Applications of Combinatorial Programming to Data Analysis: The Traveling Salesman and Related Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hubert, Lawrence J.; Baker, Frank B.

1978-01-01

The "Traveling Salesman" and similar combinatorial programming tasks encountered in operations research are discussed as possible data analysis models in psychology, for example, in developmental scaling, Guttman scaling, profile smoothing, and data array clustering. A short overview of various computational approaches from this area of…

Emotion Regulation Profiles, Temperament, and Adjustment Problems in Preadolescents

PubMed Central

Zalewski, Maureen; Lengua, Liliana J.; Trancik, Anika; Wilson, Anna C.; Bazinet, Alissa

2014-01-01

The longitudinal relations of emotion regulation profiles to temperament and adjustment in a community sample of preadolescents (N = 196, 8–11 years at Time 1) were investigated using person-oriented latent profile analysis (LPA). Temperament, emotion regulation, and adjustment were measured at 3 different time points, with each time point occurring 1 year apart. LPA identified 5 frustration and 4 anxiety regulation profiles based on children’s physiological, behavioral, and self-reported reactions to emotion-eliciting tasks. The relation of effortful control to conduct problems was mediated by frustration regulation profiles, as was the relation of effortful control to depression. Anxiety regulation profiles did not mediate relations between temperament and adjustment. PMID:21413935

Georgetown University Integrated Community Energy System (GU-ICES). Phase III, Stage I. Feasibility analysis. Final report. Volume 1

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

None

This Feasibility Analysis covers a wide range of studies and evaluations. The Report is divided into five parts. Section 1 contains all material relating to the Institutional Assessment including consideration of the requirements and position of the Potomac Electric Co. as they relate to cogeneration at Georgetown in parallel with the utility (Task 1). Sections 2 through 7 contain all technical information relating to the Alternative Subsystems Analysis (Task 4). This includes the energy demand profiles upon which the evaluations were based (Task 3). It further includes the results of the Life-Cycle-Cost Analyses (Task 5) which are developed in detailmore » in the Appendix for evaluation in the Technical Report. Also included is the material relating to Incremental Savings and Optimization (Task 6) and the Conceptual Design for candidate alternate subsystems (Task 7). Section 8 contains all material relating to the Environmental Impact Assessment (Task 2). The Appendix contains supplementary material including the budget cost estimates used in the life-cycle-cost analyses, the basic assumptions upon which the life-cycle analyses were developed, and the detailed life-cycle-cost anlysis for each subsystem considered in detail.« less

Analysis of Motivational Profiles of Satisfaction and Importance of Physical Education in High School Adolescents

PubMed Central

Granero-Gallegos, Antonio; Baena-Extremera, Antonio; Pérez-Quero, Francisco J.; Ortiz-Camacho, Maria M.; Bracho-Amador, Clara

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to analyze the motivational profiles of satisfaction with and importance of physical education in high school students and its relation with gender and the practice of sport. The sample comprised 2002 students aged from 12 to 19 who completed the Sport Motivation Scale (Núñez et al., 2006), the Sport Satisfaction Instrument (Baena-Extremera et al., 2012) and the Importance of Physical Education Scale (Moreno et al., 2009). Descriptive analyzes, correlations between the scales, a cluster analysis for profiles, and a MANOVA were conducted to examine differences by gender. Three clusters (profiles) were identified. The first profile identified was "moderate" motivation (n = 463) and was associated with boys who practice physical activity for less than 3 hours per week. The second profile identified was "low" motivation (n = 545) and was associated mainly with girls who practice physical activity for less than 3 hours per week. And lastly the third profile identified was "high" motivation (n = 910), which was found to be greater in boys who practiced physical exercise for more than 3 hours a week. Key points High school students’ motivation was mainly intrinsic, scoring very low on a motivation and high on satisfaction/fun; equally, these students were task-oriented. There appears to be a positive relationship between intrinsic motivation and task-orientation in high school students. The subject of PE is considered very highly by the students, and hence it obtains high values on satisfaction/fun and is positively associated with the importance given to PE. PMID:24150070

Safe and Efficient Support for Embeded Multi-Processors in ADA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruiz, Jose F.

2010-08-01

New software demands increasing processing power, and multi-processor platforms are spreading as the answer to achieve the required performance. Embedded real-time systems are also subject to this trend, but in the case of real-time mission-critical systems, the properties of reliability, predictability and analyzability are also paramount. The Ada 2005 language defined a subset of its tasking model, the Ravenscar profile, that provides the basis for the implementation of deterministic and time analyzable applications on top of a streamlined run-time system. This Ravenscar tasking profile, originally designed for single processors, has proven remarkably useful for modelling verifiable real-time single-processor systems. This paper proposes a simple extension to the Ravenscar profile to support multi-processor systems using a fully partitioned approach. The implementation of this scheme is simple, and it can be used to develop applications amenable to schedulability analysis.

Pilot Task Profiles, Human Factors, And Image Realism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCormick, Dennis

1982-06-01

Computer Image Generation (CIG) visual systems provide real time scenes for state-of-the-art flight training simulators. The visual system reauires a greater understanding of training tasks, human factors, and the concept of image realism to produce an effective and efficient training scene than is required by other types of visual systems. Image realism must be defined in terms of pilot visual information reauirements. Human factors analysis of training and perception is necessary to determine the pilot's information requirements. System analysis then determines how the CIG and display device can best provide essential information to the pilot. This analysis procedure ensures optimum training effectiveness and system performance.

Molecular Targeted Therapies of Childhood Choroid Plexus Carcinoma

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-10-01

were analyzed in PGS, using the benign human choroid plexus papilloma (CPP) samples as an expression baseline reference. This analysis highlights...Task 1: Generation of additional human and mouse CPC genomic profiles (timeframe: months 1-5). The goal of these studies is to expand our...number of genomic profiles (DNA and mRNA arrays) of both human and mouse CPCs to provide a comprehensive dataset with which to identify key candidate

Study to determine the IFR operational profile and problems of the general aviation single pilot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weislogel, G. S.

1983-01-01

General aviation single pilot operating under instrument flight rules (GA SPIFR) was studied. The objectives of the study were to (1) develop a GA SPIFR operational profile, (2) identify problems experienced by the GA SPIFR pilot, and (3) identify research tasks which have the potential for eliminating or reducing the severity of the problems. To obtain the information necessary to accomplish these objectives, a mail questionnaire survey of instrument rated pilots was conducted. The general aviation IFR single pilot operational profile and selected data analysis examples are presented.

Residential Consumption Scheduling Based on Dynamic User Profiling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mangiatordi, Federica; Pallotti, Emiliano; Del Vecchio, Paolo; Capodiferro, Licia

Deployment of household appliances and of electric vehicles raises the electricity demand in the residential areas and the impact of the building's electrical power. The variations of electricity consumption across the day, may affect both the design of the electrical generation facilities and the electricity bill, mainly when a dynamic pricing is applied. This paper focuses on an energy management system able to control the day-ahead electricity demand in a residential area, taking into account both the variability of the energy production costs and the profiling of the users. The user's behavior is dynamically profiled on the basis of the tasks performed during the previous days and of the tasks foreseen for the current day. Depending on the size and on the flexibility in time of the user tasks, home inhabitants are grouped in, one over N, energy profiles, using a k-means algorithm. For a fixed energy generation cost, each energy profile is associated to a different hourly energy cost. The goal is to identify any bad user profile and to make it pay a highest bill. A bad profile example is when a user applies a lot of consumption tasks and low flexibility in task reallocation time. The proposed energy management system automatically schedules the tasks, solving a multi-objective optimization problem based on an MPSO strategy. The goals, when identifying bad users profiles, are to reduce the peak to average ratio in energy demand, and to minimize the energy costs, promoting virtuous behaviors.

Analysis of longitudinal data from the Puget Sound Transportation Panel : task F : cross section and dynamic analysis of activity and travel patterns in PSTP

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-02-01

The profiles contained in the appendix are all in the Portland, Maine district. They are listed below by border groups as used in the study, with the U.S. Customs port codes indicated. Maine Frontier Border Crossings: Calais - Calais, Ferry Point, ME...

Extended capability of the integrated transport analysis suite, TASK3D-a, for LHD experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yokoyama, M.; Seki, R.; Suzuki, C.; Sato, M.; Emoto, M.; Murakami, S.; Osakabe, M.; Tsujimura, T. Ii.; Yoshimura, Y.; Ido, T.; Ogawa, K.; Satake, S.; Suzuki, Y.; Goto, T.; Ida, K.; Pablant, N.; Gates, D.; Warmer, F.; Vincenzi, P.; Simulation Reactor Research Project, Numerical; LHD Experiment Group

2017-12-01

The integrated transport analysis suite, TASK3D-a (Analysis), has been developed to be capable for routine whole-discharge analyses of plasmas confined in three-dimensional (3D) magnetic configurations such as the LHD. The routine dynamic energy balance analysis for NBI-heated plasmas was made possible in the first version released in September 2012. The suite has been further extended through implementing additional modules for neoclassical transport and ECH deposition for 3D configurations. A module has also been added for creating systematic data for the International Stellarator-Heliotron Confinement and Profile Database. Improvement of neutral beam injection modules for multiple-ion species plasmas and loose coupling with a large-simulation code are also highlights of recent developments.

Interactive Spectral Analysis and Computation (ISAAC)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lytle, D. M.

1992-01-01

Isaac is a task in the NSO external package for IRAF. A descendant of a FORTRAN program written to analyze data from a Fourier transform spectrometer, the current implementation has been generalized sufficiently to make it useful for general spectral analysis and other one dimensional data analysis tasks. The user interface for Isaac is implemented as an interpreted mini-language containing a powerful, programmable vector calculator. Built-in commands provide much of the functionality needed to produce accurate line lists from input spectra. These built-in functions include automated spectral line finding, least squares fitting of Voigt profiles to spectral lines including equality constraints, various filters including an optimal filter construction tool, continuum fitting, and various I/O functions.

Fundamentals of Welding. Teacher Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fortney, Clarence; And Others

These instructional materials assist teachers in improving instruction on the fundamentals of welding. The following introductory information is included: use of this publication; competency profile; instructional/task analysis; related academic and workplace skills list; tools, materials, and equipment list; and 27 references. Seven units of…

Project for the analysis of technology transfer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kottenstette, J. P.; Freeman, J. E.; Staskin, E. R.

1971-01-01

The special task of preparing technology transfer profiles during the first six months of 1971 produced two major results: refining a new method for identifying and describing technology transfer activities, and generating practical insights into a number of issues associated with transfer programs.

Dual task cost of walking is related to fall risk in persons with multiple sclerosis.

PubMed

Wajda, Douglas A; Motl, Robert W; Sosnoff, Jacob J

2013-12-15

Persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) commonly have walking and cognitive impairments. While walking with a simultaneous cognitive task, persons with MS experience a greater decline in walking performance than healthy controls. This change in performance is termed dual task cost or dual task interference and has been associated with fall risk in older adults. We examined whether dual task cost during walking was related to fall risk in persons with MS. Thirty-three ambulatory persons with MS performed walking tasks with and without a concurrent cognitive task (dual task condition) as well as underwent a fall risk assessment. Dual task cost was operationalized as the percent change in velocity from normal walking conditions to dual task walking conditions. Fall risk was quantified using the Physiological Profile Assessment. A Spearman correlation analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between dual task cost of walking velocity and fall risk as well as dual task cost of stride length and fall risk. Overall, the findings indicate that dual task cost is associated with fall risk and may be an important target for falls prevention strategies. © 2013.

Applying independent component analysis to detect silent speech in magnetic resonance imaging signals.

PubMed

Abe, Kazuhiro; Takahashi, Toshimitsu; Takikawa, Yoriko; Arai, Hajime; Kitazawa, Shigeru

2011-10-01

Independent component analysis (ICA) can be usefully applied to functional imaging studies to evaluate the spatial extent and temporal profile of task-related brain activity. It requires no a priori assumptions about the anatomical areas that are activated or the temporal profile of the activity. We applied spatial ICA to detect a voluntary but hidden response of silent speech. To validate the method against a standard model-based approach, we used the silent speech of a tongue twister as a 'Yes' response to single questions that were delivered at given times. In the first task, we attempted to estimate one number that was chosen by a participant from 10 possibilities. In the second task, we increased the possibilities to 1000. In both tasks, spatial ICA was as effective as the model-based method for determining the number in the subject's mind (80-90% correct per digit), but spatial ICA outperformed the model-based method in terms of time, especially in the 1000-possibility task. In the model-based method, calculation time increased by 30-fold, to 15 h, because of the necessity of testing 1000 possibilities. In contrast, the calculation time for spatial ICA remained as short as 30 min. In addition, spatial ICA detected an unexpected response that occurred by mistake. This advantage was validated in a third task, with 13 500 possibilities, in which participants had the freedom to choose when to make one of four responses. We conclude that spatial ICA is effective for detecting the onset of silent speech, especially when it occurs unexpectedly. © 2011 The Authors. European Journal of Neuroscience © 2011 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Preparing for Combat Readiness for the Fight: Physical Performance Profile of Female U.S. Marines.

PubMed

Kelly, Karen R; Jameson, Jason T

2016-03-01

Females have been restricted from serving in direct combat arms' positions for decades. One reason for the exclusion derives from the perceived physical demands of these positions. As a result, many current efforts are directed toward defining the physical demands of combat arms' positions. The purpose of this study was to develop a physical performance and body composition profile of females who could overcome the physical demands of combat tasks that rely primarily on upper body strength. This study is based on an analysis of archival data from 2 separate samples of active-duty female Marines (n = 802), who had been recruited to participate in heavy lifting tasks. These tasks included lifting a heavy machine gun (HMG) lift (cohort 1, n = 423) and Clean and Press lifts (29.5-52.3 kg) (cohort 2, n = 379). To develop the physical performance profile, data from annual physical fitness tests were collected, which included run times, ammunition can lift, 804. Seven-meter (880-yard) movement to contact, and the maneuver under fire. In cohort 1, 65 females (∼15%; n = 423 females) successfully completed HMG; in cohort 2, 33 females (∼9%; n = 379 females) successfully completed another strength task, a Clean and Press of 52.3 kg. In both samples, female Marines who were successful on these tasks also outperformed their unsuccessful counterparts on the annual physical fitness tests. In addition, larger females typically outperformed their smaller counterparts. Females seeking assignment to closed combat arms' positions would thus be well served by targeting upper body strength, while maintaining overall physical fitness.

Characterizing Task-Based OpenMP Programs

PubMed Central

Muddukrishna, Ananya; Jonsson, Peter A.; Brorsson, Mats

2015-01-01

Programmers struggle to understand performance of task-based OpenMP programs since profiling tools only report thread-based performance. Performance tuning also requires task-based performance in order to balance per-task memory hierarchy utilization against exposed task parallelism. We provide a cost-effective method to extract detailed task-based performance information from OpenMP programs. We demonstrate the utility of our method by quickly diagnosing performance problems and characterizing exposed task parallelism and per-task instruction profiles of benchmarks in the widely-used Barcelona OpenMP Tasks Suite. Programmers can tune performance faster and understand performance tradeoffs more effectively than existing tools by using our method to characterize task-based performance. PMID:25860023

Analysis of force profile during a maximum voluntary isometric contraction task.

PubMed

Househam, Elizabeth; McAuley, John; Charles, Thompson; Lightfoot, Timothy; Swash, Michael

2004-03-01

This study analyses maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) and its measurement by recording the force profile during maximal-effort, 7-s hand-grip contractions. Six healthy subjects each performed three trials repeated at short intervals to study variation from fatigue. These three trials were performed during three separate sessions at daily intervals to look at random variation. A pattern of force development during a trial was identified. An initiation phase, with or without an initiation peak, was followed by a maintenance phase, sometimes with secondary pulses and an underlying decline in force. Of these three MVIC parameters, maximum force during the maintenance phase showed less random variability compared to intertrial fatigue variability than did maximum force during the initiation phase or absolute maximum force. Analysis of MVIC as a task, rather than a single, maximal value reveals deeper levels of motor control in its generation. Thus, force parameters other than the absolute maximum force may be better suited to quantification of muscle performance in health and disease.

The neuropsychology of the schizo-obsessive subtype of schizophrenia: a new analysis.

PubMed

Patel, D D; Laws, K R; Padhi, A; Farrow, J M; Mukhopadhaya, K; Krishnaiah, R; Fineberg, N A

2010-06-01

Interest in the neuro-cognitive profile of patients with schizophrenia and co-morbid obsessive compulsive disorder (schizo-OCD) is rising in response to reports of high co-morbidity rates. Whereas schizophrenia has been associated with global impairment in a wide range of neuro-cognitive domains, OCD is associated with specific deficits featuring impaired performance on tasks of motor and cognitive inhibition involving frontostriatal neuro-circuitry. We compared cognitive function using the CANTAB battery in patients with schizo-OCD (n=12) and a schizophrenia group without OCD symptoms (n=16). The groups were matched for IQ, gender, age, medication, and duration of illness. The schizo-OCD patients made significantly more errors on a task of attentional set-shifting (ID-ED set-shift task). By contrast, no significant differences emerged on the Stockings of Cambridge task, the Cambridge Gamble Task or the Affective Go/NoGo tasks. No correlation emerged between ID-ED performance and severity of schizophrenia, OCD or depressive symptoms, consistent with neurocognitive impairment holding trait rather than state-marker status. Schizo-obsessives also exhibited a trend toward more motor tics emphasizing a neurological contribution to the disorder.ConclusionOur findings reveal a more severe attentional set-shifting deficit and neurological abnormality that may be fundamental to the neuro-cognitive profile of schizo-OCD. The clinical implications of these impairments merit further exploration in larger studies.

Real-time turbulence profiling with a pair of laser guide star Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors for wide-field adaptive optics systems on large to extremely large telescopes.

PubMed

Gilles, L; Ellerbroek, B L

2010-11-01

Real-time turbulence profiling is necessary to tune tomographic wavefront reconstruction algorithms for wide-field adaptive optics (AO) systems on large to extremely large telescopes, and to perform a variety of image post-processing tasks involving point-spread function reconstruction. This paper describes a computationally efficient and accurate numerical technique inspired by the slope detection and ranging (SLODAR) method to perform this task in real time from properly selected Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor measurements accumulated over a few hundred frames from a pair of laser guide stars, thus eliminating the need for an additional instrument. The algorithm is introduced, followed by a theoretical influence function analysis illustrating its impulse response to high-resolution turbulence profiles. Finally, its performance is assessed in the context of the Thirty Meter Telescope multi-conjugate adaptive optics system via end-to-end wave optics Monte Carlo simulations.

Investigation of ion and electron heat transport of high- T e ECH heated discharges in the large helical device

DOE PAGES

Pablant, N. A.; Satake, S.; Yokoyama, M.; ...

2016-01-28

An analysis of the radial electric field and heat transport, both for ions and electrons, is presented for a high-more » $${{T}_{\\text{e}}}$$ electron cyclotron heated (ECH) discharge on the large helical device (LHD). Transport analysis is done using the task3d transport suite utilizing experimentally measured profiles for both ions and electrons. Ion temperature and perpendicular flow profiles are measured using the recently installed x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer diagnostic (XICS), while electron temperature and density profiles are measured using Thomson scattering. The analysis also includes calculated ECH power deposition profiles as determined through the travis ray-tracing code. This is the first time on LHD that this type of integrated transport analysis with measured ion temperature profiles has been performed without NBI, allowing the heat transport properties of plasmas with only ECH heating to be more clearly examined. For this study, a plasma discharge is chosen which develops a high central electron temperature ($${{T}_{\\text{eo}}}=9$$ keV) at moderately low densities ($${{n}_{\\text{eo}}}=1.5\\times {{10}^{19}}$$ m-3). The experimentally determined transport properties from task3d are compared to neoclassical predictions as calculated by the gsrake and fortec-3d codes. The predicted electron fluxes are seen to be an order of magnitude less than the measured fluxes, indicating that electron transport is largely anomalous, while the neoclassical and measured ion heat fluxes are of the same magnitude. Neoclassical predictions of a strong positive ambipolar electric field ($${{E}_{\\text{r}}}$$ ) in the plasma core are validated through comparisons to perpendicular flow measurements from the XICS diagnostic. Furthermore, this provides confidence that the predictions are producing physically meaningful results for the particle fluxes and radial electric field, which are a key component in correctly predicting plasma confinement.« less

Diesel Technology: Introduction. Teacher Edition [and] Student Edition. Second Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joerschke, John D.; Eichhorn, Lane

This complete teacher edition of a diesel technology course consists of introductory pages, teacher pages, and the student edition. The introductory pages provide these tools: training and competency profile; National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation Crosswalk; instructional/task analysis; basic skills icons and classifications; basic…

Residential and Light Commercial HVAC. Teacher Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stephenson, David; Fulkerson, Dan, Ed.

This curriculum guide contains 18 units of instruction for a competency-based course in residential and light commercial heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC). Introductory materials include a competency profile and an instructional/task analysis that correlates job training with related information for this course. Each instructional…

Diesel Technology: Workplace Skills. Teacher Edition and Student Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kellum, Mary

This publication consists of instructional materials to provide secondary and postsecondary students with skills useful in pursuing a career in the diesel industry. Introductory materials in the teacher edition include information on use of the publication, competency profile, instructional/task analysis, related academic and workplace skills…

Novel and successful free comments method for sensory characterization of chocolate ice cream: A comparative study between pivot profile and comment analysis.

PubMed

Fonseca, Fernando G A; Esmerino, Erick A; Filho, Elson R Tavares; Ferraz, Juliana P; da Cruz, Adriano G; Bolini, Helena M A

2016-05-01

Rapid sensory profiling methods have gained space in the sensory evaluation field. Techniques using direct analysis of the terms generated by consumers are considered easy to perform, without specific training requirements, thus improving knowledge about consumer perceptions on various products. This study aimed to determine the sensory profile of different commercial samples of chocolate ice cream, labeled as conventional and light or diet, using the "comment analysis" and "pivot profile" methods, based on consumers' perceptions. In the comment analysis task, consumers responded to 2 separate open questions describing the sensory attributes they liked or disliked in each sample. In the pivot profile method, samples were served in pairs (consisting of a coded sample and pivot), and consumers indicated the higher and lower intensity attributes in the target sample compared with the pivot. We observed that both methods were able to characterize the different chocolate ice cream samples using consumer perception, with high correlation results and configurational similarity (regression vector coefficient=0.917) between them. However, it is worth emphasizing that comment analysis is performed intuitively by consumers, whereas the pivot profile method showed high analytical and discriminative power even using consumers, proving to be a promising technique for routine application when classical descriptive methods cannot be used. Copyright © 2016 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Understanding the visual skills and strategies of train drivers in the urban rail environment.

PubMed

Naweed, Anjum; Balakrishnan, Ganesh

2014-01-01

Due to the growth of information in the urban rail environment, there is a need to better understand the ergonomics profile underpinning the visual behaviours in train drivers. The aim of this study was to examine the tasks and activities of urban/metropolitan passenger train drivers in order to better understand the nature of the visual demands in their task activities. Data were collected from 34 passenger train drivers in four different Australian states. The research approach used a novel participative ergonomics methodology that fused interviews and observations with generative tools. Data analysis was conducted thematically. Results suggested participants did not so much drive their trains, as manage the intensity of visually demanding work held in their environment. The density of this information and the opacity of the task, invoked an ergonomics profile more closely aligned with diagnostic and error detection than actual train regulation. The paper discusses the relative proportion of strategies corresponding with specific tasks, the visual-perceptual load in substantive activities, and the requisite visual skills behoving navigation in the urban rail environment. These findings provide the basis for developing measures of complexity to further specify the visual demands in passenger train driving.

Is anorexia nervosa a version of autism spectrum disorders?

PubMed

Oldershaw, Anna; Treasure, Janet; Hambrook, David; Tchanturia, Kate; Schmidt, Ulrike

2011-01-01

Similarities have been noted between cognitive profiles of anorexia nervosa (AN) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, there are no direct comparison studies. This study aimed to compare the cognitive profile of AN against published ASD data on tasks measuring empathy, executive function and central coherence. Currently ill AN outpatients (n = 40) were statistically compared against published ASD scores on Reading the Mind in the Eyes, Voice and Films tasks (assessing empathy), Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) (assessing executive function) and Embedded Figures Task (EFT) (assessing detail focus aspect of central coherence). Cognitive profiles of the groups were statistically similar, except for differences in the relative patterns of empathy scores. The cognitive profile in current AN resembles that of ASD with important clinical implications. Replication studies with planned comparisons, examination of the state-or trait-nature of AN profile and clarification of factors underpinning similarities are required in order to broaden understanding of both disorders. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Probing Androgen Receptor Signaling in Circulating Tumor Cells in Prostate Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-07-01

validation of the CTC AR activity assay in additional patients, and on transcriptional profiling analysis of single CTCs to provide insights into the...protocol. A clinical research protocol for the collection of blood from patients with solid tumors for CTC analysis (DF/HCC 05-300) was initially...on 30 May 2014. Task 2. (Aim 1) Recruitment of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer for CTC AR activity analysis . Thus far, 17

Strength analysis of welded corners of PVC window profiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Postawa, P.; Stachowiak, T.; Gnatowski, A.

2017-08-01

The article presents the results of researches which main purpose was to define the influence of welding parameters on strength of welded corners of PVC window profile. PVC profiles of a branded name GENEO® produced by Rehau Company were used for this research. The profiles were made by using a co-extrusion method. The surface of the profile was made of PVC mixture with no additives. Its main task was to get a smooth surface resistant to a smudge. The use of an unfilled polyester provides an aesthetic look and improves the resistance of extrudate to water getting into inner layers. The profile's inner layers have been filled up with glass fibre in order to improve its stiffness and mechanical properties. Window frames with cut corners used for this research, were produced on technological line of EUROCOLOR Company based in Pyskowice (Poland). The main goal of this analysis was to evaluate the influence of the main welding parameter (temperature upsetting) on hardness of welds we received in whole process. A universal testing machine was used for the research.

Development and evaluation of mechanized equipment for installation of the recessed reflective marker (RRM) delineation system. Task A, Design & feasibility analysis

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1978-06-01

A plow-resistant recessed reflective marker (RRM) delineation system having a linear tapered profile and which uses a reflector base/reflector unit is proposed. A single-operator mechanized vehicle to install the RRM delineation system is described. ...

Food Production, Management, and Services. Baking. Teacher Edition. Second Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibson, LeRoy

These instructional materials are intended for a course on food production, management, and services involved in baking. The following introductory information is included: use of this publication; competency profile; instructional/task analysis; related academic and workplace skills list; tools, materials, and equipment list; 13 references; and a…

ToxMiner: Relating ToxCast bioactivity profiles to phenotypic outcomes

EPA Science Inventory

One aim of the U.S. EPA ToxCast program is to develop predictive models that use in vitro assays to screen and prioritize environmental chemicals for further evaluation of potential toxicity. One aspect of this task is the compilation, quality control and analysis of large amount...

Individual differences in strategic flight management and scheduling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wickens, Christopher D.; Raby, Mireille

1991-01-01

A group of 30 instrument-rated pilots was made to fly simulator approaches to three airports under conditions of low, medium, and high workload conditions. An analysis is presently conducted of the difference in discrete task scheduling between the group of 10 highest and 10 lowest performing pilots in the sample; this categorization was based on the mean of various flight-profile measures. The two groups were found to differ from each other only in terms of the time when specific events were conducted, and of the optimality of scheduling for certain high-priority tasks. These results are assessed in view of the relative independence of task-management skills from aircraft-control skills.

Self-aggregation in scaled principal component space

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

Ding, Chris H.Q.; He, Xiaofeng; Zha, Hongyuan

2001-10-05

Automatic grouping of voluminous data into meaningful structures is a challenging task frequently encountered in broad areas of science, engineering and information processing. These data clustering tasks are frequently performed in Euclidean space or a subspace chosen from principal component analysis (PCA). Here we describe a space obtained by a nonlinear scaling of PCA in which data objects self-aggregate automatically into clusters. Projection into this space gives sharp distinctions among clusters. Gene expression profiles of cancer tissue subtypes, Web hyperlink structure and Internet newsgroups are analyzed to illustrate interesting properties of the space.

The singer's voice range profile: female professional opera soloists.

PubMed

Lamarche, Anick; Ternström, Sten; Pabon, Peter

2010-07-01

This work concerns the collection of 30 voice range profiles (VRPs) of female operatic voice. We address the questions: Is there a need for a singer's protocol in VRP acquisition? Are physiological measurements sufficient or should the measurement of performance capabilities also be included? Can we address the female singing voice in general or is there a case for categorizing voices when studying phonetographic data? Subjects performed a series of structured tasks involving both standard speech voice protocols and additional singing tasks. Singers also completed an extensive questionnaire. Physiological VRPs differ from performance VRPs. Two new VRP metrics, the voice area above a defined level threshold and the dynamic range independent from the fundamental frequency (F(0)), were found to be useful in the analysis of singer VRPs. Task design had no effect on performance VRP outcomes. Voice category differences were mainly attributable to phonation frequency-based information. Results support the clinical importance of addressing the vocal instrument as it is used in performance. Equally important is the elaboration of a protocol suitable for the singing voice. The given context and instructions can be more important than task design for performance VRPs. Yet, for physiological VRP recordings, task design remains critical. Both types of VRPs are suggested for a singer's voice evaluation. Copyright (c) 2010 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

HIV/AIDS case management tasks and activities: the results of a functional analysis study.

PubMed

Grube, B; Chernesky, R H

2001-01-01

Functional analysis, a variation of the time study technique, was used to examine how HIV/AIDS case managers in the tri-county region of New York State spend their time-the actual tasks and activities they choose to perform relative to the total universe of activities and tasks subsumed in the general category of case management. The picture developed was of a system operating primarily in a crisis mode, spending relatively brief amounts of time completing a range of activities and providing an extensive scope of services for or on behalf of clients. The bulk of the work was client centered, not administrative, and involved providing disease management and essential services (e.g., family and mental health). The implications of these findings are discussed, with particular attention paid to the potential influence of client profiles and worker demographics.

Gas Metal Arc Welding and Flux-Cored Arc Welding. Teacher Edition. Second Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fortney, Clarence; Gregory, Mike

These instructional materials are designed to improve instruction in Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) and Flux-Cored Arc Welding (FCAW). The following introductory information is included: use of this publication; competency profile; instructional/task analysis; related academic and workplace skills list; tools, materials, and equipment list; and…

Fundamentals of Welding. Teacher Edition [and] Student Edition [and] Student Workbook. Second Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fortney, Clarence; Gregory, Mike; New, Larry

Teacher and student editions and a student workbook for fundamentals of welding comprise the first of six in a series of competency-based instructional materials for welding programs. Introductory pages in the teacher edition are training and competency profile, instructional/task analysis, basic skills icons and classifications, basic skills…

Food Production, Management, and Services. Production. Teacher Edition. Second Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibson, LeRoy

This teacher's guide contains 20 units of instruction for a course in production in the food production, management, and services area. Units of instruction are designed for use in more than one lesson or class period of instruction. Introductory materials include the following: a competency profile; instructional/task analysis; related academic…

Graphic Arts: Orientation, Composition, and Paste-Up. Fourth Edition. Teacher Edition [and] Student Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Licklider, Cheryl

This teacher and student edition, the first in a series of instructional materials on graphic communication, consists of orientation information, teacher pages, and student worksheets. The teacher edition contains these introductory pages: use of this publication; training and competency profile; PrintED crosswalk; instructional/task analysis;…

Comparison of rapid descriptive sensory methodologies: Free-Choice Profiling, Flash Profile and modified Flash Profile.

PubMed

Liu, Jing; Bredie, Wender L P; Sherman, Emma; Harbertson, James F; Heymann, Hildegarde

2018-04-01

Rapid sensory methods have been developed as alternatives to traditional sensory descriptive analysis methods. Among them, Free-Choice Profiling (FCP) and Flash Profile (FP) are two that have been known for many years. The objectives of this work were to compare the rating-based FCP and ranking-based FP method; to evaluate the impact of adding adjustments to FP approach; to investigate the influence of the number of assessors on the outcome of modified FP. To achieve these aims, a conventional descriptive analysis (DA), FCP, FP and a modified version of FP were carried out. Red wines made by different grape maturity and ethanol concentration were used for sensory testing. This study showed that DA provided a more detailed and accurate information on products through a quantitative measure of the intensity of sensory attributes than FCP and FP. However, the panel hours for conducting DA were higher than that for rapid methods, and FP was even able to separate the samples to a higher degree than DA. When comparing FCP and FP, this study showed that the ranking-based FP provided a clearer separation of samples than rating-based FCP, but the latter was an easier task for most assessors. When restricting assessors on their use of attributes in FP, the sample space became clearer and the ranking task was simplified. The FP protocol with restricted attribute sets seems to be a promising approach for efficient screening of sensory properties in wine. When increasing the number of assessors from 10 to 20 for conducting the modified FP, the outcome tended to be slightly more stable, however, one should consider the degree of panel training when deciding the optimal number of assessors for conducting FP. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Local Context Finder (LCF) reveals multidimensional relationships among mRNA expression profiles of Arabidopsis responding to pathogen infection

PubMed Central

Katagiri, Fumiaki; Glazebrook, Jane

2003-01-01

A major task in computational analysis of mRNA expression profiles is definition of relationships among profiles on the basis of similarities among them. This is generally achieved by pattern recognition in the distribution of data points representing each profile in a high-dimensional space. Some drawbacks of commonly used pattern recognition algorithms stem from their use of a globally linear space and/or limited degrees of freedom. A pattern recognition method called Local Context Finder (LCF) is described here. LCF uses nonlinear dimensionality reduction for pattern recognition. Then it builds a network of profiles based on the nonlinear dimensionality reduction results. LCF was used to analyze mRNA expression profiles of the plant host Arabidopsis interacting with the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. In one case, LCF revealed two dimensions essential to explain the effects of the NahG transgene and the ndr1 mutation on resistant and susceptible responses. In another case, plant mutants deficient in responses to pathogen infection were classified on the basis of LCF analysis of their profiles. The classification by LCF was consistent with the results of biological characterization of the mutants. Thus, LCF is a powerful method for extracting information from expression profile data. PMID:12960373

[Gender perspective in health care teaching: a pending task].

PubMed

Arcos, Estela; Poblete, Johanna; Molina Vega, Irma; Miranda, Christian; Zúñiga, Yanira; Fecci, Ester; Rodríguez, Laura; Márquez, Myriam; Ramírez, Miguel

2007-06-01

Gender must be considered in the design and implementation of health policies to safeguard equity and accomplish sanitary objectives. To identify gender perspective in the curricula of five health care careers in the Universidad Austral de Chile. To identify the situation of women in the teaching profile of such curricula. An exploratory and descriptive study with a critical reading of the structure of the programs of 217 courses. Revision of official academic registries. Gender is usually not included in the curricula of health care careers. The generic language conceals female academics and students. There was a scarce inclusion of cross sectional issues such as collaborative work, interpersonal and democratic relationship, equity and critical analysis. There were no differences in academic achievements between female and male students. The contractual profile of female academics reproduces the gender inequity of the work market. The inclusion of gender is a pending task in the training of health care professionals.

Relationships Between Knee Extension Moments During Weighted and Unweighted Gait and Strength Measures That Predict Knee Moments After ACL Reconstruction.

PubMed

Hartigan, Erin; Aucoin, Jennifer; Carlson, Rita; Klieber-Kusak, Melanie; Murray, Thomas; Shaw, Bernadette; Lawrence, Michael

Weighted gait increases internal knee extension moment impulses (KEMI) in the anterior cruciate ligament-reconstructed (ACLR) limb; however, limb differences persist. (1) KEMI during normal gait will influence KEMI during weighted gait and (2) peak knee extension (PKE) torque and time to reach PKE torque will predict KEMI during gait tasks. Descriptive laboratory study. Twenty-four women and 14 men completed 3 gait tasks (unweighted, vest, sled) and strength testing after discharge from rehabilitation and clearance to return to sports. KEMI were calculated during the first 25% of stance. PKE torque and time to reach PKE torque were obtained using a dynamometer. Data on the ACLR limb and symmetry indices (SIs) were analyzed for each sex. Women presented with asymmetrical PKE torques and KEMI across tasks. There were three correlations noted for KEMI: between the walk and vest, walk and sled, and vest and sled tasks. Slower time to PKE torque predicted limb asymmetries across tasks and KEMI in the ACLR limb during the sled task. Men presented with asymmetrical PKE torques and KEMI during the sled task. There was a correlation noted for KEMI between walk and vest tasks only. During the sled task, ACLR limb time to PKE torque predicted KEMI in the ACLR limb and PKE torque SI predicted KEMI SI. Women use asymmetrical KEMI profiles during all gait tasks, and those with worse KEMI during walking have worse KEMI during weighted gait. Men have asymmetrical KEMI when sled towing, and these KEMIs do not correlate with KEMI during walking or vest tasks. PKE torque deficits persist when attempting to return to sports. Only men use gains in PKE torque to improve KEMI profiles. Although quicker PKE torque generation will increase KEMI in women, normalization of KEMI profiles will not occur by increasing rate of force development only. Gait retraining is recommended to correct asymmetrical KEMI profiles used across gait tasks in women.

Characterization of fine motor development: dynamic analysis of children's drawing movements.

PubMed

Lin, Qiushi; Luo, Jianfei; Wu, Zhongcheng; Shen, Fei; Sun, Zengwu

2015-04-01

In this study, we investigated children's fine motor development by analyzing drawing trajectories, kinematics and kinetics. Straight lines drawing task and circles drawing task were performed by using a force sensitive tablet. Forty right-handed and Chinese mother-tongue students aged 6-12, attending classes from grade 1 to 5, were engaged in the experiment. Three spatial parameters, namely cumulative trace length, vector length of straight line and vertical diameter of circle were determined. Drawing duration, mean drawing velocity, and number of peaks in stroke velocity profile (NPV) were derived as kinematic parameters. Besides mean normal force, two kinetic indices were proposed: normalized force angle regulation (NFR) and variation of fine motor control (VFC) for circles drawing task. The maturation and automation of fine motor ability were reflected by increased drawing velocity, reduced drawing duration, NPV and NFR, with decreased VFC in circles drawing task. Grade and task main effects as well as significant correlations between age and parameters suggest that factors such as schooling, age and task should be considered in the assessment of fine motor skills. Compared with kinematic parameters, findings of NFR and VFC revealed that kinetics is another important perspective in the analysis of fine motor movement. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Linked Sex Differences in Cognition and Functional Connectivity in Youth.

PubMed

Satterthwaite, Theodore D; Wolf, Daniel H; Roalf, David R; Ruparel, Kosha; Erus, Guray; Vandekar, Simon; Gennatas, Efstathios D; Elliott, Mark A; Smith, Alex; Hakonarson, Hakon; Verma, Ragini; Davatzikos, Christos; Gur, Raquel E; Gur, Ruben C

2015-09-01

Sex differences in human cognition are marked, but little is known regarding their neural origins. Here, in a sample of 674 human participants ages 9-22, we demonstrate that sex differences in cognitive profiles are related to multivariate patterns of resting-state functional connectivity MRI (rsfc-MRI). Males outperformed females on motor and spatial cognitive tasks; females were faster in tasks of emotion identification and nonverbal reasoning. Sex differences were also prominent in the rsfc-MRI data at multiple scales of analysis, with males displaying more between-module connectivity, while females demonstrated more within-module connectivity. Multivariate pattern analysis using support vector machines classified subject sex on the basis of their cognitive profile with 63% accuracy (P < 0.001), but was more accurate using functional connectivity data (71% accuracy; P < 0.001). Moreover, the degree to which a given participant's cognitive profile was "male" or "female" was significantly related to the masculinity or femininity of their pattern of brain connectivity (P = 2.3 × 10(-7)). This relationship was present even when considering males and female separately. Taken together, these results demonstrate for the first time that sex differences in patterns of cognition are in part represented on a neural level through divergent patterns of brain connectivity. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Predicting workload profiles of brain-robot interface and electromygraphic neurofeedback with cortical resting-state networks: personal trait or task-specific challenge?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fels, Meike; Bauer, Robert; Gharabaghi, Alireza

2015-08-01

Objective. Novel rehabilitation strategies apply robot-assisted exercises and neurofeedback tasks to facilitate intensive motor training. We aimed to disentangle task-specific and subject-related contributions to the perceived workload of these interventions and the related cortical activation patterns. Approach. We assessed the perceived workload with the NASA Task Load Index in twenty-one subjects who were exposed to two different feedback tasks in a cross-over design: (i) brain-robot interface (BRI) with haptic/proprioceptive feedback of sensorimotor oscillations related to motor imagery, and (ii) control of neuromuscular activity with feedback of the electromyography (EMG) of the same hand. We also used electroencephalography to examine the cortical activation patterns beforehand in resting state and during the training session of each task. Main results. The workload profile of BRI feedback differed from EMG feedback and was particularly characterized by the experience of frustration. The frustration level was highly correlated across tasks, suggesting subject-related relevance of this workload component. Those subjects who were specifically challenged by the respective tasks could be detected by an interhemispheric alpha-band network in resting state before the training and by their sensorimotor theta-band activation pattern during the exercise. Significance. Neurophysiological profiles in resting state and during the exercise may provide task-independent workload markers for monitoring and matching participants’ ability and task difficulty of neurofeedback interventions.

Identification of Swallowing Tasks From a Modified Barium Swallow Study That Optimize the Detection of Physiological Impairment

PubMed Central

Armeson, Kent E.; Hill, Elizabeth G.; Bonilha, Heather Shaw; Martin-Harris, Bonnie

2017-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify which swallowing task(s) yielded the worst performance during a standardized modified barium swallow study (MBSS) in order to optimize the detection of swallowing impairment. Method This secondary data analysis of adult MBSSs estimated the probability of each swallowing task yielding the derived Modified Barium Swallow Impairment Profile (MBSImP™©; Martin-Harris et al., 2008) Overall Impression (OI; worst) scores using generalized estimating equations. The range of probabilities across swallowing tasks was calculated to discern which swallowing task(s) yielded the worst performance. Results Large-volume, thin-liquid swallowing tasks had the highest probabilities of yielding the OI scores for oral containment and airway protection. The cookie swallowing task was most likely to yield OI scores for oral clearance. Several swallowing tasks had nearly equal probabilities (≤ .20) of yielding the OI score. Conclusions The MBSS must represent impairment while requiring boluses that challenge the swallowing system. No single swallowing task had a sufficiently high probability to yield the identification of the worst score for each physiological component. Omission of swallowing tasks will likely fail to capture the most severe impairment for physiological components critical for safe and efficient swallowing. Results provide further support for standardized, well-tested protocols during MBSS. PMID:28614846

Identification of Swallowing Tasks From a Modified Barium Swallow Study That Optimize the Detection of Physiological Impairment.

PubMed

Hazelwood, R Jordan; Armeson, Kent E; Hill, Elizabeth G; Bonilha, Heather Shaw; Martin-Harris, Bonnie

2017-07-12

The purpose of this study was to identify which swallowing task(s) yielded the worst performance during a standardized modified barium swallow study (MBSS) in order to optimize the detection of swallowing impairment. This secondary data analysis of adult MBSSs estimated the probability of each swallowing task yielding the derived Modified Barium Swallow Impairment Profile (MBSImP™©; Martin-Harris et al., 2008) Overall Impression (OI; worst) scores using generalized estimating equations. The range of probabilities across swallowing tasks was calculated to discern which swallowing task(s) yielded the worst performance. Large-volume, thin-liquid swallowing tasks had the highest probabilities of yielding the OI scores for oral containment and airway protection. The cookie swallowing task was most likely to yield OI scores for oral clearance. Several swallowing tasks had nearly equal probabilities (≤ .20) of yielding the OI score. The MBSS must represent impairment while requiring boluses that challenge the swallowing system. No single swallowing task had a sufficiently high probability to yield the identification of the worst score for each physiological component. Omission of swallowing tasks will likely fail to capture the most severe impairment for physiological components critical for safe and efficient swallowing. Results provide further support for standardized, well-tested protocols during MBSS.

Designing PISA-Like Mathematics Tasks In Indonesia: Experiences and Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zulkardi, Z.; Kohar, A. W.

2018-01-01

The insignificant improvement of Indonesian students in PISA mathematics survey triggered researchers in Indonesia to develop PISA-like mathematics tasks. Some development studies have been conducted to produce valid and practical PISA-like problems that potentially effect on improving students’ mathematical literacy. This article describes the experiences of Indonesian task designers in developing PISA-like mathematics tasks as well as the potential future studies regarding to mathematical literacy as challenges for policy makers, researchers, and practitioners to improve students’ mathematical literacy in Indonesia. The results of this research indicate the task designers to consider domains of PISA like: context, mathematical content, and process as the first profiles of their missions. Our analysis shows that the designers mostly experienced difficulties regarding to the authenticity of context use and language structure. Interestingly, many of them used a variety of local wisdom in Indonesia as contexts for designing PISA-like tasks. In addition, the products developed were reported to be potentially effects on students’ interest and elicit students’ mathematical competencies as mentioned in PISA framework. Finally, this paper discusses future studies such as issues in bringing PISA task into an instructional practice.

Machine Learning Meta-analysis of Large Metagenomic Datasets: Tools and Biological Insights.

PubMed

Pasolli, Edoardo; Truong, Duy Tin; Malik, Faizan; Waldron, Levi; Segata, Nicola

2016-07-01

Shotgun metagenomic analysis of the human associated microbiome provides a rich set of microbial features for prediction and biomarker discovery in the context of human diseases and health conditions. However, the use of such high-resolution microbial features presents new challenges, and validated computational tools for learning tasks are lacking. Moreover, classification rules have scarcely been validated in independent studies, posing questions about the generality and generalization of disease-predictive models across cohorts. In this paper, we comprehensively assess approaches to metagenomics-based prediction tasks and for quantitative assessment of the strength of potential microbiome-phenotype associations. We develop a computational framework for prediction tasks using quantitative microbiome profiles, including species-level relative abundances and presence of strain-specific markers. A comprehensive meta-analysis, with particular emphasis on generalization across cohorts, was performed in a collection of 2424 publicly available metagenomic samples from eight large-scale studies. Cross-validation revealed good disease-prediction capabilities, which were in general improved by feature selection and use of strain-specific markers instead of species-level taxonomic abundance. In cross-study analysis, models transferred between studies were in some cases less accurate than models tested by within-study cross-validation. Interestingly, the addition of healthy (control) samples from other studies to training sets improved disease prediction capabilities. Some microbial species (most notably Streptococcus anginosus) seem to characterize general dysbiotic states of the microbiome rather than connections with a specific disease. Our results in modelling features of the "healthy" microbiome can be considered a first step toward defining general microbial dysbiosis. The software framework, microbiome profiles, and metadata for thousands of samples are publicly available at http://segatalab.cibio.unitn.it/tools/metaml.

