praise-utterances, and facilitation-utterances were, however, seen less in the telemedicine consultations than in the face-to-face consultations. The volume of the medical records was statistically smaller in the telemedicine consultations than in the face-to-face consultations. Patients were satisfied with the telemedicine consultation, but doctors were dissatisfied with it and felt hampered by the communication barriers. This study suggests that new training programs are needed for doctors to develop improved communication skills and the ability to express empathy in telemedicine consultations.

Spatial Mechanisms within the Dorsal Visual Pathway Contribute to the Configural Processing of Faces.

PubMed

Zachariou, Valentinos; Nikas, Christine V; Safiullah, Zaid N; Gotts, Stephen J; Ungerleider, Leslie G

2017-08-01

Human face recognition is often attributed to configural processing; namely, processing the spatial relationships among the features of a face. If configural processing depends on fine-grained spatial information, do visuospatial mechanisms within the dorsal visual pathway contribute to this process? We explored this question in human adults using functional magnetic resonance imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in a same-different face detection task. Within localized, spatial-processing regions of the posterior parietal cortex, configural face differences led to significantly stronger activation compared to featural face differences, and the magnitude of this activation correlated with behavioral performance. In addition, detection of configural relative to featural face differences led to significantly stronger functional connectivity between the right FFA and the spatial processing regions of the dorsal stream, whereas detection of featural relative to configural face differences led to stronger functional connectivity between the right FFA and left FFA. Critically, TMS centered on these parietal regions impaired performance on configural but not featural face difference detections. We conclude that spatial mechanisms within the dorsal visual pathway contribute to the configural processing of facial features and, more broadly, that the dorsal stream may contribute to the veridical perception of faces. Published by Oxford University Press 2016.

Perfusion MRI: The Five Most Frequently Asked Technical Questions

PubMed Central

Essig, Marco; Shiroishi, Mark S.; Nguyen, Thanh Binh; Saake, Marc; Provenzale, James M.; Enterline, David; Anzalone, Nicoletta; Dörfler, Arnd; Rovira, Àlex; Wintermark, Max; Law, Meng

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE This and its companion article address the 10 most frequently asked questions that radiologists face when planning, performing, processing, and interpreting different MR perfusion studies in CNS imaging. CONCLUSION Perfusion MRI is a promising tool in assessing stroke, brain tumors, and patients with neurodegenerative diseases. Most of the impediments that have limited the use of perfusion MRI can be overcome to allow integration of these methods into modern neuroimaging protocols. PMID:23255738

Adaptive Batch Mode Active Learning.

PubMed

Chakraborty, Shayok; Balasubramanian, Vineeth; Panchanathan, Sethuraman

2015-08-01

Active learning techniques have gained popularity to reduce human effort in labeling data instances for inducing a classifier. When faced with large amounts of unlabeled data, such algorithms automatically identify the exemplar and representative instances to be selected for manual annotation. More recently, there have been attempts toward a batch mode form of active learning, where a batch of data points is simultaneously selected from an unlabeled set. Real-world applications require adaptive approaches for batch selection in active learning, depending on the complexity of the data stream in question. However, the existing work in this field has primarily focused on static or heuristic batch size selection. In this paper, we propose two novel optimization-based frameworks for adaptive batch mode active learning (BMAL), where the batch size as well as the selection criteria are combined in a single formulation. We exploit gradient-descent-based optimization strategies as well as properties of submodular functions to derive the adaptive BMAL algorithms. The solution procedures have the same computational complexity as existing state-of-the-art static BMAL techniques. Our empirical results on the widely used VidTIMIT and the mobile biometric (MOBIO) data sets portray the efficacy of the proposed frameworks and also certify the potential of these approaches in being used for real-world biometric recognition applications.

Beyond Inflation:. A Cyclic Universe Scenario

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turok, Neil; Steinhardt, Paul J.