Individual Differences in Toddlers' Prosociality: Experiences in Early Relationships Explain Variability in Prosocial Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newton, Emily K.; Thompson, Ross A.; Goodman, Miranda

2016-01-01

Latent class logistic regression analysis was used to investigate sources of individual differences in profiles of prosocial behavior. Eighty-seven 18-month-olds were observed in tasks assessing sharing with a neutral adult, instrumentally helping a neutral adult, and instrumentally helping a sad adult. Maternal mental state language (MSL) and…

Reliability of a novel serious game using dual-task gait profiles to early characterize aMCI

PubMed Central

Tarnanas, Ioannis; Papagiannopoulos, Sotirios; Kazis, Dimitris; Wiederhold, Mark; Widerhold, Brenda; Tsolaki, Magda

2015-01-01

Background: As the population of older adults is growing, the interest in a simple way to detect characterize amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), a prodromal stage of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), is becoming increasingly important. Serious game (SG) -based cognitive and motor performance profiles while performing everyday activities and dual-task walking (DTW) “motor signatures” are two very promising markers that can be detected in predementia states. We aim to compare the consistency, or conformity, of measurements made by a custom SG with DTW (NAV), a SG without DTW (DOT), neuropsychological measures and genotyping as markers for early detection of aMCI. Methods: The study population included three groups: early AD (n = 86), aMCI (n = 65), and healthy control subjects (n = 76), who completed the custom SG tasks in three separate sessions over a 3-month period. Outcome measures were neuropsychological data across-domain and within-domain intra-individual variability (IIV) and DOT and NAV latency-based and accuracy-based IIV. IIV reflects a transient, within-person change in behavioral performance, either during different cognitive domains (across-domain) or within the same domain (within-domain). Test–retest reliability of the DOT and NAV markers were assessed using an intraclass correlation (ICC) analysis. Results: Results indicated that performance data, such as the NAV latency-based and accuracy-based IIV, during the task displayed greater reliability across sessions compared to DOT. During the NAV task-engagement, the executive function, planning, and motor performance profiles exhibited moderate to good reliability (ICC = 0.6–0.8), while during DOT, executive function and spatial memory accuracy profiles exhibited fair to moderate reliability (ICC = 0.3–0.6). Additionally, reliability across tasks was more stable when three sessions were used in the ICC calculation relative to two sessions. Discussion: Our findings suggest that “motor signature” data during the NAV tasks were a more reliable marker for early diagnosis of aMCI than DOT. This result accentuates the importance of utilizing motor performance data as a metric for aMCI populations where memory decline is often the behavioral outcome of interest. In conclusion, custom SG with DTW performance data provide an ecological and reliable approach for cognitive assessment across multiple sessions and thus can be used as a useful tool for tracking longitudinal change in observational and interventional studies on aMCI. PMID:25954193

Dissociable Roles of Right Inferior Frontal Cortex and Anterior Insula in Inhibitory Control: Evidence from Intrinsic and Task-Related Functional Parcellation, Connectivity, and Response Profile Analyses across Multiple Datasets

PubMed Central

Ryali, Srikanth; Chen, Tianwen; Li, Chiang-Shan R.

2014-01-01

The right inferior frontal cortex (rIFC) and the right anterior insula (rAI) have been implicated consistently in inhibitory control, but their differential roles are poorly understood. Here we use multiple quantitative techniques to dissociate the functional organization and roles of the rAI and rIFC. We first conducted a meta-analysis of 70 published inhibitory control studies to generate a commonly activated right fronto-opercular cortex volume of interest (VOI). We then segmented this VOI using two types of features: (1) intrinsic brain activity; and (2) stop-signal task-evoked hemodynamic response profiles. In both cases, segmentation algorithms identified two stable and distinct clusters encompassing the rAI and rIFC. The rAI and rIFC clusters exhibited several distinct functional characteristics. First, the rAI showed stronger intrinsic and task-evoked functional connectivity with the anterior cingulate cortex, whereas the rIFC had stronger intrinsic and task-evoked functional connectivity with dorsomedial prefrontal and lateral fronto-parietal cortices. Second, the rAI showed greater activation than the rIFC during Unsuccessful, but not Successful, Stop trials, and multivoxel response profiles in the rAI, but not the rIFC, accurately differentiated between Successful and Unsuccessful Stop trials. Third, activation in the rIFC, but not rAI, predicted individual differences in inhibitory control abilities. Crucially, these findings were replicated in two independent cohorts of human participants. Together, our findings provide novel quantitative evidence for the dissociable roles of the rAI and rIFC in inhibitory control. We suggest that the rAI is particularly important for detecting behaviorally salient events, whereas the rIFC is more involved in implementing inhibitory control. PMID:25355218

Bergamot Essential Oil Attenuates Anxiety-Like Behaviour in Rats.

PubMed

Rombolà, Laura; Tridico, Laura; Scuteri, Damiana; Sakurada, Tsukasa; Sakurada, Shinobu; Mizoguchi, Hirokazu; Avato, Pinarosa; Corasaniti, Maria Tiziana; Bagetta, Giacinto; Morrone, Luigi Antonio

2017-04-11

Preclinical studies have recently highlighted that bergamot essential oil (BEO) is endowed with remarkable neurobiolological effects. BEO can affect synaptic transmission, modulate electroencephalographic activity and it showed neuroprotective and analgesic properties. The phytocomplex, along with other essential oils, is also widely used in aromatherapy to minimize symptoms of stress-induced anxiety and mild mood disorders. However, only limited preclinical evidences are actually available. This study examined the anxiolytic/sedative-like effects of BEO using an open field task (OFT), an elevated plus-maze task (EPM), and a forced swimming task (FST) in rats. This study further compared behavioural effects of BEO to those of the benzodiazepine diazepam. Analysis of data suggests that BEO induces anxiolytic-like/relaxant effects in animal behavioural tasks not superimposable to those of the DZP. The present observations provide further insight to the pharmacological profile of BEO and support its rational use in aromatherapy.

CP-ABE Based Privacy-Preserving User Profile Matching in Mobile Social Networks

PubMed Central

Cui, Weirong; Du, Chenglie; Chen, Jinchao

2016-01-01

Privacy-preserving profile matching, a challenging task in mobile social networks, is getting more attention in recent years. In this paper, we propose a novel scheme that is based on ciphertext-policy attribute-based encryption to tackle this problem. In our scheme, a user can submit a preference-profile and search for users with matching-profile in decentralized mobile social networks. In this process, no participant’s profile and the submitted preference-profile is exposed. Meanwhile, a secure communication channel can be established between the pair of successfully matched users. In contrast to existing related schemes which are mainly based on the secure multi-party computation, our scheme can provide verifiability (both the initiator and any unmatched user cannot cheat each other to pretend to be matched), and requires few interactions among users. We provide thorough security analysis and performance evaluation on our scheme, and show its advantages in terms of security, efficiency and usability over state-of-the-art schemes. PMID:27337001

CP-ABE Based Privacy-Preserving User Profile Matching in Mobile Social Networks.

PubMed

Cui, Weirong; Du, Chenglie; Chen, Jinchao

2016-01-01

Privacy-preserving profile matching, a challenging task in mobile social networks, is getting more attention in recent years. In this paper, we propose a novel scheme that is based on ciphertext-policy attribute-based encryption to tackle this problem. In our scheme, a user can submit a preference-profile and search for users with matching-profile in decentralized mobile social networks. In this process, no participant's profile and the submitted preference-profile is exposed. Meanwhile, a secure communication channel can be established between the pair of successfully matched users. In contrast to existing related schemes which are mainly based on the secure multi-party computation, our scheme can provide verifiability (both the initiator and any unmatched user cannot cheat each other to pretend to be matched), and requires few interactions among users. We provide thorough security analysis and performance evaluation on our scheme, and show its advantages in terms of security, efficiency and usability over state-of-the-art schemes.

Contribution of occupational therapy to the assessment of competence: A case study

PubMed

Blanchet, Marie; Huynh, Tammy; Giroux, Dominique; Bottari, Carolina

2016-06-01

Many occupational therapists contribute to the assessment of competence to take care of oneself and manage one’s affairs, but few guidelines exist regarding this practice with adults who have experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI). This study explored the ability of the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Profile (IADL Profile) to capture competence following a TBI. Task performance on the IADL Profile of a 46-year-old man (ML) who was found to be incompetent following a severe TBI was compared to eight control subjects (mean age 49.3 ± 4.2 years). The IADL Profile scores, observable behaviours, and verbalizations were compared using descriptive statistics (M, SD) and qualitative analyses. The independence level of ML was lower than that of the control subjects on seven of the eight tasks of the IADL Profile (p < .05), especially for preparing a hot meal and creating a budget. ML demonstrated difficulties that impacted his performance on many tasks, and he had difficulty critiquing his results. The IADL Profile could be used as part of a functional assessment to document competence. © CAOT 2016.

Sustained acceleration on perception of relative position and motion.

PubMed

McKinley, R Andrew; Tripp, Lloyd D; Fullerton, Kathy L; Goodyear, Chuck

2013-03-01

Air-to-air refueling, formation flying, and projectile countermeasures all rely on a pilot's ability to be aware of his position and motion relative to another object. Eight subjects participated in the study, all members of the sustained acceleration stress panel at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. The task consisted of the subject performing a two-dimensional join up task between a KC-135 tanker and an F-16. The objective was to guide the nose of the F-16 to the posterior end of the boom extended from the tanker, and hold this position for 2 s. If the F-16 went past the tanker, or misaligned with the tanker, it would be recorded as an error. These tasks were performed during four G(z) acceleration profiles starting from a baseline acceleration of 1.5 G(z). The plateaus were 3, 5, and 7 G(z). The final acceleration exposure was a simulated aerial combat maneuver (SACM). One subject was an outlier and therefore omitted from analysis. The mean capture time and percent error data were recorded and compared separately. There was a significant difference in error percentage change from baseline among the G(z) profiles, but not capture time. Mean errors were approximately 15% higher in the 7 G profile and 10% higher during the SACM. This experiment suggests that the ability to accurately perceive the motion of objects relative to other objects is impeded at acceleration levels of 7 G(z) or higher.

Speech Prosody Across Stimulus Types for Individuals with Parkinson's Disease.

PubMed

K-Y Ma, Joan; Schneider, Christine B; Hoffmann, Rüdiger; Storch, Alexander

2015-01-01

Up to 89% of the individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) experience speech problem over the course of the disease. Speech prosody and intelligibility are two of the most affected areas in hypokinetic dysarthria. However, assessment of these areas could potentially be problematic as speech prosody and intelligibility could be affected by the type of speech materials employed. To comparatively explore the effects of different types of speech stimulus on speech prosody and intelligibility in PD speakers. Speech prosody and intelligibility of two groups of individuals with varying degree of dysarthria resulting from PD was compared to that of a group of control speakers using sentence reading, passage reading and monologue. Acoustic analysis including measures on fundamental frequency (F0), intensity and speech rate was used to form a prosodic profile for each individual. Speech intelligibility was measured for the speakers with dysarthria using direct magnitude estimation. Difference in F0 variability between the speakers with dysarthria and control speakers was only observed in sentence reading task. Difference in the average intensity level was observed for speakers with mild dysarthria to that of the control speakers. Additionally, there were stimulus effect on both intelligibility and prosodic profile. The prosodic profile of PD speakers was different from that of the control speakers in the more structured task, and lower intelligibility was found in less structured task. This highlighted the value of both structured and natural stimulus to evaluate speech production in PD speakers.

Distinct developmental profiles in typical speech acquisition

PubMed Central

Campbell, Thomas F.; Shriberg, Lawrence D.; Green, Jordan R.; Abdi, Hervé; Rusiewicz, Heather Leavy; Venkatesh, Lakshmi; Moore, Christopher A.

2012-01-01

Three- to five-year-old children produce speech that is characterized by a high level of variability within and across individuals. This variability, which is manifest in speech movements, acoustics, and overt behaviors, can be input to subgroup discovery methods to identify cohesive subgroups of speakers or to reveal distinct developmental pathways or profiles. This investigation characterized three distinct groups of typically developing children and provided normative benchmarks for speech development. These speech development profiles, identified among 63 typically developing preschool-aged speakers (ages 36–59 mo), were derived from the children's performance on multiple measures. These profiles were obtained by submitting to a k-means cluster analysis of 72 measures that composed three levels of speech analysis: behavioral (e.g., task accuracy, percentage of consonants correct), acoustic (e.g., syllable duration, syllable stress), and kinematic (e.g., variability of movements of the upper lip, lower lip, and jaw). Two of the discovered group profiles were distinguished by measures of variability but not by phonemic accuracy; the third group of children was characterized by their relatively low phonemic accuracy but not by an increase in measures of variability. Analyses revealed that of the original 72 measures, 8 key measures were sufficient to best distinguish the 3 profile groups. PMID:22357794

MetaMeta: integrating metagenome analysis tools to improve taxonomic profiling.

PubMed

Piro, Vitor C; Matschkowski, Marcel; Renard, Bernhard Y

2017-08-14

Many metagenome analysis tools are presently available to classify sequences and profile environmental samples. In particular, taxonomic profiling and binning methods are commonly used for such tasks. Tools available among these two categories make use of several techniques, e.g., read mapping, k-mer alignment, and composition analysis. Variations on the construction of the corresponding reference sequence databases are also common. In addition, different tools provide good results in different datasets and configurations. All this variation creates a complicated scenario to researchers to decide which methods to use. Installation, configuration and execution can also be difficult especially when dealing with multiple datasets and tools. We propose MetaMeta: a pipeline to execute and integrate results from metagenome analysis tools. MetaMeta provides an easy workflow to run multiple tools with multiple samples, producing a single enhanced output profile for each sample. MetaMeta includes a database generation, pre-processing, execution, and integration steps, allowing easy execution and parallelization. The integration relies on the co-occurrence of organisms from different methods as the main feature to improve community profiling while accounting for differences in their databases. In a controlled case with simulated and real data, we show that the integrated profiles of MetaMeta overcome the best single profile. Using the same input data, it provides more sensitive and reliable results with the presence of each organism being supported by several methods. MetaMeta uses Snakemake and has six pre-configured tools, all available at BioConda channel for easy installation (conda install -c bioconda metameta). The MetaMeta pipeline is open-source and can be downloaded at: https://gitlab.com/rki_bioinformatics .

Standardizing clinical trials workflow representation in UML for international site comparison.

PubMed

de Carvalho, Elias Cesar Araujo; Jayanti, Madhav Kishore; Batilana, Adelia Portero; Kozan, Andreia M O; Rodrigues, Maria J; Shah, Jatin; Loures, Marco R; Patil, Sunita; Payne, Philip; Pietrobon, Ricardo

2010-11-09

With the globalization of clinical trials, a growing emphasis has been placed on the standardization of the workflow in order to ensure the reproducibility and reliability of the overall trial. Despite the importance of workflow evaluation, to our knowledge no previous studies have attempted to adapt existing modeling languages to standardize the representation of clinical trials. Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a computational language that can be used to model operational workflow, and a UML profile can be developed to standardize UML models within a given domain. This paper's objective is to develop a UML profile to extend the UML Activity Diagram schema into the clinical trials domain, defining a standard representation for clinical trial workflow diagrams in UML. Two Brazilian clinical trial sites in rheumatology and oncology were examined to model their workflow and collect time-motion data. UML modeling was conducted in Eclipse, and a UML profile was developed to incorporate information used in discrete event simulation software. Ethnographic observation revealed bottlenecks in workflow: these included tasks requiring full commitment of CRCs, transferring notes from paper to computers, deviations from standard operating procedures, and conflicts between different IT systems. Time-motion analysis revealed that nurses' activities took up the most time in the workflow and contained a high frequency of shorter duration activities. Administrative assistants performed more activities near the beginning and end of the workflow. Overall, clinical trial tasks had a greater frequency than clinic routines or other general activities. This paper describes a method for modeling clinical trial workflow in UML and standardizing these workflow diagrams through a UML profile. In the increasingly global environment of clinical trials, the standardization of workflow modeling is a necessary precursor to conducting a comparative analysis of international clinical trials workflows.

Standardizing Clinical Trials Workflow Representation in UML for International Site Comparison

PubMed Central

de Carvalho, Elias Cesar Araujo; Jayanti, Madhav Kishore; Batilana, Adelia Portero; Kozan, Andreia M. O.; Rodrigues, Maria J.; Shah, Jatin; Loures, Marco R.; Patil, Sunita; Payne, Philip; Pietrobon, Ricardo

2010-01-01

Background With the globalization of clinical trials, a growing emphasis has been placed on the standardization of the workflow in order to ensure the reproducibility and reliability of the overall trial. Despite the importance of workflow evaluation, to our knowledge no previous studies have attempted to adapt existing modeling languages to standardize the representation of clinical trials. Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a computational language that can be used to model operational workflow, and a UML profile can be developed to standardize UML models within a given domain. This paper's objective is to develop a UML profile to extend the UML Activity Diagram schema into the clinical trials domain, defining a standard representation for clinical trial workflow diagrams in UML. Methods Two Brazilian clinical trial sites in rheumatology and oncology were examined to model their workflow and collect time-motion data. UML modeling was conducted in Eclipse, and a UML profile was developed to incorporate information used in discrete event simulation software. Results Ethnographic observation revealed bottlenecks in workflow: these included tasks requiring full commitment of CRCs, transferring notes from paper to computers, deviations from standard operating procedures, and conflicts between different IT systems. Time-motion analysis revealed that nurses' activities took up the most time in the workflow and contained a high frequency of shorter duration activities. Administrative assistants performed more activities near the beginning and end of the workflow. Overall, clinical trial tasks had a greater frequency than clinic routines or other general activities. Conclusions This paper describes a method for modeling clinical trial workflow in UML and standardizing these workflow diagrams through a UML profile. In the increasingly global environment of clinical trials, the standardization of workflow modeling is a necessary precursor to conducting a comparative analysis of international clinical trials workflows. PMID:21085484

The Influence of Achievement Goal Orientations and Task Concreteness on Situational Interest

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tapola, Anna; Jaakkola, Tomi; Niemivirta, Markku

2014-01-01

This study investigated changes in elementary school students' (n = 140) situational interest as a function of achievement goal orientation profiles and task characteristics. The authors repeatedly measured situational interest during a simulated science learning task in 2 task conditions that differed in the concreteness of the task elements. The…

NetNorM: Capturing cancer-relevant information in somatic exome mutation data with gene networks for cancer stratification and prognosis.

PubMed

Le Morvan, Marine; Zinovyev, Andrei; Vert, Jean-Philippe

2017-06-01

Genome-wide somatic mutation profiles of tumours can now be assessed efficiently and promise to move precision medicine forward. Statistical analysis of mutation profiles is however challenging due to the low frequency of most mutations, the varying mutation rates across tumours, and the presence of a majority of passenger events that hide the contribution of driver events. Here we propose a method, NetNorM, to represent whole-exome somatic mutation data in a form that enhances cancer-relevant information using a gene network as background knowledge. We evaluate its relevance for two tasks: survival prediction and unsupervised patient stratification. Using data from 8 cancer types from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we show that it improves over the raw binary mutation data and network diffusion for these two tasks. In doing so, we also provide a thorough assessment of somatic mutations prognostic power which has been overlooked by previous studies because of the sparse and binary nature of mutations.

Association Between Sluggish Cognitive Tempo Symptoms and Attentional Network and Working Memory in Primary Schoolchildren.

PubMed

Camprodon-Rosanas, E; Ribas-Fitó, N; Batlle, S; Persavento, C; Alvarez-Pedrerol, M; Sunyer, J; Forns, J

2017-04-01

Few consistent data are available in relation to the cognitive and neuropsychological processes involved in sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) symptoms. The objective of this study was to determine the association of working memory and attentional networks with SCT symptoms in primary schoolchildren. The participants were schoolchildren aged 7 to 10 years ( n = 183) from primary schools in Catalonia (Spain). All the participants completed a working memory task (n-back) and an attentional network task (ANT). Their parents completed an SCT-Child Behavior Checklist self-report and a questionnaire concerning sociodemographic variables. Teachers of the participants provided information on ADHD symptoms and learning determinants. SCT symptoms were correlated with lower scores in both the n-back and ANT. In multivariate regression analysis, SCT symptoms were associated with slower hit reaction times from the ANT. Our results suggest that SCT symptoms are associated with a neuropsychological profile that is different from the classical ADHD profile and characterized by slower reaction times.

NetNorM: Capturing cancer-relevant information in somatic exome mutation data with gene networks for cancer stratification and prognosis

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Genome-wide somatic mutation profiles of tumours can now be assessed efficiently and promise to move precision medicine forward. Statistical analysis of mutation profiles is however challenging due to the low frequency of most mutations, the varying mutation rates across tumours, and the presence of a majority of passenger events that hide the contribution of driver events. Here we propose a method, NetNorM, to represent whole-exome somatic mutation data in a form that enhances cancer-relevant information using a gene network as background knowledge. We evaluate its relevance for two tasks: survival prediction and unsupervised patient stratification. Using data from 8 cancer types from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we show that it improves over the raw binary mutation data and network diffusion for these two tasks. In doing so, we also provide a thorough assessment of somatic mutations prognostic power which has been overlooked by previous studies because of the sparse and binary nature of mutations. PMID:28650955

The convergence of neomillennial learning styles and a multi-user virtual environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dieterle, Edward Robert, II

Learning styles influenced and cultivated by immersive technologies have spawned a new area of research, "neomillennial" learning styles (NLS). The present study utilizes a quantitative approach, including principal components analysis and multiple regression/correlation analysis, to investigate NLS. Evidence supporting the arguments laid out in this study derives from a sample of 574 middle grades students from urban, suburban, and rural school settings in North America that participated in the River City Project (RCP) in academic year 2006-07. Central to RCP is an immersive simulation for teaching inquiry-based science and 21st century skills, where success is measured across five dimensions: (a) collaboration, (b) science content understanding, (c) self-efficacy in science, (d) self-efficacy in scientific inquiry, and (e) thoughtfulness of inquiry. Besides taking part in RCP, participating students completed an instrument that generates a profile of their NLS. The resulting profile includes measures of students' fluency in multiple media; the extent to which they prefer learning based on collectively seeking, sieving, and synthesizing experiences; and their tendency toward expression through webs of representations. This study revealed that, on average, a student who prefers: (1) engaging tasks that require creative strategies and seeing and doing things in new ways, while avoiding tasks that involve details, is well suited for learning disease transmission and the scientific method in RCP; (2) distributing attention across multiple tasks that have been prioritized will further his or her belief in their ability to do science by participating via RCP whereas the same conditions may undercut a student who avoids distributing attention across multiple tasks that have been prioritized; (3) to read books, magazines, and newspapers by choice and who score high on measures of their general connectedness with the media is well suited for increasing his or her belief in their ability to complete activities common to practicing scientists in RCP; and (4) (a) engaging tasks that require creative strategies, (b) seeing and doing things in new ways, and (c) distributing attention across multiple tasks that have been prioritized is well suited for increasing his or her use of inquiry and reflection when performing science-related activities in RCP.

Development of Knowledge Profiles for International eHealth eLearning Courses.

PubMed

Herzog, Juliane; Sauermann, Stefan; Mense, Alexander; Forjan, Mathias; Urbauer, Philipp

2015-01-01

Professionals working in the multidisciplinary field of eHealth vary in their educational background. However, knowledge in the areas of medicine, engineering and management is required to fulfil the tasks associated with eHealth sufficiently. Based on the results of an analysis of national and international educational offers a survey gathering user requirements for the development of knowledge profiles in eHealth was conducted (n=75) by professionals and students. During a workshop the first results were presented and discussed together with the network partners and the attendees. The resulting knowledge profiles contain knowledge areas of all three thematic content categories including fundamentals of medical terminology, standards and interoperability and usability as well as basics of all three content categories. The knowledge profiles are currently applied in a master's degree programme at the UAS Technikum Wien and will be developed further.

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

Janjusic, Tommy; Kartsaklis, Christos

Application analysis is facilitated through a number of program profiling tools. The tools vary in their complexity, ease of deployment, design, and profiling detail. Specifically, understand- ing, analyzing, and optimizing is of particular importance for scientific applications where minor changes in code paths and data-structure layout can have profound effects. Understanding how intricate data-structures are accessed and how a given memory system responds is a complex task. In this paper we describe a trace profiling tool, Glprof, specifically aimed to lessen the burden of the programmer to pin-point heavily involved data-structures during an application's run-time, and understand data-structure run-time usage.more » Moreover, we showcase the tool's modularity using additional cache simulation components. We elaborate on the tool's design, and features. Finally we demonstrate the application of our tool in the context of Spec bench- marks using the Glprof profiler and two concurrently running cache simulators, PPC440 and AMD Interlagos.« less

Study to determine the IFR operational profile and problems to the general aviation pilot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weislogel, S.

1983-01-01

A study of the general aviation single pilot operating under instrument flight rules (GA SPIFR) has been conducted for NASA Langley Research Center. The objectives of the study were to (1) develop a GA SPIFR operational profile, (2) identify problems experienced by the GA SPIFR pilot, and (3) identify research tasks which have the potential for eliminating or reducing the severity of the problems. To obtain the information necessary to accomplish these objectives, a mail questionnaire survey of instrument rated pilots was conducted. Complete questionnaire data is reported in NASA CR-165805, "Statistical Summary: Study to Determine the IFR Operational Profile and Problems of the General Aviation Single Pilot'-Based upon the results of the GA SPIFR survey, this final report presents the general aviation IFR single pilot operational profile, illustrates selected data analysis, examples, identifies the problems which he is experiencing, and recommends further research.

Number-specific and general cognitive markers of preschoolers' math ability profiles.

PubMed

Gray, Sarah A; Reeve, Robert A

2016-07-01

Different number-specific and general cognitive markers have been claimed to underlie preschoolers' math ability. It is unclear, however, whether similar/different cognitive markers, or combinations of them, are associated with different patterns of emerging math abilities (i.e., different patterns of strength and weakness). To examine this question, 103 preschoolers (40-60 months of age) completed six math tasks (count sequence, object counting, give a number, naming numbers, ordinal relations, and arithmetic), three number-specific markers of math ability (dot enumeration, magnitude comparison, and spontaneous focusing on numerosity), and four general markers (working memory, response inhibition, attention, and vocabulary). A three-step latent profile modeling procedure identified five math ability profiles that differed in their patterns of math strengths and weaknesses; specifically, the profiles were characterized by (a) excellent math ability on all math tasks, (b) good arithmetic ability, (c) good math ability but relatively poor count sequence recitation ability, (d) average ability on all math tasks, and (e) poor ability on all math tasks. After controlling for age, only dot enumeration and spontaneous focusing on numerosity were associated with the math ability profiles, whereas vocabulary was also marginally significant, and these markers were differentially associated with different profiles; that is, different cognitive markers were associated with different patterns of strengths and weaknesses in math abilities. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the development of math cognition. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Unsupervised user similarity mining in GSM sensor networks.

PubMed

Shad, Shafqat Ali; Chen, Enhong

2013-01-01

Mobility data has attracted the researchers for the past few years because of its rich context and spatiotemporal nature, where this information can be used for potential applications like early warning system, route prediction, traffic management, advertisement, social networking, and community finding. All the mentioned applications are based on mobility profile building and user trend analysis, where mobility profile building is done through significant places extraction, user's actual movement prediction, and context awareness. However, significant places extraction and user's actual movement prediction for mobility profile building are a trivial task. In this paper, we present the user similarity mining-based methodology through user mobility profile building by using the semantic tagging information provided by user and basic GSM network architecture properties based on unsupervised clustering approach. As the mobility information is in low-level raw form, our proposed methodology successfully converts it to a high-level meaningful information by using the cell-Id location information rather than previously used location capturing methods like GPS, Infrared, and Wifi for profile mining and user similarity mining.

A Data Mining Approach to Identify Sexuality Patterns in a Brazilian University Population.

PubMed

Waleska Simões, Priscyla; Cesconetto, Samuel; Toniazzo de Abreu, Larissa Letieli; Côrtes de Mattos Garcia, Merisandra; Cassettari Junior, José Márcio; Comunello, Eros; Bisognin Ceretta, Luciane; Aparecida Manenti, Sandra

2015-01-01

This paper presents the profile and experience of sexuality generated from a data mining classification task. We used a database about sexuality and gender violence performed on a university population in southern Brazil. The data mining task identified two relationships between the variables, which enabled the distinction of subgroups that better detail the profile and experience of sexuality. The identification of the relationships between the variables define behavioral models and factors of risk that will help define the algorithms being implemented in the data mining classification task.

Meta-Analysis of Functional Neuroimaging and Cognitive Control Studies in Schizophrenia: Preliminary Elucidation of a Core Dysfunctional Timing Network

PubMed Central

Alústiza, Irene; Radua, Joaquim; Albajes-Eizagirre, Anton; Domínguez, Manuel; Aubá, Enrique; Ortuño, Felipe

2016-01-01

Timing and other cognitive processes demanding cognitive control become interlinked when there is an increase in the level of difficulty or effort required. Both functions are interrelated and share neuroanatomical bases. A previous meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies found that people with schizophrenia had significantly lower activation, relative to normal controls, of most right hemisphere regions of the time circuit. This finding suggests that a pattern of disconnectivity of this circuit, particularly in the supplementary motor area, is a trait of this mental disease. We hypothesize that a dysfunctional temporal/cognitive control network underlies both cognitive and psychiatric symptoms of schizophrenia and that timing dysfunction is at the root of the cognitive deficits observed. The goal of our study was to look, in schizophrenia patients, for brain structures activated both by execution of cognitive tasks requiring increased effort and by performance of time perception tasks. We conducted a signed differential mapping (SDM) meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies in schizophrenia patients assessing the brain response to increasing levels of cognitive difficulty. Then, we performed a multimodal meta-analysis to identify common brain regions in the findings of that SDM meta-analysis and our previously-published activation likelihood estimate (ALE) meta-analysis of neuroimaging of time perception in schizophrenia patients. The current study supports the hypothesis that there exists an overlap between neural structures engaged by both timing tasks and non-temporal cognitive tasks of escalating difficulty in schizophrenia. The implication is that a deficit in timing can be considered as a trait marker of the schizophrenia cognitive profile. PMID:26925013

Molecular Epidemiology of Ovarian Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-09-01

Task 5: Testing of hypotheses relating to androgen exposure ( polycystic ovary syndrome , hirsutism, acne etc): (a) Analysis by histologic subtype (b...eg omentum or ovary ). Samples are processed using Trizol and RNeasy and RNA quality accessed using a BioAnalyser, degradometer software, and a NanoDrop...or histological information separates groups, such as a comparison of LMP and invasive cancer or relating expression profiles to treatment response or

A method for profiling biometric changes during disaccommodation.

PubMed

Alderson, Alison; Davies, Leon N; Mallen, Edward A H; Sheppard, Amy L

2012-05-01

To demonstrate the application of low-coherence reflectometry to the study of biometric changes during disaccommodation responses in human eyes after cessation of a near task and to evaluate the effect of contact lenses on low-coherence reflectometry biometric measurements. Ocular biometric parameters of crystalline lens thickness (LT) and anterior chamber depth (ACD) were measured with the LenStar device during and immediately after a 5 D accommodative task in 10 participants. In a separate trial, accommodation responses were recorded with a Shin-Nippon WAM-5500 optometer in a subset of two participants. Biometric data were interleaved to form a profile of post-task anterior segment changes. In a further experiment, the effect of soft contact lenses on LenStar measurements was evaluated in 15 participants. In 10 adult participants, increased LT and reduced ACD was seen during the 5 D task. Post-task, during fixation of a 0 D target, a profile of the change in LT and ACD against time was observed. In the two participants with accommodation data (one a sufferer of nearwork-induced transient myopia and other a non-sufferer), the post-task changes in refraction compared favorably with the interleaved LenStar biometry data. The insertion of soft contact lenses did not have a significant effect on LenStar measures of ACD or LT (mean change: -0.007 mm, p = 0.265 and + 0.001 mm, p = 0.875, respectively). With the addition of a relatively simple stimulus modification, the LenStar instrument can be used to produce a profile of post-task changes in LT and ACD. The spatial and temporal resolution of the system is sufficient for the investigation of nearwork-induced transient myopia from a biometric viewpoint. LenStar measurements of ACD and LT remain valid after the fitting of soft contact lenses.

Current source density analysis of the hippocampal theta rhythm: associated sustained potentials and candidate synaptic generators.

PubMed

Brankack, J; Stewart, M; Fox, S E

1993-07-02

Single-electrode depth profiles of the hippocampal EEG were made in urethane-anesthetized rats and rats trained in an alternating running/drinking task. Current source density (CSD) was computed from the voltage as a function of depth. A problem inherent to AC-coupled profiles was eliminated by incorporating sustained potential components of the EEG. 'AC' profiles force phasic current sinks to alternate with current sources at each lamina, changing the magnitude and even the sign of the computed membrane current. It was possible to include DC potentials in the profiles from anesthetized rats by using glass micropipettes for recording. A method of 'subtracting' profiles of the non-theta EEG from theta profiles was developed as an approach to including sustained potentials in recordings from freely-moving animals implanted with platinum electrodes. 'DC' profiles are superior to 'AC' profiles for analysis of EEG activity because 'DC'-CSD values can be considered correct in sign and more closely represent the actual membrane current magnitudes. Since hippocampal inputs are laminated, CSD analysis leads to straightforward predictions of the afferents involved. Theta-related activity in afferents from entorhinal neurons, hippocampal interneurons and ipsi- and contralateral hippocampal pyramids all appear to contribute to sources and sinks in CA1 and the dentate area. The largest theta-related generator was a sink at the fissure, having both phasic and tonic components. This sink may reflect activity in afferents from the lateral entorhinal cortex. The phase of the dentate mid-molecular sink suggests that medial entorhinal afferents drive the theta-related granule and pyramidal cell firing. The sustained components may be simply due to different average rates of firing during theta rhythm than during non-theta EEG in afferents whose firing rates are also phasically modulated.

Parkinson's Disease Is Associated with Goal Setting Deficits during Task Switching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meiran, Nachshon; Friedman, Gilad; Yehene, Eynat

2004-01-01

Ten Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients and 10 control participants were tested using a task-switching paradigm in which there was a random task sequence, and the task was cued in every trial. Five PD patients showed a unique error profile. Their performance approximated guessing when accuracy was dependent on correct task identification, and was…

Research advances based on mass spectrometry for profiling of triacylglycerols in oils and fats and their applications.

PubMed

Xu, Shu-Ling; Wei, Fang; Xie, Ya; Lv, Xin; Dong, Xu-Yan; Chen, Hong

2018-03-23

Vegetable oils and animal fats are dietary source of lipids that play critical and multiple roles in biological function. Triacylglycerols (TAGs) are the principal component of oils and fats with significant difference in profile among different oils and fats. TAG profiling is essential for nutritional evaluation, quality control and assurance of safety in oils and fats. However, analysis of TAGs is a challenging task because of the complicated composition of TAGs and their similar physicochemical properties in oils and fats. The rapid development of mass spectrometry (MS) technology in recent years makes it possible to analyze the composition, content and structure of TAGs in the study of the physical, chemical and nutritional properties of oils, fats and related products. This review described the research advancement based on MS for profiling of TAGs in oil, fat and their applications in food. The application of MS, including direct infusion strategies, and its combination with chromatography, gas chromatography-MS (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-MS (LC-MS), in the analysis of TAGs were reviewed. The advantages and disadvantages of these analytical methods with relevant applications for TAGs analysis in food were also described. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Profiles of perfectionism, parental climate, and burnout among competitive junior athletes.

PubMed

Gustafsson, H; Hill, A P; Stenling, A; Wagnsson, S

2016-10-01

Recent research suggests that groups of athletes which differ in terms of perfectionism and perceptions of achievement climate can be identified. Moreover, these groups also differ in terms of burnout symptoms. The purpose of the current study was to extend this research by examining whether discernible groups can be identified based on scores of perfectionism and perceptions of parent-initiated climate and, then, whether these groups differ in terms of burnout. Two-hundred and thirty-seven Swedish junior athletes (124 males and 113 females aged 16-19) from a variety of sports completed measures of athlete burnout, multidimensional perfectionism, and parent-initiated motivational climate. Latent profile analysis identified four groups: non-perfectionistic athletes in a task-involving climate, moderately perfectionistic athletes in a task-involving climate, highly perfectionistic athletes in a task-involving climate, and highly perfectionistic athletes in a mixed climate. The latter two groups reported higher levels of burnout in comparison to other groups. The findings suggest that junior athletes high in perfectionism may be at comparatively greater risk to burnout and that this may especially be the case when they perceive their parents to emphasize concerns about failure and winning without trying one's best. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

NON-INVASIVE DETERMINATION OF THE LOCATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FREE-PHASE DENSE NONAQUEOUS PHASE LIQUIDS (DNAPL) BY SEISMIC REFLECTION TECHNIQUES

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

Michael G. Waddell; William J. Domoracki; Tom J. Temples

2001-12-01

This annual technical progress report is for part of Task 4 (site evaluation), Task 5 (2D seismic design, acquisition, and processing), and Task 6 (2D seismic reflection, interpretation, and AVO analysis) on DOE contact number DE-AR26-98FT40369. The project had planned one additional deployment to another site other than Savannah River Site (SRS) or DOE Hanford Site. After the SUBCON midyear review in Albuquerque, NM, it was decided that two additional deployments would be performed. The first deployment is to test the feasibility of using non-invasive seismic reflection and AVO analysis as a monitoring tool to assist in determining the effectivenessmore » of Dynamic Underground Stripping (DUS) in removal of DNAPL. The second deployment is to the Department of Defense (DOD) Charleston Naval Weapons Station Solid Waste Management Unit 12 (SWMU-12), Charleston, SC to further test the technique to detect high concentrations of DNAPL. The Charleston Naval Weapons Station SWMU-12 site was selected in consultation with National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and DOD Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southern Division (NAVFAC) personnel. Based upon the review of existing data and due to the shallow target depth, the project team collected three Vertical Seismic Profiles (VSP) and an experimental P-wave seismic reflection line. After preliminary data analysis of the VSP data and the experimental reflection line data, it was decided to proceed with Task 5 and Task 6. Three high resolution P-wave reflection profiles were collected with two objectives; (1) design the reflection survey to image a target depth of 20 feet below land surface to assist in determining the geologic controls on the DNAPL plume geometry, and (2) apply AVO analysis to the seismic data to locate the zone of high concentration of DNAPL. Based upon the results of the data processing and interpretation of the seismic data, the project team was able to map the channel that is controlling the DNAPL plume geometry. The AVO analysis located a major amplitude anomaly, which was tested using a Geoprobe{trademark} direct push system. The Geoprobe{trademark} was equipped with a membrane interface probe (MIP) that was interfaced with a sorbent trap/gas chromatograph (GC) system. Both the Photo Ionization Detector (PID) and Electron Capture Detector (ECD) on the GC exceeded the maximum measurement values through the anomaly. A well was installed to collect a water sample. The concentration of chlorinated solvents in the water sample was in excess of 500 ppm. Other amplitude anomalies located directly under an asphalt road were also tested. Both the PID and ECD were zero. It appears that editing of poor quality near-offset traces during data processing caused these anomalies. Not having the full range of source to receiver offset traces in those areas resulted in a false anomaly during AVO analysis. This phenomenon was also observed at the beginning and end of each seismic profile also for the same reason. Based upon the water samples and MIP probes, it appears that surface seismic and AVO analysis were able to detect the area of highest concentration of DNAPL.« less

Self-generated strategic behavior in an ecological shopping task.

PubMed

Bottari, Carolina; Wai Shun, Priscilla Lam; Dorze, Guylaine Le; Gosselin, Nadia; Dawson, Deirdre

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVES. The use of cognitive strategies optimizes performance in complex everyday tasks such as shopping. This exploratory study examined the cognitive strategies people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) effectively use in an unstructured, real-world situation. METHOD. A behavioral analysis of the self-generated strategic behaviors of 5 people with severe TBI using videotaped sessions of an ecological shopping task (Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Profile) was performed. RESULTS. All participants used some form of cognitive strategy in an unstructured real-world shopping task, although the number, type, and degree of effectiveness of the strategies in leading to goal attainment varied. The most independent person used the largest number and a broader repertoire of self-generated strategies. CONCLUSION. These results provide initial evidence that occupational therapists should examine the use of self-generated cognitive strategies in real-world contexts as a potential means of guiding therapy aimed at improving independence in everyday activities for people with TBI. Copyright © 2014 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.

Driver behavior profiling: An investigation with different smartphone sensors and machine learning

PubMed Central

Ferreira, Jair; Carvalho, Eduardo; Ferreira, Bruno V.; de Souza, Cleidson; Suhara, Yoshihiko; Pentland, Alex

2017-01-01

Driver behavior impacts traffic safety, fuel/energy consumption and gas emissions. Driver behavior profiling tries to understand and positively impact driver behavior. Usually driver behavior profiling tasks involve automated collection of driving data and application of computer models to generate a classification that characterizes the driver aggressiveness profile. Different sensors and classification methods have been employed in this task, however, low-cost solutions and high performance are still research targets. This paper presents an investigation with different Android smartphone sensors, and classification algorithms in order to assess which sensor/method assembly enables classification with higher performance. The results show that specific combinations of sensors and intelligent methods allow classification performance improvement. PMID:28394925

Personal profile of medical students selected through a knowledge-based exam only: are we missing suitable students?

PubMed Central

Abbiati, Milena; Baroffio, Anne; Gerbase, Margaret W.

2016-01-01

Introduction A consistent body of literature highlights the importance of a broader approach to select medical school candidates both assessing cognitive capacity and individual characteristics. However, selection in a great number of medical schools worldwide is still based on knowledge exams, a procedure that might neglect students with needed personal characteristics for future medical practice. We investigated whether the personal profile of students selected through a knowledge-based exam differed from those not selected. Methods Students applying for medical school (N=311) completed questionnaires assessing motivations for becoming a doctor, learning approaches, personality traits, empathy, and coping styles. Selection was based on the results of MCQ tests. Principal component analysis was used to draw a profile of the students. Differences between selected and non-selected students were examined by Multivariate ANOVAs, and their impact on selection by logistic regression analysis. Results Students demonstrating a profile of diligence with higher conscientiousness, deep learning approach, and task-focused coping were more frequently selected (p=0.01). Other personal characteristics such as motivation, sociability, and empathy did not significantly differ, comparing selected and non-selected students. Conclusion Selection through a knowledge-based exam privileged diligent students. It did neither advantage nor preclude candidates with a more humane profile. PMID:27079886

Is psychological membership in the classroom a function of standing out while fitting in? Implications for achievement motivation and emotions.

PubMed

Gray, DeLeon L

2017-04-01

Education researchers have consistently linked students' perceptions of "fitting in" at school with patterns of motivation and positive emotions. This study proposes that "standing out" is also helpful for producing these outcomes, and that standing out works in concert with perceptions of fitting in. In a sample of 702 high school students nested within 33 classrooms, principal components analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were each conducted on half of the sample. Results support the proposed structure of measures of standing out and fitting in. Multilevel latent profile analysis was then used to classify students into four profiles of standing out while fitting in (SOFI): Unfulfilled, Somewhat Fulfilled, Nearly Fulfilled, and Fulfilled. A multinomial logistic regression revealed that students of color and those on who paid free/reduced prices lunch were overrepresented in the Unfulfilled and Somewhat Fulfilled profiles. A multilevel path analysis was then performed to assess the direct and indirect associations of profile membership with measures of task value and achievement emotions. Relative to the other profiles, students in the Fulfilled SOFI Profile express greater psychological membership in their classrooms and, in turn, express higher valuing of academic material (i.e., intrinsic value, utility value, and attainment value) and more positive achievement emotions (i.e., more enjoyment and pride; less boredom, hopelessness, and shame). This investigation provides critical insights on the potential benefits of structuring academic learning environments to foster feelings of distinctiveness among adolescents; and has implications for cultivating identities and achievement motivation in academic settings. Copyright © 2017 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

First comparative approach to touchscreen-based visual object-location paired-associates learning in humans (Homo sapiens) and a nonhuman primate (Microcebus murinus).

PubMed

Schmidtke, Daniel; Ammersdörfer, Sandra; Joly, Marine; Zimmermann, Elke

2018-05-10

A recent study suggests that a specific, touchscreen-based task on visual object-location paired-associates learning (PAL), the so-called Different PAL (dPAL) task, allows effective translation from animal models to humans. Here, we adapted the task to a nonhuman primate (NHP), the gray mouse lemur, and provide first evidence for the successful comparative application of the task to humans and NHPs. Young human adults reach the learning criterion after considerably less sessions (one order of magnitude) than young, adult NHPs, which is likely due to faster and voluntary rejection of ineffective learning strategies in humans and almost immediate rule generalization. At criterion, however, all human subjects solved the task by either applying a visuospatial rule or, more rarely, by memorizing all possible stimulus combinations and responding correctly based on global visual information. An error-profile analysis in humans and NHPs suggests that successful learning in NHPs is comparably based either on the formation of visuospatial associative links or on more reflexive, visually guided stimulus-response learning. The classification in the NHPs is further supported by an analysis of the individual response latencies, which are considerably higher in NHPs classified as spatial learners. Our results, therefore, support the high translational potential of the standardized, touchscreen-based dPAL task by providing first empirical and comparable evidence for two different cognitive processes underlying dPAL performance in primates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Measuring multi-joint stiffness during single movements: numerical validation of a novel time-frequency approach.

PubMed

Piovesan, Davide; Pierobon, Alberto; DiZio, Paul; Lackner, James R

2012-01-01

This study presents and validates a Time-Frequency technique for measuring 2-dimensional multijoint arm stiffness throughout a single planar movement as well as during static posture. It is proposed as an alternative to current regressive methods which require numerous repetitions to obtain average stiffness on a small segment of the hand trajectory. The method is based on the analysis of the reassigned spectrogram of the arm's response to impulsive perturbations and can estimate arm stiffness on a trial-by-trial basis. Analytic and empirical methods are first derived and tested through modal analysis on synthetic data. The technique's accuracy and robustness are assessed by modeling the estimation of stiffness time profiles changing at different rates and affected by different noise levels. Our method obtains results comparable with two well-known regressive techniques. We also test how the technique can identify the viscoelastic component of non-linear and higher than second order systems with a non-parametrical approach. The technique proposed here is very impervious to noise and can be used easily for both postural and movement tasks. Estimations of stiffness profiles are possible with only one perturbation, making our method a useful tool for estimating limb stiffness during motor learning and adaptation tasks, and for understanding the modulation of stiffness in individuals with neurodegenerative diseases.

Epithelial cancers and photon migration: Monte Carlo simulations and diffuse reflectance measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tubiana, Jerome; Kass, Alex J.; Newman, Maya Y.; Levitz, David

2015-07-01

Detecting pre-cancer in epithelial tissues such as the cervix is a challenging task in low-resources settings. In an effort to achieve low cost cervical cancer screening and diagnostic method for use in low resource settings, mobile colposcopes that use a smartphone as their engine have been developed. Designing image analysis software suited for this task requires proper modeling of light propagation from the abnormalities inside tissues to the camera of the smartphones. Different simulation methods have been developed in the past, by solving light diffusion equations, or running Monte Carlo simulations. Several algorithms exist for the latter, including MCML and the recently developed MCX. For imaging purpose, the observable parameter of interest is the reflectance profile of a tissue under some specific pattern of illumination and optical setup. Extensions of the MCX algorithm to simulate this observable under these conditions were developed. These extensions were validated against MCML and diffusion theory for the simple case of contact measurements, and reflectance profiles under colposcopy imaging geometry were also simulated. To validate this model, the diffuse reflectance profiles of tissue phantoms were measured with a spectrometer under several illumination and optical settings for various homogeneous tissues phantoms. The measured reflectance profiles showed a non-trivial deviation across the spectrum. Measurements of an added absorber experiment on a series of phantoms showed that absorption of dye scales linearly when fit to both MCX and diffusion models. More work is needed to integrate a pupil into the experiment.

Association Between Gait and Dual Task With Cognitive Domains in Older People With Cognitive Impairment.

PubMed

Ansai, Juliana Hotta; Andrade, Larissa Pires de; Rossi, Paulo Giusti; Almeida, Mariana Luciano; Carvalho Vale, Francisco Assis; Rebelatto, José Rubens

2017-09-13

The authors investigated whether impaired gait and dual-task performances are associated with specific cognitive domains among older people with preserved cognition (PC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and mild Alzheimer's disease (AD). The sample comprised 40 older adults with PC, 40 with MCI, and 38 with mild AD. The assessment consisted of gait (measured by 10-m walk test and Timed Up and Go Test [TUGT]), dual task (measured by TUGT associated with a cognitive-motor task of calling a phone number), and cognition (domains of the Addenbrooke Cognitive Examination-Revised and Frontal Assessment Battery [FAB]). For data analysis, the Pearson product-moment correlation and the backward stepwise linear regression were conducted. Language, fluency, and visuospatial domains predicted the 10-m walk test measure specifically in PC, MCI, and AD groups. Only the visuospatial domain was independently associated with the TUGT measure in the MCI and AD groups. FAB score, language domain, and FAB score and fluency domain were the strongest predictors for the isolated cognitive-motor task measure in the PC, MCI, and AD groups, respectively. The visuospatial domain was independently associated with the dual-task test measure in all 3 groups. The study findings demonstrate the influence of specific cognitive domains in daily mobility tasks in people with different cognitive profiles.

Multidimensional Profiling of Task Stress States for Human Factors: A Brief Review.

PubMed

Matthews, Gerald

2016-09-01

This article advocates multidimensional assessment of task stress in human factors and reviews the use of the Dundee Stress State Questionnaire (DSSQ) for evaluation of systems and operators. Contemporary stress research has progressed from an exclusive focus on environmental stressors to transactional perspectives on the stress process. Performance impacts of stress reflect the operator's dynamic attempts to understand and cope with task demands. Multidimensional stress assessments are necessary to gauge the different forms of system-operator interaction. This review discusses the theoretical and practical use of the DSSQ in evaluating multidimensional patterns of stress response. It presents psychometric evidence for the multidimensional perspective and illustrative profiles of subjective state response to task stressors and environments. Evidence is also presented on stress state correlations with related variables, including personality, stress process measures, psychophysiological response, and objective task performance. Evidence supports the validity of the DSSQ as a task stress measure. Studies of various simulated environments show that different tasks elicit different profiles of stress state response. Operator characteristics such as resilience predict individual differences in state response to stressors. Structural equation modeling may be used to understand performance impacts of stress states. Multidimensional assessment affords insight into the stress process in a variety of human factors contexts. Integrating subjective and psychophysiological assessment is a priority for future research. Stress state measurement contributes to evaluating system design, countermeasures to stress and fatigue, and performance vulnerabilities. It may also support personnel selection and diagnostic monitoring of operators. © 2016, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Cognitive performance modeling based on general systems performance theory.

PubMed

Kondraske, George V

2010-01-01

General Systems Performance Theory (GSPT) was initially motivated by problems associated with quantifying different aspects of human performance. It has proved to be invaluable for measurement development and understanding quantitative relationships between human subsystem capacities and performance in complex tasks. It is now desired to bring focus to the application of GSPT to modeling of cognitive system performance. Previous studies involving two complex tasks (i.e., driving and performing laparoscopic surgery) and incorporating measures that are clearly related to cognitive performance (information processing speed and short-term memory capacity) were revisited. A GSPT-derived method of task analysis and performance prediction termed Nonlinear Causal Resource Analysis (NCRA) was employed to determine the demand on basic cognitive performance resources required to support different levels of complex task performance. This approach is presented as a means to determine a cognitive workload profile and the subsequent computation of a single number measure of cognitive workload (CW). Computation of CW may be a viable alternative to measuring it. Various possible "more basic" performance resources that contribute to cognitive system performance are discussed. It is concluded from this preliminary exploration that a GSPT-based approach can contribute to defining cognitive performance models that are useful for both individual subjects and specific groups (e.g., military pilots).

Test-retest reliability of behavioral measures of impulsive choice, impulsive action, and inattention.

PubMed

Weafer, Jessica; Baggott, Matthew J; de Wit, Harriet

2013-12-01

Behavioral measures of impulsivity are widely used in substance abuse research, yet relatively little attention has been devoted to establishing their psychometric properties, especially their reliability over repeated administration. The current study examined the test-retest reliability of a battery of standardized behavioral impulsivity tasks, including measures of impulsive choice (i.e., delay discounting, probability discounting, and the Balloon Analogue Risk Task), impulsive action (i.e., the stop signal task, the go/no-go task, and commission errors on the continuous performance task), and inattention (i.e., attention lapses on a simple reaction time task and omission errors on the continuous performance task). Healthy adults (n = 128) performed the battery on two separate occasions. Reliability estimates for the individual tasks ranged from moderate to high, with Pearson correlations within the specific impulsivity domains as follows: impulsive choice (r range: .76-.89, ps < .001); impulsive action (r range: .65-.73, ps < .001); and inattention (r range: .38-.42, ps < .001). Additionally, the influence of day-to-day fluctuations in mood, as measured by the Profile of Mood States, was assessed in relation to variability in performance on each of the behavioral tasks. Change in performance on the delay discounting task was significantly associated with change in positive mood and arousal. No other behavioral measures were significantly associated with mood. In sum, the current analysis demonstrates that behavioral measures of impulsivity are reliable measures and thus can be confidently used to assess various facets of impulsivity as intermediate phenotypes for drug abuse.

Test-retest reliability of behavioral measures of impulsive choice, impulsive action, and inattention

PubMed Central

Weafer, Jessica; Baggott, Matthew J.; de Wit, Harriet

2014-01-01

Behavioral measures of impulsivity are widely used in substance abuse research, yet relatively little attention has been devoted to establishing their psychometric properties, especially their reliability over repeated administration. The current study examined the test-retest reliability of a battery of standardized behavioral impulsivity tasks, including measures of impulsive choice (delay discounting, probability discounting, and the Balloon Analogue Risk Task), impulsive action (the stop signal task, the go/no-go task, and commission errors on the continuous performance task), and inattention (attention lapses on a simple reaction time task and omission errors on the continuous performance task). Healthy adults (n=128) performed the battery on two separate occasions. Reliability estimates for the individual tasks ranged from moderate to high, with Pearson correlations within the specific impulsivity domains as follows: impulsive choice (r = .76 - .89, ps < .001); impulsive action (r = .65 - .73, ps < .001); and inattention (r = .38-.42, ps < .001). Additionally, the influence of day-to-day fluctuations in mood as measured by the Profile of Mood States was assessed in relation to variability in performance on each of the behavioral tasks. Change in performance on the delay discounting task was significantly associated with change in positive mood and arousal. No other behavioral measures were significantly associated with mood. In sum, the current analysis demonstrates that behavioral measures of impulsivity are reliable measures and thus can be confidently used to assess various facets of impulsivity as intermediate phenotypes for drug abuse. PMID:24099351

Identifying patterns of motor performance, executive functioning, and verbal ability in preschool children: A latent profile analysis.

PubMed

Houwen, Suzanne; Kamphorst, Erica; van der Veer, Gerda; Cantell, Marja

2018-04-30

A relationship between motor performance and cognitive functioning is increasingly being recognized. Yet, little is known about the precise nature of the relationship between both domains, especially in early childhood. To identify distinct constellations of motor performance, executive functioning (EF), and verbal ability in preschool aged children; and to explore how individual and contextual variables are related to profile membership. The sample consisted of 119 3- to 4-year old children (62 boys; 52%). The home based assessments consisted of a standardized motor test (Movement Assessment Battery for Children - 2), five performance-based EF tasks measuring inhibition and working memory, and the Receptive Vocabulary subtest from the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence Third Edition. Parents filled out the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function - Preschool version. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to delineate profiles of motor performance, EF, and verbal ability. Chi-square statistics and multinomial logistic regression analysis were used to examine whether profile membership was predicted by age, gender, risk of motor coordination difficulties, ADHD symptomatology, language problems, and socioeconomic status (SES). LPA yielded three profiles with qualitatively distinct response patterns of motor performance, EF, and verbal ability. Quantitatively, the profiles showed most pronounced differences with regard to parent ratings and performance-based tests of EF, as well as verbal ability. Risk of motor coordination difficulties and ADHD symptomatology were associated with profile membership, whereas age, gender, language problems, and SES were not. Our results indicate that there are distinct subpopulations of children who show differential relations with regard to motor performance, EF, and verbal ability. The fact that we found both quantitative as well as qualitative differences between the three patterns of profiles underscores the need for a person-centered approach with a focus on patterns of individual characteristics. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimal control of motorsport differentials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tremlett, A. J.; Massaro, M.; Purdy, D. J.; Velenis, E.; Assadian, F.; Moore, A. P.; Halley, M.

2015-12-01

Modern motorsport limited slip differentials (LSD) have evolved to become highly adjustable, allowing the torque bias that they generate to be tuned in the corner entry, apex and corner exit phases of typical on-track manoeuvres. The task of finding the optimal torque bias profile under such varied vehicle conditions is complex. This paper presents a nonlinear optimal control method which is used to find the minimum time optimal torque bias profile through a lane change manoeuvre. The results are compared to traditional open and fully locked differential strategies, in addition to considering related vehicle stability and agility metrics. An investigation into how the optimal torque bias profile changes with reduced track-tyre friction is also included in the analysis. The optimal LSD profile was shown to give a performance gain over its locked differential counterpart in key areas of the manoeuvre where a quick direction change is required. The methodology proposed can be used to find both optimal passive LSD characteristics and as the basis of a semi-active LSD control algorithm.

Unsupervised User Similarity Mining in GSM Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Shad, Shafqat Ali; Chen, Enhong

2013-01-01

Mobility data has attracted the researchers for the past few years because of its rich context and spatiotemporal nature, where this information can be used for potential applications like early warning system, route prediction, traffic management, advertisement, social networking, and community finding. All the mentioned applications are based on mobility profile building and user trend analysis, where mobility profile building is done through significant places extraction, user's actual movement prediction, and context awareness. However, significant places extraction and user's actual movement prediction for mobility profile building are a trivial task. In this paper, we present the user similarity mining-based methodology through user mobility profile building by using the semantic tagging information provided by user and basic GSM network architecture properties based on unsupervised clustering approach. As the mobility information is in low-level raw form, our proposed methodology successfully converts it to a high-level meaningful information by using the cell-Id location information rather than previously used location capturing methods like GPS, Infrared, and Wifi for profile mining and user similarity mining. PMID:23576905

Combined Socio-Behavioral Evaluation Improves the Differential Diagnosis Between the Behavioral Variant of Frontotemporal Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease: In Search of Neuropsychological Markers.

PubMed

Dodich, Alessandra; Cerami, Chiara; Cappa, Stefano F; Marcone, Alessandra; Golzi, Valeria; Zamboni, Michele; Giusti, Maria Cristina; Iannaccone, Sandro

2018-01-01

Current diagnostic criteria for behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and typical Alzheimer's disease (AD) include a differential pattern of neuropsychological impairments (episodic memory deficit in typical AD and dysexecutive syndrome in bvFTD). There is, however, large evidence of a frequent overlap in neuropsychological features, making the differential diagnosis extremely difficult. In this retrospective study, we evaluated the diagnostic value of different cognitive and neurobehavioral markers in bvFTD and AD patient groups. We included 95 dementia patients with a clinical and biomarker evidence of bvFTD (n = 48) or typical AD (n = 47) pathology. A clinical 2-year follow-up confirmed clinical classification. Performances at basic cognitive tasks (memory, executive functions, visuo-spatial, language) as well as social cognition skills and neurobehavioral profiles have been recorded. A stepwise logistic regression model compared the neuropsychological profiles between groups and assessed the accuracy of cognitive and neurobehavioral markers in discriminating bvFTD from AD. Statistical comparison between patient groups proved social cognition and episodic memory impairments as main cognitive signatures of bvFTD and AD neuropsychological profiles, respectively. Only half of bvFTD patients showed attentive/executive deficits, questioning their role as cognitive marker of bvFTD. Notably, the large majority of bvFTD sample (i.e., 70%) poorly performed at delayed recall tasks. Logistic regression analysis identified social cognition performances, Frontal Behavioral Inventory and Mini-Mental State Examination scores as the best combination in distinguishing bvFTD from AD. Social cognition tasks and socio-behavioral questionnaires are recommended in clinical settings to improve the accuracy of early diagnosis of bvFTD.

Goal orientation profile differences on perceived motivational climate, perceived peer relationships, and motivation-related responses of youth athletes.

PubMed

Smith, Alan L; Balaguer, Isabel; Duda, Joan L

2006-12-01

The aims of this study were twofold: (a) to determine if dispositional achievement goal orientation profiles that are reported in the literature would be observed in a sample of youth athletes, and (b) to examine potential achievement goal orientation profile differences on perceptions of the motivational climate, perceptions of peer relationships, and motivation-related responses. Male soccer players (n=223) aged 9-12 years (mean=10.9, s=0.6) completed a multi-section questionnaire containing assessments of dispositional goal (task, ego) orientations, the perceived task- and ego-involving features of the motivational climate, perceived peer acceptance and friendship quality (positive friendship quality, conflict), perceived ability, soccer enjoyment, and satisfaction with one's performance and the team. Four profiles were observed that closely matched those observed by Hodge and Petlichkoff (2000), though in the present study a lower proportion of participants exhibited achievement goal profiles consisting of relatively high ego orientation. Achievement goal profile differences were found for all variables except positive friendship quality, with a general trend for those reporting relatively lower task goal orientation to exhibit less adaptive responses. Overall, the findings support achievement goal frameworks (e.g. Nicholls, 1989) and suggest that further examination of dispositional achievement goals may afford a deeper understanding of social relationships and motivational processes in youth sport.

The neuropsychology of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder: a new analysis.

PubMed

Fineberg, Naomi A; Day, Grace A; de Koenigswarter, Nica; Reghunandanan, Samar; Kolli, Sangeetha; Jefferies-Sewell, Kiri; Hranov, Georgi; Laws, Keith R

2015-10-01

Obsessive compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) is characterized by perfectionism, need for control, and cognitive rigidity. Currently, little neuropsychological data exist on this condition, though emerging evidence does suggest that disorders marked by compulsivity, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), are associated with impairment in cognitive flexibility and executive planning on neurocognitive tasks. The current study investigated the neurocognitive profile in a nonclinical community-based sample of people fulfilling diagnostic criteria for OCPD in the absence of major psychiatric comorbidity. Twenty-one nonclinical subjects who fulfilled Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) criteria for OCPD were compared with 15 healthy controls on selected clinical and neurocognitive tasks. OCPD was measured using the Compulsive Personality Assessment Scale (CPAS). Participants completed tests from the Cambridge Automated Neuropsychological Test Battery including tests of set shifting (Intra-Extra Dimensional [IED] Set Shifting) executive planning (Stockings of Cambridge [SOC]), and decision making (Cambridge Gamble Task [CGT]). The OCPD group made significantly more IED-ED shift errors and total shift errors, and also showed longer mean initial thinking time on the SOC at moderate levels of difficulty. No differences emerged on the CGT. Nonclinical cases of OCPD showed significant cognitive inflexibility coupled with executive planning deficits, whereas decision-making remained intact. This profile of impairment overlaps with that of OCD and implies that common neuropsychological changes affect individuals with these disorders.

Randomized controlled trial of the cognitive side-effects of magnetic seizure therapy (MST) and electroconvulsive shock (ECS).

PubMed

Moscrip, Tammy D; Terrace, Herbert S; Sackeim, Harold A; Lisanby, Sarah H

2006-02-01

Magnetic seizure therapy (MST) is under development as a means of improving the cognitive side-effect profile of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) by inducing more spatially delimited seizures that spare cortical regions involved in memory. We tested whether MST had a cognitive side-effect profile distinct from electroconvulsive shock (ECS) in a non-human primate model, using the Columbia University Primate Cognitive Profile, which has been shown to be sensitive to the cognitive effects of ECS. Using a within-subject cross-over design, daily ECS, MST, and sham (anaesthesia-only) interventions were administered in 5-wk blocks. Rhesus macaques (n = 2) were trained on a long-term memory task, an anterograde learning and memory task, and a combined anterograde and retrograde task where learning and memory were evaluated for new and previously learned 3-item lists. Acutely following each intervention, monkeys were tested on the cognitive battery twice daily, separated by a 3-h retention interval. Overall, monkeys were least accurate following ECS (p's < 0.05) compared to sham and MST. This effect was most marked for long-term memory of a constant target, short-term memory of a variable target and recall of previously learned 3-item lists. Monkeys were slowest to complete all tasks following ECS (p's = 0.0001). Time to task completion following MST did not differ from sham. These findings suggest that MST results in a more benign acute cognitive side-effect profile than ECS in this model, consistent with initial observations with human MST.

Neurophysiological capacity in a working memory task differentiates dependent from nondependent heavy drinkers and controls.

PubMed

Wesley, Michael J; Lile, Joshua A; Fillmore, Mark T; Porrino, Linda J

2017-06-01

Determining the neurobehavioral profiles that differentiate heavy drinkers who are and are not alcohol dependent will inform treatment efforts. Working memory is linked to substance use disorders and can serve as a representation of the demand placed on the neurophysiology associated with cognitive control. Behavior and brain activity (via fMRI) were recorded during an N-Back working memory task in controls (CTRL), nondependent heavy drinkers (A-ND) and dependent heavy drinkers (A-D). Typical and novel step-wise analyses examined profiles of working memory load and increasing task demand, respectively. Performance was significantly decreased in A-D during high working memory load (2-Back), compared to CTRL and A-ND. Analysis of brain activity during high load (0-Back vs. 2- Back) showed greater responses in the dorsal lateral and medial prefrontal cortices of A-D than CTRL, suggesting increased but failed compensation. The step-wise analysis revealed that the transition to Low Demand (0-Back to 1-Back) was associated with robust increases and decreases in cognitive control and default-mode brain regions, respectively, in A-D and A-ND but not CTRL. The transition to High Demand (1-Back to 2-Back) resulted in additional engagement of these networks in A-ND and CTRL, but not A-D. Heavy drinkers engaged working memory neural networks at lower demand than controls. As demand increased, nondependent heavy drinkers maintained control performance but relied on additional neurophysiological resources, and dependent heavy drinkers did not display further resource engagement and had poorer performance. These results support targeting these brain areas for treatment interventions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Modeling Real-Time Applications with Reusable Design Patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rekhis, Saoussen; Bouassida, Nadia; Bouaziz, Rafik

Real-Time (RT) applications, which manipulate important volumes of data, need to be managed with RT databases that deal with time-constrained data and time-constrained transactions. In spite of their numerous advantages, RT databases development remains a complex task, since developers must study many design issues related to the RT domain. In this paper, we tackle this problem by proposing RT design patterns that allow the modeling of structural and behavioral aspects of RT databases. We show how RT design patterns can provide design assistance through architecture reuse of reoccurring design problems. In addition, we present an UML profile that represents patterns and facilitates further their reuse. This profile proposes, on one hand, UML extensions allowing to model the variability of patterns in the RT context and, on another hand, extensions inspired from the MARTE (Modeling and Analysis of Real-Time Embedded systems) profile.

Computer programs for optical dendrometer measurements of standing tree profiles

Treesearch

Jacob R. Beard; Thomas G. Matney; Emily B. Schultz

2015-01-01

Tree profile equations are effective volume predictors. Diameter data for building these equations are collected from felled trees using diameter tapes and calipers or from standing trees using optical dendrometers. Developing and implementing a profile function from the collected data is a tedious and error prone task. This study created a computer program, Profile...

Cortical subnetwork dynamics during human language tasks.

PubMed

Collard, Maxwell J; Fifer, Matthew S; Benz, Heather L; McMullen, David P; Wang, Yujing; Milsap, Griffin W; Korzeniewska, Anna; Crone, Nathan E

2016-07-15

Language tasks require the coordinated activation of multiple subnetworks-groups of related cortical interactions involved in specific components of task processing. Although electrocorticography (ECoG) has sufficient temporal and spatial resolution to capture the dynamics of event-related interactions between cortical sites, it is difficult to decompose these complex spatiotemporal patterns into functionally discrete subnetworks without explicit knowledge of each subnetwork's timing. We hypothesized that subnetworks corresponding to distinct components of task-related processing could be identified as groups of interactions with co-varying strengths. In this study, five subjects implanted with ECoG grids over language areas performed word repetition and picture naming. We estimated the interaction strength between each pair of electrodes during each task using a time-varying dynamic Bayesian network (tvDBN) model constructed from the power of high gamma (70-110Hz) activity, a surrogate for population firing rates. We then reduced the dimensionality of this model using principal component analysis (PCA) to identify groups of interactions with co-varying strengths, which we term functional network components (FNCs). This data-driven technique estimates both the weight of each interaction's contribution to a particular subnetwork, and the temporal profile of each subnetwork's activation during the task. We found FNCs with temporal and anatomical features consistent with articulatory preparation in both tasks, and with auditory and visual processing in the word repetition and picture naming tasks, respectively. These FNCs were highly consistent between subjects with similar electrode placement, and were robust enough to be characterized in single trials. Furthermore, the interaction patterns uncovered by FNC analysis correlated well with recent literature suggesting important functional-anatomical distinctions between processing external and self-produced speech. Our results demonstrate that subnetwork decomposition of event-related cortical interactions is a powerful paradigm for interpreting the rich dynamics of large-scale, distributed cortical networks during human cognitive tasks. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Modulatory Effects of Modafinil on Neural Circuits Regulating Emotion and Cognition

PubMed Central

Rasetti, Roberta; Mattay, Venkata S; Stankevich, Beth; Skjei, Kelsey; Blasi, Giuseppe; Sambataro, Fabio; Arrillaga-Romany, Isabel C; Goldberg, Terry E; Callicott, Joseph H; Apud, José A; Weinberger, Daniel R

2010-01-01

Modafinil differs from other arousal-enhancing agents in chemical structure, neurochemical profile, and behavioral effects. Most functional neuroimaging studies to date examined the effect of modafinil only on information processing underlying executive cognition, but cognitive enhancers in general have been shown to have pronounced effects on emotional behavior, too. We examined the effect of modafinil on neural circuits underlying affective processing and cognitive functions. Healthy volunteers were enrolled in this double-blinded placebo-controlled trial (100 mg/day for 7 days). They underwent BOLD fMRI while performing an emotion information-processing task that activates the amygdala and two prefrontally dependent cognitive tasks—a working memory (WM) task and a variable attentional control (VAC) task. A clinical assessment that included measurement of blood pressure, heart rate, the Hamilton anxiety scale, and the profile of mood state (POMS) questionnaire was also performed on each test day. BOLD fMRI revealed significantly decreased amygdala reactivity to fearful stimuli on modafinil compared with the placebo condition. During executive cognition tasks, a WM task and a VAC task, modafinil reduced BOLD signal in the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate. Although not statistically significant, there were trends for reduced anxiety, for decreased fatigue-inertia and increased vigor-activity, as well as decreased anger-hostility on modafinil. Modafinil in low doses has a unique physiologic profile compared with stimulant drugs: it enhances the efficiency of prefrontal cortical cognitive information processing, while dampening reactivity to threatening stimuli in the amygdala, a brain region implicated in anxiety. PMID:20555311

The influence of anthropometrics on physical employment standard performance.

PubMed

Reilly, T; Spivock, M; Prayal-Brown, A; Stockbrugger, B; Blacklock, R

2016-10-01

The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) recently implemented the Fitness for Operational Requirements of CAF Employment (FORCE), a new physical employment standard (PES). Data collection throughout development included anthropometric profiles of the CAF. To determine if anthropometric measurements and demographic information would predict the performance outcomes of the FORCE and/or Common Military Task Fitness Evaluation (CMTFE). We conducted a secondary analysis of data from FORCE research. We obtained bioelectrical impedance and segmental analysis. Statistical analysis included correlation and linear regression analyses. Among the 668 study subjects, as predicted, any task requiring lifting, pulling or moving of an object was significantly and positively correlated (r > 0.67) to lean body mass (LBM) measurements. LBM correlated with stretcher carry (r = 0.78) and with lifting actions such as sand bag drag (r = 0.77), vehicle extrication (r = 0.71), sand bag fortification (r = 0.68) and sand bag lift time (r = -0.67). The difference between the correlation of dead mass (DM) with task performance compared with LBM was not statistically significant. DM and LBM can be used in a PES to predict success on military tasks such as casualty evacuation and manual material handling. However, there is no minimum LBM required to perform these tasks successfully. These data direct future research on how we should diversify research participants by anthropometrics, in addition to the traditional demographic variables of gender and age, to highlight potential important adverse impact with PES design. In addition, the results can be used to develop better training regimens to facilitate passing a PES. © All rights reserved. ‘The Influence of Anthropometrics on Physical Employment Standard Performance’ has been reproduced with the permission of DND, 2016.

Independent Assessment of the Afghan National Security Forces

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-02-01

of operational objectives for the ANSF that support the U.S. policy goal in Afghanistan through 2018 ; con- ducted a troop-to-task analysis of ANSF...stability in the 2015– 2018 timeframe than it is now. The insurgency has been considerably weakened since the surge of U.S. and NATO forces in 2009, but...conduct high-profile attacks in Kabul and other urban areas, and gain leverage for reconciliation negotiations. In 2016– 2018 , once the insurgency has

MiniSODAR(TradeMark) Evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Short, David A.; Wheeler, Mark M.

2003-01-01

This report describes results of the AMU's Instrumentation and Measurement task for evaluation of the Doppler miniSODAR(TradeMark) System (DmSS). The DmSS is an acoustic wind profiler providing high resolution data to a height of approx. 410 ft. The Boeing Company installed a DmSS near Space Launch Complex 37 in mid-2002 as a substitute for a tall wind tower and plans to use DmSS data for the analysis and forecasting of winds during ground and launch operations. Peak wind speed data are of particular importance to Launch Weather Officers of the 45th Weather Squadron for evaluating user Launch Commit Criteria. The AMU performed a comparative analysis of wind data between the DmSS and nearby wind towers from August 2002 to July 2003. The DmSS vertical profile of average wind speed showed good agreement with the wind towers. However, the DMSS peak wind speeds were higher, on average, than the wind tower peak wind speeds by about 25%. A statistical model of an idealized Doppler profiler was developed and it predicted that average wind speeds would be well determined but peak wind speeds would be over-estimated due to an under-specification of vertical velocity variations in the atmosphere over the Profiler.

Measuring Multi-Joint Stiffness during Single Movements: Numerical Validation of a Novel Time-Frequency Approach

PubMed Central

Piovesan, Davide; Pierobon, Alberto; DiZio, Paul; Lackner, James R.

2012-01-01

This study presents and validates a Time-Frequency technique for measuring 2-dimensional multijoint arm stiffness throughout a single planar movement as well as during static posture. It is proposed as an alternative to current regressive methods which require numerous repetitions to obtain average stiffness on a small segment of the hand trajectory. The method is based on the analysis of the reassigned spectrogram of the arm's response to impulsive perturbations and can estimate arm stiffness on a trial-by-trial basis. Analytic and empirical methods are first derived and tested through modal analysis on synthetic data. The technique's accuracy and robustness are assessed by modeling the estimation of stiffness time profiles changing at different rates and affected by different noise levels. Our method obtains results comparable with two well-known regressive techniques. We also test how the technique can identify the viscoelastic component of non-linear and higher than second order systems with a non-parametrical approach. The technique proposed here is very impervious to noise and can be used easily for both postural and movement tasks. Estimations of stiffness profiles are possible with only one perturbation, making our method a useful tool for estimating limb stiffness during motor learning and adaptation tasks, and for understanding the modulation of stiffness in individuals with neurodegenerative diseases. PMID:22448233

In Health-Related Tasks, Where Does the School Nurse Function?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berg, Beryl; And Others

1973-01-01

The study provided a composite picture of health-related tasks performed in one school district. Nurses were able to evaluate their current practices and recommend specific improvements in nursing actions. Other school districts seeking a profile of their involvement in health-related tasks may request copies of the questionnaire or the entire…

Speech fluency profile on different tasks for individuals with Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Juste, Fabiola Staróbole; Andrade, Claudia Regina Furquim de

2017-07-20

To characterize the speech fluency profile of patients with Parkinson's disease. Study participants were 40 individuals of both genders aged 40 to 80 years divided into 2 groups: Research Group - RG (20 individuals with diagnosis of Parkinson's disease) and Control Group - CG (20 individuals with no communication or neurological disorders). For all of the participants, three speech samples involving different tasks were collected: monologue, individual reading, and automatic speech. The RG presented a significant larger number of speech disruptions, both stuttering-like and typical dysfluencies, and higher percentage of speech discontinuity in the monologue and individual reading tasks compared with the CG. Both groups presented reduced number of speech disruptions (stuttering-like and typical dysfluencies) in the automatic speech task; the groups presented similar performance in this task. Regarding speech rate, individuals in the RG presented lower number of words and syllables per minute compared with those in the CG in all speech tasks. Participants of the RG presented altered parameters of speech fluency compared with those of the CG; however, this change in fluency cannot be considered a stuttering disorder.

Observer efficiency in free-localization tasks with correlated noise.

PubMed

Abbey, Craig K; Eckstein, Miguel P

2014-01-01

The efficiency of visual tasks involving localization has traditionally been evaluated using forced choice experiments that capitalize on independence across locations to simplify the performance of the ideal observer. However, developments in ideal observer analysis have shown how an ideal observer can be defined for free-localization tasks, where a target can appear anywhere in a defined search region and subjects respond by localizing the target. Since these tasks are representative of many real-world search tasks, it is of interest to evaluate the efficiency of observer performance in them. The central question of this work is whether humans are able to effectively use the information in a free-localization task relative to a similar task where target location is fixed. We use a yes-no detection task at a cued location as the reference for this comparison. Each of the tasks is evaluated using a Gaussian target profile embedded in four different Gaussian noise backgrounds having power-law noise power spectra with exponents ranging from 0 to 3. The free localization task had a square 6.7° search region. We report on two follow-up studies investigating efficiency in a detect-and-localize task, and the effect of processing the white-noise backgrounds. In the fixed-location detection task, we find average observer efficiency ranges from 35 to 59% for the different noise backgrounds. Observer efficiency improves dramatically in the tasks involving localization, ranging from 63 to 82% in the forced localization tasks and from 78 to 92% in the detect-and- localize tasks. Performance in white noise, the lowest efficiency condition, was improved by filtering to give them a power-law exponent of 2. Classification images, used to examine spatial frequency weights for the tasks, show better tuning to ideal weights in the free-localization tasks. The high absolute levels of efficiency suggest that observers are well-adapted to free-localization tasks.

Observer efficiency in free-localization tasks with correlated noise

PubMed Central

Abbey, Craig K.; Eckstein, Miguel P.

2014-01-01

The efficiency of visual tasks involving localization has traditionally been evaluated using forced choice experiments that capitalize on independence across locations to simplify the performance of the ideal observer. However, developments in ideal observer analysis have shown how an ideal observer can be defined for free-localization tasks, where a target can appear anywhere in a defined search region and subjects respond by localizing the target. Since these tasks are representative of many real-world search tasks, it is of interest to evaluate the efficiency of observer performance in them. The central question of this work is whether humans are able to effectively use the information in a free-localization task relative to a similar task where target location is fixed. We use a yes-no detection task at a cued location as the reference for this comparison. Each of the tasks is evaluated using a Gaussian target profile embedded in four different Gaussian noise backgrounds having power-law noise power spectra with exponents ranging from 0 to 3. The free localization task had a square 6.7° search region. We report on two follow-up studies investigating efficiency in a detect-and-localize task, and the effect of processing the white-noise backgrounds. In the fixed-location detection task, we find average observer efficiency ranges from 35 to 59% for the different noise backgrounds. Observer efficiency improves dramatically in the tasks involving localization, ranging from 63 to 82% in the forced localization tasks and from 78 to 92% in the detect-and- localize tasks. Performance in white noise, the lowest efficiency condition, was improved by filtering to give them a power-law exponent of 2. Classification images, used to examine spatial frequency weights for the tasks, show better tuning to ideal weights in the free-localization tasks. The high absolute levels of efficiency suggest that observers are well-adapted to free-localization tasks. PMID:24817854

Optimizing estimation of hemispheric dominance for language using magnetic source imaging

PubMed Central

Passaro, Antony D.; Rezaie, Roozbeh; Moser, Dana C.; Li, Zhimin; Dias, Nadeeka; Papanicolaou, Andrew C.

2011-01-01

The efficacy of magnetoencephalography (MEG) as an alternative to invasive methods for investigating the cortical representation of language has been explored in several studies. Recently, studies comparing MEG to the gold standard Wada procedure have found inconsistent and often less-than accurate estimates of laterality across various MEG studies. Here we attempted to address this issue among normal right-handed adults (N=12) by supplementing a well-established MEG protocol involving word recognition and the single dipole method with a sentence comprehension task and a beamformer approach localizing neural oscillations. Beamformer analysis of word recognition and sentence comprehension tasks revealed a desynchronization in the 10–18 Hz range, localized to the temporo-parietal cortices. Inspection of individual profiles of localized desynchronization (10–18 Hz) revealed left hemispheric dominance in 91.7% and 83.3% of individuals during the word recognition and sentence comprehension tasks, respectively. In contrast, single dipole analysis yielded lower estimates, such that activity in temporal language regions was left-lateralized in 66.7% and 58.3% of individuals during word recognition and sentence comprehension, respectively. The results obtained from the word recognition task and localization of oscillatory activity using a beamformer appear to be in line with general estimates of left hemispheric dominance for language in normal right-handed individuals. Furthermore, the current findings support the growing notion that changes in neural oscillations underlie critical components of linguistic processing. PMID:21890118

Development of a valid simulation assessment for a military dismounted assault task.

PubMed

Silk, Aaron J; Billing, Daniel C

2013-03-01

The Australian Defence Force is currently developing physical standards commensurate with job demands. Vital to this development process has been the accurate profiling of common military tasks. One such task required of all dismounted combat soldiers, an offensive assault on an enemy force, was the subject of in-depth profiling. In addition to overall assault performance, potential differences among patrol roles (scout, gunner, and flank) were investigated. Three different mock assaults of 100 to 150 m were performed by three patrols comprising qualified experienced infantry soldiers. Each soldier was fitted with a heart rate monitor and wore a global positioning device. Average assault duration was 6.5 minutes and required nineteen 7-m bounds performed on a 22-seconds duty cycle at 75% heart rate reserve and a work to rest ratio 1:4. Assaults conducted in more densely vegetated terrain resulted in significantly reduced (p < 0.05) bound distance, bound duration, and movement velocity. Results indicated significant performance differences (p < 0.05) among patrol roles for external load carried, heart rate response, bound duration, and distance covered while movement velocity was not different (p > 0.05). As a result of profiling the assault task, a valid simulation capable of assessing soldiers' physical capacity to perform this task was developed. Reprint & Copyright © 2013 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

Recommended Isolated-Line Profile for Representing High-Resolution Spectroscoscopic Transitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tennyson, J.; Bernath, P. F.; Campargue, A.; Császár, A. G.; Daumont, L.; Gamache, R. R.; Hodges, J. T.; Lisak, D.; Naumenko, O. V.; Rothman, L. S.; Tran, H.; Hartmann, J.-M.; Zobov, N. F.; Buldyreva, J.; Boone, C. D.; De Vizia, M. Domenica; Gianfrani, L.; McPheat, R.; Weidmann, D.; Murray, J.; Ngo, N. H.; Polyansky, O. L.

2014-06-01

Recommendations of an IUPAC Task Group, formed in 2011 on "Intensities and line shapes in high-resolution spectra of water isotopologues from experiment and theory" (Project No. 2011-022-2-100), on line profiles of isolated high-resolution rotational-vibrational transitions perturbed by neutral gas-phase molecules are presented. The well-documented inadequacies of the Voigt profile, used almost universally by databases and radiative-transfer codes to represent pressure effects and Doppler broadening in isolated vibrational-rotational and pure rotational transitions of the water molecule, have resulted in the development of a variety of alternative line profile models. These models capture more of the physics of the influence of pressure on line shapes but, in general, at the price of greater complexity. The Task Group recommends that the partially-Correlated quadratic-Speed-Dependent Hard-Collision profile should be adopted as the appropriate model for high-resolution spectroscopy. For simplicity this should be called the Hartmann-Tran profile (HTP). This profile is sophisticated enough to capture the various collisional contributions to the isolated line shape, can be computed in a straightforward and rapid manner, and reduces to simpler profiles, including the Voigt profile, under certain simplifying assumptions. For further details see: J. Tennyson et al, Pure Appl. Chem., 2014, in press.

Effects of reward and punishment on task performance, mood and autonomic nervous function, and the interaction with personality.

PubMed

Sakuragi, Sokichi; Sugiyama, Yoshiki

2009-06-01

The effects of reward and punishment are different, and there are individual differences in sensitivity to reward and punishment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of reward and punishment on task performance, mood, and autonomic nervous function, along with the interaction with personality. Twenty-one healthy female subjects volunteered for the experiment. The task performance was evaluated by required time and total errors while performing a Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. We assessed their personalities using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) questionnaire, and mood states by a profile of mood states. Autonomic nervous function was estimated by a spectral analysis of heart rate variability, baroreflex sensitivity, and blood pressure. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant interaction of condition x time course on mood and autonomic nervous activity, which would indicate a less stressed state under the rewarding condition, but revealed no significant interaction of condition x time course on the task performance. The interactions with personality were further analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA applying the clinical scales of MMPI as independent variables, and significant interactions of condition x time course x Pt (psychasthenia) on task performance, mood, and blood pressure, were revealed. That is, the high Pt group, whose members tend to be sensitive and prone to worry, showed gradual improvement of task performance under the punishing situation with slight increase in systolic blood pressure, while showed no improvement under the rewarding situation with fatigue sense attenuation. In contrast, the low Pt group, whose members tend to be adaptive and self-confident, showed gradual improvement under the rewarding situation. Therefore, we should carefully choose the strategy of reward or punishment, considering the interaction with personality as well as the context in which it is given.

Classification image analysis: estimation and statistical inference for two-alternative forced-choice experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abbey, Craig K.; Eckstein, Miguel P.

2002-01-01

We consider estimation and statistical hypothesis testing on classification images obtained from the two-alternative forced-choice experimental paradigm. We begin with a probabilistic model of task performance for simple forced-choice detection and discrimination tasks. Particular attention is paid to general linear filter models because these models lead to a direct interpretation of the classification image as an estimate of the filter weights. We then describe an estimation procedure for obtaining classification images from observer data. A number of statistical tests are presented for testing various hypotheses from classification images based on some more compact set of features derived from them. As an example of how the methods we describe can be used, we present a case study investigating detection of a Gaussian bump profile.

An analysis of reading and spelling abilities of children using AAC: Understanding a continuum of competence.

PubMed

Dahlgren Sandberg, Annika; Smith, Martine; Larsson, Maria

2010-09-01

The over-representation of reading and spelling difficulties in children with complex communication needs has been well documented. However, most of the studies reported have indicated that at least some children using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) can achieve and demonstrate effective literacy skills, highlighting the heterogeneity of this group. This paper presents findings from a cross-linguistic study of 14 Swedish and 14 Irish children with cerebral palsy who use AAC, outlining their performance on a range of phonological awareness, reading, and spelling tasks developed for the purposes of the study. All participants were referred to the study as functioning in the average range of intellectual ability. Of the 28 participants, eight were classified as good readers, on the basis of their success on tasks involving connected text; while 10 presented with single-word reading skills; and 10 were categorized as non-readers. This paper explores the similarities and differences within and across these groups, in terms of associated skills and experiences. While analyses of group data suggests some common abilities and difficulties, exploration of individual profiles highlights the heterogeneity of the participants' profiles, suggesting a need for detailed individual assessment and interventions.

Airline Passenger Profiling Based on Fuzzy Deep Machine Learning.

PubMed

Zheng, Yu-Jun; Sheng, Wei-Guo; Sun, Xing-Ming; Chen, Sheng-Yong

2017-12-01

Passenger profiling plays a vital part of commercial aviation security, but classical methods become very inefficient in handling the rapidly increasing amounts of electronic records. This paper proposes a deep learning approach to passenger profiling. The center of our approach is a Pythagorean fuzzy deep Boltzmann machine (PFDBM), whose parameters are expressed by Pythagorean fuzzy numbers such that each neuron can learn how a feature affects the production of the correct output from both the positive and negative sides. We propose a hybrid algorithm combining a gradient-based method and an evolutionary algorithm for training the PFDBM. Based on the novel learning model, we develop a deep neural network (DNN) for classifying normal passengers and potential attackers, and further develop an integrated DNN for identifying group attackers whose individual features are insufficient to reveal the abnormality. Experiments on data sets from Air China show that our approach provides much higher learning ability and classification accuracy than existing profilers. It is expected that the fuzzy deep learning approach can be adapted for a variety of complex pattern analysis tasks.

Long duration of stressful homework as a potential obesogenic factor in children: a QUALITY study.

PubMed

Michaud, Isabelle; Chaput, Jean-Philippe; O'Loughlin, Jennifer; Tremblay, Angelo; Mathieu, Marie-Eve

2015-04-01

To examine for the first time whether stressful mental tasks are associated with an unfavorable anthropometric profile in children. A cross-sectional analysis was undertaken in 511 children. A complete anthropometric profile was assessed, and children reported their homework duration and the presence/absence of stress related to schoolwork. Accelerometers and questionnaires provided the other profile of lifestyle components. Homework duration was not related to adiposity indicators in children not stressed by schoolwork. In boys stressed by schoolwork, significantly higher total and trunk body fat percentages were obtained in the high versus low duration of homework group. No difference in adiposity indicators was present in boys not stressed by schoolwork and in girls. A reduced activity level and an increased screen time partly mediated the relationship between homework and anthropometric profiles. Boys with a high workload of homework, when combined with the presence of schoolwork-related stress, have unfavorable adiposity indicators. This study suggests that more attention should be paid to stressful mental work as a potent risk factor for obesity. © 2015 The Obesity Society.

Characterizing individual differences in reward sensitivity from the brain networks involved in response inhibition.

PubMed

Fuentes-Claramonte, Paola; Ávila, César; Rodríguez-Pujadas, Aina; Costumero, Víctor; Ventura-Campos, Noelia; Bustamante, Juan Carlos; Rosell-Negre, Patricia; Barrós-Loscertales, Alfonso

2016-01-01

A "disinhibited" cognitive profile has been proposed for individuals with high reward sensitivity, characterized by increased engagement in goal-directed responses and reduced processing of negative or unexpected cues, which impairs adequate behavioral regulation after feedback in these individuals. This pattern is manifested through deficits in inhibitory control and/or increases in RT variability. In the present work, we aimed to test whether this profile is associated with the activity of functional networks during a stop-signal task using independent component analysis (ICA). Sixty-one participants underwent fMRI while performing a stop-signal task, during which a manual response had to be inhibited. ICA was used to mainly replicate the functional networks involved in the task (Zhang and Li, 2012): two motor networks involved in the go response, the left and right fronto-parietal networks for stopping, a midline error-processing network, and the default-mode network (DMN), which was further subdivided into its anterior and posterior parts. Reward sensitivity was mainly associated with greater activity of motor networks, reduced activity in the midline network during correct stop trials and, behaviorally, increased RT variability. All these variables explained 36% of variance of the SR scores. This pattern of associations suggests that reward sensitivity involves greater motor engagement in the dominant response, more distractibility and reduced processing of salient or unexpected events, which may lead to disinhibited behavior. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Compound Structure-Independent Activity Prediction in High-Dimensional Target Space.

PubMed

Balfer, Jenny; Hu, Ye; Bajorath, Jürgen

2014-08-01

Profiling of compound libraries against arrays of targets has become an important approach in pharmaceutical research. The prediction of multi-target compound activities also represents an attractive task for machine learning with potential for drug discovery applications. Herein, we have explored activity prediction in high-dimensional target space. Different types of models were derived to predict multi-target activities. The models included naïve Bayesian (NB) and support vector machine (SVM) classifiers based upon compound structure information and NB models derived on the basis of activity profiles, without considering compound structure. Because the latter approach can be applied to incomplete training data and principally depends on the feature independence assumption, SVM modeling was not applicable in this case. Furthermore, iterative hybrid NB models making use of both activity profiles and compound structure information were built. In high-dimensional target space, NB models utilizing activity profile data were found to yield more accurate activity predictions than structure-based NB and SVM models or hybrid models. An in-depth analysis of activity profile-based models revealed the presence of correlation effects across different targets and rationalized prediction accuracy. Taken together, the results indicate that activity profile information can be effectively used to predict the activity of test compounds against novel targets. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Validity and reliability of Persian version of Listening Styles Profile-Revised (LSP- R) in Iranian students.

PubMed

Fatehi, Zahra; Baradaran, Hamid Reza; Asadpour, Mohamad; Rezaeian, Mohsen

2017-01-01

Background: Individuals' listening styles differs based on their characters, professions and situations. This study aimed to assess the validity and reliability of Listening Styles Profile- Revised (LSP- R) in Iranian students. Methods: After translating into Persian, LSP-R was employed in a sample of 240 medical and nursing Persian speaking students in Iran. Statistical analysis was performed to test the reliability and validity of the LSP-R. Results: The study revealed high internal consistency and good test-retest reliability for the Persian version of the questionnaire. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.72 and intra-class correlation coefficient 0.87. The means for the content validity index and the content validity ratio (CVR) were 0.90 and 0.83, respectively. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) yielded a four-factor solution accounted for 60.8% of the observed variance. Majority of medical students (73%) as well as majority of nursing students (70%) stated that their listening styles were task-oriented. Conclusion: In general, the study finding suggests that the Persian version of LSP-R is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing listening styles profile in the studied sample.

Effect of relevance on amygdala activation and association with the ventral striatum.

PubMed

Ousdal, Olga Therese; Reckless, Greg E; Server, Andres; Andreassen, Ole A; Jensen, Jimmy

2012-08-01

While the amygdala historically has been implicated in emotional stimuli processing, recent data suggest a general role in parceling out the relevance of stimuli, regardless of their emotional properties. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we tested the relevance hypothesis by investigating human amygdala responses to emotionally neutral stimuli while manipulating their relevance. The task was operationalized as highly relevant if a subsequent opportunity to respond for a reward depended on response accuracy of the task, and less relevant if the reward opportunity was independent of task performance. A region of interest analysis revealed bilateral amygdala activations in response to the high relevance condition compared to the low relevance condition. An exploratory whole-brain analysis yielded robust similar results in bilateral ventral striatum. A subsequent functional connectivity analysis demonstrated increased connectivity between amygdala and ventral striatum for the highly relevant stimuli compared to the less relevant stimuli. These findings suggest that the amygdala's processing profile goes beyond detection of emotions per se, and directly support the proposed role in relevance detection. In addition, the findings suggest a close relationship between amygdala and ventral striatal activity when processing relevant stimuli. Thus, the results may indicate that human amygdala modulates ventral striatum activity and subsequent behaviors beyond that observed for emotional cues, to encompass a broader range of relevant stimuli. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A probabilistic topic model for clinical risk stratification from electronic health records.