2005-08-01

Inflation has been the leading early universe scenario for two decades, and has become an accepted element of the successful 'cosmic concordance' model. However, there are many puzzling features of the resulting theory. It requires both high energy and low energy inflation, with energy densities differing by a hundred orders of magnitude. The questions of why the universe started out undergoing high energy inflation, and why it will end up in low energy inflation, are unanswered. Rather than resort to anthropic arguments, we have developed an alternative cosmology, the cyclic universe [1], in which the universe exists in a very long-lived attractor state determined by the laws of physics. The model shares inflation's phenomenological successes without requiring an epoch of high energy inflation. Instead, the universe is made homogeneous and flat, and scale-invariant adiabatic perturbations are generated during an epoch of low energy acceleration like that seen today, but preceding the last big bang. Unlike inflation, the model requires low energy acceleration in order for a periodic attractor state to exist. The key challenge facing the scenario is that of passing through the cosmic singularity at t = 0. Substantial progress has been made at the level of linearised gravity, which is reviewed here. The challenge of extending this to nonlinear gravity and string theory remains.

Beyond Inflation: A Cyclic Universe Scenario

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turok, Neil; Steinhardt, Paul J.

2005-01-01

Inflation has been the leading early universe scenario for two decades, and has become an accepted element of the successful `cosmic concordance' model. However, there are many puzzling features of the resulting theory. It requires both high energy and low energy inflation, with energy densities differing by a hundred orders of magnitude. The questions of why the universe started out undergoing high energy inflation, and why it will end up in low energy inflation, are unanswered. Rather than resort to anthropic arguments, we have developed an alternative cosmology, the cyclic universe, in which the universe exists in a very long-lived attractor state determined by the laws of physics. The model shares inflation's phenomenological successes without requiring an epoch of high energy inflation. Instead, the universe is made homogeneous and flat, and scale-invariant adiabatic perturbations are generated during an epoch of low energy acceleration like that seen today, but preceding the last big bang. Unlike inflation, the model requires low energy acceleration in order for a periodic attractor state to exist. The key challenge facing the scenario is that of passing through the cosmic singularity at t = 0. Substantial progress has been made at the level of linearised gravity, which is reviewed here. The challenge of extending this to nonlinear gravity and string theory remains.

Nursing students collaborating to develop multiple-choice exam revision questions: A student engagement study.

PubMed

Craft, Judy A; Christensen, Martin; Shaw, Natasha; Bakon, Shannon

2017-12-01

Nursing students find bioscience subjects challenging. Bioscience exams pose particular concerns for these students, which may lead to students adopting a surface-approach to learning. To promote student collective understanding of bioscience, improve their confidence for the final exam, and improve deeper understanding of bioscience. In order to address exam anxiety, and improve student understanding of content, this student engagement project involved nursing students collaborating in small groups to develop multiple-choice questions and answers, which became available to the entire student cohort. This study was conducted at two campuses of an Australian university, within a first year bioscience subject as part of the undergraduate nursing programme. All students enrolled in the subject were encouraged to attend face-to-face workshops, and collaborate in revision question writing. Online anonymous questionnaires were used to invite student feedback on this initiative; 79 respondents completed this feedback. Students collaborated in groups to write revision questions as part of in-class activities. These questions were made available on the student online learning site for revision. An online feedback survey was deployed at the conclusion of all workshops for this subject, with questions rated using a Likert scale. Participants indicated that they enjoyed the opportunity to collaborate in this activity, and almost all of these respondents used these questions in their exam preparation. There was strong agreement that this activity improved their confidence for the final exam. Importantly, almost two-thirds of respondents agreed that writing questions improved their understanding of content, and assisted in their active reflection of content. Overall, this initiative revealed various potential benefits for the students, including promoting bioscience understanding and confidence. This may improve their long-term understanding of bioscience for nursing practice, as registered nurses' bioscience knowledge can impact on patient outcomes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

How Can Discussion Forum Questions Be Effective in Online MBA Courses?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strang, Kenneth David

2011-01-01

Purpose: A quasi-experiment compared two instructional approaches for an existing MBA online business strategy course at an accredited university to answer the question: how can discussion questions become more effective in online MBA courses? The treatment was an instructional approach that integrated Socratic questioning and conversation theory…