PubMed

Huang, Zhengxing; Dong, Wei; Duan, Huilong

2015-12-01

Risk stratification aims to provide physicians with the accurate assessment of a patient's clinical risk such that an individualized prevention or management strategy can be developed and delivered. Existing risk stratification techniques mainly focus on predicting the overall risk of an individual patient in a supervised manner, and, at the cohort level, often offer little insight beyond a flat score-based segmentation from the labeled clinical dataset. To this end, in this paper, we propose a new approach for risk stratification by exploring a large volume of electronic health records (EHRs) in an unsupervised fashion. Along this line, this paper proposes a novel probabilistic topic modeling framework called probabilistic risk stratification model (PRSM) based on Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA). The proposed PRSM recognizes a patient clinical state as a probabilistic combination of latent sub-profiles, and generates sub-profile-specific risk tiers of patients from their EHRs in a fully unsupervised fashion. The achieved stratification results can be easily recognized as high-, medium- and low-risk, respectively. In addition, we present an extension of PRSM, called weakly supervised PRSM (WS-PRSM) by incorporating minimum prior information into the model, in order to improve the risk stratification accuracy, and to make our models highly portable to risk stratification tasks of various diseases. We verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach on a clinical dataset containing 3463 coronary heart disease (CHD) patient instances. Both PRSM and WS-PRSM were compared with two established supervised risk stratification algorithms, i.e., logistic regression and support vector machine, and showed the effectiveness of our models in risk stratification of CHD in terms of the Area Under the receiver operating characteristic Curve (AUC) analysis. As well, in comparison with PRSM, WS-PRSM has over 2% performance gain, on the experimental dataset, demonstrating that incorporating risk scoring knowledge as prior information can improve the performance in risk stratification. Experimental results reveal that our models achieve competitive performance in risk stratification in comparison with existing supervised approaches. In addition, the unsupervised nature of our models makes them highly portable to the risk stratification tasks of various diseases. Moreover, patient sub-profiles and sub-profile-specific risk tiers generated by our models are coherent and informative, and provide significant potential to be explored for the further tasks, such as patient cohort analysis. We hypothesize that the proposed framework can readily meet the demand for risk stratification from a large volume of EHRs in an open-ended fashion. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

SU-F-T-179: Fast and Accurate Profile Acquisition for Proton Beam Using Multi-Ion Chamber Arrays

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

Wang, X; Zou, J; Chen, T

2016-06-15

Purpose: Proton beam profile measurement is more time-consuming than photon beam. Due to the energy modulation during proton delivery, chambers have to move step-by-step instead of continuously. Multi-ion chamber arrays are appealing to this task since multiple measurements can be performed at once. However, their utilization suffers from sparse spatial resolution and potential intrinsic volume-averaging effect of the disk-shaped ion chambers. We proposed an approach to measure proton beam profiles accurately and efficiently. Methods: Mevion S250 proton system and IBA Matrixx ion chamber arrays were used in this study. Matrixx has interchamber distance of 7.62 mm, and chamber diameter ofmore » 4.5 mm. We measured the same beam profile by moving the Matrixx seven times with 1 mm each time along y axis. All 7 measurements were superimposed to get a “finer” profile with 1 mm spatial resolution. Coarser resolution profiles of 2 mm and 3 mm were also generated by using subsets of measurements. Those profiles were compared to the TPS calculated beam profile. Gamma analysis was performed for 2D dose maps to evaluate the difference to TPS dose plane. Results: Preliminary results showed a large discrepancy between the TPS calculated profile and the single measurement profile with 7.6 mm resolution. A good match could be achieved when the resolution reduced to 3 mm by adding one extra measurement. Gamma analysis for 2D dose map of a 10×10 field showed a passing rate (γ ≤ 1) of 90.6% using a 3% and 3mm criterion for single measurement, which increased to 92.3% for 2-measurement superimposition, and slightly further increased to 92.9% for 7-measurement superimposition. Conclusion: The results indicated that 2 measurements shifted by 3mm using Matrixx generated a smooth proton beam profile with good matching to Eclipse beam profile. We suggest using this 2-measurement approach in clinic for double scattering proton beam profile measurement.« less

Complexity Measures, Task Type, and Analytic Evaluations of Speaking Proficiency in a School-Based Assessment Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gan, Zhengdong

2012-01-01

This study, which is part of a large-scale study of using objective measures to validate assessment rating scales and assessment tasks in a high-profile school-based assessment initiative in Hong Kong, examined how grammatical complexity measures relate to task type and analytic evaluations of students' speaking proficiency in a classroom-based…

Patterns of problem-solving in children's literacy and arithmetic.

PubMed

Farrington-Flint, Lee; Vanuxem-Cotterill, Sophie; Stiller, James

2009-11-01

Patterns of problem-solving among 5-to-7 year-olds' were examined on a range of literacy (reading and spelling) and arithmetic-based (addition and subtraction) problem-solving tasks using verbal self-reports to monitor strategy choice. The results showed higher levels of variability in the children's strategy choice across Years I and 2 on the arithmetic (addition and subtraction) than literacy-based tasks (reading and spelling). However, across all four tasks, the children showed a tendency to move from less sophisticated procedural-based strategies, which included phonological strategies for reading and spelling and counting-all and finger modellingfor addition and subtraction, to more efficient retrieval methods from Years I to 2. Distinct patterns in children's problem-solving skill were identified on the literacy and arithmetic tasks using two separate cluster analyses. There was a strong association between these two profiles showing that those children with more advanced problem-solving skills on the arithmetic tasks also showed more advanced profiles on the literacy tasks. The results highlight how different-aged children show flexibility in their use of problem-solving strategies across literacy and arithmetical contexts and reinforce the importance of studying variations in children's problem-solving skill across different educational contexts.

Repetitive behavior profile and supersensitivity to amphetamine in the C58/J mouse model of autism.

PubMed

Moy, Sheryl S; Riddick, Natallia V; Nikolova, Viktoriya D; Teng, Brian L; Agster, Kara L; Nonneman, Randal J; Young, Nancy B; Baker, Lorinda K; Nadler, Jessica J; Bodfish, James W

2014-02-01

Restricted repetitive behaviors are core symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The range of symptoms encompassed by the repetitive behavior domain includes lower-order stereotypy and self-injury, and higher-order indices of circumscribed interests and cognitive rigidity. Heterogeneity in clinical ASD profiles suggests that specific manifestations of repetitive behavior reflect differential neuropathology. The present studies utilized a set of phenotyping tasks to determine a repetitive behavior profile for the C58/J mouse strain, a model of ASD core symptoms. In an observational screen, C58/J demonstrated overt motor stereotypy, but not over-grooming, a commonly-used measure for mouse repetitive behavior. Amphetamine did not exacerbate motor stereotypy, but had enhanced stimulant effects on locomotion and rearing in C58/J, compared to C57BL/6J. Both C58/J and Grin1 knockdown mice, another model of ASD-like behavior, had marked deficits in marble-burying. In a nose poke task for higher-order repetitive behavior, C58/J had reduced holeboard exploration and preference for non-social, versus social, olfactory stimuli, but did not demonstrate cognitive rigidity following familiarization to an appetitive stimulus. Analysis of available high-density genotype data indicated specific regions of divergence between C58/J and two highly-sociable strains with common genetic lineage. Strain genome comparisons identified autism candidate genes, including Cntnap2 and Slc6a4, located within regions divergent in C58/J. However, Grin1, Nlgn1, Sapap3, and Slitrk5, genes linked to repetitive over-grooming, were not in regions of divergence. These studies suggest that specific repetitive phenotypes can be used to distinguish ASD mouse models, with implications for divergent underlying mechanisms for different repetitive behavior profiles. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of the Methodology Needed to Quantify Risks to Groundwater at CO2 Storage Sites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, C. F.; Birkholzer, J. T.; Carroll, S.; Hakala, A.; Keating, E. H.; Lopano, C. L.; Newell, D. L.; Spycher, N.

2011-12-01

The National Risk Assessment Partnership (NRAP) is an effort that harnesses capabilities across five U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories into a mission-focused platform to develop a defensible, science-based quantitative methodology for determining risk profiles at CO2 storage sites. NRAP is conducting risk and uncertainty analysis in the areas of reservoir performance, natural leakage pathways, wellbore integrity, groundwater protection, monitoring, and systems level modeling. The mission of NRAP is "to provide the scientific underpinning for risk assessment with respect to the long-term storage of CO2, including assessment of residual risk associated with a site post-closure." Additionally, NRAP will develop a strategic, risk-based monitoring protocol, such that monitoring at all stages of a project effectively minimizes uncertainty in the predicted behavior of the site, thereby increasing confidence in storage integrity. NRAP's research focus in the area of groundwater protection is divided into three main tasks: 1) development of quantitative risk profiles for potential groundwater impacts; 2) filling key science gaps in developing those risk profiles; and 3) field-based confirmation. Within these three tasks, researchers are engaged in collaborative studies to determine metrics to identify system perturbation and their associated risk factors. Reservoir simulations are being performed to understand/predict consequences of hypothetical leakage scenarios, from which reduced order models are being developed to feed risk profile development. Both laboratory-based experiments and reactive transport modeling studies provide estimates of geochemical impacts over a broad range of leakage scenarios. This presentation will provide an overview of the research objectives within NRAP's groundwater protection focus area, as well as select accomplishments achieved to date.

Science Teacher Leaders: Exploring Practices and Potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stinson, John Kevin

It has become standard practice for teachers to step into the role of "teacher leaders" and perform a variety of curriculum, instruction and assessment tasks for schools and school districts. The literature regarding these Ohio K-12 teacher leaders, who may perform these tasks in addition to or in lieu of regular teaching assignments, rarely includes a disciplinary focus. In this exploratory, descriptive study the results of a web-based survey containing both closed and open-ended items were used in an inquiry into teacher leaders working with the discipline of science. Data from Ohio teachers responding to the survey were used first to create a standard profile for science teacher leaders. Descriptive statistics and correlations were then performed on quantitative survey data to explore science teacher leader tasks and factors that influence task performance. Analysis of data included descriptions of sense of purpose for their role held by these science teacher leaders. Results indicate that science teacher leaders appear to embrace their role as advocates for science and have great potential for implementing science education reform as well as other science-related school initiatives. Aligning performance, administrative oversight, impact on student achievement and teacher training concerning tasks science teacher leaders are expected to perform would enhance this potential. However, science teacher leaders face challenges to realizing that potential due to ambiguity of their leadership role, the breadth of tasks they tend to perform and lack of alignment between task and outcomes.

OMFIT Tokamak Profile Data Fitting and Physics Analysis

DOE PAGES

Logan, N. C.; Grierson, B. A.; Haskey, S. R.; ...

2018-01-22

Here, One Modeling Framework for Integrated Tasks (OMFIT) has been used to develop a consistent tool for interfacing with, mapping, visualizing, and fitting tokamak profile measurements. OMFIT is used to integrate the many diverse diagnostics on multiple tokamak devices into a regular data structure, consistently applying spatial and temporal treatments to each channel of data. Tokamak data are fundamentally time dependent and are treated so from the start, with front-loaded and logic-based manipulations such as filtering based on the identification of edge-localized modes (ELMs) that commonly scatter data. Fitting is general in its approach, and tailorable in its application inmore » order to address physics constraints and handle the multiple spatial and temporal scales involved. Although community standard one-dimensional fitting is supported, including scale length–fitting and fitting polynomial-exponential blends to capture the H-mode pedestal, OMFITprofiles includes two-dimensional (2-D) fitting using bivariate splines or radial basis functions. These 2-D fits produce regular evolutions in time, removing jitter that has historically been smoothed ad hoc in transport applications. Profiles interface directly with a wide variety of models within the OMFIT framework, providing the inputs for TRANSP, kinetic-EFIT 2-D equilibrium, and GPEC three-dimensional equilibrium calculations. he OMFITprofiles tool’s rapid and comprehensive analysis of dynamic plasma profiles thus provides the critical link between raw tokamak data and simulations necessary for physics understanding.« less

OMFIT Tokamak Profile Data Fitting and Physics Analysis

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

Logan, N. C.; Grierson, B. A.; Haskey, S. R.

Here, One Modeling Framework for Integrated Tasks (OMFIT) has been used to develop a consistent tool for interfacing with, mapping, visualizing, and fitting tokamak profile measurements. OMFIT is used to integrate the many diverse diagnostics on multiple tokamak devices into a regular data structure, consistently applying spatial and temporal treatments to each channel of data. Tokamak data are fundamentally time dependent and are treated so from the start, with front-loaded and logic-based manipulations such as filtering based on the identification of edge-localized modes (ELMs) that commonly scatter data. Fitting is general in its approach, and tailorable in its application inmore » order to address physics constraints and handle the multiple spatial and temporal scales involved. Although community standard one-dimensional fitting is supported, including scale length–fitting and fitting polynomial-exponential blends to capture the H-mode pedestal, OMFITprofiles includes two-dimensional (2-D) fitting using bivariate splines or radial basis functions. These 2-D fits produce regular evolutions in time, removing jitter that has historically been smoothed ad hoc in transport applications. Profiles interface directly with a wide variety of models within the OMFIT framework, providing the inputs for TRANSP, kinetic-EFIT 2-D equilibrium, and GPEC three-dimensional equilibrium calculations. he OMFITprofiles tool’s rapid and comprehensive analysis of dynamic plasma profiles thus provides the critical link between raw tokamak data and simulations necessary for physics understanding.« less

A collaborative exercise on DNA methylation based body fluid typing.

PubMed

Jung, Sang-Eun; Cho, Sohee; Antunes, Joana; Gomes, Iva; Uchimoto, Mari L; Oh, Yu Na; Di Giacomo, Lisa; Schneider, Peter M; Park, Min Sun; van der Meer, Dieudonne; Williams, Graham; McCord, Bruce; Ahn, Hee-Jung; Choi, Dong Ho; Lee, Yang Han; Lee, Soong Deok; Lee, Hwan Young

2016-10-01

A collaborative exercise on DNA methylation based body fluid identification was conducted by seven laboratories. For this project, a multiplex methylation SNaPshot reaction composed of seven CpG markers was used for the identification of four body fluids, including blood, saliva, semen, and vaginal fluid. A total of 30 specimens were prepared and distributed to participating laboratories after thorough testing. The required experiments included four increasingly complex tasks: (1) CE of a purified single-base extension reaction product, (2) multiplex PCR and multiplex single-base extension reaction of bisulfite-modified DNA, (3) bisulfite conversion of genomic DNA, and (4) extraction of genomic DNA from body fluid samples. In tasks 2, 3 and 4, one or more mixtures were analyzed, and specimens containing both known and unknown body fluid sources were used. Six of the laboratories generated consistent body fluid typing results for specimens of bisulfite-converted DNA and genomic DNA. One laboratory failed to set up appropriate conditions for capillary analysis of reference single-base extension products. In general, variation in the values obtained for DNA methylation analysis between laboratories increased with the complexity of the required experiments. However, all laboratories concurred on the interpretation of the DNA methylation profiles produced. Although the establishment of interpretational guidelines on DNA methylation based body fluid identification has yet to be performed, this study supports the addition of DNA methylation profiling to forensic body fluid typing. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Prioritization of Potential Mates' History of Sexual Fidelity During a Conjoint Ranking Task.

PubMed

Mogilski, Justin K; Wade, T Joel; Welling, Lisa L M

2014-07-01

This series of studies is the first to use conjoint analysis to examine how individuals make trade-offs during mate selection when provided information about a partner's history of sexual infidelity. Across three studies, participants ranked profiles of potential mates, with each profile varying across five attributes: financial stability, physical attractiveness, sexual fidelity, emotional investment, and similarity. They also rated each attribute separately for importance in an ideal mate. Overall, we found that for a long-term mate, participants prioritized a potential partner's history of sexual fidelity over other attributes when profiles were ranked conjointly. For a short-term mate, sexual fidelity, physical attractiveness, and financial stability were equally important, and each was more important than emotional investment and similarity. These patterns contrast with participants' self-reported importance ratings of each individual attribute. Our results are interpreted within the context of previous literature examining how making trade-offs affect mate selection. © 2014 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

[Executive dysfunction in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in childhood].

PubMed

Romero-Ayuso, D M; Maestú, F; González-Marqués, J; Romo-Barrientos, C; Andrade, J M

The principal problem of ADHD is the difficulty to execute inhibitory control. The inhibition is an executive function that is develop during childhood. To know if other executive functions shower a lower performance in ADHD versus control group and these were different between ADHD-I and ADHD-C. Fifty three children, between 7 to 10 years old, participated and were assess with EMIC and Simon task. The results showed similar profile in working memory and verbal span. In contrast, ADHD-C showed lower performance in Simon task and more impulsively. On an other hand, ADHD-I showed lower performance in memory working tasks and planning. These results suggest differences in the executive profile between ADHD-I and ADHD-C and these support the hypothesis of Barkley about the necessity to differ both clinical subtypes.

Short-term effects of black pepper (Piper nigrum) and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis and Rosmarinus eriocalyx) on sustained attention and on energy and fatigue mood states in young adults with low energy.

PubMed

Lindheimer, Jacob B; Loy, Bryan D; O'Connor, Patrick J

2013-08-01

The purpose was to test whether a single dose of black pepper or rosemary produced short-term enhancements in sustained attention, motivation to perform cognitive tasks, or feelings of mental energy and fatigue. Outcomes were measured in 40 young adults with below average feelings of energy before and twice after they orally consumed capsules containing either black pepper (2.0 g), rosemary (1.7 g), or a placebo (3.1 g rice flour). Sustained attention was measured using a 16-min dual task, in which, single-digit numbers were presented every second on a screen and the participant performed both a primary task [detection of three successive, different odd digits] and a secondary task [detection of the number 6]. Feelings of energy and fatigue were measured using the vigor and fatigue subscales of the Profile of Mood States and visual analog scales (VAS). Analysis of variance showed nonsignificant condition (spice versus placebo)×time (T1, T2, & T3) effects for motivation, measured with a VAS, and the intensity of energy and fatigue feelings. Unadjusted effect sizes revealed that rosemary induced small, transient reductions in false alarm errors (d=0.21) and mental fatigue (d=0.40) at isolated time periods. Time-varying analysis of covariance, controlling for motivation to perform cognitive tasks, showed no significant effects on the primary or secondary task outcomes of correct responses (hits), errors (false alarms, misses), speed of response (reaction time), and signal detection sensitivity. It is concluded that black pepper and rosemary, consumed in a capsule form, in the doses used and while wearing a nose clip to block olfactory effects, do not induce consistent short-term improvements in sustained attention, motivation to perform cognitive tasks, or feelings of mental energy and fatigue in young adults with low energy.

Task Value Profiles across Subjects and Aspirations to Physical and IT-Related Sciences in the United States and Finland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chow, Angela; Eccles, Jacquelynne S.; Salmela-Aro, Katariina

2012-01-01

Two independent studies were conducted to extend previous research by examining the associations between task value priority patterns across school subjects and aspirations toward the physical and information technology- (IT-) related sciences. Study 1 measured task values of a sample of 10th graders in the United States (N = 249) across (a)…

Scalable and Cost-Effective Assignment of Mobile Crowdsensing Tasks Based on Profiling Trends and Prediction: The ParticipAct Living Lab Experience

PubMed Central

Bellavista, Paolo; Corradi, Antonio; Foschini, Luca; Ianniello, Raffaele

2015-01-01

Nowadays, sensor-rich smartphones potentially enable the harvesting of huge amounts of valuable sensing data in urban environments, by opportunistically involving citizens to play the role of mobile virtual sensors to cover Smart City areas of interest. This paper proposes an in-depth study of the challenging technical issues related to the efficient assignment of Mobile Crowd Sensing (MCS) data collection tasks to volunteers in a crowdsensing campaign. In particular, the paper originally describes how to increase the effectiveness of the proposed sensing campaigns through the inclusion of several new facilities, including accurate participant selection algorithms able to profile and predict user mobility patterns, gaming techniques, and timely geo-notification. The reported results show the feasibility of exploiting profiling trends/prediction techniques from volunteers’ behavior; moreover, they quantitatively compare different MCS task assignment strategies based on large-scale and real MCS data campaigns run in the ParticipAct living lab, an ongoing MCS real-world experiment that involved more than 170 students of the University of Bologna for more than one year. PMID:26263985

Optimizing estimation of hemispheric dominance for language using magnetic source imaging.

PubMed

Passaro, Antony D; Rezaie, Roozbeh; Moser, Dana C; Li, Zhimin; Dias, Nadeeka; Papanicolaou, Andrew C

2011-10-06

The efficacy of magnetoencephalography (MEG) as an alternative to invasive methods for investigating the cortical representation of language has been explored in several studies. Recently, studies comparing MEG to the gold standard Wada procedure have found inconsistent and often less-than accurate estimates of laterality across various MEG studies. Here we attempted to address this issue among normal right-handed adults (N=12) by supplementing a well-established MEG protocol involving word recognition and the single dipole method with a sentence comprehension task and a beamformer approach localizing neural oscillations. Beamformer analysis of word recognition and sentence comprehension tasks revealed a desynchronization in the 10-18Hz range, localized to the temporo-parietal cortices. Inspection of individual profiles of localized desynchronization (10-18Hz) revealed left hemispheric dominance in 91.7% and 83.3% of individuals during the word recognition and sentence comprehension tasks, respectively. In contrast, single dipole analysis yielded lower estimates, such that activity in temporal language regions was left-lateralized in 66.7% and 58.3% of individuals during word recognition and sentence comprehension, respectively. The results obtained from the word recognition task and localization of oscillatory activity using a beamformer appear to be in line with general estimates of left hemispheric dominance for language in normal right-handed individuals. Furthermore, the current findings support the growing notion that changes in neural oscillations underlie critical components of linguistic processing. Published by Elsevier B.V.

AphasiaBank: a resource for clinicians.

PubMed

Forbes, Margaret M; Fromm, Davida; Macwhinney, Brian

2012-08-01

AphasiaBank is a shared, multimedia database containing videos and transcriptions of ~180 aphasic individuals and 140 nonaphasic controls performing a uniform set of discourse tasks. The language in the videos is transcribed in Codes for the Human Analysis of Transcripts (CHAT) format and coded for analysis with Computerized Language ANalysis (CLAN) programs, which can perform a wide variety of language analyses. The database and the CLAN programs are freely available to aphasia researchers and clinicians for educational, clinical, and scholarly uses. This article describes the database, suggests some ways in which clinicians and clinician researchers might find these materials useful, and introduces a new language analysis program, EVAL, designed to streamline the transcription and coding processes, while still producing an extensive and useful language profile. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Postural control strategies during single limb stance following acute lateral ankle sprain.

PubMed

Doherty, Cailbhe; Bleakley, Chris; Hertel, Jay; Caulfield, Brian; Ryan, John; Delahunt, Eamonn

2014-06-01

Single-limb stance is maintained via the integration of visual, vestibular and somatosensory afferents. Musculoskeletal injury challenges the somatosensory system to reweight distorted sensory afferents. This investigation supplements kinetic analysis of eyes-open and eyes-closed single-limb stance tasks with a kinematic profile of lower limb postural orientation in an acute lateral ankle sprain group to assess the adaptive capacity of the sensorimotor system to injury. Sixty-six participants with first-time acute lateral ankle sprain completed a 20-second eyes-open single-limb stance task on their injured and non-injured limbs (task 1). Twenty-three of these participants successfully completed the same 20-second single-limb stance task with their eyes closed (task 2). A non-injured control group of 19 participants completed task 1, with 16 completing task 2. 3-dimensional kinematics of the hip, knee and ankle joints, as well as associated fractal dimension of the center-of-pressure path were determined for each limb during these tasks. Between trial analyses revealed significant differences in stance limb kinematics and fractal dimension of the center-of-pressure path for task 2 only. The control group bilaterally assumed a position of greater hip flexion compared to injured participants on their side-matched "involved"(7.41 [6.1°] vs 1.44 [4.8]°; η(2)=.34) and "uninvolved" (9.59 [8.5°] vs 2.16 [5.6°]; η(2)=.31) limbs, with a greater fractal dimension of the center-of-pressure path (involved limb=1.39 [0.16°] vs 1.25 [0.14°]; uninvolved limb=1.37 [0.21°] vs 1.23 [0.14°]). Bilateral impairment in postural control strategies present following a first time acute lateral ankle sprain. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Individual Differences in Toddlers' Prosociality: Experiences in Early Relationships Explain Variability in Prosocial Behavior.

PubMed

Newton, Emily K; Thompson, Ross A; Goodman, Miranda

2016-11-01

Latent class logistic regression analysis was used to investigate sources of individual differences in profiles of prosocial behavior. Eighty-seven 18-month-olds were observed in tasks assessing sharing with a neutral adult, instrumentally helping a neutral adult, and instrumentally helping a sad adult. Maternal mental state language (MSL) and maternal sensitivity were also assessed. Despite differing motivational demands across tasks, we found consistency in children's prosocial behavior with three latent classes: no prosocial behavior, moderate prosocial behavior, and frequent instrumental helping across emotional situations. Maternal sensitivity, MSL, and their interaction predicted toddlers' membership in the classes. These findings evidence moderate consistency in early prosocial behaviors and suggest that these capacities are motivated in early relationships with caregivers. © 2016 The Authors. Child Development © 2016 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Modeling personnel turnover in the parametric organization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dean, Edwin B.

1991-01-01

A model is developed for simulating the dynamics of a newly formed organization, credible during all phases of organizational development. The model development process is broken down into the activities of determining the tasks required for parametric cost analysis (PCA), determining the skills required for each PCA task, determining the skills available in the applicant marketplace, determining the structure of the model, implementing the model, and testing it. The model, parameterized by the likelihood of job function transition, has demonstrated by the capability to represent the transition of personnel across functional boundaries within a parametric organization using a linear dynamical system, and the ability to predict required staffing profiles to meet functional needs at the desired time. The model can be extended by revisions of the state and transition structure to provide refinements in functional definition for the parametric and extended organization.

Decomposition Odour Profiling in the Air and Soil Surrounding Vertebrate Carrion

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Chemical profiling of decomposition odour is conducted in the environmental sciences to detect malodourous target sources in air, water or soil. More recently decomposition odour profiling has been employed in the forensic sciences to generate a profile of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by decomposed remains. The chemical profile of decomposition odour is still being debated with variations in the VOC profile attributed to the sample collection technique, method of chemical analysis, and environment in which decomposition occurred. To date, little consideration has been given to the partitioning of odour between different matrices and the impact this has on developing an accurate VOC profile. The purpose of this research was to investigate the decomposition odour profile surrounding vertebrate carrion to determine how VOCs partition between soil and air. Four pig carcasses (Sus scrofa domesticus L.) were placed on a soil surface to decompose naturally and their odour profile monitored over a period of two months. Corresponding control sites were also monitored to determine the VOC profile of the surrounding environment. Samples were collected from the soil below and the air (headspace) above the decomposed remains using sorbent tubes and analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A total of 249 compounds were identified but only 58 compounds were common to both air and soil samples. This study has demonstrated that soil and air samples produce distinct subsets of VOCs that contribute to the overall decomposition odour. Sample collection from only one matrix will reduce the likelihood of detecting the complete spectrum of VOCs, which further confounds the issue of determining a complete and accurate decomposition odour profile. Confirmation of this profile will enhance the performance of cadaver-detection dogs that are tasked with detecting decomposition odour in both soil and air to locate victim remains. PMID:24740412

Decomposition odour profiling in the air and soil surrounding vertebrate carrion.

PubMed

Forbes, Shari L; Perrault, Katelynn A

2014-01-01

Chemical profiling of decomposition odour is conducted in the environmental sciences to detect malodourous target sources in air, water or soil. More recently decomposition odour profiling has been employed in the forensic sciences to generate a profile of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by decomposed remains. The chemical profile of decomposition odour is still being debated with variations in the VOC profile attributed to the sample collection technique, method of chemical analysis, and environment in which decomposition occurred. To date, little consideration has been given to the partitioning of odour between different matrices and the impact this has on developing an accurate VOC profile. The purpose of this research was to investigate the decomposition odour profile surrounding vertebrate carrion to determine how VOCs partition between soil and air. Four pig carcasses (Sus scrofa domesticus L.) were placed on a soil surface to decompose naturally and their odour profile monitored over a period of two months. Corresponding control sites were also monitored to determine the VOC profile of the surrounding environment. Samples were collected from the soil below and the air (headspace) above the decomposed remains using sorbent tubes and analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A total of 249 compounds were identified but only 58 compounds were common to both air and soil samples. This study has demonstrated that soil and air samples produce distinct subsets of VOCs that contribute to the overall decomposition odour. Sample collection from only one matrix will reduce the likelihood of detecting the complete spectrum of VOCs, which further confounds the issue of determining a complete and accurate decomposition odour profile. Confirmation of this profile will enhance the performance of cadaver-detection dogs that are tasked with detecting decomposition odour in both soil and air to locate victim remains.

Diagnostic Profiles: A Standard Setting Method for Use with a Cognitive Diagnostic Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skaggs, Gary; Hein, Serge F.; Wilkins, Jesse L. M.

2016-01-01

This article introduces the Diagnostic Profiles (DP) standard setting method for setting a performance standard on a test developed from a cognitive diagnostic model (CDM), the outcome of which is a profile of mastered and not-mastered skills or attributes rather than a single test score. In the DP method, the key judgment task for panelists is a…

The Tactual Profile: Development of a Procedure to Assess the Tactual Functioning of Children Who Are Blind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Withagen, Ans; Vervloed, Mathijs P. J.; Janssen, Neeltje M.; Knoors, Harry; Verhoeven, Ludo

2009-01-01

The Tactual Profile assesses tactual functioning of children with severe visual impairments between 0 and 16 years of age. The Tactual Profile consists of 430 items, measuring tactile skills required for performing everyday tasks at home and in school. Items are graded according to age level and divided into three domains: tactual sensory, tactual…

Overview of crew member energy expenditure during Shuttle Flight 61-8 EASE/ACCESS task performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Horrigan, D. J.; Waligora, J. W.; Stanford, J.; Edwards, B. F.

1987-01-01

The energy expenditure of the Shuttle Flight 61-B crewmembers during the extravehicular performance of Experimental Assembly of Structures in EVA (EASE) and Assembly Concept of Construction of Space Structures (ACCESS) construction system tasks are reported. These data consist of metabolic rate time profiles correlated with specific EASE and ACCESS tasks and crew comments. Average extravehicular activity metabolic rates are computed and compared with those reported from previous Apollo, Shylab, and Shuttle flights. These data reflect total energy expenditure and not that of individual muscle groups such as hand and forearm. When correlated with specific EVA tasks and subtasks, the metabolic profile data is expected to be useful in planning future EVA protocols. For example, after experiencing high work rates and apparent overheating during some Gemini EVAs, it was found useful to carefully monitor work rates in subsequent flights to assess the adequacy of cooling garments and as an aid to preplanning EVA procedures. This presentation is represented by graphs and charts.

Separating math from anxiety: The role of inhibitory mechanisms.

PubMed

Mammarella, Irene C; Caviola, Sara; Giofrè, David; Borella, Erika

2017-07-06

Deficits in executive functions have been hypothesized and documented for children with severe mathematics anxiety (MA) or developmental dyscalculia, but the role of inhibition-related processes has not been specifically explored. The main aim of the present study was to shed further light on the specificity of these profiles in children in terms of working memory (WM) and the inhibitory functions involved. Four groups of children between 8 and 10 years old were selected: one group with developmental dyscalculia (DD) and no MA, one with severe MA and developmental dyscalculia (MA-DD), one with severe MA and no DD (MA), and one with typical development (TD). All children were presented with tasks measuring two inhibition-related functions, that is, proactive interference and prepotent response, and a WM task. The results showed that children with severe MA (but no DD) were specifically impaired in the proactive interference task, while children with DD (with or without MA) failed in the WM task. Our findings point to the importance of distinguishing the cognitive processes underlying these profiles.

Relating drug–protein interaction network with drug side effects

PubMed Central

Mizutani, Sayaka; Pauwels, Edouard; Stoven, Véronique; Goto, Susumu; Yamanishi, Yoshihiro

2012-01-01

Motivation: Identifying the emergence and underlying mechanisms of drug side effects is a challenging task in the drug development process. This underscores the importance of system–wide approaches for linking different scales of drug actions; namely drug-protein interactions (molecular scale) and side effects (phenotypic scale) toward side effect prediction for uncharacterized drugs. Results: We performed a large-scale analysis to extract correlated sets of targeted proteins and side effects, based on the co-occurrence of drugs in protein-binding profiles and side effect profiles, using sparse canonical correlation analysis. The analysis of 658 drugs with the two profiles for 1368 proteins and 1339 side effects led to the extraction of 80 correlated sets. Enrichment analyses using KEGG and Gene Ontology showed that most of the correlated sets were significantly enriched with proteins that are involved in the same biological pathways, even if their molecular functions are different. This allowed for a biologically relevant interpretation regarding the relationship between drug–targeted proteins and side effects. The extracted side effects can be regarded as possible phenotypic outcomes by drugs targeting the proteins that appear in the same correlated set. The proposed method is expected to be useful for predicting potential side effects of new drug candidate compounds based on their protein-binding profiles. Supplementary information: Datasets and all results are available at http://web.kuicr.kyoto-u.ac.jp/supp/smizutan/target-effect/. Availability: Software is available at the above supplementary website. Contact: yamanishi@bioreg.kyushu-u.ac.jp, or goto@kuicr.kyoto-u.ac.jp PMID:22962476

Scalability Analysis of Gleipnir: A Memory Tracing and Profiling Tool, on Titan

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

Janjusic, Tommy; Kartsaklis, Christos; Wang, Dali

2013-01-01

Application performance is hindered by a variety of factors but most notably driven by the well know CPU-memory speed gap (also known as the memory wall). Understanding application s memory behavior is key if we are trying to optimize performance. Understanding application performance properties is facilitated with various performance profiling tools. The scope of profiling tools varies in complexity, ease of deployment, profiling performance, and the detail of profiled information. Specifically, using profiling tools for performance analysis is a common task when optimizing and understanding scientific applications on complex and large scale systems such as Cray s XK7. This papermore » describes the performance characteristics of using Gleipnir, a memory tracing tool, on the Titan Cray XK7 system when instrumenting large applications such as the Community Earth System Model. Gleipnir is a memory tracing tool built as a plug-in tool for the Valgrind instrumentation framework. The goal of Gleipnir is to provide fine-grained trace information. The generated traces are a stream of executed memory transactions mapped to internal structures per process, thread, function, and finally the data structure or variable. Our focus was to expose tool performance characteristics when using Gleipnir with a combination of an external tools such as a cache simulator, Gl CSim, to characterize the tool s overall performance. In this paper we describe our experience with deploying Gleipnir on the Titan Cray XK7 system, report on the tool s ease-of-use, and analyze run-time performance characteristics under various workloads. While all performance aspects are important we mainly focus on I/O characteristics analysis due to the emphasis on the tools output which are trace-files. Moreover, the tool is dependent on the run-time system to provide the necessary infrastructure to expose low level system detail; therefore, we also discuss any theoretical benefits that can be achieved if such modules were present.« less

Communication Profiles of Adolescents with Down Syndrome.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosin, Margaret M.; And Others

1988-01-01

The study compared communication patterns of male adolescents with Down Syndrome with males matched for chronological age and mental age. The Down Syndrome group was significantly different for mean length of utterance, comprehension of syntax, single word articulation, selected diadochokinetic tasks, and some aerodynamic tasks. (Author/JDD)

Spatial Scaling of the Profile of Selective Attention in the Visual Field.

PubMed

Gannon, Matthew A; Knapp, Ashley A; Adams, Thomas G; Long, Stephanie M; Parks, Nathan A

2016-01-01

Neural mechanisms of selective attention must be capable of adapting to variation in the absolute size of an attended stimulus in the ever-changing visual environment. To date, little is known regarding how attentional selection interacts with fluctuations in the spatial expanse of an attended object. Here, we use event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate the scaling of attentional enhancement and suppression across the visual field. We measured ERPs while participants performed a task at fixation that varied in its attentional demands (attentional load) and visual angle (1.0° or 2.5°). Observers were presented with a stream of task-relevant stimuli while foveal, parafoveal, and peripheral visual locations were probed by irrelevant distractor stimuli. We found two important effects in the N1 component of visual ERPs. First, N1 modulations to task-relevant stimuli indexed attentional selection of stimuli during the load task and further correlated with task performance. Second, with increased task size, attentional modulation of the N1 to distractor stimuli showed a differential pattern that was consistent with a scaling of attentional selection. Together, these results demonstrate that the size of an attended stimulus scales the profile of attentional selection across the visual field and provides insights into the attentional mechanisms associated with such spatial scaling.

Shared vs. specific brain activation changes in dyslexia after training of phonology, attention, or reading.

PubMed

Heim, Stefan; Pape-Neumann, Julia; van Ermingen-Marbach, Muna; Brinkhaus, Moti; Grande, Marion

2015-07-01

Whereas the neurobiological basis of developmental dyslexia has received substantial attention, only little is known about the processes in the brain during remediation. This holds in particular in light of recent findings on cognitive subtypes of dyslexia which suggest interactions between individual profiles, training methods, and also the task in the scanner. Therefore, we trained three groups of German dyslexic primary school children in the domains of phonology, attention, or visual word recognition. We compared neurofunctional changes after 4 weeks of training in these groups to those in untrained normal readers in a reading task and in a task of visual attention. The overall reading improvement in the dyslexic children was comparable over groups. It was accompanied by substantial increase of the activation level in the visual word form area (VWFA) during a reading task inside the scanner. Moreover, there were activation increases that were unique for each training group in the reading task. In contrast, when children performed the visual attention task, shared training effects were found in the left inferior frontal sulcus and gyrus, which varied in amplitude between the groups. Overall, the data reveal that different remediation programmes matched to individual profiles of dyslexia may improve reading ability and commonly affect the VWFA in dyslexia as a shared part of otherwise distinct networks.

Electromyographic and biomechanical analysis of step negotiation in Charcot Marie Tooth subjects whose level walk is not impaired.

PubMed

Lencioni, Tiziana; Piscosquito, Giuseppe; Rabuffetti, Marco; Sipio, Enrica Di; Diverio, Manuela; Moroni, Isabella; Padua, Luca; Pagliano, Emanuela; Schenone, Angelo; Pareyson, Davide; Ferrarin, Maurizio

2018-05-01

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) is a slowly progressive disease characterized by muscular weakness and wasting with a length-dependent pattern. Mildly affected CMT subjects showed slight alteration of walking compared to healthy subjects (HS). To investigate the biomechanics of step negotiation, a task that requires greater muscle strength and balance control compared to level walking, in CMT subjects without primary locomotor deficits (foot drop and push off deficit) during walking. We collected data (kinematic, kinetic, and surface electromyographic) during walking on level ground and step negotiation, from 98 CMT subjects with mild-to-moderate impairment. Twenty-one CMT subjects (CMT-NLW, normal-like-walkers) were selected for analysis, as they showed values of normalized ROM during swing and produced work at push-off at ankle joint comparable to those of 31 HS. Step negotiation tasks consisted in climbing and descending a two-step stair. Only the first step provided the ground reaction force data. To assess muscle activity, each EMG profile was integrated over 100% of task duration and the activation percentage was computed in four phases that constitute the step negotiation tasks. In both tasks, CMT-NLW showed distal muscle hypoactivation. In addition, during step-ascending CMT-NLW subjects had relevant lower activities of vastus medialis and rectus femoris than HS in weight-acceptance, and, on the opposite, a greater activation as compared to HS in forward-continuance. During step-descending, CMT-NLW showed a reduced activity of tibialis anterior during controlled-lowering phase. Step negotiation revealed adaptive motor strategies related to muscle weakness due to disease in CMT subjects without any clinically apparent locomotor deficit during level walking. In addition, this study provided results useful for tailored rehabilitation of CMT patients. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The development of a novel high-precision major depressive disorder screening system using transient autonomic responses induced by dual mental tasks.

PubMed

Matsui, Takemi; Shinba, Toshikazu; Sun, Guanghao

2018-02-01

12.6% of major depressive disorder (MDD) patients have suicide intent, while it has been reported that 43% of patients did not consult their doctors for MDD, automated MDD screening is eagerly anticipated. Recently, in order to achieve automated screening of MDD, biomarkers such as multiplex DNA methylation profiles or physiological method using near infra-red spectroscopy (NIRS) have been studied, however, they require inspection using 96-well DNA ELIZA kit after blood sampling or significant cost. Using a single-lead electrocardiography (ECG), we developed a high-precision MDD screening system using transient autonomic responses induced by dual mental tasks. We developed a novel high precision MDD screening system which is composed of a single-lead ECG monitor, analogue to digital (AD) converter and a personal computer with measurement and analysis program written by LabView programming language. The system discriminates MDD patients from normal subjects using heat rate variability (HRV)-derived transient autonomic responses induced by dual mental tasks, i.e. verbal fluency task and random number generation task, via linear discriminant analysis (LDA) adopting HRV-related predictor variables (hear rate (HR), high frequency (HF), low frequency (LF)/HF). The proposed system was tested for 12 MDD patients (32 ± 15 years) under antidepressant treatment from Shizuoka Saiseikai General Hospital outpatient unit and 30 normal volunteers (37 ± 17 years) from Tokyo Metropolitan University. The proposed system achieved 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity in classifying 42 examinees into 12 MDD patients and 30 normal subjects. The proposed system appears promising for future HRV-based high-precision and low-cost screening of MDDs using only single-lead ECG.

Muscle activation patterns in acceleration-based phases during reach-to-grasp movement.

PubMed

Tokuda, Keisuke; Lee, Bumsuk; Shiihara, Yasufumi; Takahashi, Kazuhiro; Wada, Naoki; Shirakura, Kenji; Watanabe, Hideomi

2016-11-01

[Purpose] An earlier study divided reaching activity into characteristic phases based on hand velocity profiles. By synchronizing muscle activities and the acceleration profile, a phasing approach for reaching movement, based on hand acceleration profiles, was attempted in order to elucidate the roles of individual muscle activities in the different phases of the acceleration profile in reaching movements. [Subjects and Methods] Ten healthy volunteer subjects participated in this study. The aim was to electromyographically evaluate muscles around the shoulder, the upper trapezius, the anterior deltoid, the biceps brachii, and the triceps brachii, most of which have been used to evaluate arm motion, as well as the acceleration of the upper limb during simple reaching movement in the reach-to-grasp task. [Results] Analysis showed the kinematic trajectories of the acceleration during a simple biphasic profile of the reaching movement could be divided into four phases: increasing acceleration (IA), decreasing acceleration (DA), increasing deceleration (ID), and decreasing deceleration (DD). Muscles around the shoulder showed different activity patterns, which were closely associated with these acceleration phases. [Conclusion] These results suggest the important role of the four phases, derived from the acceleration trajectory, in the elucidation of the muscular mechanisms which regulate and coordinate the muscles around the shoulder in reaching movements.

English as a Foreign Language in Bilingual Language-minority Children, Children with Dyslexia and Monolingual Typical Readers.

PubMed

Bonifacci, Paola; Canducci, Elisa; Gravagna, Giulia; Palladino, Paola

2017-05-01

The present study was aimed at investigating literacy skills in English as a foreign language in three different groups of children: monolinguals with dyslexia (n = 19), typically developing bilinguals (language-minority) (n = 19) and a control group of monolinguals (Italian) (n = 76). Bilinguals were not expected to fail in English measures, and their gap with monolinguals would be expected to be limited to the instructional language, owing to underexposure. All participants were enrolled in Italian primary schools (fourth and fifth grades). A non-verbal reasoning task and Italian and English literacy tasks were administered. The Italian battery included word and non-word reading (speed and accuracy), word and non-word writing, and reading comprehension; the English battery included similar tasks, except for the non-word writing. Bilingual children performed similarly to typical readers in English tasks, whereas in Italian tasks, their performance was similar to that of typical readers in reading speed but not in reading accuracy and writing. Children with dyslexia underperformed compared with typically developing children in all English and Italian tasks, except for reading comprehension in Italian. Profile analysis and correlational analyses were further discussed. These results suggest that English as a foreign language might represent a challenge for students with dyslexia but a strength for bilingual language-minority children. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Computational Psychometrics for the Measurement of Collaborative Problem Solving Skills

PubMed Central

Polyak, Stephen T.; von Davier, Alina A.; Peterschmidt, Kurt

2017-01-01

This paper describes a psychometrically-based approach to the measurement of collaborative problem solving skills, by mining and classifying behavioral data both in real-time and in post-game analyses. The data were collected from a sample of middle school children who interacted with a game-like, online simulation of collaborative problem solving tasks. In this simulation, a user is required to collaborate with a virtual agent to solve a series of tasks within a first-person maze environment. The tasks were developed following the psychometric principles of Evidence Centered Design (ECD) and are aligned with the Holistic Framework developed by ACT. The analyses presented in this paper are an application of an emerging discipline called computational psychometrics which is growing out of traditional psychometrics and incorporates techniques from educational data mining, machine learning and other computer/cognitive science fields. In the real-time analysis, our aim was to start with limited knowledge of skill mastery, and then demonstrate a form of continuous Bayesian evidence tracing that updates sub-skill level probabilities as new conversation flow event evidence is presented. This is performed using Bayes' rule and conversation item conditional probability tables. The items are polytomous and each response option has been tagged with a skill at a performance level. In our post-game analysis, our goal was to discover unique gameplay profiles by performing a cluster analysis of user's sub-skill performance scores based on their patterns of selected dialog responses. PMID:29238314

Computational Psychometrics for the Measurement of Collaborative Problem Solving Skills.

PubMed

Polyak, Stephen T; von Davier, Alina A; Peterschmidt, Kurt

2017-01-01

This paper describes a psychometrically-based approach to the measurement of collaborative problem solving skills, by mining and classifying behavioral data both in real-time and in post-game analyses. The data were collected from a sample of middle school children who interacted with a game-like, online simulation of collaborative problem solving tasks. In this simulation, a user is required to collaborate with a virtual agent to solve a series of tasks within a first-person maze environment. The tasks were developed following the psychometric principles of Evidence Centered Design (ECD) and are aligned with the Holistic Framework developed by ACT. The analyses presented in this paper are an application of an emerging discipline called computational psychometrics which is growing out of traditional psychometrics and incorporates techniques from educational data mining, machine learning and other computer/cognitive science fields. In the real-time analysis, our aim was to start with limited knowledge of skill mastery, and then demonstrate a form of continuous Bayesian evidence tracing that updates sub-skill level probabilities as new conversation flow event evidence is presented. This is performed using Bayes' rule and conversation item conditional probability tables. The items are polytomous and each response option has been tagged with a skill at a performance level. In our post-game analysis, our goal was to discover unique gameplay profiles by performing a cluster analysis of user's sub-skill performance scores based on their patterns of selected dialog responses.

Functional Disconnectivity during Inter-Task Resting State in Dementia with Lewy Bodies.

PubMed

Chabran, Eléna; Roquet, Daniel; Gounot, Daniel; Sourty, Marion; Armspach, Jean-Paul; Blanc, Frédéric

2018-01-01

Limited research has been done on the functional connectivity in visuoperceptual regions in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) patients. This study aimed to investigate the functional connectivity differences between a task condition and an inter-task resting state condition within a visuoperceptual paradigm, in DLB patients compared with Alzheimer disease (AD) patients and healthy elderly control subjects. Twenty-six DLB, 29 AD, and 22 healthy subjects underwent a detailed clinical and neuropsychological examination along with a functional MRI during the different conditions of a visuoperceptual paradigm. Functional images were analyzed using group-level spatial independent component analysis and seed-based connectivity analyses. While the DLB patients scored well and did not differ from the control and AD groups in terms of functional activity and connectivity during the task conditions, they showed decreased functional connectivity in visuoperceptual regions during the resting state condition, along with a temporal impairment of the default-mode network activity. Functional connectivity disturbances were also found within two attentional-executive networks and between these networks and visuoperceptual regions. We found a specific functional profile in the switching between task and resting state conditions in DLB patients. This result could help better characterize functional impairments in DLB and their contribution to several core symptoms of this pathology such as visual hallucinations and cognitive fluctuations. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Use of evidence in a categorization task: analytic and holistic processing modes.

PubMed

Greco, Alberto; Moretti, Stefania

2017-11-01

Category learning performance can be influenced by many contextual factors, but the effects of these factors are not the same for all learners. The present study suggests that these differences can be due to the different ways evidence is used, according to two main basic modalities of processing information, analytically or holistically. In order to test the impact of the information provided, an inductive rule-based task was designed, in which feature salience and comparison informativeness between examples of two categories were manipulated during the learning phases, by introducing and progressively reducing some perceptual biases. To gather data on processing modalities, we devised the Active Feature Composition task, a production task that does not require classifying new items but reproducing them by combining features. At the end, an explicit rating task was performed, which entailed assessing the accuracy of a set of possible categorization rules. A combined analysis of the data collected with these two different tests enabled profiling participants in regard to the kind of processing modality, the structure of representations and the quality of categorial judgments. Results showed that despite the fact that the information provided was the same for all participants, those who adopted analytic processing better exploited evidence and performed more accurately, whereas with holistic processing categorization is perfectly possible but inaccurate. Finally, the cognitive implications of the proposed procedure, with regard to involved processes and representations, are discussed.

Attention Dysfunction Subtypes of Developmental Dyslexia

PubMed Central

Lewandowska, Monika; Milner, Rafał; Ganc, Małgorzata; Włodarczyk, Elżbieta; Skarżyński, Henryk

2014-01-01

Background Previous studies indicate that many different aspects of attention are impaired in children diagnosed with developmental dyslexia (DD). The objective of the present study was to identify cognitive profiles of DD on the basis of attentional test performance. Material/Methods 78 children with DD (30 girls, 48 boys, mean age of 12 years ±8 months) and 32 age- and sex-matched non-dyslexic children (14 girls, 18 boys) were examined using a battery of standardized tests of reading, phonological and attentional processes (alertness, covert shift of attention, divided attention, inhibition, flexibility, vigilance, and visual search). Cluster analysis was used to identify subtypes of DD. Results Dyslexic children showed deficits in alertness, covert shift of attention, divided attention, flexibility, and visual search. Three different subtypes of DD were identified, each characterized by poorer performance on the reading, phonological awareness, and visual search tasks. Additionally, children in cluster no. 1 displayed deficits in flexibility and divided attention. In contrast to non-dyslexic children, cluster no. 2 performed poorer in tasks involving alertness, covert shift of attention, divided attention, and vigilance. Cluster no. 3 showed impaired covert shift of attention. Conclusions These results indicate different patterns of attentional impairments in dyslexic children. Remediation programs should address the individual child’s deficit profile. PMID:25387479

Working memory, worry, and algebraic ability.

PubMed

Trezise, Kelly; Reeve, Robert A

2014-05-01

Math anxiety (MA)-working memory (WM) relationships have typically been examined in the context of arithmetic problem solving, and little research has examined the relationship in other math domains (e.g., algebra). Moreover, researchers have tended to examine MA/worry separate from math problem solving activities and have used general WM tasks rather than domain-relevant WM measures. Furthermore, it seems to have been assumed that MA affects all areas of math. It is possible, however, that MA is restricted to particular math domains. To examine these issues, the current research assessed claims about the impact on algebraic problem solving of differences in WM and algebraic worry. A sample of 80 14-year-old female students completed algebraic worry, algebraic WM, algebraic problem solving, nonverbal IQ, and general math ability tasks. Latent profile analysis of worry and WM measures identified four performance profiles (subgroups) that differed in worry level and WM capacity. Consistent with expectations, subgroup membership was associated with algebraic problem solving performance: high WM/low worry>moderate WM/low worry=moderate WM/high worry>low WM/high worry. Findings are discussed in terms of the conceptual relationship between emotion and cognition in mathematics and implications for the MA-WM-performance relationship. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Jenkins-CI, an Open-Source Continuous Integration System, as a Scientific Data and Image-Processing Platform.

PubMed

Moutsatsos, Ioannis K; Hossain, Imtiaz; Agarinis, Claudia; Harbinski, Fred; Abraham, Yann; Dobler, Luc; Zhang, Xian; Wilson, Christopher J; Jenkins, Jeremy L; Holway, Nicholas; Tallarico, John; Parker, Christian N

2017-03-01

High-throughput screening generates large volumes of heterogeneous data that require a diverse set of computational tools for management, processing, and analysis. Building integrated, scalable, and robust computational workflows for such applications is challenging but highly valuable. Scientific data integration and pipelining facilitate standardized data processing, collaboration, and reuse of best practices. We describe how Jenkins-CI, an "off-the-shelf," open-source, continuous integration system, is used to build pipelines for processing images and associated data from high-content screening (HCS). Jenkins-CI provides numerous plugins for standard compute tasks, and its design allows the quick integration of external scientific applications. Using Jenkins-CI, we integrated CellProfiler, an open-source image-processing platform, with various HCS utilities and a high-performance Linux cluster. The platform is web-accessible, facilitates access and sharing of high-performance compute resources, and automates previously cumbersome data and image-processing tasks. Imaging pipelines developed using the desktop CellProfiler client can be managed and shared through a centralized Jenkins-CI repository. Pipelines and managed data are annotated to facilitate collaboration and reuse. Limitations with Jenkins-CI (primarily around the user interface) were addressed through the selection of helper plugins from the Jenkins-CI community.

Jenkins-CI, an Open-Source Continuous Integration System, as a Scientific Data and Image-Processing Platform

PubMed Central

Moutsatsos, Ioannis K.; Hossain, Imtiaz; Agarinis, Claudia; Harbinski, Fred; Abraham, Yann; Dobler, Luc; Zhang, Xian; Wilson, Christopher J.; Jenkins, Jeremy L.; Holway, Nicholas; Tallarico, John; Parker, Christian N.

2016-01-01

High-throughput screening generates large volumes of heterogeneous data that require a diverse set of computational tools for management, processing, and analysis. Building integrated, scalable, and robust computational workflows for such applications is challenging but highly valuable. Scientific data integration and pipelining facilitate standardized data processing, collaboration, and reuse of best practices. We describe how Jenkins-CI, an “off-the-shelf,” open-source, continuous integration system, is used to build pipelines for processing images and associated data from high-content screening (HCS). Jenkins-CI provides numerous plugins for standard compute tasks, and its design allows the quick integration of external scientific applications. Using Jenkins-CI, we integrated CellProfiler, an open-source image-processing platform, with various HCS utilities and a high-performance Linux cluster. The platform is web-accessible, facilitates access and sharing of high-performance compute resources, and automates previously cumbersome data and image-processing tasks. Imaging pipelines developed using the desktop CellProfiler client can be managed and shared through a centralized Jenkins-CI repository. Pipelines and managed data are annotated to facilitate collaboration and reuse. Limitations with Jenkins-CI (primarily around the user interface) were addressed through the selection of helper plugins from the Jenkins-CI community. PMID:27899692

Principles of Technology, Units 1-7. Curriculum Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Robert, Comp.

This Idaho secondary education curriculum guide provides lists of tasks, performance objectives, and enabling objectives for instruction intended to impart entry-level employment skills in industrial technology. The first list is a general job competencies task profile, followed by a sheet on which teachers can evaluate students' general job…

Relations among Epistemological Beliefs, Academic Achievement, and Task Performance in Secondary School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lodewyk, Ken R.

2007-01-01

Students with differing profiles of epistemological beliefs--their beliefs about personal epistemology, intelligence, and learning--vary in thinking, reasoning, motivation, and use of strategies while working on academic tasks, each of which affect learning. This study examined students' epistemological beliefs according to gender, school…

Quality Requirements for Teacher Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koster, B.; Brekelmans, M.; Korthagen, F.; Wubbels, T.

2005-01-01

This study deals with the quality requirements that are needed for teacher educators. The tasks teacher educators have to do and the competencies they should possess (a professional profile), according to their fellow teacher educators, were identified. On the basis of a literature search on tasks and competencies of teacher educators, we made a…

The effect of haptic guidance and visual feedback on learning a complex tennis task.

PubMed

Marchal-Crespo, Laura; van Raai, Mark; Rauter, Georg; Wolf, Peter; Riener, Robert

2013-11-01

While haptic guidance can improve ongoing performance of a motor task, several studies have found that it ultimately impairs motor learning. However, some recent studies suggest that the haptic demonstration of optimal timing, rather than movement magnitude, enhances learning in subjects trained with haptic guidance. Timing of an action plays a crucial role in the proper accomplishment of many motor skills, such as hitting a moving object (discrete timing task) or learning a velocity profile (time-critical tracking task). The aim of the present study is to evaluate which feedback conditions-visual or haptic guidance-optimize learning of the discrete and continuous elements of a timing task. The experiment consisted in performing a fast tennis forehand stroke in a virtual environment. A tendon-based parallel robot connected to the end of a racket was used to apply haptic guidance during training. In two different experiments, we evaluated which feedback condition was more adequate for learning: (1) a time-dependent discrete task-learning to start a tennis stroke and (2) a tracking task-learning to follow a velocity profile. The effect that the task difficulty and subject's initial skill level have on the selection of the optimal training condition was further evaluated. Results showed that the training condition that maximizes learning of the discrete time-dependent motor task depends on the subjects' initial skill level. Haptic guidance was especially suitable for less-skilled subjects and in especially difficult discrete tasks, while visual feedback seems to benefit more skilled subjects. Additionally, haptic guidance seemed to promote learning in a time-critical tracking task, while visual feedback tended to deteriorate the performance independently of the task difficulty and subjects' initial skill level. Haptic guidance outperformed visual feedback, although additional studies are needed to further analyze the effect of other types of feedback visualization on motor learning of time-critical tasks.

Increased intra-individual reaction time variability in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder across response inhibition tasks with different cognitive demands.

PubMed

Vaurio, Rebecca G; Simmonds, Daniel J; Mostofsky, Stewart H

2009-10-01

One of the most consistent findings in children with ADHD is increased moment-to-moment variability in reaction time (RT). The source of increased RT variability can be examined using ex-Gaussian analyses that divide variability into normal and exponential components and Fast Fourier transform (FFT) that allow for detailed examination of the frequency of responses in the exponential distribution. Prior studies of ADHD using these methods have produced variable results, potentially related to differences in task demand. The present study sought to examine the profile of RT variability in ADHD using two Go/No-go tasks with differing levels of cognitive demand. A total of 140 children (57 with ADHD and 83 typically developing controls), ages 8-13 years, completed both a "simple" Go/No-go task and a more "complex" Go/No-go task with increased working memory load. Repeated measures ANOVA of ex-Gaussian functions revealed for both tasks children with ADHD demonstrated increased variability in both the normal/Gaussian (significantly elevated sigma) and the exponential (significantly elevated tau) components. In contrast, FFT analysis of the exponential component revealed a significant task x diagnosis interaction, such that infrequent slow responses in ADHD differed depending on task demand (i.e., for the simple task, increased power in the 0.027-0.074 Hz frequency band; for the complex task, decreased power in the 0.074-0.202 Hz band). The ex-Gaussian findings revealing increased variability in both the normal (sigma) and exponential (tau) components for the ADHD group, suggest that both impaired response preparation and infrequent "lapses in attention" contribute to increased variability in ADHD. FFT analyses reveal that the periodicity of intermittent lapses of attention in ADHD varies with task demand. The findings provide further support for intra-individual variability as a candidate intermediate endophenotype of ADHD.

A shared, flexible neural map architecture reflects capacity limits in both visual short-term memory and enumeration.

PubMed

Knops, André; Piazza, Manuela; Sengupta, Rakesh; Eger, Evelyn; Melcher, David

2014-07-23

Human cognition is characterized by severe capacity limits: we can accurately track, enumerate, or hold in mind only a small number of items at a time. It remains debated whether capacity limitations across tasks are determined by a common system. Here we measure brain activation of adult subjects performing either a visual short-term memory (vSTM) task consisting of holding in mind precise information about the orientation and position of a variable number of items, or an enumeration task consisting of assessing the number of items in those sets. We show that task-specific capacity limits (three to four items in enumeration and two to three in vSTM) are neurally reflected in the activity of the posterior parietal cortex (PPC): an identical set of voxels in this region, commonly activated during the two tasks, changed its overall response profile reflecting task-specific capacity limitations. These results, replicated in a second experiment, were further supported by multivariate pattern analysis in which we could decode the number of items presented over a larger range during enumeration than during vSTM. Finally, we simulated our results with a computational model of PPC using a saliency map architecture in which the level of mutual inhibition between nodes gives rise to capacity limitations and reflects the task-dependent precision with which objects need to be encoded (high precision for vSTM, lower precision for enumeration). Together, our work supports the existence of a common, flexible system underlying capacity limits across tasks in PPC that may take the form of a saliency map. Copyright © 2014 the authors 0270-6474/14/349857-10$15.00/0.

Creating Profiles of High Risk Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Higbee, Jeanne L.; Dwinell, Patricia L.

Measures used at the Division of Developmental Studies at the University of Georgia in constructing a student profile (specifically, of high-risk college freshmen) are discussed. The areas measured concern: goals; learning styles; career exploration; stress and academic anxiety; developmental tasks; and locus of control. The goals checklist…

Supertaskers: Profiles in extraordinary multitasking ability.

PubMed

Watson, Jason M; Strayer, David L

2010-08-01

Theory suggests that driving should be impaired for any motorist who is concurrently talking on a cell phone. But is everybody impaired by this dual-task combination? We tested 200 participants in a high-fidelity driving simulator in both single- and dual-task conditions. The dual task involved driving while performing a demanding auditory version of the operation span (OSPAN) task. Whereas the vast majority of participants showed significant performance decrements in dual-task conditions (compared with single-task conditions for either driving or OSPAN tasks), 2.5% of the sample showed absolutely no performance decrements with respect to performing single and dual tasks. In single-task conditions, these "supertaskers" scored in the top quartile on all dependent measures associated with driving and OSPAN tasks, and Monte Carlo simulations indicated that the frequency of supertaskers was significantly greater than chance. These individual differences help to sharpen our theoretical understanding of attention and cognitive control in naturalistic settings.

The Effects of Injury Prevention Programs on the Biomechanics of Landing Tasks: A Systematic Review With Meta-analysis.

PubMed

Lopes, Thiago Jambo Alves; Simic, Milena; Myer, Gregory D; Ford, Kevin R; Hewett, Timothy E; Pappas, Evangelos

2018-05-01

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear is a common injury in sports and often occurs during landing from a jump. To synthesize the evidence on the effects of injury prevention programs (IPPs) on landing biomechanics as they relate to the ligament, quadriceps, trunk, and leg dominance theories associated with ACL injury risk. Meta-analysis. Six electronic databases were searched for studies that investigated the effect of IPPs on landing task biomechanics. Prospective studies that reported landing biomechanics at baseline and post-IPP were included. Results from trunk, hip, and knee kinematics and kinetics related to the ACL injury theories were extracted, and meta-analyses were performed when possible. The criteria were met by 28 studies with a total of 466 participants. Most studies evaluated young females, bilateral landing tasks, and recreational athletes, while most variables were related to the ligament and quadriceps dominance theories. An important predictor of ACL injury, peak knee abduction moment, decreased ( P = .01) after the IPPs while other variables related to the ligament dominance theory did not change. Regarding the quadriceps dominance theory, after the IPPs, angles of hip flexion at initial contact ( P = .009), peak hip flexion ( P = .002), and peak knee flexion ( P = .007) increased, while knee flexion at initial contact did not change ( P = .18). Moreover, peak knee flexion moment decreased ( P = .005) and peak vertical ground-reaction force did not change ( P = .10). The exercises used in IPPs might have the potential to improve landing task biomechanics related to the quadriceps dominance theory, especially increasing peak knee and hip flexion angles. Importantly, peak knee abduction moment decreased, which indicates that IPPs influence a desired movement strategy to help athletes overcome dangerous ligament dominance loads arising from lack of frontal plane control during dynamic tasks. The lack of findings for some biomechanical variables suggests that future IPPs may be enhanced by targeting participants' baseline profile deficits, highlighting the need to deliver an individualized and task-specific IPP.

Levels of word processing and incidental memory: dissociable mechanisms in the temporal lobe.

PubMed

Castillo, E M; Simos, P G; Davis, R N; Breier, J; Fitzgerald, M E; Papanicolaou, A C

2001-11-16

Word recall is facilitated when deep (e.g. semantic) processing is applied during encoding. This fact raises the question of the existence of specific brain mechanisms supporting different levels of information processing that can modulate incidental memory performance. In this study we obtained spatiotemporal brain activation profiles, using magnetic source imaging, from 10 adult volunteers as they performed a shallow (phonological) processing task and a deep (semantic) processing task. When phonological analysis of the word stimuli into their constituent phonemes was required, activation was largely restricted to the posterior portion of the left superior temporal gyrus (area 22). Conversely, when access to lexical/semantic representations was required, activation was found predominantly in the left middle temporal gyrus and medial temporal cortex. The differential engagement of each mechanism during word encoding was associated with dramatic changes in subsequent incidental memory performance.

Determination of boundaries between ranges of high and low gradient of beam profile.

PubMed

Wendykier, Jacek; Bieniasiewicz, Marcin; Grządziel, Aleksandra; Jedynak, Tadeusz; Kośniewski, Wiktor; Reudelsdorf, Marta; Wendykier, Piotr

2016-01-01

This work addresses the problem of treatment planning system commissioning by introducing a new method of determination of boundaries between high and low gradient in beam profile. The commissioning of a treatment planning system is a very important task in the radiation therapy. One of the main goals of this task is to compare two field profiles: measured and calculated. Applying points of 80% and 120% of nominal field size can lead to the incorrect determination of boundaries, especially for small field sizes. The method that is based on the beam profile gradient allows for proper assignment of boundaries between high and low gradient regions even for small fields. TRS 430 recommendations for commissioning were used. The described method allows a separation between high and low gradient, because it directly uses the value of the gradient of a profile. For small fields, the boundaries determined by the new method allow a commissioning of a treatment planning system according to the TRS 430, while the point of 80% of nominal field size is already in the high gradient region. The method of determining the boundaries by using the beam profile gradient can be extremely helpful during the commissioning of the treatment planning system for Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy or for other techniques which require very small field sizes.

Sci-Fin: Visual Mining Spatial and Temporal Behavior Features from Social Media

PubMed Central

Pu, Jiansu; Teng, Zhiyao; Gong, Rui; Wen, Changjiang; Xu, Yang

2016-01-01

Check-in records are usually available in social services, which offer us the opportunity to capture and analyze users’ spatial and temporal behaviors. Mining such behavior features is essential to social analysis and business intelligence. However, the complexity and incompleteness of check-in records bring challenges to achieve such a task. Different from the previous work on social behavior analysis, in this paper, we present a visual analytics system, Social Check-in Fingerprinting (Sci-Fin), to facilitate the analysis and visualization of social check-in data. We focus on three major components of user check-in data: location, activity, and profile. Visual fingerprints for location, activity, and profile are designed to intuitively represent the high-dimensional attributes. To visually mine and demonstrate the behavior features, we integrate WorldMapper and Voronoi Treemap into our glyph-like designs. Such visual fingerprint designs offer us the opportunity to summarize the interesting features and patterns from different check-in locations, activities and users (groups). We demonstrate the effectiveness and usability of our system by conducting extensive case studies on real check-in data collected from a popular microblogging service. Interesting findings are reported and discussed at last. PMID:27999398

Sci-Fin: Visual Mining Spatial and Temporal Behavior Features from Social Media.

PubMed

Pu, Jiansu; Teng, Zhiyao; Gong, Rui; Wen, Changjiang; Xu, Yang

2016-12-20

Check-in records are usually available in social services, which offer us the opportunity to capture and analyze users' spatial and temporal behaviors. Mining such behavior features is essential to social analysis and business intelligence. However, the complexity and incompleteness of check-in records bring challenges to achieve such a task. Different from the previous work on social behavior analysis, in this paper, we present a visual analytics system, Social Check-in Fingerprinting (Sci-Fin), to facilitate the analysis and visualization of social check-in data. We focus on three major components of user check-in data: location, activity, and profile. Visual fingerprints for location, activity, and profile are designed to intuitively represent the high-dimensional attributes. To visually mine and demonstrate the behavior features, we integrate WorldMapper and Voronoi Treemap into our glyph-like designs. Such visual fingerprint designs offer us the opportunity to summarize the interesting features and patterns from different check-in locations, activities and users (groups). We demonstrate the effectiveness and usability of our system by conducting extensive case studies on real check-in data collected from a popular microblogging service. Interesting findings are reported and discussed at last.

Profiling and Utilizing Learning Style. NASSP Learning Style Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keefe, James W., Ed.

In 1986, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, with the assistance of a national task force, published the NASSP Learning Style Profile (LSP) for diagnosis of the cognitive styles, perceptual response tendencies, and instructional preferences of middle level and senior high school students. This monograph offers a short course…

Occupational Profiles in Environmental Protection.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

CEDEFOP Flash, 1993

1993-01-01

Two pilot projects on environmental profiles in the chemical and metal industries and in the public sector were conducted in four countries. Two aspects were studied: job requirements in selected enterprises and departments of the civil service and the occupational competencies of the staff carrying out these tasks. Studies on the chemical and…

Classifying Cognitive Profiles Using Machine Learning with Privileged Information in Mild Cognitive Impairment.

PubMed

Alahmadi, Hanin H; Shen, Yuan; Fouad, Shereen; Luft, Caroline Di B; Bentham, Peter; Kourtzi, Zoe; Tino, Peter

2016-01-01

Early diagnosis of dementia is critical for assessing disease progression and potential treatment. State-or-the-art machine learning techniques have been increasingly employed to take on this diagnostic task. In this study, we employed Generalized Matrix Learning Vector Quantization (GMLVQ) classifiers to discriminate patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) from healthy controls based on their cognitive skills. Further, we adopted a "Learning with privileged information" approach to combine cognitive and fMRI data for the classification task. The resulting classifier operates solely on the cognitive data while it incorporates the fMRI data as privileged information (PI) during training. This novel classifier is of practical use as the collection of brain imaging data is not always possible with patients and older participants. MCI patients and healthy age-matched controls were trained to extract structure from temporal sequences. We ask whether machine learning classifiers can be used to discriminate patients from controls and whether differences between these groups relate to individual cognitive profiles. To this end, we tested participants in four cognitive tasks: working memory, cognitive inhibition, divided attention, and selective attention. We also collected fMRI data before and after training on a probabilistic sequence learning task and extracted fMRI responses and connectivity as features for machine learning classifiers. Our results show that the PI guided GMLVQ classifiers outperform the baseline classifier that only used the cognitive data. In addition, we found that for the baseline classifier, divided attention is the only relevant cognitive feature. When PI was incorporated, divided attention remained the most relevant feature while cognitive inhibition became also relevant for the task. Interestingly, this analysis for the fMRI GMLVQ classifier suggests that (1) when overall fMRI signal is used as inputs to the classifier, the post-training session is most relevant; and (2) when the graph feature reflecting underlying spatiotemporal fMRI pattern is used, the pre-training session is most relevant. Taken together these results suggest that brain connectivity before training and overall fMRI signal after training are both diagnostic of cognitive skills in MCI.

Ontological Problem-Solving Framework for Dynamically Configuring Sensor Systems and Algorithms

PubMed Central

Qualls, Joseph; Russomanno, David J.

2011-01-01

The deployment of ubiquitous sensor systems and algorithms has led to many challenges, such as matching sensor systems to compatible algorithms which are capable of satisfying a task. Compounding the challenges is the lack of the requisite knowledge models needed to discover sensors and algorithms and to subsequently integrate their capabilities to satisfy a specific task. A novel ontological problem-solving framework has been designed to match sensors to compatible algorithms to form synthesized systems, which are capable of satisfying a task and then assigning the synthesized systems to high-level missions. The approach designed for the ontological problem-solving framework has been instantiated in the context of a persistence surveillance prototype environment, which includes profiling sensor systems and algorithms to demonstrate proof-of-concept principles. Even though the problem-solving approach was instantiated with profiling sensor systems and algorithms, the ontological framework may be useful with other heterogeneous sensing-system environments. PMID:22163793

Profiling of Participants in Chat Conversations Using Creativity-Based Heuristics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chiru, Costin-Gabriel; Rebedea, Traian

2017-01-01

This article proposes a new fully automated method for identifying creativity that is manifested in a divergent task. The task is represented by chat conversations in small groups, each group having to debate on the same topics, with the purpose of better understanding the discussed concepts. The chat conversations were created by undergraduate…

Interplay Between Reading Tasks, Reader Variables, and Unknown Word Processing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levine, Adina; Reves, Thea

1998-01-01

Examined to what extent readers' word-treatment strategies are task dependent, and to what extent word-treatment strategies are dependent on the reader's reading profile. Subjects were 42 students of English for academic purposes advanced reading-comprehension course. Instruments used in the study included a word-treatment experiment, an open…

Latent Profile Analysis of Schizotypy and Paranormal Belief: Associations with Probabilistic Reasoning Performance

PubMed Central

Denovan, Andrew; Dagnall, Neil; Drinkwater, Kenneth; Parker, Andrew

2018-01-01

This study assessed the extent to which within-individual variation in schizotypy and paranormal belief influenced performance on probabilistic reasoning tasks. A convenience sample of 725 non-clinical adults completed measures assessing schizotypy (Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences; O-Life brief), belief in the paranormal (Revised Paranormal Belief Scale; RPBS) and probabilistic reasoning (perception of randomness, conjunction fallacy, paranormal perception of randomness, and paranormal conjunction fallacy). Latent profile analysis (LPA) identified four distinct groups: class 1, low schizotypy and low paranormal belief (43.9% of sample); class 2, moderate schizotypy and moderate paranormal belief (18.2%); class 3, moderate schizotypy (high cognitive disorganization) and low paranormal belief (29%); and class 4, moderate schizotypy and high paranormal belief (8.9%). Identification of homogeneous classes provided a nuanced understanding of the relative contribution of schizotypy and paranormal belief to differences in probabilistic reasoning performance. Multivariate analysis of covariance revealed that groups with lower levels of paranormal belief (classes 1 and 3) performed significantly better on perception of randomness, but not conjunction problems. Schizotypy had only a negligible effect on performance. Further analysis indicated that framing perception of randomness and conjunction problems in a paranormal context facilitated performance for all groups but class 4. PMID:29434562

Latent Profile Analysis of Schizotypy and Paranormal Belief: Associations with Probabilistic Reasoning Performance.

PubMed

Denovan, Andrew; Dagnall, Neil; Drinkwater, Kenneth; Parker, Andrew

2018-01-01

This study assessed the extent to which within-individual variation in schizotypy and paranormal belief influenced performance on probabilistic reasoning tasks. A convenience sample of 725 non-clinical adults completed measures assessing schizotypy (Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences; O-Life brief), belief in the paranormal (Revised Paranormal Belief Scale; RPBS) and probabilistic reasoning (perception of randomness, conjunction fallacy, paranormal perception of randomness, and paranormal conjunction fallacy). Latent profile analysis (LPA) identified four distinct groups: class 1, low schizotypy and low paranormal belief (43.9% of sample); class 2, moderate schizotypy and moderate paranormal belief (18.2%); class 3, moderate schizotypy (high cognitive disorganization) and low paranormal belief (29%); and class 4, moderate schizotypy and high paranormal belief (8.9%). Identification of homogeneous classes provided a nuanced understanding of the relative contribution of schizotypy and paranormal belief to differences in probabilistic reasoning performance. Multivariate analysis of covariance revealed that groups with lower levels of paranormal belief (classes 1 and 3) performed significantly better on perception of randomness, but not conjunction problems. Schizotypy had only a negligible effect on performance. Further analysis indicated that framing perception of randomness and conjunction problems in a paranormal context facilitated performance for all groups but class 4.

Supporting Multi-view User Ontology to Understand Company Value Chains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuo, Landong; Salvadores, Manuel; Imtiaz, Sm Hazzaz; Darlington, John; Gibbins, Nicholas; Shadbolt, Nigel R.; Dobree, James

The objective of the Market Blended Insight (MBI) project is to develop web based techniques to improve the performance of UK Business to Business (B2B) marketing activities. The analysis of company value chains is a fundamental task within MBI because it is an important model for understanding the market place and the company interactions within it. The project has aggregated rich data profiles of 3.7 million companies that form the active UK business community. The profiles are augmented by Web extractions from heterogeneous sources to provide unparalleled business insight. Advances by the Semantic Web in knowledge representation and logic reasoning allow flexible integration of data from heterogeneous sources, transformation between different representations and reasoning about their meaning. The MBI project has identified that the market insight and analysis interests of different types of users are difficult to maintain using a single domain ontology. Therefore, the project has developed a technique to undertake a plurality of analyses of value chains by deploying a distributed multi-view ontology to capture different user views over the classification of companies and their various relationships.

DeltaSA tool for source apportionment benchmarking, description and sensitivity analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pernigotti, D.; Belis, C. A.

2018-05-01

DeltaSA is an R-package and a Java on-line tool developed at the EC-Joint Research Centre to assist and benchmark source apportionment applications. Its key functionalities support two critical tasks in this kind of studies: the assignment of a factor to a source in factor analytical models (source identification) and the model performance evaluation. The source identification is based on the similarity between a given factor and source chemical profiles from public databases. The model performance evaluation is based on statistical indicators used to compare model output with reference values generated in intercomparison exercises. The references values are calculated as the ensemble average of the results reported by participants that have passed a set of testing criteria based on chemical profiles and time series similarity. In this study, a sensitivity analysis of the model performance criteria is accomplished using the results of a synthetic dataset where "a priori" references are available. The consensus modulated standard deviation punc gives the best choice for the model performance evaluation when a conservative approach is adopted.

Inter-individual cognitive variability in children with Asperger's syndrome

PubMed Central

Gonzalez-Gadea, Maria Luz; Tripicchio, Paula; Rattazzi, Alexia; Baez, Sandra; Marino, Julian; Roca, Maria; Manes, Facundo; Ibanez, Agustin

2014-01-01

Multiple studies have tried to establish the distinctive profile of individuals with Asperger's syndrome (AS). However, recent reports suggest that adults with AS feature heterogeneous cognitive profiles. The present study explores inter-individual variability in children with AS through group comparison and multiple case series analysis. All participants completed an extended battery including measures of fluid and crystallized intelligence, executive functions, theory of mind, and classical neuropsychological tests. Significant group differences were found in theory of mind and other domains related to global information processing. However, the AS group showed high inter-individual variability (both sub- and supra-normal performance) on most cognitive tasks. Furthermore, high fluid intelligence correlated with less general cognitive impairment, high cognitive flexibility, and speed of motor processing. In light of these findings, we propose that children with AS are characterized by a distinct, uneven pattern of cognitive strengths and weaknesses. PMID:25132817

Socio-cognitive profiles for visual learning in young and older adults

PubMed Central

Christian, Julie; Goldstone, Aimee; Kuai, Shu-Guang; Chin, Wynne; Abrams, Dominic; Kourtzi, Zoe

2015-01-01

It is common wisdom that practice makes perfect; but why do some adults learn better than others? Here, we investigate individuals’ cognitive and social profiles to test which variables account for variability in learning ability across the lifespan. In particular, we focused on visual learning using tasks that test the ability to inhibit distractors and select task-relevant features. We tested the ability of young and older adults to improve through training in the discrimination of visual global forms embedded in a cluttered background. Further, we used a battery of cognitive tasks and psycho-social measures to examine which of these variables predict training-induced improvement in perceptual tasks and may account for individual variability in learning ability. Using partial least squares regression modeling, we show that visual learning is influenced by cognitive (i.e., cognitive inhibition, attention) and social (strategic and deep learning) factors rather than an individual’s age alone. Further, our results show that independent of age, strong learners rely on cognitive factors such as attention, while weaker learners use more general cognitive strategies. Our findings suggest an important role for higher-cognitive circuits involving executive functions that contribute to our ability to improve in perceptual tasks after training across the lifespan. PMID:26113820

Institutional Profiles of CAATE Accredited Entry-Level Athletic Training Education Programs in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rich, Valerie J.; Kedrowski, Jonathan J.; Richter, Scott

2008-01-01

Context: Educational reform has recently become common thread in athletic training education. The National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) Education Task force suggests that Athletic Training Education Programs (ATEPs) align within colleges of health-related professions and offer academic majors. Objective: To provide a current profile of…

Searching for a WISC-R Profile for Learning Disabled Children: An Inappropriate Task?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryckman, David B.

1981-01-01

Although indexes of scatter on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised computed for 100 learning disabled (LD) elementary children were significantly greater than values previously reported for the normal standardized sample, the substantial overlap suggests the inadvisability of continuing the search for a characteristic LD profile.…

Proposal and Validation of an Entrepreneur Competency Profile: Implications for Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alda-Varas, Rodrigo; Villardon-Gallego, Lourdes; Elexpuru-Albizuri, Itziar

2012-01-01

Introduction: This research presents the validated proposal of an entrepreneur competency profile. We analyzed the phases of the entrepreneurial process, and the functions involved in each of them, in order to identify the tasks involved in each function/role and consequently the specific competencies of entrepreneurs. Method: The proposal was…

Sister grouping of chimpanzees and humans as revealed by genome-wide phylogenetic analysis of brain gene expression profiles

PubMed Central

Uddin, Monica; Wildman, Derek E.; Liu, Guozhen; Xu, Wenbo; Johnson, Robert M.; Hof, Patrick R.; Kapatos, Gregory; Grossman, Lawrence I.; Goodman, Morris

2004-01-01

Gene expression profiles from the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) of human, chimpanzee, gorilla, and macaque samples provide clues about genetic regulatory changes in human and other catarrhine primate brains. The ACC, a cerebral neocortical region, has human-specific histological features. Physiologically, an individual's ACC displays increased activity during that individual's performance of cognitive tasks. Of ≈45,000 probe sets on microarray chips representing transcripts of all or most human genes, ≈16,000 were commonly detected in human ACC samples and comparable numbers, 14,000–15,000, in gorilla and chimpanzee ACC samples. Phylogenetic results obtained from gene expression profiles contradict the traditional expectation that the non-human African apes (i.e., chimpanzee and gorilla) should be more like each other than either should be like humans. Instead, the chimpanzee ACC profiles are more like the human than like the gorilla; these profiles demonstrate that chimpanzees are the sister group of humans. Moreover, for those unambiguous expression changes mapping to important biological processes and molecular functions that statistically are significantly represented in the data, the chimpanzee clade shows at least as much apparent regulatory evolution as does the human clade. Among important changes in the ancestry of both humans and chimpanzees, but to a greater extent in humans, are the up-regulated expression profiles of aerobic energy metabolism genes and neuronal function-related genes, suggesting that increased neuronal activity required increased supplies of energy. PMID:14976249

Mathematical difficulties in nonverbal learning disability or co-morbid dyscalculia and dyslexia.

PubMed

Mammarella, Irene C; Bomba, Monica; Caviola, Sara; Broggi, Fiorenza; Neri, Francesca; Lucangeli, Daniela; Nacinovich, Renata

2013-01-01

The main goal of the present study was to shed further light on the weaknesses of children with different profiles of mathematical difficulties, testing children with nonverbal learning disability (NLD), co-morbid dyscalculia and dyslexia (D&D), or typical development (TD). Sixteen children with NLD, 15 with D&D, and 16 with TD completed tasks derived from Butterworth (2003 ) and divided into: a capacity subscale (i.e., a number-dots comparison task, a number comparison task, and a dots comparison task); and an achievement subscale (i.e., mental calculations and arithmetical fact retrieval). Children with NLD were impaired in the dots comparison task, children with D&D in the mental calculation and arithmetical facts.

Performance analysis of sliding window filtering of two dimensional signals based on stream data processing systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kazanskiy, Nikolay; Protsenko, Vladimir; Serafimovich, Pavel

2016-03-01

This research article contains an experiment with implementation of image filtering task in Apache Storm and IBM InfoSphere Streams stream data processing systems. The aim of presented research is to show that new technologies could be effectively used for sliding window filtering of image sequences. The analysis of execution was focused on two parameters: throughput and memory consumption. Profiling was performed on CentOS operating systems running on two virtual machines for each system. The experiment results showed that IBM InfoSphere Streams has about 1.5 to 13.5 times lower memory footprint than Apache Storm, but could be about 2.0 to 2.5 slower on a real hardware.

Aeroservoelasticity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Noll, Thomas E.

1990-01-01

The paper describes recent accomplishments and current research projects along four main thrusts in aeroservoelasticity at NASA Langley. One activity focuses on enhancing the modeling and analysis procedures to accurately predict aeroservoelastic interactions. Improvements to the minimum-state method of approximating unsteady aerodynamics are shown to provide precise low-order models for design and simulation tasks. Recent extensions in aerodynamic correction-factor methodology are also described. With respect to analysis procedures, the paper reviews novel enhancements to matched filter theory and random process theory for predicting the critical gust profile and the associated time-correlated gust loads for structural design considerations. Two research projects leading towards improved design capability are also summarized: (1) an integrated structure/control design capability and (2) procedures for obtaining low-order robust digital control laws for aeroelastic applications.

Batch settling curve registration via image data modeling.

PubMed

Derlon, Nicolas; Thürlimann, Christian; Dürrenmatt, David; Villez, Kris

2017-05-01

To this day, obtaining reliable characterization of sludge settling properties remains a challenging and time-consuming task. Without such assessments however, optimal design and operation of secondary settling tanks is challenging and conservative approaches will remain necessary. With this study, we show that automated sludge blanket height registration and zone settling velocity estimation is possible thanks to analysis of images taken during batch settling experiments. The experimental setup is particularly interesting for practical applications as it consists of off-the-shelf components only, no moving parts are required, and the software is released publicly. Furthermore, the proposed multivariate shape constrained spline model for image analysis appears to be a promising method for reliable sludge blanket height profile registration. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Profile of Students on Probation/Disqualification at Golden West College.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Isonio, Steven

During the 1994-95 academic year, a task force on underpreparedness was convened at Golden West College, in Huntington Beach, California, to address the large number of students underprepared for college work. The task force examined records from the 1992-93 and 1993-94 academic years with regard to student academic status, gender, race/ethnicity,…

Time Management Profiles of Cypriot School Principals: A Mixed-Methods Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kouali, Georgia; Pashiardis, Petros

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a piece of research concerning the time management of Cypriot primary school principals. Time management refers to the interrelation of five independent variables: the various tasks principals perform, their frequency, the degree of accomplishment of those tasks, the use of time…

Indigenous Peoples and Indicators of Well-Being: Australian Perspectives on United Nations Global Frameworks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, John

2008-01-01

One of the major tasks of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) following its establishment in 2000 has been to establish statistical profiles of the world's Indigenous peoples. As part of this broad task, it has recommended that the Millennium Development Goals and other global reporting frameworks should be assessed…

Working Memory Profiles in HIV-Exposed, Uninfected and HIV-Infected Children: A Comparison with Neurotypical Controls

PubMed Central

Milligan, Robyn; Cockcroft, Kate

2017-01-01

This study compared the working memory profiles of three groups of children, namely HIV-infected (HIV-I; n = 95), HIV-exposed, uninfected (HIV-EU; n = 86) and an HIV-unexposed, uninfected, (HIV-UU; n = 92) neurotypical control group. Working memory, an executive function, plays an important role in frontal lobe-controlled behaviors, such as motivation, planning, decision making, and social interaction, and is a strong predictor of academic success in school children. Memory impairments have been identified in HIV-I children, particularly in visuospatial processing. Verbal working memory has not been commonly investigated in this population, while it is unknown how the working memory profiles of HIV-EU children compare to their HIV-I and HIV-UU peers. Of interest was whether the working memory profiles of the HIV-EU children would be more similar to the HIV-I group or to the uninfected control group. The results revealed no significant differences in working memory performance between the HIV-I and HIV-EU groups. However, this does not mean that the etiology of the working memory deficits is the same in the two groups, as these groups showed important differences when compared to the control group. In comparison to the controls, the HIV-I group experienced difficulties with processing tasks irrespective of whether they drew on a verbal or visuospatial modality. This appears to stem from a generalized executive function deficit that also interferes with working memory. In the HIV-EU group, difficulties occurred with verbally based tasks, irrespective of whether they required storage or processing. For this group, the dual demands of complex processing and using a second language seem to result in demand exceeding capacity on verbal tasks. Both groups experienced the greatest difficulties with verbal processing tasks for these different reasons. Thus, disruption of different cognitive abilities could result in similar working memory profiles, as evidenced in this study. This has implications for the underlying developmental neurobiology of HIV-I and HIV-EU children, as well the choice of appropriate measures to assist affected children. PMID:28729828

Gathering Real World Evidence with Cluster Analysis for Clinical Decision Support.

PubMed

Xia, Eryu; Liu, Haifeng; Li, Jing; Mei, Jing; Li, Xuejun; Xu, Enliang; Li, Xiang; Hu, Gang; Xie, Guotong; Xu, Meilin

2017-01-01

Clinical decision support systems are information technology systems that assist clinical decision-making tasks, which have been shown to enhance clinical performance. Cluster analysis, which groups similar patients together, aims to separate patient cases into phenotypically heterogenous groups and defining therapeutically homogeneous patient subclasses. Useful as it is, the application of cluster analysis in clinical decision support systems is less reported. Here, we describe the usage of cluster analysis in clinical decision support systems, by first dividing patient cases into similar groups and then providing diagnosis or treatment suggestions based on the group profiles. This integration provides data for clinical decisions and compiles a wide range of clinical practices to inform the performance of individual clinicians. We also include an example usage of the system under the scenario of blood lipid management in type 2 diabetes. These efforts represent a step toward promoting patient-centered care and enabling precision medicine.

Analysis of line structure in handwritten documents using the Hough transform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ball, Gregory R.; Kasiviswanathan, Harish; Srihari, Sargur N.; Narayanan, Aswin

2010-01-01

In the analysis of handwriting in documents a central task is that of determining line structure of the text, e.g., number of text lines, location of their starting and end-points, line-width, etc. While simple methods can handle ideal images, real world documents have complexities such as overlapping line structure, variable line spacing, line skew, document skew, noisy or degraded images etc. This paper explores the application of the Hough transform method to handwritten documents with the goal of automatically determining global document line structure in a top-down manner which can then be used in conjunction with a bottom-up method such as connected component analysis. The performance is significantly better than other top-down methods, such as the projection profile method. In addition, we evaluate the performance of skew analysis by the Hough transform on handwritten documents.

Skill components of task analysis

PubMed Central

Rogers, Wendy A.; Fisk, Arthur D.

2017-01-01

Some task analysis methods break down a task into a hierarchy of subgoals. Although an important tool of many fields of study, learning to create such a hierarchy (redescription) is not trivial. To further the understanding of what makes task analysis a skill, the present research examined novices’ problems with learning Hierarchical Task Analysis and captured practitioners’ performance. All participants received a task description and analyzed three cooking and three communication tasks by drawing on their knowledge of those tasks. Thirty six younger adults (18–28 years) in Study 1 analyzed one task before training and five afterwards. Training consisted of a general handout that all participants received and an additional handout that differed between three conditions: a list of steps, a flow-diagram, and concept map. In Study 2, eight experienced task analysts received the same task descriptions as in Study 1 and demonstrated their understanding of task analysis while thinking aloud. Novices’ initial task analysis scored low on all coding criteria. Performance improved on some criteria but was well below 100 % on others. Practitioners’ task analyses were 2–3 levels deep but also scored low on some criteria. A task analyst’s purpose of analysis may be the reason for higher specificity of analysis. This research furthers the understanding of Hierarchical Task Analysis and provides insights into the varying nature of task analyses as a function of experience. The derived skill components can inform training objectives. PMID:29075044

Building gene expression profile classifiers with a simple and efficient rejection option in R.

PubMed

Benso, Alfredo; Di Carlo, Stefano; Politano, Gianfranco; Savino, Alessandro; Hafeezurrehman, Hafeez

2011-01-01

The collection of gene expression profiles from DNA microarrays and their analysis with pattern recognition algorithms is a powerful technology applied to several biological problems. Common pattern recognition systems classify samples assigning them to a set of known classes. However, in a clinical diagnostics setup, novel and unknown classes (new pathologies) may appear and one must be able to reject those samples that do not fit the trained model. The problem of implementing a rejection option in a multi-class classifier has not been widely addressed in the statistical literature. Gene expression profiles represent a critical case study since they suffer from the curse of dimensionality problem that negatively reflects on the reliability of both traditional rejection models and also more recent approaches such as one-class classifiers. This paper presents a set of empirical decision rules that can be used to implement a rejection option in a set of multi-class classifiers widely used for the analysis of gene expression profiles. In particular, we focus on the classifiers implemented in the R Language and Environment for Statistical Computing (R for short in the remaining of this paper). The main contribution of the proposed rules is their simplicity, which enables an easy integration with available data analysis environments. Since in the definition of a rejection model tuning of the involved parameters is often a complex and delicate task, in this paper we exploit an evolutionary strategy to automate this process. This allows the final user to maximize the rejection accuracy with minimum manual intervention. This paper shows how the use of simple decision rules can be used to help the use of complex machine learning algorithms in real experimental setups. The proposed approach is almost completely automated and therefore a good candidate for being integrated in data analysis flows in labs where the machine learning expertise required to tune traditional classifiers might not be available.

Sonification and haptic feedback in addition to visual feedback enhances complex motor task learning.

PubMed

Sigrist, Roland; Rauter, Georg; Marchal-Crespo, Laura; Riener, Robert; Wolf, Peter

2015-03-01

Concurrent augmented feedback has been shown to be less effective for learning simple motor tasks than for complex tasks. However, as mostly artificial tasks have been investigated, transfer of results to tasks in sports and rehabilitation remains unknown. Therefore, in this study, the effect of different concurrent feedback was evaluated in trunk-arm rowing. It was then investigated whether multimodal audiovisual and visuohaptic feedback are more effective for learning than visual feedback only. Naïve subjects (N = 24) trained in three groups on a highly realistic virtual reality-based rowing simulator. In the visual feedback group, the subject's oar was superimposed to the target oar, which continuously became more transparent when the deviation between the oars decreased. Moreover, a trace of the subject's trajectory emerged if deviations exceeded a threshold. The audiovisual feedback group trained with oar movement sonification in addition to visual feedback to facilitate learning of the velocity profile. In the visuohaptic group, the oar movement was inhibited by path deviation-dependent braking forces to enhance learning of spatial aspects. All groups significantly decreased the spatial error (tendency in visual group) and velocity error from baseline to the retention tests. Audiovisual feedback fostered learning of the velocity profile significantly more than visuohaptic feedback. The study revealed that well-designed concurrent feedback fosters complex task learning, especially if the advantages of different modalities are exploited. Further studies should analyze the impact of within-feedback design parameters and the transferability of the results to other tasks in sports and rehabilitation.

Graph Theory-Based Brain Connectivity for Automatic Classification of Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Courses.

PubMed

Kocevar, Gabriel; Stamile, Claudio; Hannoun, Salem; Cotton, François; Vukusic, Sandra; Durand-Dubief, Françoise; Sappey-Marinier, Dominique

2016-01-01

Purpose: In this work, we introduce a method to classify Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients into four clinical profiles using structural connectivity information. For the first time, we try to solve this question in a fully automated way using a computer-based method. The main goal is to show how the combination of graph-derived metrics with machine learning techniques constitutes a powerful tool for a better characterization and classification of MS clinical profiles. Materials and Methods: Sixty-four MS patients [12 Clinical Isolated Syndrome (CIS), 24 Relapsing Remitting (RR), 24 Secondary Progressive (SP), and 17 Primary Progressive (PP)] along with 26 healthy controls (HC) underwent MR examination. T1 and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were used to obtain structural connectivity matrices for each subject. Global graph metrics, such as density and modularity, were estimated and compared between subjects' groups. These metrics were further used to classify patients using tuned Support Vector Machine (SVM) combined with Radial Basic Function (RBF) kernel. Results: When comparing MS patients to HC subjects, a greater assortativity, transitivity, and characteristic path length as well as a lower global efficiency were found. Using all graph metrics, the best F -Measures (91.8, 91.8, 75.6, and 70.6%) were obtained for binary (HC-CIS, CIS-RR, RR-PP) and multi-class (CIS-RR-SP) classification tasks, respectively. When using only one graph metric, the best F -Measures (83.6, 88.9, and 70.7%) were achieved for modularity with previous binary classification tasks. Conclusion: Based on a simple DTI acquisition associated with structural brain connectivity analysis, this automatic method allowed an accurate classification of different MS patients' clinical profiles.

Identity Profiles in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth: The Role of Family Influences

PubMed Central

Bregman, Hallie R.; Malik, Neena M.; Page, Matthew J. L.; Makynen, Emily; Lindahl, Kristin M.

2012-01-01

Sexual identity development is a central task of adolescence and young adulthood and can be especially challenging for sexual minority youth. Recent research has moved from a stage model of identity development in lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth to examining identity in a non-linear, multidimensional manner. In addition, although families have been identified as important to youth's identity development, limited research has examined the influence of parental responses to youth's disclosure of their LGB sexual orientation on LGB identity. The current study examined a multidimensional model of LGB identity and its links with parental support and rejection. One hundred and sixty-nine LGB adolescents and young adults (ages 14–24, 56% male, 48% gay, 31% lesbian, 21% bisexual) described themselves on dimensions of LGB identity and reported on parental rejection, sexuality-specific social support, and non-sexuality-specific social support. Using latent profile analysis (LPA), two profiles were identified, indicating that youth experience both affirmed and struggling identities. Results indicated that parental rejection and sexuality-specific social support from families were salient links to LGB identity profile classification, while non-sexuality specific social support was unrelated. Parental rejection and sexuality-specific social support may be important to target in interventions for families to foster affirmed LGB identity development in youth. PMID:22847752

System-level power optimization for real-time distributed embedded systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Jiong

Power optimization is one of the crucial design considerations for modern electronic systems. In this thesis, we present several system-level power optimization techniques for real-time distributed embedded systems, based on dynamic voltage scaling, dynamic power management, and management of peak power and variance of the power profile. Dynamic voltage scaling has been widely acknowledged as an important and powerful technique to trade off dynamic power consumption and delay. Efficient dynamic voltage scaling requires effective variable-voltage scheduling mechanisms that can adjust voltages and clock frequencies adaptively based on workloads and timing constraints. For this purpose, we propose static variable-voltage scheduling algorithms utilizing criticalpath driven timing analysis for the case when tasks are assumed to have uniform switching activities, as well as energy-gradient driven slack allocation for a more general scenario. The proposed techniques can achieve closeto-optimal power savings with very low computational complexity, without violating any real-time constraints. We also present algorithms for power-efficient joint scheduling of multi-rate periodic task graphs along with soft aperiodic tasks. The power issue is addressed through both dynamic voltage scaling and power management. Periodic task graphs are scheduled statically. Flexibility is introduced into the static schedule to allow the on-line scheduler to make local changes to PE schedules through resource reclaiming and slack stealing, without interfering with the validity of the global schedule. We provide a unified framework in which the response times of aperiodic tasks and power consumption are dynamically optimized simultaneously. Interconnection network fabrics point to a new generation of power-efficient and scalable interconnection architectures for distributed embedded systems. As the system bandwidth continues to increase, interconnection networks become power/energy limited as well. Variable-frequency links have been designed by circuit designers for both parallel and serial links, which can adaptively regulate the supply voltage of transceivers to a desired link frequency, to exploit the variations in bandwidth requirement for power savings. We propose solutions for simultaneous dynamic voltage scaling of processors and links. The proposed solution considers real-time scheduling, flow control, and packet routing jointly. It can trade off the power consumption on processors and communication links via efficient slack allocation, and lead to more power savings than dynamic voltage scaling on processors alone. For battery-operated systems, the battery lifespan is an important concern. Due to the effects of discharge rate and battery recovery, the discharge pattern of batteries has an impact on the battery lifespan. Battery models indicate that even under the same average power consumption, reducing peak power current and variance in the power profile can increase the battery efficiency and thereby prolong battery lifetime. To take advantage of these effects, we propose battery-driven scheduling techniques for embedded applications, to reduce the peak power and the variance in the power profile of the overall system under real-time constraints. The proposed scheduling algorithms are also beneficial in addressing reliability and signal integrity concerns by effectively controlling peak power and variance of the power profile.

Methods for Conducting Cognitive Task Analysis for a Decision Making Task.

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-01-01

Cognitive task analysis (CTA) improves traditional task analysis procedures by analyzing the thought processes of performers while they complete a...for using these methods to conduct a CTA for domains which involve critical decision making tasks in naturalistic settings. The cognitive task analysis methods

Acquired dysgraphia in adults following right or left-hemisphere stroke

PubMed Central

Rodrigues, Jaqueline de Carvalho; da Fontoura, Denise Ren; de Salles, Jerusa Fumagalli

2014-01-01

Objective This study aimed to assess the strengths and difficulties in word and pseudoword writing in adults with left- and right-hemisphere strokes, and discuss the profiles of acquired dysgraphia in these individuals. Methods The profiles of six adults with acquired dysgraphia in left- or right-hemisphere strokes were investigated by comparing their performance on word and pseudoword writing tasks against that of neurologically healthy adults. A case series analysis was performed on the patients whose impairments on the task were indicative of acquired dysgraphia. Results Two patients were diagnosed with lexical dysgraphia (one with left hemisphere damage, and the other with right hemisphere damage), one with phonological dysgraphia, another patient with peripheral dysgraphia, one patient with mixed dysgraphia and the last with dysgraphia due to damage to the graphemic buffer. The latter patients all had left-hemisphere damage (LHD). The patterns of impairment observed in each patient were discussed based on the dual-route model of writing. Conclusion The fact that most patients had LHD rather than right-hemisphere damage (RHD) highlights the importance of the former structure for word processing. However, the fact that lexical dysgraphia was also diagnosed in a patient with RHD suggests that these individuals may develop writing impairments due to damage to the lexical route, leading to heavier reliance on phonological processing. Our results are of significant importance to the planning of writing interventions in neuropsychology. PMID:29213909

Classification of Hand Grasp Kinetics and Types Using Movement-Related Cortical Potentials and EEG Rhythms.

PubMed

Jochumsen, Mads; Rovsing, Cecilie; Rovsing, Helene; Niazi, Imran Khan; Dremstrup, Kim; Kamavuako, Ernest Nlandu

2017-01-01

Detection of single-trial movement intentions from EEG is paramount for brain-computer interfacing in neurorehabilitation. These movement intentions contain task-related information and if this is decoded, the neurorehabilitation could potentially be optimized. The aim of this study was to classify single-trial movement intentions associated with two levels of force and speed and three different grasp types using EEG rhythms and components of the movement-related cortical potential (MRCP) as features. The feature importance was used to estimate encoding of discriminative information. Two data sets were used. 29 healthy subjects executed and imagined different hand movements, while EEG was recorded over the contralateral sensorimotor cortex. The following features were extracted: delta, theta, mu/alpha, beta, and gamma rhythms, readiness potential, negative slope, and motor potential of the MRCP. Sequential forward selection was performed, and classification was performed using linear discriminant analysis and support vector machines. Limited classification accuracies were obtained from the EEG rhythms and MRCP-components: 0.48 ± 0.05 (grasp types), 0.41 ± 0.07 (kinetic profiles, motor execution), and 0.39 ± 0.08 (kinetic profiles, motor imagination). Delta activity contributed the most but all features provided discriminative information. These findings suggest that information from the entire EEG spectrum is needed to discriminate between task-related parameters from single-trial movement intentions.

Adaptive interface for personalizing information seeking.

PubMed

Narayanan, S; Koppaka, Lavanya; Edala, Narasimha; Loritz, Don; Daley, Raymond

2004-12-01

An adaptive interface autonomously adjusts its display and available actions to current goals and abilities of the user by assessing user status, system task, and the context. Knowledge content adaptability is needed for knowledge acquisition and refinement tasks. In the case of knowledge content adaptability, the requirements of interface design focus on the elicitation of information from the user and the refinement of information based on patterns of interaction. In such cases, the emphasis on adaptability is on facilitating information search and knowledge discovery. In this article, we present research on adaptive interfaces that facilitates personalized information seeking from a large data warehouse. The resulting proof-of-concept system, called source recommendation system (SRS), assists users in locating and navigating data sources in the repository. Based on the initial user query and an analysis of the content of the search results, the SRS system generates a profile of the user tailored to the individual's context during information seeking. The user profiles are refined successively and are used in progressively guiding the user to the appropriate set of sources within the knowledge base. The SRS system is implemented as an Internet browser plug-in to provide a seamless and unobtrusive, personalized experience to the users during the information search process. The rationale behind our approach, system design, empirical evaluation, and implications for research on adaptive interfaces are described in this paper.

The effect of strategic memory training in older adults: who benefits most?

PubMed

Rosi, Alessia; Del Signore, Federica; Canelli, Elisa; Allegri, Nicola; Bottiroli, Sara; Vecchi, Tomaso; Cavallini, Elena

2017-12-07

Previous research has suggested that there is a degree of variability among older adults' response to memory training, such that some individuals benefit more than others. The aim of the present study was to identify the profile of older adults who were likely to benefit most from a strategic memory training program that has previously proved to be effective in improving memory in healthy older adults. In total, 44 older adults (60-83 years) participated in a strategic memory training. We examined memory training benefits by measuring changes in memory practiced (word list learning) and non-practiced tasks (grocery list and associative learning). In addition, a battery of cognitive measures was administered in order to assess crystallized and fluid abilities, short-term memory, working memory, and processing speed. Results confirmed the efficacy of the training in improving performance in both practiced and non-practiced memory tasks. For the practiced memory tasks, results showed that memory baseline performance and crystallized ability predicted training gains. For the non-practiced memory tasks, analyses showed that memory baseline performance was a significant predictor of gain in the grocery list learning task. For the associative learning task, the significant predictors were memory baseline performance, processing speed, and marginally the age. Our results indicate that older adults with a higher baseline memory capacity and with more efficient cognitive resources were those who tended to benefit most from the training. The present study provides new avenues in designing personalized intervention according to the older adults' cognitive profile.

A Plan for Improving Mathematics Instruction in California Elementary Schools. Final Report of the Mathematics Education Task Force.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoffman, Joseph R.; Tardif, Robert F.

In a project designed to improve elementary school instruction in mathematics, the California Department of Education collected achievement and profile data from 67 elementary schools. Schools were classified according to size, socioeconomic status, minority representation and mobility of students, city size, and type of community. Profile data…

Korean Adoptee Identity: Adoptive and Ethnic Identity Profiles of Adopted Korean Americans

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beaupre, Adam J.; Reichwald, Reed; Zhou, Xiang; Raleigh, Elizabeth; Lee, Richard M.

2015-01-01

Adopted Korean adolescents face the task of grappling with their identity as Koreans and coming to terms with their adoptive status. In order to explore these dual identities, the authors conducted a person-centered study of the identity profiles of 189 adopted Korean American adolescents. Using cluster analytic procedures, the study examined…

Working Memory Differences between Children Living in Rural and Urban Poverty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tine, Michele

2014-01-01

This study was designed to investigate if the working memory profiles of children living in rural poverty are distinct from the working memory profiles of children living in urban poverty. Verbal and visuospatial working memory tasks were administered to sixth-grade students living in low-income rural, low-income urban, high-income rural, and…

Contrasting group analysis of Brazilian students with dyslexia and good readers using the computerized reading and writing assessment battery “BALE”

PubMed Central

Toledo Piza, Carolina M. J.; de Macedo, Elizeu C.; Miranda, Monica C.; Bueno, Orlando F. A.

2014-01-01

The analysis of cognitive processes underpinning reading and writing skills may help to distinguish different reading ability profiles. The present study used a Brazilian reading and writing battery to compare performance of students with dyslexia with two individually matched control groups: one contrasting on reading competence but not age and the other group contrasting on age but not reading competence. Participants were 28 individuals with dyslexia (19 boys) with a mean age of 9.82 (SD ± 1.44) drawn from public and private schools. These were matched to: (1) an age control group (AC) of 26 good readers with a mean age of 9.77 (SD ± 1.44) matched by age, sex, years of schooling, and type of school; (2) reading control group (RC) of 28 younger controls with a mean age of 7.82 (SD ± 1.06) matched by sex, type of school, and reading level. All groups were tested on four tasks from the Brazilian Reading and Writing Assessment battery (“BALE”): Written Sentence Comprehension Test (WSCT); Spoken Sentence Comprehension Test (OSCT); Picture-Print Writing Test (PPWT 1.1-Writing); and the Reading Competence Test (RCT). These tasks evaluate reading and listening comprehension for sentences, spelling, and reading isolated words and pseudowords (non-words). The dyslexia group scored lower and took longer to complete tasks than the AC group. Compared with the RC group, there were no differences in total scores on reading or oral comprehension tasks. However, dyslexics presented slower reading speeds, longer completion times, and lower scores on spelling tasks, even compared with younger controls. Analysis of types of errors on word and pseudoword reading items showed students with dyslexia scoring lower for pseudoword reading than the other two groups. These findings suggest that the dyslexics overall scores were similar to those of younger readers. However, specific phonological and visual decoding deficits showed that the two groups differ in terms of underpinning reading strategies. PMID:25132829

A Study of Entry-Level Employment Technological Competencies for the Junior College Graduates Majoring in Electronic Engineering.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Woei-Kae; Chang, Liang-Te

A study examined the technological competencies of the electronic engineering departments of junior colleges in Taiwan. It used a combination of two methods--a revised DACUM (Developing a Curriculum) process and a revised V-TECS (Vocational-Technical Education Consortium of States) process--to analyze the duty/task profile and task/element list of…

ZENO: N-body and SPH Simulation Codes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barnes, Joshua E.

2011-02-01

The ZENO software package integrates N-body and SPH simulation codes with a large array of programs to generate initial conditions and analyze numerical simulations. Written in C, the ZENO system is portable between Mac, Linux, and Unix platforms. It is in active use at the Institute for Astronomy (IfA), at NRAO, and possibly elsewhere. Zeno programs can perform a wide range of simulation and analysis tasks. While many of these programs were first created for specific projects, they embody algorithms of general applicability and embrace a modular design strategy, so existing code is easily applied to new tasks. Major elements of the system include: Structured data file utilities facilitate basic operations on binary data, including import/export of ZENO data to other systems.Snapshot generation routines create particle distributions with various properties. Systems with user-specified density profiles can be realized in collisionless or gaseous form; multiple spherical and disk components may be set up in mutual equilibrium.Snapshot manipulation routines permit the user to sift, sort, and combine particle arrays, translate and rotate particle configurations, and assign new values to data fields associated with each particle.Simulation codes include both pure N-body and combined N-body/SPH programs: Pure N-body codes are available in both uniprocessor and parallel versions.SPH codes offer a wide range of options for gas physics, including isothermal, adiabatic, and radiating models. Snapshot analysis programs calculate temporal averages, evaluate particle statistics, measure shapes and density profiles, compute kinematic properties, and identify and track objects in particle distributions.Visualization programs generate interactive displays and produce still images and videos of particle distributions; the user may specify arbitrary color schemes and viewing transformations.

Requiring collaboration: Hippocampal-prefrontal networks needed in spatial working memory and ageing. A multivariate analysis approach.

PubMed

Zancada-Menendez, C; Alvarez-Suarez, P; Sampedro-Piquero, P; Cuesta, M; Begega, A

2017-04-01

Ageing is characterized by a decline in the processes of retention and storage of spatial information. We have examined the behavioural performance of adult rats (3months old) and aged rats (18months old) in a spatial complex task (delayed match to sample). The spatial task was performed in the Morris water maze and consisted of three sessions per day over a period of three consecutive days. Each session consisted of two trials (one sample and retention) and inter-session intervals of 5min. Behavioural results showed that the spatial task was difficult for middle aged group. This worse execution could be associated with impairments of processing speed and spatial information retention. We examined the changes in the neuronal metabolic activity of different brain regions through cytochrome C oxidase histochemistry. Then, we performed MANOVA and Discriminant Function Analyses to determine the functional profile of the brain networks that are involved in the spatial learning of the adult and middle-aged groups. This multivariate analysis showed two principal functional networks that necessarily participate in this spatial learning. The first network was composed of the supramammillary nucleus, medial mammillary nucleus, CA3, and CA1. The second one included the anterior cingulate, prelimbic, and infralimbic areas of the prefrontal cortex, dentate gyrus, and amygdala complex (basolateral l and central subregions). There was a reduction in the hippocampal-supramammilar network in both learning groups, whilst there was an overactivation in the executive network, especially in the aged group. This response could be due to a higher requirement of the executive control in a complex spatial memory task in older animals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Task-specific singing dystonia: vocal instability that technique cannot fix.

PubMed

Halstead, Lucinda A; McBroom, Deanna M; Bonilha, Heather Shaw

2015-01-01

Singer's dystonia is a rare variation of focal laryngeal dystonia presenting only during specific tasks in the singing voice. It is underdiagnosed since it is commonly attributed to technique problems including increased muscle tension, register transition, or wobble. Singer's dystonia differs from technique-related issues in that it is task- and/or pitch-specific, reproducible and occurs independently from the previously mentioned technical issues.This case series compares and contrasts profiles of four patients with singer's dystonia to increase our knowledge of this disorder. This retrospective case series includes a detailed case history, results of singing evaluations from individual voice teachers, review of singing voice samples by a singing voice specialist, evaluation by a laryngologist with endoscopy and laryngeal electromyography (LEMG), and spectral analysis of the voice samples by a speech-language pathologist. Results demonstrate the similarities and unique differences of individuals with singer's dystonia. Response to treatment and singing status varied from nearly complete relief of symptoms with botulinum toxin injections to minor relief of symptoms and discontinuation of singing. The following are the conclusions from this case series: (1) singer's dystonia exists as a separate entity from technique issues, (2) singer's dystonia is consistent with other focal task-specific dystonias found in musicians, (3) correctly diagnosing singer's dystonia allows singer's access to medical treatment of dystonia and an opportunity to modify their singing repertoire to continue singing with the voice they have, and (4) diagnosis of singer's dystonia requires careful sequential multidisciplinary evaluation to isolate the instability and confirm dystonia by LEMG and spectral voice analysis. Copyright © 2015 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

NOBLE - Flexible concept recognition for large-scale biomedical natural language processing.

PubMed

Tseytlin, Eugene; Mitchell, Kevin; Legowski, Elizabeth; Corrigan, Julia; Chavan, Girish; Jacobson, Rebecca S

2016-01-14

Natural language processing (NLP) applications are increasingly important in biomedical data analysis, knowledge engineering, and decision support. Concept recognition is an important component task for NLP pipelines, and can be either general-purpose or domain-specific. We describe a novel, flexible, and general-purpose concept recognition component for NLP pipelines, and compare its speed and accuracy against five commonly used alternatives on both a biological and clinical corpus. NOBLE Coder implements a general algorithm for matching terms to concepts from an arbitrary vocabulary set. The system's matching options can be configured individually or in combination to yield specific system behavior for a variety of NLP tasks. The software is open source, freely available, and easily integrated into UIMA or GATE. We benchmarked speed and accuracy of the system against the CRAFT and ShARe corpora as reference standards and compared it to MMTx, MGrep, Concept Mapper, cTAKES Dictionary Lookup Annotator, and cTAKES Fast Dictionary Lookup Annotator. We describe key advantages of the NOBLE Coder system and associated tools, including its greedy algorithm, configurable matching strategies, and multiple terminology input formats. These features provide unique functionality when compared with existing alternatives, including state-of-the-art systems. On two benchmarking tasks, NOBLE's performance exceeded commonly used alternatives, performing almost as well as the most advanced systems. Error analysis revealed differences in error profiles among systems. NOBLE Coder is comparable to other widely used concept recognition systems in terms of accuracy and speed. Advantages of NOBLE Coder include its interactive terminology builder tool, ease of configuration, and adaptability to various domains and tasks. NOBLE provides a term-to-concept matching system suitable for general concept recognition in biomedical NLP pipelines.

WE-EF-207-01: FEATURED PRESENTATION and BEST IN PHYSICS (IMAGING): Task-Driven Imaging for Cone-Beam CT in Interventional Guidance

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

Gang, G; Stayman, J; Ouadah, S

2015-06-15

Purpose: This work introduces a task-driven imaging framework that utilizes a patient-specific anatomical model, mathematical definition of the imaging task, and a model of the imaging system to prospectively design acquisition and reconstruction techniques that maximize task-based imaging performance. Utility of the framework is demonstrated in the joint optimization of tube current modulation and view-dependent reconstruction kernel in filtered-backprojection reconstruction and non-circular orbit design in model-based reconstruction. Methods: The system model is based on a cascaded systems analysis of cone-beam CT capable of predicting the spatially varying noise and resolution characteristics as a function of the anatomical model and amore » wide range of imaging parameters. Detectability index for a non-prewhitening observer model is used as the objective function in a task-driven optimization. The combination of tube current and reconstruction kernel modulation profiles were identified through an alternating optimization algorithm where tube current was updated analytically followed by a gradient-based optimization of reconstruction kernel. The non-circular orbit is first parameterized as a linear combination of bases functions and the coefficients were then optimized using an evolutionary algorithm. The task-driven strategy was compared with conventional acquisitions without modulation, using automatic exposure control, and in a circular orbit. Results: The task-driven strategy outperformed conventional techniques in all tasks investigated, improving the detectability of a spherical lesion detection task by an average of 50% in the interior of a pelvis phantom. The non-circular orbit design successfully mitigated photon starvation effects arising from a dense embolization coil in a head phantom, improving the conspicuity of an intracranial hemorrhage proximal to the coil. Conclusion: The task-driven imaging framework leverages a knowledge of the imaging task within a patient-specific anatomical model to optimize image acquisition and reconstruction techniques, thereby improving imaging performance beyond that achievable with conventional approaches. 2R01-CA-112163; R01-EB-017226; U01-EB-018758; Siemens Healthcare (Forcheim, Germany)« less

The association of subjective workload dimensions on quality of care and pharmacist quality of work life.

PubMed

Chui, Michelle A; Look, Kevin A; Mott, David A

2014-01-01

Workload has been described both objectively (e.g., number of prescriptions dispensed per pharmacist) as well as subjectively (e.g., pharmacist's perception of busyness). These approaches might be missing important characteristics of pharmacist workload that have not been previously identified and measured. To measure the association of community pharmacists' workload perceptions at three levels (organization, job, and task) with job satisfaction, burnout, and perceived performance of two tasks in the medication dispensing process. A secondary data analysis was performed using cross-sectional survey data collected from Wisconsin (US) community pharmacists. Organization-related workload was measured as staffing adequacy; job-related workload was measured as general and specific job demands; task-related workload was measured as internal and external mental demands. Pharmacists' perceived task performance was assessed for patient profile review and patient consultation. The survey was administered to a random sample of 500 pharmacists who were asked to opt in if they were a community pharmacist. Descriptive statistics and correlations of study variables were determined. Two structural equation models were estimated to examine relationships between the study variables and perceived task performance. From the 224 eligible community pharmacists that agreed to participate, 165 (73.7%) usable surveys were completed and returned. Job satisfaction and job-related monitoring demands had direct positive associations with both dispensing tasks. External task demands were negatively related to perceived patient consultation performance. Indirect effects on both tasks were primarily mediated through job satisfaction, which was positively related to staffing adequacy and cognitive job demands and negatively related to volume job demands. External task demands had an additional indirect effect on perceived patient consultation performance, as it was associated with lower levels of job satisfaction and higher levels of burnout. Allowing community pharmacists to concentrate on tasks and limiting interruptions while performing these tasks are important factors in improving quality of patient care and pharmacist work life. The results have implications for strategies to improve patient safety and pharmacist performance. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Association of Subjective Workload Dimensions on Quality of Care and Pharmacist Quality of Work Life

PubMed Central

Chui, Michelle A.; Look, Kevin A.; Mott, David A.

2013-01-01

Background Workload has been described both objectively (e.g., number of prescriptions dispensed per pharmacist) as well as subjectively (e.g., pharmacist’s perception of busyness). These approaches might be missing important characteristics of pharmacist workload that have not been previously identified and measured. Objectives To measure the association of community pharmacists’ workload perceptions at three levels (organization, job, and task) with job satisfaction, burnout, and perceived performance of two tasks in the medication dispensing process. Methods A secondary data analysis was performed using cross-sectional survey data collected from Wisconsin (US) community pharmacists. Organization–related workload was measured as staffing adequacy; job-related workload was measured as general and specific job demands; task-related workload was measured as internal and external mental demands. Pharmacists’ perceived task performance was assessed for patient profile review and patient consultation. The survey was administered to a random sample of 500 pharmacists who were asked to opt in if they were a community pharmacist. Descriptive statistics and correlations of study variables were determined. Two structural equation models were estimated to examine relationships between the study variables and perceived task performance. Results From the 224 eligible community pharmacists that agreed to participate, 165 (73.7%) usable surveys were completed and returned. Job satisfaction and job-related monitoring demands had direct positive associations with both dispensing tasks. External task demands were negatively related to perceived patient consultation performance. Indirect effects on both tasks were primarily mediated through job satisfaction, which was positively related to staffing adequacy and cognitive job demands and negatively related to volume job demands. External task demands had an additional indirect effect on perceived patient consultation performance, as it was associated with lower levels of job satisfaction and higher levels of burnout. Implications/Conclusions Allowing community pharmacists to concentrate on tasks and limiting interruptions while performing these tasks are important factors in improving quality of patient care and pharmacist work life. The results have implications for strategies to improve patient safety and pharmacist performance. PMID:23791360

Validating Human Behavioral Models for Combat Simulations Using Techniques for the Evaluation of Human Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-01-01

Cognitive Task Analysis Abstract As Department of Defense (DoD) leaders rely more on modeling and simulation to provide information on which to base...capabilities and intent. Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) is an extensive/detailed look at tasks and subtasks performed by a...Domain Analysis and Task Analysis: A Difference That Matters. In Cognitive Task Analysis , edited by J. M. Schraagen, S.

Multi-team dynamics and distributed expertise in imission operations.

PubMed

Caldwell, Barrett S

2005-06-01

The evolution of space exploration has brought an increased awareness of the social and socio-technical issues associated with team performance and task coordination, both for the onboard astronauts and in mission control. Spaceflight operations create a unique environment in which to address classic group dynamics topics including communication, group process, knowledge development and sharing, and time-critical task performance. Mission operations in the early years of the 21st century have developed into a set of complex, multi-team task settings incorporating multiple mission control teams and flight crews interacting in novel ways. These more complex operational settings help highlight the emergence of a new paradigm of distributed supervisory coordination, and the need to consider multiple dimensions of expertise being supported and exchanged among team members. The creation of new mission profiles with very long-duration time scales (months, rather than days) for the International Space Station, as well as planned exploration missions to the Moon and Mars, emphasize fundamental distinctions from the 40 yr from Mercury to the Space Shuttle. Issues in distributed expertise and information flow in mission control settings from two related perspectives are described. A general conceptual view of knowledge sharing and task synchronization is presented within the context of the mission control environment. This conceptual presentation is supplemented by analysis of quasi-experimental data collected from actual flight controllers at NASA-Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX.

Cognitive task analysis: harmonizing tasks to human capacities.

PubMed

Neerincx, M A; Griffioen, E

1996-04-01

This paper presents the development of a cognitive task analysis that assesses the task load of jobs and provides indicators for the redesign of jobs. General principles of human task performance were selected and, subsequently, integrated into current task modelling techniques. The resulting cognitive task analysis centres around four aspects of task load: the number of actions in a period, the ratio between knowledge- and rule-based actions, lengthy uninterrupted actions, and momentary overloading. The method consists of three stages: (1) construction of a hierarchical task model, (2) a time-line analysis and task load assessment, and (3), if necessary, adjustment of the task model. An application of the cognitive task analysis in railway traffic control showed its benefits over the 'old' task load analysis of the Netherlands Railways. It provided a provisional standard for traffic control jobs, conveyed two load risks -- momentary overloading and underloading -- and resulted in proposals to satisfy the standard and to diminish the two load risk.

Neurocognitive impairment in deficit and non-deficit schizophrenia: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Bora, E; Binnur Akdede, B; Alptekin, K

2017-10-01

Most studies suggested that patients with deficit schizophrenia have more severe impairment compared with patients with non-deficit schizophrenia. However, it is not clear whether deficit and non-deficit schizophrenia are associated with differential neurocognitive profiles. The aim of this meta-analytic review was to compare cognitive performances of deficit and non-deficit patients with each other and with healthy controls. In the current meta-analysis, differences in cognitive abilities between 897 deficit and 1636 non-deficit patients with schizophrenia were examined. Cognitive performances of 899 healthy controls were also compared with 350 patients with deficit and 592 non-deficit schizophrenia. Both deficit (d = 1.04-1.53) and non-deficit (d = 0.68-1.19) schizophrenia were associated with significant deficits in all cognitive domains. Deficit patients underperformed non-deficit patients in all cognitive domains (d = 0.24-0.84) and individual tasks (d = 0.39-0.93). The relationship between deficit syndrome and impairment in olfaction, social cognition, verbal fluency, and speed-based cognitive tasks were relatively stronger. Our findings suggest that there is consistent evidence for a significant relationship between deficit syndrome and more severe cognitive impairment in schizophrenia.

Use of muscle synergies and wavelet transforms to identify fatigue during squatting.

PubMed

Smale, Kenneth B; Shourijeh, Mohammad S; Benoit, Daniel L

2016-06-01

The objective of this study was to supplement continuous wavelet transforms with muscle synergies in a fatigue analysis to better describe the combination of decreased firing frequency and altered activation profiles during dynamic muscle contractions. Nine healthy young individuals completed the dynamic tasks before and after they squatted with a standard Olympic bar until complete exhaustion. Electromyography (EMG) profiles were analyzed with a novel concatenated non-negative matrix factorization method that decomposed EMG signals into muscle synergies. Muscle synergy analysis provides the activation pattern of the muscles while continuous wavelet transforms output the temporal frequency content of the EMG signals. Synergy analysis revealed subtle changes in two-legged squatting after fatigue while differences in one-legged squatting were more pronounced and included the shift from a general co-activation of muscles in the pre-fatigue state to a knee extensor dominant weighting post-fatigue. Continuous wavelet transforms showed major frequency content decreases in two-legged squatting after fatigue while very few frequency changes occurred in one-legged squatting. It was observed that the combination of methods is an effective way of describing muscle fatigue and that muscle activation patterns play a very important role in maintaining the overall joint kinetics after fatigue. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Decision making, central coherence and set-shifting: a comparison between Binge Eating Disorder, Anorexia Nervosa and Healthy Controls.

PubMed

Aloi, Matteo; Rania, Marianna; Caroleo, Mariarita; Bruni, Antonella; Palmieri, Antonella; Cauteruccio, Maria Antonella; De Fazio, Pasquale; Segura-García, Cristina

2015-01-24

Several studies have investigated the cognitive profile in patients with Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and Bulimia Nervosa (BN); on the contrary few studies have evaluated it in patients with Binge Eating Disorder (BED). The purpose of this study was to compare decision making, central coherence and set-shifting between BED and AN patients. A battery of neuropsychological tests including the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (RCFT), the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), the Trial Making Task (TMT) and the Hayling Sentence Completion Task (HSCT) were administered in a sample of 135 women (45 AN, 45 BED, 45 Healthy Controls [HC]). Furthermore, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was administered to evaluate depressive symptoms. Years of education, age, Body Mass Index (BMI) and depression severity were considered as covariates in statistical analyses. BED and AN patients showed high rates of cognitive impairment compared to HC on the domains investigated; furthermore, the cognitive profile of BED patients was characterised by poorer decision making and cognitive flexibility compared to patients with AN. Cognitive performance was strongly associated with depressive symptoms. In the present sample, two different neurocognitive profiles emerged: a strong cognitive rigidity and a central coherence based on the details was predominant in patients with AN, while a lack of attention and difficulty in adapting to changes in a new situation seemed to better describe patients with BED. The knowledge of the different cognitive profiles of EDs patients may be important for the planning their psychotherapeutic intervention.

Automating a Detailed Cognitive Task Analysis for Structuring Curriculum

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-06-01

Cognitive Task Analysis For... cognitive task analysis o3 0 chniques. A rather substantial literature has been amassed relative to _ - cutonqed knowledge acquisition but only seven...references have been found in LO V*r data base seaci of literature specifically addressing cognitive task analysis . - A variety of forms of cognitive task analysis

Assessing task-technology fit in a PACS upgrade: do users' and developers' appraisals converge?

PubMed

Lepanto, Luigi; Sicotte, Claude; Lehoux, Pascale

2011-12-01

The purpose of this study was to measure users' perceived benefits of a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) upgrade, and compare their responses to those predicted by developers. The Task-Technology Fit (TTF) model served as the theoretical framework to study the relation between TTF, utilization, and perceived benefits. A self-administered survey was distributed to radiologists working in a university hospital undergoing a PACS upgrade. Four variables were measured: impact, utilization, TTF, and perceived net benefits. The radiologists were divided into subgroups according to their utilization profiles. Analysis of variance was performed and the hypotheses were tested with regression analysis. Interviews were conducted with developers involved in the PACS upgrade who were asked to predict impact and TTF. Users identified only a moderate fit between the PACS enhancements and their tasks, while developers predicted a high level of TTF. The combination of a moderate fit and an underestimation of the potential impact of changes in the PACS led to a low score for perceived net benefits. Results varied significantly among user subgroups. Globally, the data support the hypotheses that TTF predicts utilization and perceived net benefits, but not that utilization predicts perceived net benefits. TTF is a valid tool to assess perceived benefits, but it is important to take into account the characteristics of users. In the context of a technology that is rapidly evolving, there needs to be an alignment of what users perceive as a good fit and the functionality developers incorporate into their products.

Gating of a pH-sensitive K(2P) potassium channel by an electrostatic effect of basic sensor residues on the selectivity filter.

PubMed

Zúñiga, Leandro; Márquez, Valeria; González-Nilo, Fernando D; Chipot, Christophe; Cid, L Pablo; Sepúlveda, Francisco V; Niemeyer, María Isabel

2011-01-25

K(+) channels share common selectivity characteristics but exhibit a wide diversity in how they are gated open. Leak K(2P) K(+) channels TASK-2, TALK-1 and TALK-2 are gated open by extracellular alkalinization. The mechanism for this alkalinization-dependent gating has been proposed to be the neutralization of the side chain of a single arginine (lysine in TALK-2) residue near the pore of TASK-2, which occurs with the unusual pK(a) of 8.0. We now corroborate this hypothesis by transplanting the TASK-2 extracellular pH (pH(o)) sensor in the background of a pH(o)-insensitive TASK-3 channel, which leads to the restitution of pH(o)-gating. Using a concatenated channel approach, we also demonstrate that for TASK-2 to open, pH(o) sensors must be neutralized in each of the two subunits forming these dimeric channels with no apparent cross-talk between the sensors. These results are consistent with adaptive biasing force analysis of K(+) permeation using a model selectivity filter in wild-type and mutated channels. The underlying free-energy profiles confirm that either a doubly or a singly charged pH(o) sensor is sufficient to abolish ion flow. Atomic detail of the associated mechanism reveals that, rather than a collapse of the pore, as proposed for other K(2P) channels gated at the selectivity filter, an increased height of the energetic barriers for ion translocation accounts for channel blockade at acid pH(o). Our data, therefore, strongly suggest that a cycle of protonation/deprotonation of pH(o)-sensing arginine 224 side chain gates the TASK-2 channel by electrostatically tuning the conformational stability of its selectivity filter.

Gating of a pH-Sensitive K2P Potassium Channel by an Electrostatic Effect of Basic Sensor Residues on the Selectivity Filter

PubMed Central

Zúñiga, Leandro; Márquez, Valeria; González-Nilo, Fernando D.; Chipot, Christophe; Cid, L. Pablo; Sepúlveda, Francisco V.; Niemeyer, María Isabel

2011-01-01

K+ channels share common selectivity characteristics but exhibit a wide diversity in how they are gated open. Leak K2P K+ channels TASK-2, TALK-1 and TALK-2 are gated open by extracellular alkalinization. The mechanism for this alkalinization-dependent gating has been proposed to be the neutralization of the side chain of a single arginine (lysine in TALK-2) residue near the pore of TASK-2, which occurs with the unusual pKa of 8.0. We now corroborate this hypothesis by transplanting the TASK-2 extracellular pH (pHo) sensor in the background of a pHo-insensitive TASK-3 channel, which leads to the restitution of pHo-gating. Using a concatenated channel approach, we also demonstrate that for TASK-2 to open, pHo sensors must be neutralized in each of the two subunits forming these dimeric channels with no apparent cross-talk between the sensors. These results are consistent with adaptive biasing force analysis of K+ permeation using a model selectivity filter in wild-type and mutated channels. The underlying free-energy profiles confirm that either a doubly or a singly charged pHo sensor is sufficient to abolish ion flow. Atomic detail of the associated mechanism reveals that, rather than a collapse of the pore, as proposed for other K2P channels gated at the selectivity filter, an increased height of the energetic barriers for ion translocation accounts for channel blockade at acid pHo. Our data, therefore, strongly suggest that a cycle of protonation/deprotonation of pHo-sensing arginine 224 side chain gates the TASK-2 channel by electrostatically tuning the conformational stability of its selectivity filter. PMID:21283586

Automating a Detailed Cognitive Task Analysis for Structuring Curriculum

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-08-01

1991-- ] Aleeo/i ISM’-19# l Title: Automating a Detailed Cognitive Task Analysis for Structuring Curriculum Activities: To date we have completed task...The Institute for Management Sciences. Although the particular application of the modified GOMS cognitive task analysis technique under development is...Laboratories 91 9 23 074 Automnating a Detailed Cognitive Task Analysis For Stucuring Curriculum Research Plan Year 1 Task 1.0 Design Task 1.1 Conduct body

Developing Academic English Language Proficiency Prototypes for 5th Grade Reading: Psychometric and Linguistic Profiles of Tasks. CSE Technical Report 727

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bailey, Alison L.; Huang, Becky H.; Shin, Hye Won; Farnsworth, Tim; Butler, Frances A.

2007-01-01

Within an evidentiary framework for operationally defining academic English language proficiency (AELP), linguistic analyses of standards, classroom discourse, and textbooks have led to specifications for assessment of AELP. The test development process described here is novel due to the emphasis on using linguistic profiles to inform the …

Reading Performance Profile of Children with Dyslexia in Primary and Secondary School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balci, Emine; Çayir, Aybala

2018-01-01

The purpose of the present research was to provide information to the community about the reading subskill profiles of children with dyslexia in primary and secondary school students. 175 children (aged 7-15 yrs) were examined on a varied set of phonological coding, spelling and fluent reading tasks. For this purpose, students' fluent reading were…

Meaning profiles of dwellings, pathways, and metaphors in design: implications for education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casakin, Hernan; Kreitler, Shulamith

2017-11-01

The study deals with the roles and interrelations of the meaning-based assessments of dwellings, pathways and metaphors in design performance. It is grounded in the Meaning Theory [Kreitler, S., and H. Kreitler. 1990. The Cognitive Foundations of Personality Traits. New York: Plenum], which enables identifying the cognitive contents and processes underlying cognitive performance in different domains, thus rendering them more accessible to educational training. The objectives were to identify the components of the meaning profiles of dwellings, pathways, and metaphors as perceived by design students; to analyse their interrelations; and to examine which of the identified components of these constructs serve as best predictors of design performance aided by the use of metaphors. Participants were administered a design task and questionnaires about the Dimensional Profiles of Dwellings, Pathways, and Metaphors, based on the meaning system. Factors based on the factor analyses of the responses to the three questionnaires were used in regression analyses as predictors of the performance score in a design task. The following three factors of the dimensional meaning profiles of metaphors were significant predictors of design performance: sensory, functional, and structural evaluations. Implications for design education are discussed, primarily concerning the important role of metaphor in design problem-solving.

High school student's motivation to engage in conceptual change-learning in science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barlia, Lily

1999-11-01

This study investigated motivational factors that are related to engaging in conceptual change learning. While previous studies have recognized the resistance of students' scientific conception to change, few have investigated the role that non-cognitive factors might play when students are exposed to conceptual change instruction. Three research questions were examined: (a) What instructional strategies did the teacher use to both promote students' learning for conceptual change and increase their motivation in learning science? (b) What are the patterns of students' motivation to engage in conceptual change learning? And (c) what individual profiles can be constructed from the four motivational factors (i.e., goals, values, self-efficacy, and control beliefs) and how are these profiles linked to engagement (i.e., behavioral and cognitive engagement) in conceptual change learning of science? Eleven twelfth grade students (senior students) and the teacher in which conceptual change approach to teaching was used in daily activities were selected. Data collection for this study included student's self-reported responses to the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), classroom observation of students and the teacher, and structured interviews. Analysis of these data resulted in a motivational factor profile for each student and cross case analysis for entire group. Results from this study indicate that each student has different motivation factors that are mostly influenced individual student to learn science. Among these motivation factors, task value and control beliefs were most important for students. The implication of these findings are that teachers need to encourage students to find learning for conceptual change a valuable task, and that students need to find applications for their new conceptions within their everyday lives. In addition, teachers need to encourage students to develop learning strategies for conceptual understanding. Furthermore, students' motivation to learn was also influenced by other factors that are not directly related to the four motivational factors assessed by the MSLQ such as the teacher's unique personality had a positive influenced on student learning. The overall conclusions drawn from this study are that conceptual change instruction requires the teacher to be aware of the importance of affective aspects and motivational factors of students learning.

The vocabulary profile of Slovak children with primary language impairment compared to typically developing Slovak children measured by LITMUS-CLT.

PubMed

Kapalková, Svetlana; Slančová, Daniela

2017-01-01

This study compared a sample of children with primary language impairment (PLI) and typically developing age-matched children using the crosslinguistic lexical tasks (CLT-SK). We also compared the PLI children with typically developing language-matched younger children who were matched on the basis of receptive vocabulary. Overall, statistical testing showed that the vocabulary of the PLI children was significantly different from the vocabulary of the age-matched children, but not statistically different from the younger children who were matched on the basis of their receptive vocabulary size. Qualitative analysis of the correct answers revealed that the PLI children showed higher rigidity compared to the younger language-matched children who are able to use more synonyms or derivations across word class in naming tasks. Similarly, an examination of the children's naming errors indicated that the language-matched children exhibited more semantic errors, whereas PLI children showed more associative errors.

Reflections on Speech Motor Control Based on Phonatory and DDK Tasks in Dysarthric Subjects with Lesions in Different Cerebellar Loci

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vandana, V. P.

2007-01-01

There are very few acoustic studies reflecting on the localization of speech function within the different loci of the cerebellum. Task based performance profile of subjects with lesion in different cerebellar loci is not reported. Also, the findings on nonfocal cerebellar lesions cannot be generalized to lesions restricted to the cerebellum.…

Drawing Links between the Autism Cognitive Profile and Imagination: Executive Function and Processing Bias in Imaginative Drawings by Children with and without Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ten Eycke, Kayla D.; Müller, Ulrich

2018-01-01

Little is known about the relation between cognitive processes and imagination and whether this relation differs between neurotypically developing children and children with autism. To address this issue, we administered a cognitive task battery and Karmiloff-Smith's drawing task, which requires children to draw imaginative people and houses. For…

Using a Knowledge Representations Approach to Cognitive Task Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Black, John B.; And Others

Task analyses have traditionally been framed in terms of overt behaviors performed in accomplishing tasks and goals. Pioneering work at the Learning Research and Development Center looked at what contribution a cognitive analysis might make to current task analysis procedures, since traditional task analysis methods neither elicit nor capture…

Developing an occupational skills profile for the emerging profession of "big-data-enabled professional"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kastens, K. A.; Malyn-Smith, J.; Ippolito, J.; Krumhansl, R.

2014-12-01

In August of 2014, the Oceans of Data Institute at Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) is convening an expert panel to begin the process of developing an occupational skills profile for the "big-data-enabled professional." We define such a professional as an "individual who works with large complex data sets on a regular basis, asking and answering questions, analyzing trends, and finding meaningful patterns, in order to increase the efficiency of processes, make decisions and predictions, solve problems, generate hypotheses, and/or develop new understandings." The expert panel includes several geophysicists, as well as data professionals from engineering, higher education, analytical journalism, forensics, bioinformatics, and telecommunications. Working with experienced facilitators, the expert panel will create a detailed synopsis of the tasks and responsibilities characteristic of their profession, as well as the skills, knowledge and behaviors that enable them to succeed in the workplace. After the panel finishes their work, the task matrix and associated narrative will be vetted and validated by a larger group of additional professionals, and then disseminated for use by educators and employers. The process we are using is called DACUM (Developing a Curriculum), adapted by EDC and optimized for emergent professions, such as the "big-data-enabled professional." DACUM is a well-established method for analyzing jobs and occupations, commonly used in technical fields to develop curriculum and training programs that reflect authentic work tasks found in scientific and technical workplaces. The premises behind the DACUM approach are that: expert workers are better able to describe their own occupation than anyone else; any job can be described in terms of the tasks that successful workers in the occupation perform; all tasks have direct implications for the knowledge, skills, understandings and attitudes that must be taught and learned in preparation for the targeted career. At AGU, we will describe the process and present the finalized occupational profile.

Microbial Load Monitor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gibson, S. F.; Royer, E. R.

1979-01-01

The Microbial Load Monitor (MLM) is an automated and computerized system for detection and identification of microorganisms. Additionally, the system is designed to enumerate and provide antimicrobic susceptibility profiles for medically significant bacteria. The system is designed to accomplish these tasks in a time of 13 hours or less versus the traditional time of 24 hours for negatives and 72 hours or more for positives usually required for standard microbiological analysis. The MLM concept differs from other methods of microbial detection in that the system is designed to accept raw untreated clinical samples and to selectively identify each group or species that may be present in a polymicrobic sample.

Identification of unique repeated patterns, location of mutation in DNA finger printing using artificial intelligence technique.

PubMed

Mukunthan, B; Nagaveni, N

2014-01-01

In genetic engineering, conventional techniques and algorithms employed by forensic scientists to assist in identification of individuals on the basis of their respective DNA profiles involves more complex computational steps and mathematical formulae, also the identification of location of mutation in a genomic sequence in laboratories is still an exigent task. This novel approach provides ability to solve the problems that do not have an algorithmic solution and the available solutions are also too complex to be found. The perfect blend made of bioinformatics and neural networks technique results in efficient DNA pattern analysis algorithm with utmost prediction accuracy.

Comparative Cognitive Task Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

is to perform a task analyses to determine how people operate in a specific domain on a specific task. Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) is a set of...accomplish a task. In this chapter, we build on CTA methods by suggesting that comparative cognitive task analysis (C2TA) can help solve the aforementioned

Data Imputation in Epistatic MAPs by Network-Guided Matrix Completion

PubMed Central

Žitnik, Marinka; Zupan, Blaž

2015-01-01

Abstract Epistatic miniarray profile (E-MAP) is a popular large-scale genetic interaction discovery platform. E-MAPs benefit from quantitative output, which makes it possible to detect subtle interactions with greater precision. However, due to the limits of biotechnology, E-MAP studies fail to measure genetic interactions for up to 40% of gene pairs in an assay. Missing measurements can be recovered by computational techniques for data imputation, in this way completing the interaction profiles and enabling downstream analysis algorithms that could otherwise be sensitive to missing data values. We introduce a new interaction data imputation method called network-guided matrix completion (NG-MC). The core part of NG-MC is low-rank probabilistic matrix completion that incorporates prior knowledge presented as a collection of gene networks. NG-MC assumes that interactions are transitive, such that latent gene interaction profiles inferred by NG-MC depend on the profiles of their direct neighbors in gene networks. As the NG-MC inference algorithm progresses, it propagates latent interaction profiles through each of the networks and updates gene network weights toward improved prediction. In a study with four different E-MAP data assays and considered protein–protein interaction and gene ontology similarity networks, NG-MC significantly surpassed existing alternative techniques. Inclusion of information from gene networks also allowed NG-MC to predict interactions for genes that were not included in original E-MAP assays, a task that could not be considered by current imputation approaches. PMID:25658751

Multidimensional joint coupling: a case study visualisation approach to movement coordination and variability.

PubMed

Irwin, Gareth; Kerwin, David G; Williams, Genevieve; Van Emmerik, Richard E A; Newell, Karl M; Hamill, Joseph

2018-06-18

A case study visualisation approach to examining the coordination and variability of multiple interacting segments is presented using a whole-body gymnastic skill as the task example. One elite male gymnast performed 10 trials of 10 longswings whilst three-dimensional locations of joint centres were tracked using a motion analysis system. Segment angles were used to define coupling between the arms and trunk, trunk and thighs and thighs and shanks. Rectified continuous relative phase profiles for each interacting couple for 80 longswings were produced. Graphical representations of coordination couplings are presented that include the traditional single coupling, followed by the relational dynamics of two couplings and finally three couplings simultaneously plotted. This method highlights the power of visualisation of movement dynamics and identifies properties of the global interacting segmental couplings that a more formal analysis may not reveal. Visualisation precedes and informs the appropriate qualitative and quantitative analysis of the dynamics.

Analysis of a Novel Diffractive Scanning Wire Beam Position Monitor (BPM) for Discriminative Profiling of Electron Vs. X Ray Beams

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

Tatchyn, Roman; /SLAC

2011-09-01

Recent numerical studies of Free Electron Lasers (FELs) operating in the Self Amplified Spontaneous Emission (SASE) regime indicate a large sensitivity of the gain to the degree of transverse overlap (and associated phase coherence) between the electron and photon beams traveling down the insertion device. Simulations of actual systems imply that accurate detection and correction for this relative loss of overlap, rather than correction for the absolute departure of the electron beam from a fixed axis, is the preferred function of an FEL amplifier's Beam Position Monitor (BPM) and corrector systems. In this note we propose a novel diffractive BPMmore » with the capability of simultaneously detecting and resolving the absolute (and relative) transverse positions and profiles of electron and x-ray beams co-propagating through an undulator. We derive the equations governing the performance of the BPM and examine its predicted performance for the SLAC Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), viz., for profiling multi-GeV electron bunches co-propagating with one-to-several-hundred keV x-ray beams. Selected research and development (r&d) tasks for fabricating and testing the proposed BPM are discussed.« less

Model for interevent times with long tails and multifractality in human communications: An application to financial trading

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perelló, Josep; Masoliver, Jaume; Kasprzak, Andrzej; Kutner, Ryszard

2008-09-01

Social, technological, and economic time series are divided by events which are usually assumed to be random, albeit with some hierarchical structure. It is well known that the interevent statistics observed in these contexts differs from the Poissonian profile by being long-tailed distributed with resting and active periods interwoven. Understanding mechanisms generating consistent statistics has therefore become a central issue. The approach we present is taken from the continuous-time random-walk formalism and represents an analytical alternative to models of nontrivial priority that have been recently proposed. Our analysis also goes one step further by looking at the multifractal structure of the interevent times of human decisions. We here analyze the intertransaction time intervals of several financial markets. We observe that empirical data describe a subtle multifractal behavior. Our model explains this structure by taking the pausing-time density in the form of a superstatistics where the integral kernel quantifies the heterogeneous nature of the executed tasks. A stretched exponential kernel provides a multifractal profile valid for a certain limited range. A suggested heuristic analytical profile is capable of covering a broader region.

Analysis of Cohesion and Collective Efficacy Profiles for the Performance of Soccer Players

PubMed Central

Leo, Francisco M.; Sánchez-Miguel, Pedro A.; Sánchez-Oliva, David; Amado, Diana; García-Calvo, Tomás

2013-01-01

The principal aims of the study were to define different profiles of cohesion and perceived efficacy in soccer players and to measure their differences in performance. The subjects were 235 soccer players in the under-18 category who played in the National League in Spain and 15 coaches whose ages ranged from 29 to 45 years. Diverse instruments to assess cohesion, perceived efficacy, and expectations of success were used in the study. Moreover, we measured playing time and performance. The results of the study proved the existence of four cohesion and efficacy profiles that presented significant differences in expectations of success, playing time, and performance. Furthermore, significant differences were found in the distribution of players in the teams as a function of performance. The main conclusion of this study is that soccer players with higher cohesion and collective efficacy levels belonged to teams that completed the season at the top-level classification. In contrast, athletes with low cohesion and collective efficacy usually played in unsuccessful teams. Coaches and sports psychologists are encouraged to promote both social and task cohesion and collective efficacy to enhance team performance. PMID:24511358

Effects of acute aerobic exercise on neural correlates of attention and inhibition in adolescents with bipolar disorder

PubMed Central

Metcalfe, A W S; MacIntosh, B J; Scavone, A; Ou, X; Korczak, D; Goldstein, B I

2016-01-01

Executive dysfunction is common during and between mood episodes in bipolar disorder (BD), causing social and functional impairment. This study investigated the effect of acute exercise on adolescents with BD and healthy control subjects (HC) to test for positive or negative consequences on neural response during an executive task. Fifty adolescents (mean age 16.54±1.47 years, 56% female, 30 with BD) completed an attention and response inhibition task before and after 20 min of recumbent cycling at ~70% of age-predicted maximum heart rate. 3 T functional magnetic resonance imaging data were analyzed in a whole brain voxel-wise analysis and as regions of interest (ROI), examining Go and NoGo response events. In the whole brain analysis of Go trials, exercise had larger effect in BD vs HC throughout ventral prefrontal cortex, amygdala and hippocampus; the profile of these effects was of greater disengagement after exercise. Pre-exercise ROI analysis confirmed this 'deficit in deactivation' for BDs in rostral ACC and found an activation deficit on NoGo errors in accumbens. Pre-exercise accumbens NoGo error activity correlated with depression symptoms and Go activity with mania symptoms; no correlations were present after exercise. Performance was matched to controls and results survived a series of covariate analyses. This study provides evidence that acute aerobic exercise transiently changes neural response during an executive task among adolescents with BD, and that pre-exercise relationships between symptoms and neural response are absent after exercise. Acute aerobic exercise constitutes a biological probe that may provide insights regarding pathophysiology and treatment of BD. PMID:27187236

Functional connectivity mapping of regions associated with self- and other-processing.

PubMed

Murray, Ryan J; Debbané, Martin; Fox, Peter T; Bzdok, Danilo; Eickhoff, Simon B

2015-04-01

Neuroscience literature increasingly suggests a conceptual self composed of interacting neural regions, rather than independent local activations, yet such claims have yet to be investigated. We, thus, combined task-dependent meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) with task-independent resting-state (RS) connectivity analysis to delineate the neural network of the self, across both states. Given psychological evidence implicating the self's interdependence on social information, we also delineated the neural network underlying conceptual other-processing. To elucidate the relation between the self-/other-networks and their function, we mined the MACM metadata to generate a cognitive-behavioral profile for an empirically identified region specific to conceptual self, the pregenual anterior cingulate (pACC), and conceptual other, posterior cingulate/precuneus (PCC/PC). Mining of 7,200 published, task-dependent, neuroimaging studies, using healthy human subjects, yielded 193 studies activating the self-related seed and were conjoined with RS connectivity analysis to delineate a differentiated self-network composed of the pACC (seed) and anterior insula, relative to other functional connectivity. Additionally, 106 studies activating the other-related seed were conjoined with RS connectivity analysis to delineate a differentiated other-network of PCC/PC (seed) and angular gyrus/temporoparietal junction, relative to self-functional connectivity. The self-network seed related to emotional conflict resolution and motivational processing, whereas the other-network seed related to socially oriented processing and contextual information integration. Notably, our findings revealed shared RS connectivity between ensuing self-/other-networks within the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and medial orbitofrontal cortex, suggesting self-updating via integration of self-relevant social information. We, therefore, present initial neurobiological evidence corroborating the increasing claims of an intricate self-network, the architecture of which may promote social value processing. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Effects of acute aerobic exercise on neural correlates of attention and inhibition in adolescents with bipolar disorder.

PubMed

Metcalfe, A W S; MacIntosh, B J; Scavone, A; Ou, X; Korczak, D; Goldstein, B I

2016-05-17

Executive dysfunction is common during and between mood episodes in bipolar disorder (BD), causing social and functional impairment. This study investigated the effect of acute exercise on adolescents with BD and healthy control subjects (HC) to test for positive or negative consequences on neural response during an executive task. Fifty adolescents (mean age 16.54±1.47 years, 56% female, 30 with BD) completed an attention and response inhibition task before and after 20 min of recumbent cycling at ~70% of age-predicted maximum heart rate. 3 T functional magnetic resonance imaging data were analyzed in a whole brain voxel-wise analysis and as regions of interest (ROI), examining Go and NoGo response events. In the whole brain analysis of Go trials, exercise had larger effect in BD vs HC throughout ventral prefrontal cortex, amygdala and hippocampus; the profile of these effects was of greater disengagement after exercise. Pre-exercise ROI analysis confirmed this 'deficit in deactivation' for BDs in rostral ACC and found an activation deficit on NoGo errors in accumbens. Pre-exercise accumbens NoGo error activity correlated with depression symptoms and Go activity with mania symptoms; no correlations were present after exercise. Performance was matched to controls and results survived a series of covariate analyses. This study provides evidence that acute aerobic exercise transiently changes neural response during an executive task among adolescents with BD, and that pre-exercise relationships between symptoms and neural response are absent after exercise. Acute aerobic exercise constitutes a biological probe that may provide insights regarding pathophysiology and treatment of BD.

Pb2+ Effects on Growth, Lipids, and Protein and DNA Profiles of the Thermophilic Bacterium Thermus Thermophilus

PubMed Central

Nicolaus, Barbara; Poli, Annarita; Di Donato, Paola; Romano, Ida; Laezza, Giusi; Gioiello, Alessia; Ulgiati, Sergio; Fratianni, Florinda; Nazzaro, Filomena; Orlando, Pierangelo; Dumontet, Stefano

2016-01-01

Extremophiles are organisms able to thrive in extreme environmental conditions and some of them show the ability to survive high doses of heavy metals thanks to defensive mechanisms provided by primary and secondary metabolic products, i.e., extremolytes, lipids, and extremozymes. This is why there is a growing scientific and industrial interest in the use of thermophilic bacteria in a host of tasks, from the environmental detoxification of heavy metal to industrial activities, such as bio-machining and bio-metallurgy. In this work Thermus thermophilus was challenged against increasing Pb2+ concentrations spanning from 0 to 300 ppm in order to ascertain the sensitiveness of this bacteria to the Pb environmental pollution and to give an insight on its heavy metal resistance mechanisms. Analysis of growth parameters, enzyme activities, protein profiles, and lipid membrane modifications were carried out. In addition, genotyping analysis of bacteria grown in the presence of Pb2+, using random amplified polymorphic DNA-PCR and DNA melting evaluation, were also performed. A better knowledge of the response of thermophilic bacteria to the different pollutants, as heavy metals, is necessary for optimizing their use in remediation or decontamination processes. PMID:27929414

Robotics/Automated Systems Task Analysis and Description of Required Job Competencies Report. Task Analysis and Description of Required Job Competencies of Robotics/Automated Systems Technicians.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hull, Daniel M.; Lovett, James E.

This task analysis report for the Robotics/Automated Systems Technician (RAST) curriculum project first provides a RAST job description. It then discusses the task analysis, including the identification of tasks, the grouping of tasks according to major areas of specialty, and the comparison of the competencies to existing or new courses to…

Altered spatial profile of distraction in people with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Leonard, Carly J; Robinson, Benjamin M; Hahn, Britta; Luck, Steven J; Gold, James M

2017-11-01

Attention is critical for effective processing of incoming information and has long been identified as a potential area of dysfunction in people with schizophrenia (PSZ). In the realm of visual processing, both spatial attention and feature-based attention are involved in biasing selection toward task-relevant stimuli and avoiding distraction. Evidence from multiple paradigms has suggested that PSZ may hyperfocus and have a narrower "spotlight" of spatial attention. In contrast, feature-based attention seems largely preserved, with some suggestion of increased processing of stimuli sharing the target-defining feature. In the current study, we examined the spatial profile of feature-based distraction using a task in which participants searched for a particular color target and attempted to ignore distractors that varied in distance from the target location and either matched or mismatched the target color. PSZ differed from healthy controls in terms of interference from peripheral distractors that shared the target-color presented 200 ms before a central target. Specifically, PSZ showed an amplified gradient of spatial attention, with increased distraction to near distractors and less interference to far distractors. Moreover, consistent with hyperfocusing, individual differences in this spatial profile were correlated with positive symptoms, such that those with greater positive symptoms showed less distraction by target-colored distractors near the task-relevant location. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Social cognition in anorexia nervosa: evidence of preserved theory of mind and impaired emotional functioning.

PubMed

Adenzato, Mauro; Todisco, Patrizia; Ardito, Rita B

2012-01-01

The findings of the few studies that have to date investigated the way in which individuals with Anorexia Nervosa (AN) navigate their social environment are somewhat contradictory. We undertook this study to shed new light on the social-cognitive profile of patients with AN, analysing Theory of Mind and emotional functioning. Starting from previous evidence on the role of the amygdala in the neurobiology of AN and in the social cognition, we hypothesise preserved Theory of Mind and impaired emotional functioning in patients with AN. Thirty women diagnosed with AN and thirty-two women matched for education and age were involved in the study. Theory of Mind and emotional functioning were assessed with a set of validated experimental tasks. A measure of perceived social support was also used to test the correlations between this dimension and the social-cognitive profile of AN patients. The performance of patients with AN is significantly worse than that of healthy controls on tasks assessing emotional functioning, whereas patients' performance is comparable to that of healthy controls on the Theory of Mind task. Correlation analyses showed no relationship between scores on any of the social-cognition tasks and either age of onset or duration of illness. A correlation between social support and emotional functioning was found. This latter result seems to suggest a potential role of social support in the treatment and recovery of AN. The pattern of results followed the experimental hypothesis. They may be useful to help us better understand the social-cognitive profile of patients with AN and to contribute to the development of effective interventions based on the ways in which patients with AN actually perceive their social environment.

Spectral Line-Shape Model to Replace the Voigt Profile in Spectroscopic Databases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lisak, Daniel; Ngo, Ngoc Hoa; Tran, Ha; Hartmann, Jean-Michel

2014-06-01

The standard description of molecular line shapes in spectral databases and radiative transfer codes is based on the Voigt profile. It is well known that its simplified assumptions of absorber free motion and independence of collisional parameters from absorber velocity lead to systematic errors in analysis of experimental spectra, and retrieval of gas concentration. We demonstrate1,2 that the partially correlated quadratic speed-dependent hardcollision profile3. (pCqSDHCP) is a good candidate to replace the Voigt profile in the next generations of spectroscopic databases. This profile takes into account the following physical effects: the Doppler broadening, the pressure broadening and shifting of the line, the velocity-changing collisions, the speed-dependence of pressure broadening and shifting, and correlations between velocity- and phase/state-changing collisions. The speed-dependence of pressure broadening and shifting is incorporated into the pCqSDNGP in the so-called quadratic approximation. The velocity-changing collisions lead to the Dicke narrowing effect; however in many cases correlations between velocityand phase/state-changing collisions may lead to effective reduction of observed Dicke narrowing. The hard-collision model of velocity-changing collisions is also known as the Nelkin-Ghatak model or Rautian model. Applicability of the pCqSDHCP for different molecular systems was tested on calculated and experimental spectra of such molecules as H2, O2, CO2, H2O in a wide span of pressures. For all considered systems, pCqSDHCP is able to describe molecular spectra at least an order of magnitude better than the Voigt profile with all fitted parameters being linear with pressure. In the most cases pCqSDHCP can reproduce the reference spectra down to 0.2% or better, which fulfills the requirements of the most demanding remote-sensing applications. An important advantage of pCqSDHCP is that a fast algorithm for its computation was developedab4,5 and allows for its calculation only a few times slower than the standard Voigt profile. Moreover, the pCqSDHCP reduces to many simpler models commonly used in experimental spectra analysis simply by setting some parameters to zero, and it can be easily extended to incorporate the line-mixing effect in the first-order approximation. The idea of using pCqSDHCP as a standard profile to go beyond the Voigt profile for description of H2O line shapes was recently supported by the IUPAC task group6 which also recommended to call this profile with fast computation algorithm the HTP profile (for Hartmann-Tran).

Applying Cognitive Work Analysis to Time Critical Targeting Functionality

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-10-01

Cognitive Task Analysis , CTA, Cognitive Task Analysis , Human Factors, GUI, Graphical User Interface, Heuristic Evaluation... Cognitive Task Analysis MITRE Briefing January 2000 Dynamic Battle Management Functional Architecture 3-1 Section 3 Human Factors...clear distinction between Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) and Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA), therefore this document will refer to these

Developing Academic English Language Proficiency Prototypes for 5th Grade Reading: Psychometric and Linguistic Profiles of Tasks. An Extended Executive Summary. CSE Report 720

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bailey, Alison L.; Huang, Becky H.; Shin, Hye Won; Farnsworth, Tim; Butler, Frances A.

2007-01-01

Within an evidentiary framework for operationally defining academic English language proficiency (AELP), linguistic analyses of standards, classroom discourse, and textbooks have led to specifications for assessment of AELP. The test development process described here is novel due to the emphasis on using linguistic profiles to inform the …

Parallel-hierarchical processing and classification of laser beam profile images based on the GPU-oriented architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yarovyi, Andrii A.; Timchenko, Leonid I.; Kozhemiako, Volodymyr P.; Kokriatskaia, Nataliya I.; Hamdi, Rami R.; Savchuk, Tamara O.; Kulyk, Oleksandr O.; Surtel, Wojciech; Amirgaliyev, Yedilkhan; Kashaganova, Gulzhan

2017-08-01

The paper deals with a problem of insufficient productivity of existing computer means for large image processing, which do not meet modern requirements posed by resource-intensive computing tasks of laser beam profiling. The research concentrated on one of the profiling problems, namely, real-time processing of spot images of the laser beam profile. Development of a theory of parallel-hierarchic transformation allowed to produce models for high-performance parallel-hierarchical processes, as well as algorithms and software for their implementation based on the GPU-oriented architecture using GPGPU technologies. The analyzed performance of suggested computerized tools for processing and classification of laser beam profile images allows to perform real-time processing of dynamic images of various sizes.

Evaluating a Computerized Aid for Conducting a Cognitive Task Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-01-01

in conducting a cognitive task analysis . The conduct of a cognitive task analysis is costly and labor intensive. As a result, a few computerized aids...evaluation of a computerized aid, specifically CAT-HCI (Cognitive Analysis Tool - Human Computer Interface), for the conduct of a detailed cognitive task analysis . A

Brief Report: Assessment of the Social-Emotional Profile in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Using a Novel Comic Strip Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sivaratnam, Carmel S.; Cornish, Kim; Gray, Kylie M.; Howlin, Patricia; Rinehart, Nicole J.

2012-01-01

This study investigated whether the novel Comic Strip Task (CST) could be used to detect Theory-of-Mind impairments (ToM) in 4- to 8-year-old children with high functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Twelve children with either high-functioning autism or Asperger's Disorder and 12 typically-developing children completed the 21-item measure.…

Muscle activity and mood state during simulated plant factory work in individuals with cervical spinal cord injury

PubMed Central

Okahara, Satoshi; Kataoka, Masataka; Okuda, Kuniharu; Shima, Masato; Miyagaki, Keiko; Ohara, Hitoshi

2016-01-01

[Purpose] The present study investigated the physical and mental effects of plant factory work in individuals with cervical spinal cord injury and the use of a newly developed agricultural working environment. [Subjects] Six males with C5–C8 spinal cord injuries and 10 healthy volunteers participated. [Methods] Plant factory work involved three simulated repetitive tasks: sowing, transplantation, and harvesting. Surface electromyography was performed in the dominant upper arm, upper trapezius, anterior deltoid, and biceps brachii muscles. Subjects’ moods were monitored using the Profile of Mood States. [Results] Five males with C6–C8 injuries performed the same tasks as healthy persons; a male with a C5 injury performed fewer repetitions of tasks because it took longer. Regarding muscle activity during transplantation and harvesting, subjects with spinal cord injury had higher values for the upper trapezius and anterior deltoid muscles compared with healthy persons. The Profile of Mood States vigor scores were significantly higher after tasks in subjects with spinal cord injury. [Conclusion] Individuals with cervical spinal cord injury completed the plant factory work, though it required increased time and muscle activity. For individuals with C5–C8 injuries, it is necessary to develop an appropriate environment and assistive devices to facilitate their work. PMID:27134377

Task-switching deficits and repetitive behaviour in genetic neurodevelopmental disorders: data from children with Prader-Willi syndrome chromosome 15 q11-q13 deletion and boys with Fragile X syndrome.

PubMed

Woodcock, Kate A; Oliver, Chris; Humphreys, Glyn W

2009-03-01

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) and Fragile X syndrome (FraX) are associated with distinctive cognitive and behavioural profiles. We examined whether repetitive behaviours in the two syndromes were associated with deficits in specific executive functions. PWS, FraX, and typically developing (TD) children were assessed for executive functioning using the Test of Everyday Attention for Children and an adapted Simon spatial interference task. Relative to the TD children, children with PWS and FraX showed greater costs of attention switching on the Simon task, but after controlling for intellectual ability, these switching deficits were only significant in the PWS group. Children with PWS and FraX also showed significantly increased preference for routine and differing profiles of other specific types of repetitive behaviours. A measure of switch cost from the Simon task was positively correlated to scores on preference for routine questionnaire items and was strongly associated with scores on other items relating to a preference for predictability. It is proposed that a deficit in attention switching is a component of the endophenotypes of both PWS and FraX and is associated with specific behaviours. This proposal is discussed in the context of neurocognitive pathways between genes and behaviour.

Variation in Strategy Use Across Measures of Verbal Working Memory

PubMed Central

Morrison, Alexandra B; Rosenbaum, Gail M.; Fair, Damien; Chein, Jason M.

2016-01-01

The working memory (WM) literature contains a number of tasks that vary on dimensions such as when or how memory items are reported. In addition to the ways in which WM tasks are designed to differ, tasks may also diverge according to the strategies participants use during task performance. The present study included seven tasks from the WM literature, each requiring short-term retention of verbal items. Following completion of a small number of trials from each task, individuals completed a self-report questionnaire to identify their primary strategy. Results indicated substantial variation across individuals for a given task, and within the same individual across tasks. Moreover, while direct comparisons between tasks showed that some tasks evinced similar patterns of strategy use despite differing task demands, others showed markedly different patterns of self-reported strategy use. A community detection algorithm aimed at identifying groups of individuals based on their profile of strategic choices revealed unique communities of individuals who are dependent on specific strategies under varying demands. Together, the findings suggest that researchers using common working memory paradigms should very carefully consider the implications of variation in strategy use when interpreting their findings. PMID:27038310

Geometry of the Gene Expression Space of Individual Cells

PubMed Central

Korem, Yael; Szekely, Pablo; Hart, Yuval; Sheftel, Hila; Hausser, Jean; Mayo, Avi; Rothenberg, Michael E.; Kalisky, Tomer; Alon, Uri

2015-01-01

There is a revolution in the ability to analyze gene expression of single cells in a tissue. To understand this data we must comprehend how cells are distributed in a high-dimensional gene expression space. One open question is whether cell types form discrete clusters or whether gene expression forms a continuum of states. If such a continuum exists, what is its geometry? Recent theory on evolutionary trade-offs suggests that cells that need to perform multiple tasks are arranged in a polygon or polyhedron (line, triangle, tetrahedron and so on, generally called polytopes) in gene expression space, whose vertices are the expression profiles optimal for each task. Here, we analyze single-cell data from human and mouse tissues profiled using a variety of single-cell technologies. We fit the data to shapes with different numbers of vertices, compute their statistical significance, and infer their tasks. We find cases in which single cells fill out a continuum of expression states within a polyhedron. This occurs in intestinal progenitor cells, which fill out a tetrahedron in gene expression space. The four vertices of this tetrahedron are each enriched with genes for a specific task related to stemness and early differentiation. A polyhedral continuum of states is also found in spleen dendritic cells, known to perform multiple immune tasks: cells fill out a tetrahedron whose vertices correspond to key tasks related to maturation, pathogen sensing and communication with lymphocytes. A mixture of continuum-like distributions and discrete clusters is found in other cell types, including bone marrow and differentiated intestinal crypt cells. This approach can be used to understand the geometry and biological tasks of a wide range of single-cell datasets. The present results suggest that the concept of cell type may be expanded. In addition to discreet clusters in gene-expression space, we suggest a new possibility: a continuum of states within a polyhedron, in which the vertices represent specialists at key tasks. PMID:26161936

Biomechanical Profiles When Towing a Sled and Wearing a Weighted Vest Once Cleared for Sports Post-ACL Reconstruction.

PubMed

Hartigan, Erin; Lawrence, Michael; Murray, Thomas; Shaw, Bernadette; Collins, Erin; Powers, Kaitlin; Townsend, James

2016-09-01

Though rehabilitation attempts to correct "stiff knee gait" and control for dynamic limb valgus after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR), impaired biomechanics often persist when an individual is cleared to return to sport (RTS). Reduced knee extension moments (KEMs) and knee flexion angles (KFAs) often continue. While at the hip, increased hip adduction angles (HADDAs) and hip internal rotation angles (HIRAs) often persist in spite of dynamic hip stabilization exercises. Sled towing and weighted vest tasks increase KEM and hip extension moments (HEMs) in healthy individuals, yet biomechanical profiles during these tasks after ACLR are unknown. Weighted gait will increase KEM, HEM, hip abduction moments (HABDMs), and hip external rotation moments (HERMs) and will not increase unwanted biomechanics (limb asymmetries, HIRA, HADDA) compared with normal gait. Controlled laboratory study. Level 4. Fourteen men and 24 women who were 5 to 12 months after ACLR, had no concomitant ligament injuries, and were cleared to RTS were recruited. Sexes were evaluated independently given the sex-specific incidence to ACL injury, reinjury, and gait responses to certain interventions. Joint moment impulses and peak angles over the first 25% of stance were compared between limbs and across tasks (eg, unweighted gait, sled 50% body weight [BW], and vest 50% BW). Men showed that weighted gait increased KEM, HEM, HERM, HADBM (vest only), HADDA, HIRA (sled only), and KFA. Asymmetrical KEM and KFA existed across tasks. Women showed that weighted gait increased KEM, HEM, HERM, HADBM (vest only), HFA (sled only), HADDA, and KFA. Asymmetrical KEM, HEM, HIRA, and KFA (sled only) existed across tasks. Weighted gait generally increased joint moments. Unwanted biomechanics were unique for each weighted gait task. Though joint moments increased, both tasks created unwanted biomechanics after ACLR. Persistent hip (women only) and KEM asymmetries across tasks when cleared to RTS are concerning given the relationship among these biomechanics and decreased functional performance. © 2016 The Author(s).

Predicting Mental Imagery-Based BCI Performance from Personality, Cognitive Profile and Neurophysiological Patterns.

PubMed

Jeunet, Camille; N'Kaoua, Bernard; Subramanian, Sriram; Hachet, Martin; Lotte, Fabien

2015-01-01

Mental-Imagery based Brain-Computer Interfaces (MI-BCIs) allow their users to send commands to a computer using their brain-activity alone (typically measured by ElectroEncephaloGraphy-EEG), which is processed while they perform specific mental tasks. While very promising, MI-BCIs remain barely used outside laboratories because of the difficulty encountered by users to control them. Indeed, although some users obtain good control performances after training, a substantial proportion remains unable to reliably control an MI-BCI. This huge variability in user-performance led the community to look for predictors of MI-BCI control ability. However, these predictors were only explored for motor-imagery based BCIs, and mostly for a single training session per subject. In this study, 18 participants were instructed to learn to control an EEG-based MI-BCI by performing 3 MI-tasks, 2 of which were non-motor tasks, across 6 training sessions, on 6 different days. Relationships between the participants' BCI control performances and their personality, cognitive profile and neurophysiological markers were explored. While no relevant relationships with neurophysiological markers were found, strong correlations between MI-BCI performances and mental-rotation scores (reflecting spatial abilities) were revealed. Also, a predictive model of MI-BCI performance based on psychometric questionnaire scores was proposed. A leave-one-subject-out cross validation process revealed the stability and reliability of this model: it enabled to predict participants' performance with a mean error of less than 3 points. This study determined how users' profiles impact their MI-BCI control ability and thus clears the way for designing novel MI-BCI training protocols, adapted to the profile of each user.

Predicting Mental Imagery-Based BCI Performance from Personality, Cognitive Profile and Neurophysiological Patterns

PubMed Central

Jeunet, Camille; N’Kaoua, Bernard; Subramanian, Sriram; Hachet, Martin; Lotte, Fabien

2015-01-01

Mental-Imagery based Brain-Computer Interfaces (MI-BCIs) allow their users to send commands to a computer using their brain-activity alone (typically measured by ElectroEncephaloGraphy—EEG), which is processed while they perform specific mental tasks. While very promising, MI-BCIs remain barely used outside laboratories because of the difficulty encountered by users to control them. Indeed, although some users obtain good control performances after training, a substantial proportion remains unable to reliably control an MI-BCI. This huge variability in user-performance led the community to look for predictors of MI-BCI control ability. However, these predictors were only explored for motor-imagery based BCIs, and mostly for a single training session per subject. In this study, 18 participants were instructed to learn to control an EEG-based MI-BCI by performing 3 MI-tasks, 2 of which were non-motor tasks, across 6 training sessions, on 6 different days. Relationships between the participants’ BCI control performances and their personality, cognitive profile and neurophysiological markers were explored. While no relevant relationships with neurophysiological markers were found, strong correlations between MI-BCI performances and mental-rotation scores (reflecting spatial abilities) were revealed. Also, a predictive model of MI-BCI performance based on psychometric questionnaire scores was proposed. A leave-one-subject-out cross validation process revealed the stability and reliability of this model: it enabled to predict participants’ performance with a mean error of less than 3 points. This study determined how users’ profiles impact their MI-BCI control ability and thus clears the way for designing novel MI-BCI training protocols, adapted to the profile of each user. PMID:26625261

Set shifting in children and adolescents with anorexia nervosa: an exploratory systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Lang, Katie; Stahl, Daniel; Espie, Jonathan; Treasure, Janet; Tchanturia, Kate

2014-05-01

Set shifting inefficiencies in adults with anorexia nervosa (AN) are established, however the neurocognitive profile of children and adolescents with AN is less clear. This study aimed to provide a review of the literature. Electronic databases were used to search for manuscripts. Meta-analysis was performed on seven studies using two neuropsychological tests (Trail Making Task, TMT; Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, WCST). The mean difference in outcome between AN and healthy control (HC) groups was standardized by calculating Cohen's d. Meta-analysis of TMT studies showed a nonsignificant negative, pooled standardized mean difference of -0.005 (95% C.I. -0.416 to 0.406, z = 0.02, p = .98). WCST studies revealed a nonsignificant pooled effect size of d = 0.196 (95% C.I. -0.091-0.483, z = 1.34, p = .18). Studies which did not allow for a calculation of effect size typically showed a nonsignificant, worse performance by the AN groups. The inefficiencies in set shifting that are apparent in the adult AN literature do not appear to be as pronounced in children. This may suggest that set shifting difficulties in adult AN are the result of starvation or indicative of longer duration of illness. Larger studies are needed to confirm these impressions. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Evidence that specific executive functions predict symptom variance among schizophrenia patients with a predominantly negative symptom profile.

PubMed

Donohoe, Gary; Corvin, Aiden; Robertson, Ian H

2006-01-01

Although deficits in executive functioning in schizophrenia have been consistently reported, their precise relationship to symptomatology remains unclear. Recent approaches to executive functioning in nonschizophrenia studies have aimed to "fractionate" the individual cognitive processes involved. In this study, we hypothesised that if these processes are fractionable, then particular symptom syndromes may be selectively related to executive deficits. In particular, it was hoped that this approach could clarify whether negative and positive symptoms of schizophrenia are differentially related to particular aspects of executive/attentional functions. A total of 32 patients with schizophrenia and 16 matched controls were assessed on a series of tasks designed to tap the theoretically derived executive functions of Inhibition, Shifting set, Working memory, and Sustained attention. Negative symptoms were significantly predicted by performance on an "Inhibition" task (Stroop), and not by performance on any other task. Furthermore, for a subgroup of patients with predominantly negative symptoms variance in positive symptoms was only significantly predicted by performance on a set-shifting task (Visual Elevator), and not by performance on other tasks, including inhibition. Our results support the contention that negative symptoms can, at least partly, be conceived of as cognitive behaviours expressing specific executive deficits. Specifically, we discuss the possibility that negative symptoms may, in part, express a failure in response monitoring. We further suggest that the disordered metacognition resulting in positive symptoms may be mediated by cognitive flexibility in patients with a predominantly negative symptom profile.

Effects of Ethnic Attributes on the Quality of Family Planning Services in Lima, Peru: A Randomized Crossover Trial

PubMed Central

Planas, Maria-Elena; García, Patricia J.; Bustelo, Monserrat; Carcamo, Cesar P.; Martinez, Sebastian; Nopo, Hugo; Rodriguez, Julio; Merino, Maria-Fernanda; Morrison, Andrew

2015-01-01

Most studies reporting ethnic disparities in the quality of healthcare come from developed countries and rely on observational methods. We conducted the first experimental study to evaluate whether health providers in Peru provide differential quality of care for family planning services, based on the indigenous or mestizo (mixed ethnoracial ancestry) profile of the patient. In a crossover randomized controlled trial conducted in 2012, a sample of 351 out of the 408 public health establishments in Metropolitan Lima, Peru were randomly assigned to receive unannounced simulated patients enacting indigenous and mestizo profiles (sequence-1) or mestizo and then indigenous profiles (sequence-2), with a five week wash-out period. Both ethnic profiles used the same scripted scenario for seeking contraceptive advice but had distinctive cultural attributes such as clothing, styling of hair, make-up, accessories, posture and patterns of movement and speech. Our primary outcome measure of quality of care is the proportion of technical tasks performed by providers, as established by Peruvian family planning clinical guidelines. Providers and data analysts were kept blinded to the allocation. We found a non-significant mean difference of -0·7% (p = 0·23) between ethnic profiles in the percentage of technical tasks performed by providers. However we report large deficiencies in the compliance with quality standards of care for both profiles. Differential provider behaviour based on the patient's ethnic profiles compared in the study did not contribute to deficiencies in family planning outcomes observed. The study highlights the need to explore other determinants for poor compliance with quality standards, including demand and supply side factors, and calls for interventions to improve the quality of care for family planning services in Metropolitan Lima. PMID:25671664

Effects of ethnic attributes on the quality of family planning services in Lima, Peru: a randomized crossover trial.

PubMed

Planas, Maria-Elena; García, Patricia J; Bustelo, Monserrat; Carcamo, Cesar P; Martinez, Sebastian; Nopo, Hugo; Rodriguez, Julio; Merino, Maria-Fernanda; Morrison, Andrew

2015-01-01

Most studies reporting ethnic disparities in the quality of healthcare come from developed countries and rely on observational methods. We conducted the first experimental study to evaluate whether health providers in Peru provide differential quality of care for family planning services, based on the indigenous or mestizo (mixed ethnoracial ancestry) profile of the patient. In a crossover randomized controlled trial conducted in 2012, a sample of 351 out of the 408 public health establishments in Metropolitan Lima, Peru were randomly assigned to receive unannounced simulated patients enacting indigenous and mestizo profiles (sequence-1) or mestizo and then indigenous profiles (sequence-2), with a five week wash-out period. Both ethnic profiles used the same scripted scenario for seeking contraceptive advice but had distinctive cultural attributes such as clothing, styling of hair, make-up, accessories, posture and patterns of movement and speech. Our primary outcome measure of quality of care is the proportion of technical tasks performed by providers, as established by Peruvian family planning clinical guidelines. Providers and data analysts were kept blinded to the allocation. We found a non-significant mean difference of -0.7% (p = 0.23) between ethnic profiles in the percentage of technical tasks performed by providers. However we report large deficiencies in the compliance with quality standards of care for both profiles. Differential provider behaviour based on the patient's ethnic profiles compared in the study did not contribute to deficiencies in family planning outcomes observed. The study highlights the need to explore other determinants for poor compliance with quality standards, including demand and supply side factors, and calls for interventions to improve the quality of care for family planning services in Metropolitan Lima.

Sequenza: allele-specific copy number and mutation profiles from tumor sequencing data.

PubMed

Favero, F; Joshi, T; Marquard, A M; Birkbak, N J; Krzystanek, M; Li, Q; Szallasi, Z; Eklund, A C

2015-01-01

Exome or whole-genome deep sequencing of tumor DNA along with paired normal DNA can potentially provide a detailed picture of the somatic mutations that characterize the tumor. However, analysis of such sequence data can be complicated by the presence of normal cells in the tumor specimen, by intratumor heterogeneity, and by the sheer size of the raw data. In particular, determination of copy number variations from exome sequencing data alone has proven difficult; thus, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays have often been used for this task. Recently, algorithms to estimate absolute, but not allele-specific, copy number profiles from tumor sequencing data have been described. We developed Sequenza, a software package that uses paired tumor-normal DNA sequencing data to estimate tumor cellularity and ploidy, and to calculate allele-specific copy number profiles and mutation profiles. We applied Sequenza, as well as two previously published algorithms, to exome sequence data from 30 tumors from The Cancer Genome Atlas. We assessed the performance of these algorithms by comparing their results with those generated using matched SNP arrays and processed by the allele-specific copy number analysis of tumors (ASCAT) algorithm. Comparison between Sequenza/exome and SNP/ASCAT revealed strong correlation in cellularity (Pearson's r = 0.90) and ploidy estimates (r = 0.42, or r = 0.94 after manual inspecting alternative solutions). This performance was noticeably superior to previously published algorithms. In addition, in artificial data simulating normal-tumor admixtures, Sequenza detected the correct ploidy in samples with tumor content as low as 30%. The agreement between Sequenza and SNP array-based copy number profiles suggests that exome sequencing alone is sufficient not only for identifying small scale mutations but also for estimating cellularity and inferring DNA copy number aberrations. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology.

Profiling the scent of weathered training aids for blood-detection dogs.

PubMed

Chilcote, Baree; Rust, LaTara; Nizio, Katie D; Forbes, Shari L

2018-03-01

At outdoor crime scenes, cadaver-detection and blood-detection dogs may be tasked with locating blood that is days, weeks or months old. Although it is known that the odour profile of blood will change during this time, it is currently unknown how the profile changes when exposed to the environment. Such variables must be studied in order to understand when the odour profile is no longer detectable by the scent-detection dogs and other crime scene tools should be implemented. In this study, blood was deposited onto concrete and varnished wood surfaces and weathered in an outdoor environment over a three-month period. Headspace samples were collected using solid phase microextraction (SPME) and analysed using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography - time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS). The chemical odour profiles were compared with the behavioural responses of cadaver-detection and blood-detection dogs during training. Data interpretation using principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) established that the blood odour could no longer be detected using SPME-GC×GC-TOFMS after two months of weathering on both surfaces. Conversely, the blood-detection dogs had difficulty locating the blood samples after one month of weathering on concrete and after one week of weathering on varnished wood. The scent-detection dogs evaluated herein had not been previously exposed to environmentally weathered blood samples during training. Given that this study was conducted to test the dogs' baseline abilities, it is expected that with repeated exposure, the dogs' capabilities would likely improve. The knowledge gained from this study can assist in providing law enforcement with more accurate training aids for blood-detection dogs and can improve their efficiency when deployed to outdoor crime scenes. Copyright © 2017 The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Deep sequencing-based transcriptome profiling analysis of bacteria-challenged Lateolabrax japonicus reveals insight into the immune-relevant genes in marine fish

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Systematic research on fish immunogenetics is indispensable in understanding the origin and evolution of immune systems. This has long been a challenging task because of the limited number of deep sequencing technologies and genome backgrounds of non-model fish available. The newly developed Solexa/Illumina RNA-seq and Digital gene expression (DGE) are high-throughput sequencing approaches and are powerful tools for genomic studies at the transcriptome level. This study reports the transcriptome profiling analysis of bacteria-challenged Lateolabrax japonicus using RNA-seq and DGE in an attempt to gain insights into the immunogenetics of marine fish. Results RNA-seq analysis generated 169,950 non-redundant consensus sequences, among which 48,987 functional transcripts with complete or various length encoding regions were identified. More than 52% of these transcripts are possibly involved in approximately 219 known metabolic or signalling pathways, while 2,673 transcripts were associated with immune-relevant genes. In addition, approximately 8% of the transcripts appeared to be fish-specific genes that have never been described before. DGE analysis revealed that the host transcriptome profile of Vibrio harveyi-challenged L. japonicus is considerably altered, as indicated by the significant up- or down-regulation of 1,224 strong infection-responsive transcripts. Results indicated an overall conservation of the components and transcriptome alterations underlying innate and adaptive immunity in fish and other vertebrate models. Analysis suggested the acquisition of numerous fish-specific immune system components during early vertebrate evolution. Conclusion This study provided a global survey of host defence gene activities against bacterial challenge in a non-model marine fish. Results can contribute to the in-depth study of candidate genes in marine fish immunity, and help improve current understanding of host-pathogen interactions and evolutionary history of immunogenetics from fish to mammals. PMID:20707909

Catching a Ball at the Right Time and Place: Individual Factors Matter

PubMed Central

Cesqui, Benedetta; d'Avella, Andrea; Portone, Alessandro; Lacquaniti, Francesco

2012-01-01

Intercepting a moving object requires accurate spatio-temporal control. Several studies have investigated how the CNS copes with such a challenging task, focusing on the nature of the information used to extract target motion parameters and on the identification of general control strategies. In the present study we provide evidence that the right time and place of the collision is not univocally specified by the CNS for a given target motion; instead, different but equally successful solutions can be adopted by different subjects when task constraints are loose. We characterized arm kinematics of fourteen subjects and performed a detailed analysis on a subset of six subjects who showed comparable success rates when asked to catch a flying ball in three dimensional space. Balls were projected by an actuated launching apparatus in order to obtain different arrival flight time and height conditions. Inter-individual variability was observed in several kinematic parameters, such as wrist trajectory, wrist velocity profile, timing and spatial distribution of the impact point, upper limb posture, trunk motion, and submovement decomposition. Individual idiosyncratic behaviors were consistent across different ball flight time conditions and across two experimental sessions carried out at one year distance. These results highlight the importance of a systematic characterization of individual factors in the study of interceptive tasks. PMID:22384072

Sensory dominance and multisensory integration as screening tools in aging.

PubMed

Murray, Micah M; Eardley, Alison F; Edginton, Trudi; Oyekan, Rebecca; Smyth, Emily; Matusz, Pawel J

2018-06-11

Multisensory information typically confers neural and behavioural advantages over unisensory information. We used a simple audio-visual detection task to compare healthy young (HY), healthy older (HO) and mild-cognitive impairment (MCI) individuals. Neuropsychological tests assessed individuals' learning and memory impairments. First, we provide much-needed clarification regarding the presence of enhanced multisensory benefits in both healthily and abnormally aging individuals. The pattern of sensory dominance shifted with healthy and abnormal aging to favour a propensity of auditory-dominant behaviour (i.e., detecting sounds faster than flashes). Notably, multisensory benefits were larger only in healthy older than younger individuals who were also visually-dominant. Second, we demonstrate that the multisensory detection task offers benefits as a time- and resource-economic MCI screening tool. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis demonstrated that MCI diagnosis could be reliably achieved based on the combination of indices of multisensory integration together with indices of sensory dominance. Our findings showcase the importance of sensory profiles in determining multisensory benefits in healthy and abnormal aging. Crucially, our findings open an exciting possibility for multisensory detection tasks to be used as a cost-effective screening tool. These findings clarify relationships between multisensory and memory functions in aging, while offering new avenues for improved dementia diagnostics.

Cognitive task analysis: Techniques applied to airborne weapons training

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

Terranova, M.; Seamster, T.L.; Snyder, C.E.

1989-01-01

This is an introduction to cognitive task analysis as it may be used in Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) training development. The focus of a cognitive task analysis is human knowledge, and its methods of analysis are those developed by cognitive psychologists. This paper explains the role that cognitive task analysis and presents the findings from a preliminary cognitive task analysis of airborne weapons operators. Cognitive task analysis is a collection of powerful techniques that are quantitative, computational, and rigorous. The techniques are currently not in wide use in the training community, so examples of this methodology are presented alongmore » with the results. 6 refs., 2 figs., 4 tabs.« less

A neuropsychologic profile of homosexual and heterosexual men and women.

PubMed

Wegesin, D J

1998-02-01

To examine the applicability of psychosexual differentiation theory to the development of sexual orientation, heterosexual (HT) women, HT men, lesbians, and gay men (20 per group) completed a lexical-decision/semantic monitoring task (LD/SM) to assess verbal ability, as well as a Water Level Task (WLT) and two Mental Rotation (MR) Tasks designed to assess spatial ability. All tests have been shown to differentiate HT men and women. Results replicated previously reported sex differences between the HT men and women. Further, gay men performed akin to HT women on the verbal task and the MR tasks, but not in the WLT. Lesbians, however, primarily performed in a sex-typical manner. The dissociation in sex-atypicality between lesbians and gay men is discussed in relation to neurobiological factors related to the development of both sex-dimorphic cognitive ability and sexual orientation.

Pragmatic and executive functions in traumatic brain injury and right brain damage: An exploratory comparative study

PubMed Central

Zimmermann, Nicolle; Gindri, Gigiane; de Oliveira, Camila Rosa; Fonseca, Rochele Paz

2011-01-01

Objective To describe the frequency of pragmatic and executive deficits in right brain damaged (RBD) and in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients, and to verify possible dissociations between pragmatic and executive functions in these two groups. Methods The sample comprised 7 cases of TBI and 7 cases of RBD. All participants were assessed by means of tasks from the Montreal Communication Evaluation Battery and executive functions tests including the Trail Making Test, Hayling Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, semantic and phonemic verbal fluency tasks, and working memory tasks from the Brazilian Brief Neuropsychological Assessment Battery NEUPSILIN. Z-score was calculated and a descriptive analysis of frequency of deficits (Z< -1.5) was carried out. Results RBD patients presented with deficits predominantly on conversational and narrative discursive tasks, while TBI patients showed a wider spread pattern of pragmatic deficits. Regarding EF, RBD deficits included predominantly working memory and verbal initiation impairment. On the other hand, TBI individuals again exhibited a general profile of executive dysfunction, affecting mainly working memory, initiation, inhibition, planning and switching. Pragmatic and executive deficits were generally associated upon comparisons of RBD patients and TBI cases, except for two simple dissociations: two post-TBI cases showed executive deficits in the absence of pragmatic deficits. Discussion Pragmatic and executive deficits can be very frequent following TBI or vascular RBD. There seems to be an association between these abilities, indicating that although they can co-occur, a cause-consequence relationship cannot be the only hypothesis. PMID:29213762

Understanding the local public health workforce: labels versus substance.

PubMed

Merrill, Jacqueline A; Keeling, Jonathan W

2014-11-01

The workforce is a key component of the nation's public health (PH) infrastructure, but little is known about the skills of local health department (LHD) workers to guide policy and planning. To profile a sample of LHD workers using classification schemes for PH work (the substance of what is done) and PH job titles (the labeling of what is done) to determine if work content is consistent with job classifications. A secondary analysis was conducted on data collected from 2,734 employees from 19 LHDs using a taxonomy of 151 essential tasks performed, knowledge possessed, and resources available. Each employee was classified by job title using a schema developed by PH experts. The inter-rater agreement was calculated within job classes and congruence on tasks, knowledge, and resources for five exemplar classes was examined. The average response rate was 89%. Overall, workers exhibited moderate agreement on tasks and poor agreement on knowledge and resources. Job classes with higher agreement included agency directors and community workers; those with lower agreement were mid-level managers such as program directors. Findings suggest that local PH workers within a job class perform similar tasks but vary in training and access to resources. Job classes that are specific and focused have higher agreement whereas job classes that perform in many roles show less agreement. The PH worker classification may not match employees' skill sets or how LHDs allocate resources, which may be a contributor to unexplained fluctuation in public health system performance. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Role of Molecular Profiling in Soft Tissue Sarcoma.

PubMed

Lindsay, Timothy; Movva, Sujana

2018-05-01

Diagnosis and treatment of soft tissue sarcoma (STS) is a particularly daunting task, largely due to the profound heterogeneity that characterizes these malignancies. Molecular profiling has emerged as a useful tool to confirm histologic diagnoses and more accurately classify these malignancies. Recent large-scale, multiplatform analyses have begun the work of establishing a more complete understanding of molecular profiling in STS subtypes and to identify new molecular alterations that may guide the development of novel targeted therapies. This review provides a brief and general overview of the role that molecular profiling has in STS, highlighting select sarcoma subtypes that are notable for recent developments. The role of molecular profiling as it relates to diagnostic strategies is discussed, along with ways that molecular profiling may provide guidance for potential therapeutic interventions. Copyright © 2018 by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

A Method for Cognitive Task Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-07-01

A method for cognitive task analysis is described based on the notion of ’generic tasks’. The method distinguishes three layers of analysis. At the...model for applied areas such as the development of knowledge-based systems and training, are discussed. Problem solving, Cognitive Task Analysis , Knowledge, Strategies.

Using Cognitive Task Analysis and Eye Tracking to Understand Imagery Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-01-01

Using Cognitive Task Analysis and Eye Tracking to Understand Imagery Analysis Laura Kurland, Abigail Gertner, Tom Bartee, Michael Chisholm and...have used these to study the analysts search behavior in detail. 2 EXPERIMENT Using a Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) framework for knowledge...TITLE AND SUBTITLE Using Cognitive Task Analysis and Eye Tracking to Understand Imagery Analysis 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM

Molecular Targeted Therapies of Childhood Choroid Plexus Carcinoma

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-10-01

Microarray intensities were analyzed in PGS, using the benign human choroid plexus papilloma (CPP) samples as an expression baseline reference...identify candidate drug targets of CPC. Task 1: Generation of additional human and mouse CPC genomic profiles (timeframe: months 1-5). The goal...of these studies is to expand our number of genomic profiles (DNA and mRNA arrays) of both human and mouse CPCs to provide a comprehensive dataset

Integrating Cognitive Task Analysis into Instructional Systems Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryder, Joan M.; Redding, Richard E.

1993-01-01

Discussion of instructional systems development (ISD) focuses on recent developments in cognitive task analysis and describes the Integrated Task Analysis Model, a framework for integrating cognitive and behavioral task analysis methods within the ISD model. Three components of expertise are analyzed: skills, knowledge, and mental models. (96…

[Effects of long term mental arithmetic on physiological parameters, subjective indices and task performances].

PubMed

Yamada, Shimpei; Miyake, Shinji

2007-03-01

This study examined the effects of long term mental arithmetic on physiological parameters, subjective indices and task performances to investigate the psychophysiological changes induced by mental tasks. Fifteen male university students performed six successive trials of a ten-minute mental arithmetic task. They took a five-minute resting period before and after the tasks. CFF (Critical Flicker Fusion frequency) and subjective fatigue scores using a visual analog scale, POMS (Profiles of Mood States) and SFF (Subjective Feelings of Fatigue) were obtained after each task and resting period. The voices of participants who were instructed to speak five Japanese vowels ('a', 'i', 'u', 'e', 'o') were recorded after each block to investigate a chaotic property of vocal signals that is reported to be changed by fatigue. Subjective workload ratings were also obtained by the NASA-TLX (National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Task Load Index) after the task. Physiological signals of ECG (Electrocardiogram), PTG (Photoelectric Plethysmogram), SCL (Skin Conductance Level), TBV (Tissue Blood Volume) and Respiration were recorded for all experimental blocks. The number of answers, correct rates and average levels of task difficulty for each ten-minute task were used as task performance indices. In this experiment, the task performance did not decrease, whereas subjective fatigue increased. Activation of the sympathetic nervous system was suggested by physiological parameters.

Uncovering phenotypes of poor-pitch singing: the Sung Performance Battery (SPB)

PubMed Central

Berkowska, Magdalena; Dalla Bella, Simone

2013-01-01

Singing is as natural as speaking for humans. Increasing evidence shows that the layman can carry a tune (e.g., when asked to sing a well-known song or to imitate single pitches, intervals and short melodies). Yet, important individual differences exist in the general population with regard to singing proficiency. Some individuals are particularly inaccurate or imprecise in producing or imitating pitch information (poor-pitch singers), thus showing a variety of singing phenotypes. Unfortunately, so far there is not a standard set of tasks for assessing singing proficiency in the general population, allowing to uncover and characterize individual profiles of poor-pitch singing. Different tasks and analysis methods are typically used in various experiments, making the comparison of the results across studies arduous. To fill this gap we propose here a new tool for assessing singing proficiency (the Sung Performance Battery, SPB). The SPB starts from the assessment of participants' vocal range followed by five tasks: (1) single-pitch matching, (2) pitch-interval matching, (3) novel-melody matching, (4) singing from memory of familiar melodies (with lyrics and on a syllable), and (5) singing of familiar melodies (with lyrics and on a syllable) at a slow tempo indicated by a metronome. Data analysis via acoustical methods provides objective measures of pitch accuracy and precision in terms of absolute and relative pitch. The SPB has been tested in a group of 50 occasional singers. The results indicate that the battery is useful for characterizing proficient singing and for detecting cases of inaccurate and/or imprecise singing. PMID:24151475

Ablation algorithms and corneal asphericity in myopic correction with excimer lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iroshnikov, Nikita G.; Larichev, Andrey V.; Yablokov, Michail G.

2007-06-01

The purpose of this work is studying a corneal asphericity change after a myopic refractive correction by mean of excimer lasers. As the ablation profile shape plays a key role in the post-op corneal asphericity, ablation profiles of recent lasers should be studied. The other task of this research was to analyze operation (LASIK) outcomes of one of the lasers with generic spherical ablation profile and to compare an asphericity change with theoretical predictions. The several correction methods, like custom generated aspherical profiles, may be utilized for mitigation of unwanted effects of asphericity change. Here we also present preliminary results of such correction for one of the excimer lasers.

Spoken Word Recognition Errors in Speech Audiometry: A Measure of Hearing Performance?

PubMed Central

Coene, Martine; van der Lee, Anneke; Govaerts, Paul J.

2015-01-01

This report provides a detailed analysis of incorrect responses from an open-set spoken word-repetition task which is part of a Dutch speech audiometric test battery. Single-consonant confusions were analyzed from 230 normal hearing participants in terms of the probability of choice of a particular response on the basis of acoustic-phonetic, lexical, and frequency variables. The results indicate that consonant confusions are better predicted by lexical knowledge than by acoustic properties of the stimulus word. A detailed analysis of the transmission of phonetic features indicates that “voicing” is best preserved whereas “manner of articulation” yields most perception errors. As consonant confusion matrices are often used to determine the degree and type of a patient's hearing impairment, to predict a patient's gain in hearing performance with hearing devices and to optimize the device settings in view of maximum output, the observed findings are highly relevant for the audiological practice. Based on our findings, speech audiometric outcomes provide a combined auditory-linguistic profile of the patient. The use of confusion matrices might therefore not be the method best suited to measure hearing performance. Ideally, they should be complemented by other listening task types that are known to have less linguistic bias, such as phonemic discrimination. PMID:26557717

Comparison of Spacecraft Contamination Models with Well-Defined Flight Experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pippin, G. H.

1998-01-01

The report presents analyzed surface areas on particular experiment trays from the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) for silicone-based molecular contamination. The trays for examination were part of the Ultra-Heavy Cosmic Ray Experiment (UHCRE). These particular trays were chosen because each tray was identical to the others in construction, and the materials on each tray were well known, documented, and characterized. In particular, a known specific source of silicone contamination was present on each tray. Only the exposure conditions varied from tray to tray. The results of post-flight analyses of surfaces of three trays were compared with the predictions of the three different spacecraft molecular contamination models. Phase one tasks included: 1) documenting the detailed geometry of the hardware; 2) determining essential properties of the anodized aluminum, Velcro(Tm), silverized Teflon(Tm), silicone gaskets, and DC6-1104(Tm) silicone adhesive materials used to make the trays, tray covers, and thermal control blankets; 3) selecting and removing areas from each tray; and 4) beginning surface analysis of the selected tray walls. Phase two tasks included: 1) completion of surface analysis measurements of the selected tray surface, 2) obtaining auger depth profiles at selected locations, and 3) running versions of the ISEM, MOFLUX, and PLIMP (Plume Impingement) contamination prediction models and making comparisons with experimental results.

Better Working Memory and Motor Inhibition in Children Who Delayed Gratification

PubMed Central

Yu, Junhong; Kam, Chi-Ming; Lee, Tatia M. C.

2016-01-01

Background: Despite the extensive research on delayed gratification over the past few decades, the neurocognitive processes that subserve delayed gratification remains unclear. As an exploratory step in studying these processes, the present study aims to describe the executive function profiles of children who were successful at delaying gratification and those who were not. Methods: A total of 138 kindergarten students (65 males, 73 females; Mage = 44 months, SD = 3.5; age range = 37–53 months) were administered a delayed gratification task, a 1-back test, a Day/night Stroop test and a Go/no-go test. The outcome measures of these tests were then analyzed between groups using a Multivariate Analysis of Variance, and subsequently a Multivariate Analysis of Covariance incorporating age as a covariate. Results: Children who were successful in delaying gratification were significantly older and had significantly better outcomes in the 1-back test and go/no-go test. With the exception of the number of hits in the go/no-go test, all other group differences remained significant after controlling for age. Conclusion: Children who were successful in delaying gratification showed better working memory and motor inhibition relative to those who failed the delayed gratification task. The implications of these findings are discussed. PMID:27493638

Distinguishing response conflict and task conflict in the Stroop task: evidence from ex-Gaussian distribution analysis.

PubMed

Steinhauser, Marco; Hübner, Ronald

2009-10-01

It has been suggested that performance in the Stroop task is influenced by response conflict as well as task conflict. The present study investigated the idea that both conflict types can be isolated by applying ex-Gaussian distribution analysis which decomposes response time into a Gaussian and an exponential component. Two experiments were conducted in which manual versions of a standard Stroop task (Experiment 1) and a separated Stroop task (Experiment 2) were performed under task-switching conditions. Effects of response congruency and stimulus bivalency were used to measure response conflict and task conflict, respectively. Ex-Gaussian analysis revealed that response conflict was mainly observed in the Gaussian component, whereas task conflict was stronger in the exponential component. Moreover, task conflict in the exponential component was selectively enhanced under task-switching conditions. The results suggest that ex-Gaussian analysis can be used as a tool to isolate different conflict types in the Stroop task. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

Task-oriented quality assessment and adaptation in real-time mission critical video streaming applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nightingale, James; Wang, Qi; Grecos, Christos

2015-02-01

In recent years video traffic has become the dominant application on the Internet with global year-on-year increases in video-oriented consumer services. Driven by improved bandwidth in both mobile and fixed networks, steadily reducing hardware costs and the development of new technologies, many existing and new classes of commercial and industrial video applications are now being upgraded or emerging. Some of the use cases for these applications include areas such as public and private security monitoring for loss prevention or intruder detection, industrial process monitoring and critical infrastructure monitoring. The use of video is becoming commonplace in defence, security, commercial, industrial, educational and health contexts. Towards optimal performances, the design or optimisation in each of these applications should be context aware and task oriented with the characteristics of the video stream (frame rate, spatial resolution, bandwidth etc.) chosen to match the use case requirements. For example, in the security domain, a task-oriented consideration may be that higher resolution video would be required to identify an intruder than to simply detect his presence. Whilst in the same case, contextual factors such as the requirement to transmit over a resource-limited wireless link, may impose constraints on the selection of optimum task-oriented parameters. This paper presents a novel, conceptually simple and easily implemented method of assessing video quality relative to its suitability for a particular task and dynamically adapting videos streams during transmission to ensure that the task can be successfully completed. Firstly we defined two principle classes of tasks: recognition tasks and event detection tasks. These task classes are further subdivided into a set of task-related profiles, each of which is associated with a set of taskoriented attributes (minimum spatial resolution, minimum frame rate etc.). For example, in the detection class, profiles for intruder detection will require different temporal characteristics (frame rate) from those used for detection of high motion objects such as vehicles or aircrafts. We also define a set of contextual attributes that are associated with each instance of a running application that include resource constraints imposed by the transmission system employed and the hardware platforms used as source and destination of the video stream. Empirical results are presented and analysed to demonstrate the advantages of the proposed schemes.

Linking Task Analysis with Student Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sherman, Thomas M.; Wildman, Terry M.

An examination of task analysis from several perspectives in order to identify some of its purposes and advantages reveals that, as the interest in learning theory has shifted from a predominately behavioral perspective to a more cognitive orientation, the purpose of task analysis has also shifted. Formerly the purpose of task analysis was to aid…

Task Analysis of Shuttle Entry and Landing Activities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holland, Albert W.; Vanderark, Stephen T.

1993-01-01

The Task Analysis of Shuttle Entry and Landing (E/L) Activities documents all tasks required to land the Orbiter following an STS mission. In addition to analysis of tasks performed, task conditions are described, including estimated time for completion, altitude, relative velocity, normal and lateral acceleration, location of controls operated or monitored, and level of g's experienced. This analysis precedes further investigations into potential effects of zero g on piloting capabilities for landing the Orbiter following long-duration missions. This includes, but is not limited to, researching the effects of extended duration missions on piloting capabilities. Four primary constraints of the analysis must be clarified: (1) the analysis depicts E/L in a static manner--the actual process is dynamic; (2) the task analysis was limited to a paper analysis, since it was not feasible to conduct research in the actual setting (i.e., observing or filming duration an actual E/L); (3) the tasks included are those required for E/L during nominal, daylight conditions; and (4) certain E/L tasks will vary according to the flying style of each commander.

Temporal and spectral profiles of stimulus-stimulus and stimulus-response conflict processing.

PubMed

Wang, Kai; Li, Qi; Zheng, Ya; Wang, Hongbin; Liu, Xun

2014-04-01

The ability to detect and resolve conflict is an essential function of cognitive control. Laboratory studies often use stimulus-response-compatibility (SRC) tasks to examine conflict processing in order to elucidate the mechanism and modular organization of cognitive control. Inspired by two influential theories regarding cognitive control, the conflict monitoring theory (Botvinick, Braver, Barch, Carter, & Cohen, 2001) and dimensional overlap taxonomy (Kornblum, Hasbroucq, & Osman, 1990), we explored the temporal and spectral similarities and differences between processing of stimulus-stimulus (S-S) and stimulus-response (S-R) conflicts with event related potential (ERP) and time-frequency measures. We predicted that processing of S-S conflict starts earlier than that of S-R conflict and that the two types of conflict may involve different frequency bands. Participants were asked to perform two parallel SRC tasks, both combining the Stroop task (involving S-S conflict) and Simon task (involving S-R conflict). ERP results showed pronounced SRC effects (incongruent vs. congruent) on N2 and P3 components for both S-S and S-R conflicts. In both tasks, SRC effects of S-S conflict took place earlier than those of S-R conflict. Time-frequency analysis revealed that both types of SRC effects modulated theta and alpha bands, while S-R conflict effects additionally modulated power in the beta band. These results indicated that although S-S and S-R conflict processing shared considerable ERP and time-frequency properties, they differed in temporal and spectral dynamics. We suggest that the modular organization of cognitive control should take both commonality and distinction of S-S and S-R conflict processing into consideration. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Enhanced semantic interoperability by profiling health informatics standards.

PubMed

López, Diego M; Blobel, Bernd

2009-01-01

Several standards applied to the healthcare domain support semantic interoperability. These standards are far from being completely adopted in health information system development, however. The objective of this paper is to provide a method and suggest the necessary tooling for reusing standard health information models, by that way supporting the development of semantically interoperable systems and components. The approach is based on the definition of UML Profiles. UML profiling is a formal modeling mechanism to specialize reference meta-models in such a way that it is possible to adapt those meta-models to specific platforms or domains. A health information model can be considered as such a meta-model. The first step of the introduced method identifies the standard health information models and tasks in the software development process in which healthcare information models can be reused. Then, the selected information model is formalized as a UML Profile. That Profile is finally applied to system models, annotating them with the semantics of the information model. The approach is supported on Eclipse-based UML modeling tools. The method is integrated into a comprehensive framework for health information systems development, and the feasibility of the approach is demonstrated in the analysis, design, and implementation of a public health surveillance system, reusing HL7 RIM and DIMs specifications. The paper describes a method and the necessary tooling for reusing standard healthcare information models. UML offers several advantages such as tooling support, graphical notation, exchangeability, extensibility, semi-automatic code generation, etc. The approach presented is also applicable for harmonizing different standard specifications.

Characterizing decision-making and reward processing in bipolar disorder: A cluster analysis.

PubMed

Jiménez, E; Solé, B; Arias, B; Mitjans, M; Varo, C; Reinares, M; Bonnín, C M; Salagre, E; Ruíz, V; Torres, I; Tomioka, Y; Sáiz, P A; García-Portilla, M P; Burón, P; Bobes, J; Martínez-Arán, A; Torrent, C; Vieta, E; Benabarre, A

2018-05-25

The presence of abnormalities in emotional decision-making and reward processing among bipolar patients (BP) has been well rehearsed. These disturbances are not limited to acute phases and are common even during remission. In recent years, the existence of discrete cognitive profiles in this psychiatric population has been replicated. However, emotional decision making and reward processing domains have barely been studied. Therefore, our aim was to explore the existence of different profiles on the aforementioned cognitive dimensions in BP. The sample consisted of 126 euthymic BP. Main sociodemographic, clinical, functioning, and neurocognitive variables were gathered. A hierarchical-clustering technique was used to identify discrete neurocognitive profiles based on the performance in the Iowa Gambling Task. Afterward, the resulting clusters were compared using ANOVA or Chi-squared Test, as appropriate. Evidence for the existence of three different profiles was provided. Cluster 1 was mainly characterized by poor decision ability. Cluster 2 presented the lowest sensitivity to punishment. Finally, cluster 3 presented the best decision-making ability and the highest levels of punishment sensitivity. Comparison between the three clusters indicated that cluster 2 was the most functionally impaired group. The poorest outcomes in attention, executive function domains, and social cognition were also observed within the same group. In conclusion, similarly to that observed in "cold cognitive" domains, our results suggest the existence of three discrete cognitive profiles concerning emotional decision making and reward processing. Amongst all the indexes explored, low punishment sensitivity emerge as a potential correlate of poorer cognitive and functional outcomes in bipolar disorder. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. and ECNP. All rights reserved.

Electron Density Profiles of the Topside Ionosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huang, Xue-Qin; Reinsch, Bodo W.; Bilitza, Dieter; Benson, Robert F.

2002-01-01

The existing uncertainties about the electron density profiles in the topside ionosphere, i.e., in the height region from h,F2 to - 2000 km, require the search for new data sources. The ISIS and Alouette topside sounder satellites from the sixties to the eighties recorded millions of ionograms but most were not analyzed in terms of electron density profiles. In recent years an effort started to digitize the analog recordings to prepare the ionograms for computerized analysis. As of November 2001 about 350000 ionograms have been digitized from the original 7-track analog tapes. These data are available in binary and CDF format from the anonymous ftp site of the National Space Science Data Center. A search site and browse capabilities on CDAWeb assist the scientific usage of these data. All information and access links can be found at http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/space/isis/isis- status.htm1. This paper describes the ISIS data restoration effort and shows how the digital ionograms are automatically processed into electron density profiles from satellite orbit altitude (1400 km for ISIS-2) down to the F peak. Because of the large volume of data an automated processing algorithm is imperative. The TOPside Ionogram Scaler with True height algorithm TOPIST software developed for this task is successfully scaling - 70% of the ionograms. An <> is available to manually scale the more difficult ionograms. The automated processing of the digitized ISIS ionograms is now underway, producing a much-needed database of topside electron density profiles for ionospheric modeling covering more than one solar cycle.

Ghosts in the machine: memory interference from the previous trial.

PubMed

Papadimitriou, Charalampos; Ferdoash, Afreen; Snyder, Lawrence H

2015-01-15

Previous memoranda can interfere with the memorization or storage of new information, a concept known as proactive interference. Studies of proactive interference typically use categorical memoranda and match-to-sample tasks with categorical measures such as the proportion of correct to incorrect responses. In this study we instead train five macaques in a spatial memory task with continuous memoranda and responses, allowing us to more finely probe working memory circuits. We first ask whether the memoranda from the previous trial result in proactive interference in an oculomotor delayed response task. We then characterize the spatial and temporal profile of this interference and ask whether this profile can be predicted by an attractor network model of working memory. We find that memory in the current trial shows a bias toward the location of the memorandum of the previous trial. The magnitude of this bias increases with the duration of the memory period within which it is measured. Our simulations using standard attractor network models of working memory show that these models easily replicate the spatial profile of the bias. However, unlike the behavioral findings, these attractor models show an increase in bias with the duration of the previous rather than the current memory period. To model a bias that increases with current trial duration we posit two separate memory stores, a rapidly decaying visual store that resists proactive interference effects and a sustained memory store that is susceptible to proactive interference. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

Ghosts in the machine: memory interference from the previous trial

PubMed Central

Ferdoash, Afreen; Snyder, Lawrence H.

2014-01-01

Previous memoranda can interfere with the memorization or storage of new information, a concept known as proactive interference. Studies of proactive interference typically use categorical memoranda and match-to-sample tasks with categorical measures such as the proportion of correct to incorrect responses. In this study we instead train five macaques in a spatial memory task with continuous memoranda and responses, allowing us to more finely probe working memory circuits. We first ask whether the memoranda from the previous trial result in proactive interference in an oculomotor delayed response task. We then characterize the spatial and temporal profile of this interference and ask whether this profile can be predicted by an attractor network model of working memory. We find that memory in the current trial shows a bias toward the location of the memorandum of the previous trial. The magnitude of this bias increases with the duration of the memory period within which it is measured. Our simulations using standard attractor network models of working memory show that these models easily replicate the spatial profile of the bias. However, unlike the behavioral findings, these attractor models show an increase in bias with the duration of the previous rather than the current memory period. To model a bias that increases with current trial duration we posit two separate memory stores, a rapidly decaying visual store that resists proactive interference effects and a sustained memory store that is susceptible to proactive interference. PMID:25376781

Assessing Continuous Operator Workload With a Hybrid Scaffolded Neuroergonomic Modeling Approach.

PubMed

Borghetti, Brett J; Giametta, Joseph J; Rusnock, Christina F

2017-02-01

We aimed to predict operator workload from neurological data using statistical learning methods to fit neurological-to-state-assessment models. Adaptive systems require real-time mental workload assessment to perform dynamic task allocations or operator augmentation as workload issues arise. Neuroergonomic measures have great potential for informing adaptive systems, and we combine these measures with models of task demand as well as information about critical events and performance to clarify the inherent ambiguity of interpretation. We use machine learning algorithms on electroencephalogram (EEG) input to infer operator workload based upon Improved Performance Research Integration Tool workload model estimates. Cross-participant models predict workload of other participants, statistically distinguishing between 62% of the workload changes. Machine learning models trained from Monte Carlo resampled workload profiles can be used in place of deterministic workload profiles for cross-participant modeling without incurring a significant decrease in machine learning model performance, suggesting that stochastic models can be used when limited training data are available. We employed a novel temporary scaffold of simulation-generated workload profile truth data during the model-fitting process. A continuous workload profile serves as the target to train our statistical machine learning models. Once trained, the workload profile scaffolding is removed and the trained model is used directly on neurophysiological data in future operator state assessments. These modeling techniques demonstrate how to use neuroergonomic methods to develop operator state assessments, which can be employed in adaptive systems.

Profile development for the spatial data transfer standard

USGS Publications Warehouse

Szemraj, John A.; Fegeas, Robin G.; Tolar, Billy R.

1994-01-01

The Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS), or Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 173, is designed to support all types of spatial data. Implementing all of the standard's options at one time is impractical. Therefore, implementation of the SDTS is being accomplished through the use of profiles. Profiles are clearly defined, limited subsets of the SDTS created for use with a specific type or model of data and designed with as few options as possible. When a profile is proposed, specific choices are made for encoding possibilities that were not addressed, left optional, or left with numerous choices within the SDTS. Profile development is coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey's SDTS Task Force. When completed, profiles are submitted to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for approval as official amendments to the SDTS. The first profile, the Topological Vector Profile (TVP), has been completed. A Raster Profile has been tested and is being finalized for submission to the NIST. Other vector profiles, such as those for network and nontopological data, are also being considered as future implementation options for the SDTS.

Three Techniques for Task Analysis: Examples from the Nuclear Utilities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlisle, Kenneth E.

1984-01-01

Discusses three task analysis techniques utilized at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station to review training programs: analysis of (1) job positions, (2) procedures, and (3) instructional presentations. All of these include task breakdown, relationship determination, and task restructuring. (MBR)

Functional connectivity of task context representations in prefrontal nodes of the multiple demand network.

PubMed

Stiers, Peter; Goulas, Alexandros

2018-06-01

A subset of regions in the lateral and medial prefrontal cortex and the anterior insula increase their activity level whenever a cognitive task becomes more demanding, regardless of the specific nature of this demand. During execution of a task, these areas and the surrounding cortex temporally encode aspects of the task context in spatially distributed patterns of activity. It is not clear whether these patterns reflect underlying anatomical subnetworks that still exist when task execution has finished. We use fMRI in 12 participants performing alternating blocks of three cognitive tasks to address this question. A first data set is used to define multiple demand regions in each participant. A second dataset from the same participants is used to determine multiple demand voxel assemblies with a preference for one task over the others. We then show that these voxels remain functionally coupled during execution of non-preferred tasks and that they exhibit stronger functional connectivity during rest. This indicates that the assemblies of task preference sharing voxels reflect patterns of underlying anatomical connections. Moreover, we show that voxels preferring the same task have more similar whole brain functional connectivity profiles that are consistent across participants. This suggests that voxel assemblies differ in patterns of input-output connections, most likely reflecting task demand-specific information exchange.

Enhanced simulation software for rocket turbopump, turbulent, annular liquid seals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Padavala, Satya; Palazzolo, Alan

1994-01-01

One of the main objectives of this work is to develop a new dynamic analysis for liquid annular seals with arbitrary profile and to analyze a general distorted interstage seal of the space shuttle main engine high pressure oxygen turbopump (SSME-ATD-HPOTP). The dynamic analysis developed is based on a method originally proposed by Nelson and Nguyen. A simpler scheme based on cubic splines is found to be computationally more efficient and has better convergence properties at higher eccentricities. The first order solution of the original analysis is modified by including a more exact solution that takes into account the variation of perturbed variables along the circumference. A new set of equations for dynamic analysis are derived based on this more general model. A unified solution procedure that is valid for both Moody's and Hirs' friction models is presented. Dynamic analysis is developed for three different models: constant properties, variable properties, and thermal effects with variable properties. Arbitrarily varying seal profiles in both axial and circumferential directions are considered. An example case of an elliptical seal with varying degrees of axial curvature is analyzed in detail. A case study based on predicted clearances of an interstage seal of the SSME-ATD-HPOTP is presented. Dynamic coefficients based on external specified load are introduced to analyze seals that support a preload. The other objective of this work is to study the effect of large rotor displacements of SSME-ATD-HPOTP on the dynamics of the annular seal and the resulting transient motion. One task is to identify the magnitude of motion of the rotor about the centered position and establish limits of effectiveness of using current linear models. This task is accomplished by solving the bulk flow model seal governing equations directly for transient seal forces for any given type of motion, including motion with large eccentricities. Based on the above study, an equivalence is established between linearized coefficients based transient motion and the same motion as predicted by the original governing equations. An innovative method is developed to model nonlinearities in an annular seal based on dynamic coefficients computed at various static eccentricities. This method is thoroughly tested for various types of transient motion using bulk flow model results as a benchmark.

Clustered Multi-Task Learning for Automatic Radar Target Recognition

PubMed Central

Li, Cong; Bao, Weimin; Xu, Luping; Zhang, Hua

2017-01-01

Model training is a key technique for radar target recognition. Traditional model training algorithms in the framework of single task leaning ignore the relationships among multiple tasks, which degrades the recognition performance. In this paper, we propose a clustered multi-task learning, which can reveal and share the multi-task relationships for radar target recognition. To further make full use of these relationships, the latent multi-task relationships in the projection space are taken into consideration. Specifically, a constraint term in the projection space is proposed, the main idea of which is that multiple tasks within a close cluster should be close to each other in the projection space. In the proposed method, the cluster structures and multi-task relationships can be autonomously learned and utilized in both of the original and projected space. In view of the nonlinear characteristics of radar targets, the proposed method is extended to a non-linear kernel version and the corresponding non-linear multi-task solving method is proposed. Comprehensive experimental studies on simulated high-resolution range profile dataset and MSTAR SAR public database verify the superiority of the proposed method to some related algorithms. PMID:28953267

Student Task Analysis for the Development of E-Learning Lectural System in Basic Chemistry Courses in FKIP UMMY Solok

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Afrahamiryano, A.; Ariani, D.

2018-04-01

The student task analysis is one part of the define stage in development research using the 4-D development model. Analysis of this task is useful to determine the level of understanding of students on lecture materials that have been given. The results of this task analysis serve as a measuring tool to determine the level of success of learning and as a basis in the development of lecture system. Analysis of this task is done by the method of observation and documentation study of the tasks undertaken by students. The results of this analysis are then described and after that triangulation are done to draw conclusions. The results of the analysis indicate that the students' level of understanding is high for theoretical and low material for counting material. Based on the results of this task analysis, it can be concluded that e-learning lecture system developed should be able to increase students' understanding on basic chemicals that are calculated.

PWR FLECHT SEASET 163-Rod Bundle Flow Blockage Task data report. NRC/EPRI/Westinghouse report No. 13, August-October 1982

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

Loftus, M J; Hochreiter, L E; McGuire, M F

This report presents data from the 163-Rod Bundle Blow Blockage Task of the Full-Length Emergency Cooling Heat Transfer Systems Effects and Separate Effects Test Program (FLECHT SEASET). The task consisted of forced and gravity reflooding tests utilizing electrical heater rods with a cosine axial power profile to simulate PWR nuclear core fuel rod arrays. These tests were designed to determine effects of flow blockage and flow bypass on reflooding behavior and to aid in the assessment of computational models in predicting the reflooding behavior of flow blockage in rod bundle arrays.

Built But Not Used, Needed But Not Built: Ground System Guidance Based On Cassini-Huygens Experience

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Larsen, Barbara S.

2006-01-01

These reflections share insight gleaned from Cassini-Huygens experience in supporting uplink operations tasks with software. Of particular interest are developed applications that were not widely adopted and tasks for which the appropriate application was not planned. After several years of operations, tasks are better understood providing a clearer picture of the mapping of requirements to applications. The impact on system design of the changing user profile due to distributed operations and greater participation of scientists in operations is also explored. Suggestions are made for improving the architecture, requirements, and design of future systems for uplink operations.

International confederation for cleft lip and palate and related craniofacial anomalies task force report: holistic outcomes.

PubMed

Broder, Hillary L

2014-11-01

Objective : This paper describes the process and outcomes of the 2013 American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association task force on Holistic Outcomes. The goals and membership of the task force are presented. Methods : Using internet communication, the group introduced themselves, shared ideas and information related to holistic assessment and implementation of using a validated holistic measure, the Child Oral Health Impact Profile (COHIP) at participating international sites. Results : Data from the sites were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Administration of the COHIP was successful. It varied from self-completion as well as verbal presentation due to language differences and a function of the short time period to complete collection. Additionally qualitative comments were reported by the task force site directors. Conclusions : Future directions for holistic assessment and communication among task force members and sites were discussed at the Congress and are presented in this report.

Individual differences in learning and transfer: stable tendencies for learning exemplars versus abstracting rules.

PubMed

McDaniel, Mark A; Cahill, Michael J; Robbins, Mathew; Wiener, Chelsea

2014-04-01

We hypothesize that during training some learners may focus on acquiring the particular exemplars and responses associated with the exemplars (termed exemplar learners), whereas other learners attempt to abstract underlying regularities reflected in the particular exemplars linked to an appropriate response (termed rule learners). Supporting this distinction, after training (on a function-learning task), participants displayed an extrapolation profile reflecting either acquisition of the trained cue-criterion associations (exemplar learners) or abstraction of the function rule (rule learners; Studies 1a and 1b). Further, working memory capacity (measured by operation span [Ospan]) was associated with the tendency to rely on rule versus exemplar processes. Studies 1c and 2 examined the persistence of these learning tendencies on several categorization tasks. Study 1c showed that rule learners were more likely than exemplar learners (indexed a priori by extrapolation profiles) to resist using idiosyncratic features (exemplar similarity) in generalization (transfer) of the trained category. Study 2 showed that the rule learners but not the exemplar learners performed well on a novel categorization task (transfer) after training on an abstract coherent category. These patterns suggest that in complex conceptual tasks, (a) individuals tend to either focus on exemplars during learning or on extracting some abstraction of the concept, (b) this tendency might be a relatively stable characteristic of the individual, and (c) transfer patterns are determined by that tendency.

Life Satisfaction and Hemodynamic Reactivity to Mental Stress.

PubMed

Schwerdtfeger, Andreas; Gaisbachgrabner, Kerstin; Traunmüller, Claudia

2017-06-01

Satisfaction with life has been considered a health-protective variable, which could impact cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, few studies have examined the physiological pathways involved in the potentially salutary effect of life satisfaction. It was hypothesized that life satisfaction should be associated with a cardiovascular response profile that signals challenge (i.e., higher cardiac output, lower peripheral resistance), rather than threat during a mental stress task. A sample of 75 healthy, medication-free men without clinical signs of psychological disorders who worked full-time and occupied highly demanding positions participated in this study. They performed two mental stress tasks (n-back) with varying degrees of difficulty. The tasks were embedded between a baseline and a recovery period. Cardiovascular and hemodynamic variables (heart rate, blood pressure, cardiac output, total peripheral resistance) were recorded by means of impedance cardiography. Individuals who were more satisfied with their life displayed higher cardiac output and lower peripheral resistance levels during the stress tasks, indicating a challenge rather than a threat profile. Findings were robust when controlled for physical activity, smoking, age, and depressive symptoms. Life satisfaction could be positively correlated with beneficial hemodynamic stress reactivity, indicating that individuals with higher levels of life satisfaction can more adaptively cope with stress. Increased cardiac output and decreased peripheral resistance during stress may constitute one route through which life satisfaction can benefit health.

Individual Differences in Learning and Transfer: Stable Tendencies for Learning Exemplars versus Abstracting Rules

PubMed Central

McDaniel, Mark A.; Cahill, Michael J.; Robbins, Mathew; Wiener, Chelsea

2013-01-01

We hypothesize that during training some learners may focus on acquiring the particular exemplars and responses associated with the exemplars (termed exemplar learners), whereas other learners attempt to abstract underlying regularities reflected in the particular exemplars linked to an appropriate response (termed rule learners). Supporting this distinction, after training (on a function-learning task), participants either displayed an extrapolation profile reflecting acquisition of the trained cue-criterion associations (exemplar learners) or abstraction of the function rule (rule learners; Studies 1a and 1b). Further, working memory capacity (measured by Ospan) was associated with the tendency to rely on rule versus exemplar processes. Studies 1c and 2 examined the persistence of these learning tendencies on several categorization tasks. Study 1c showed that rule learners were more likely than exemplar learners (indexed a priori by extrapolation profiles) to resist using idiosyncratic features (exemplar similarity) in generalization (transfer) of the trained category. Study 2 showed that the rule learners but not the exemplar learners performed well on a novel categorization task (transfer) after training on an abstract coherent category. These patterns suggest that in complex conceptual tasks, (a) individuals tend to either focus on exemplars during learning or on extracting some abstraction of the concept, (b) this tendency might be a relatively stable characteristic of the individual, and (c) transfer patterns are determined by that tendency. PMID:23750912

Neuromechanical considerations for incorporating rhythmic arm movement in the rehabilitation of walking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klimstra, Marc D.; Thomas, Evan; Stoloff, Rebecca H.; Ferris, Daniel P.; Zehr, E. Paul

2009-06-01

We have extensively used arm cycling to study the neural control of rhythmic movements such as arm swing during walking. Recently rhythmic movement of the arms has also been shown to enhance and shape muscle activity in the legs. However, restricted information is available concerning the conditions necessary to maximally alter lumbar spinal cord excitability. Knowledge on the neuromechanics of a task can assist in the determination of the type, level, and timing of neural signals, yet arm swing during walking and arm cycling have not received a detailed neuromechanical comparison. The purpose of this research was to provide a combined neural and mechanical measurement approach that could be used to assist in the determination of the necessary and sufficient conditions for arm movement to assist in lower limb rehabilitation after stroke and spinal cord injury. Subjects performed three rhythmic arm movement tasks: (1) cycling (cycle); (2) swinging while standing (swing); and (3) swinging while treadmill walking (walk). We hypothesized that any difference in neural control between tasks (i.e., pattern of muscle activity) would reflect changes in the mechanical constraints unique to each task. Three-dimensional kinematics were collected simultaneously with force measurement at the hand and electromyography from the arms and trunk. All data were appropriately segmented to allow a comparison between and across conditions and were normalized and averaged to 100% movement cycle based on shoulder excursion. Separate mathematical principal components analysis of kinematic and neural variables was performed to determine common task features and muscle synergies. The results highlight important neural and mechanical features that distinguish differences between tasks. For example, there are considerable differences in the anatomical positions of the arms during each task, which relate to the moments experienced about the elbow and shoulder. Also, there are differences between tasks in elbow flexion/extension kinematics alongside differential muscle activation profiles. As well, mechanical assistance and constraints during all tasks could affect muscle recruitment and the functional role of muscles. Overall, despite neural and mechanical differences, the results are consistent with conserved common central motor control mechanisms operational for cycle, walk, and swing but appropriately sculpted to demands unique to each task. However, changing the mechanical parameters could affect the role of afferent feedback altering neural control and the coupling to the lower limbs.

The neuropsychology of male adults with high-functioning autism or asperger syndrome.

PubMed

Wilson, C Ellie; Happé, Francesca; Wheelwright, Sally J; Ecker, Christine; Lombardo, Michael V; Johnston, Patrick; Daly, Eileen; Murphy, Clodagh M; Spain, Debbie; Lai, Meng-Chuan; Chakrabarti, Bhismadev; Sauter, Disa A; Baron-Cohen, Simon; Murphy, Declan G M

2014-10-01

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is diagnosed on the basis of behavioral symptoms, but cognitive abilities may also be useful in characterizing individuals with ASD. One hundred seventy-eight high-functioning male adults, half with ASD and half without, completed tasks assessing IQ, a broad range of cognitive skills, and autistic and comorbid symptomatology. The aims of the study were, first, to determine whether significant differences existed between cases and controls on cognitive tasks, and whether cognitive profiles, derived using a multivariate classification method with data from multiple cognitive tasks, could distinguish between the two groups. Second, to establish whether cognitive skill level was correlated with degree of autistic symptom severity, and third, whether cognitive skill level was correlated with degree of comorbid psychopathology. Fourth, cognitive characteristics of individuals with Asperger Syndrome (AS) and high-functioning autism (HFA) were compared. After controlling for IQ, ASD and control groups scored significantly differently on tasks of social cognition, motor performance, and executive function (P's < 0.05). To investigate cognitive profiles, 12 variables were entered into a support vector machine (SVM), which achieved good classification accuracy (81%) at a level significantly better than chance (P < 0.0001). After correcting for multiple correlations, there were no significant associations between cognitive performance and severity of either autistic or comorbid symptomatology. There were no significant differences between AS and HFA groups on the cognitive tasks. Cognitive classification models could be a useful aid to the diagnostic process when used in conjunction with other data sources-including clinical history. © 2014 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Do children with grapheme-colour synaesthesia show cognitive benefits?

PubMed

Simner, Julia; Bain, Angela E

2018-02-01

Grapheme-colour synaesthesia is characterized by conscious and consistent associations between letters and colours, or between numbers and colours (e.g., synaesthetes might see A as red, 7 as green). Our study explored the development of this condition in a group of randomly sampled child synaesthetes. Two previous studies (Simner & Bain, 2013, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 603; Simner, Harrold, Creed, Monro, & Foulkes, 2009, Brain, 132, 57) had screened over 600 primary school children to find the first randomly sampled cohort of child synaesthetes. In this study, we evaluate this cohort to ask whether their synaesthesia is associated with a particular cognitive profile of strengths and/or weaknesses. We tested our child synaesthetes at age 10-11 years in a series of cognitive tests, in comparison with matched controls and baseline norms. One previous study (Green & Goswami, 2008, Cognition, 106, 463) had suggested that child synaesthetes might perform differently to non-synaesthetes in such tasks, although those participants may have been a special type of population independent of their synaesthesia. In our own study of randomly sampled child synaesthetes, we found no significant advantages or disadvantages in a receptive vocabulary test and a memory matrix task. However, we found that synaesthetes demonstrated above-average performance in a processing-speed task and a near-significant advantage in a letter-span task (i.e., memory/recall task of letters). Our findings point to advantages for synaesthetes that go beyond those expected from enhanced coding accounts and we present the first picture of the broader cognitive profile of a randomly sampled population of child synaesthetes. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

The relationship between form and function level receptive prosodic abilities in autism.

PubMed

Järvinen-Pasley, Anna; Peppé, Susan; King-Smith, Gavin; Heaton, Pamela

2008-08-01

Prosody can be conceived as having form (auditory-perceptual characteristics) and function (pragmatic/linguistic meaning). No known studies have examined the relationship between form- and function-level prosodic skills in relation to the effects of stimulus length and/or complexity upon such abilities in autism. Research in this area is both insubstantial and inconclusive. Children with autism and controls completed the receptive tasks of the Profiling Elements of Prosodic Systems in Children (PEPS-C) test, which examines both form- and function-level skills, and a sentence-level task assessing the understanding of intonation. While children with autism were unimpaired in both form and function tasks at the single-word level, they showed significantly poorer performance in the corresponding sentence-level tasks than controls. Implications for future research are discussed.

Beef quality parameters estimation using ultrasound and color images

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Background Beef quality measurement is a complex task with high economic impact. There is high interest in obtaining an automatic quality parameters estimation in live cattle or post mortem. In this paper we set out to obtain beef quality estimates from the analysis of ultrasound (in vivo) and color images (post mortem), with the measurement of various parameters related to tenderness and amount of meat: rib eye area, percentage of intramuscular fat and backfat thickness or subcutaneous fat. Proposal An algorithm based on curve evolution is implemented to calculate the rib eye area. The backfat thickness is estimated from the profile of distances between two curves that limit the steak and the rib eye, previously detected. A model base in Support Vector Regression (SVR) is trained to estimate the intramuscular fat percentage. A series of features extracted on a region of interest, previously detected in both ultrasound and color images, were proposed. In all cases, a complete evaluation was performed with different databases including: color and ultrasound images acquired by a beef industry expert, intramuscular fat estimation obtained by an expert using a commercial software, and chemical analysis. Conclusions The proposed algorithms show good results to calculate the rib eye area and the backfat thickness measure and profile. They are also promising in predicting the percentage of intramuscular fat. PMID:25734452

Increased biomagnetic activity in the ventral pathway in mild cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Maestú, F; Campo, P; Del Río, D; Moratti, S; Gil-Gregorio, P; Fernández, A; Capilla, A; Ortiz, T

2008-06-01

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients represent an intermediary state between healthy aging and dementia. MCI activation profiles, recorded during a memory task, have been studied either through high spatial resolution or high temporal resolution techniques. However, little is known about the benefit of combining both dimensions. Here, we investigate, by means of magnetoencephalography (MEG), whether spatio-temporal profiles of neuromagnetic activity could differentiate between MCI and age-matched elderly participants. Taking the advantage of the high temporal resolution and good spatial resolution of MEG, neuromagnetic activity from 15 elderly MCI patients and 20 age-matched controls was recorded during the performance of a modified version of the Sternberg paradigm. Behavioral performance was similar in both groups. A between group analysis revealed that MCI patients showed bilateral higher activity in the ventral pathway, in both the target and the non-target stimuli. A within-group analysis of the target stimuli, indicates a lack of asymmetry through all late latency windows in both groups. MCI patients showed a compensatory mechanism represented by an increased bilateral activity of the ventral pathway in order to achieve a behavioral performance similar to the control group. This spatio-temporal pattern of activity could be another tool to differentiate between healthy aging and MCI patients.

Space processing applications payload equipment study. Volume 2B: Payload interface analysis (power/thermal/electromagnetic compatibility)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hammel, R. L. (Editor); Smith, A. G. (Editor)

1974-01-01

As a part of the task of performing preliminary engineering analysis of modular payload subelement/host vehicle interfaces, a subsystem interface analysis was performed to establish the integrity of the modular approach to the equipment design and integration. Salient areas that were selected for analysis were power and power conditioning, heat rejection and electromagnetic capability (EMC). The equipment and load profiles for twelve representative experiments were identified. Two of the twelve experiments were chosen as being representative of the group and have been described in greater detail to illustrate the evaluations used in the analysis. The shuttle orbiter will provide electrical power from its three fuel cells in support of the orbiter and the Spacelab operations. One of the three shuttle orbiter fuel cells will be dedicated to the Spacelab electrical power requirements during normal shuttle operation. This power supplies the Spacelab subsystems and the excess will be available to the payload. The current Spacelab sybsystem requirements result in a payload allocation of 4.0 to 4.8 kW average (24 hour/day) and 9.0 kW peak for 15 minutes.

A Workbench for Discovering Task-Specific Theories of Learning

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-03-03

mind (the cognitive architecture) will not be of much use to educators who wish to perform a cognitive task analysis of their subject matter before...analysis packages that can be added to a cognitive architecture, thus creating a ’workbench’ for performing cognitive task analysis . Such tools becomes...learning theories have been. Keywords: Cognitive task analysis , Instructional design, Cognitive modelling, Learning.

Naturalistic Decision Making: Implications for Design

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-04-01

Cognitive Task Analysis Decision Making Design Engineer Design System Human-Computer Interface System Development 15. NUMBER OF PAGES 182 16...people use to select a course of action. The SOAR explains how stress affects the decision making of both individuals and teams. COGNITIVE TASK ANALYSIS : This...procedures for Cognitive Task Analysis , contrasting the strengths and weaknesses of each, and showing how a Cognitive Task Analysis

Intraindividual Variability in Executive Function Performance in Healthy Adults: Cross-Sectional Analysis of the NAB Executive Functions Module.

PubMed

Buczylowska, Dorota; Petermann, Franz

2018-01-01

The current study was aimed at investigating across-tasks intraindividual variability, also termed dispersion, in EF performance. The German adaptation of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB) was used as a measure of EFs. Data of 444 participants aged 18-99 from six NAB Executive Functions Module subtests (i.e., Planning, Mazes, Letter Fluency, Judgment, Categories, and Word Generation) along with the NAB Total Index score as a measure of overall cognitive ability were analyzed. Maximum discrepancy (MD) was applied as a measure of dispersion. MD values ranged from 0.47 to 5.20 indicating substantial across-tasks dispersion in EF performance. Furthermore, dispersion moderately decreased with advancing age. Taking overall cognitive ability into account revealed that dispersion might be lower at older ages; especially, when associated with low overall ability levels. The dedifferentiation hypothesis offers a plausible explanation for these findings. That is, the cognitive profiles of older people might be less heterogenous than that of younger people, which may be due to age-related central nervous system constraints.

Intraindividual Variability in Executive Function Performance in Healthy Adults: Cross-Sectional Analysis of the NAB Executive Functions Module

PubMed Central

Buczylowska, Dorota; Petermann, Franz

2018-01-01

The current study was aimed at investigating across-tasks intraindividual variability, also termed dispersion, in EF performance. The German adaptation of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB) was used as a measure of EFs. Data of 444 participants aged 18–99 from six NAB Executive Functions Module subtests (i.e., Planning, Mazes, Letter Fluency, Judgment, Categories, and Word Generation) along with the NAB Total Index score as a measure of overall cognitive ability were analyzed. Maximum discrepancy (MD) was applied as a measure of dispersion. MD values ranged from 0.47 to 5.20 indicating substantial across-tasks dispersion in EF performance. Furthermore, dispersion moderately decreased with advancing age. Taking overall cognitive ability into account revealed that dispersion might be lower at older ages; especially, when associated with low overall ability levels. The dedifferentiation hypothesis offers a plausible explanation for these findings. That is, the cognitive profiles of older people might be less heterogenous than that of younger people, which may be due to age-related central nervous system constraints. PMID:29593624

Pupil diameter as predictor of cognitive load: A novel tool for geoscience education research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitra, R.; McNeal, K.

2015-12-01

Pupils can truly serve as windows to the mind. Since the early part of the last decade, pupillometry, the study of pupils in response to cognitive tasks, have gained traction in psychophysiological studies. Muscles of the iris work in tandem with the autonomic nervous system in response to light condition to either dilate or contract the pupil, usually between 2 to 7 mm. Along with this response to light conditions, the pupils also contract or dilate in response to emotional or mental response. Therefore, for a cognitive task, if the ambient brightness is controlled, pupil dilation reflects the cognitive load associated with the task. Simple tasks such as counting, memorizing, multiplying and visual searching have been found to have pupillometry profiles reflective of the cognitive load involved with such tasks. In this study, we investigate whether pupil diameter can be used for education research where tasks can be more complex. In particular, we look at two specific types of tasks common in geoscience and several other STEM fields: graph reading and spatial problem solving.

Cue Representation and Situational Awareness in Task Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carl, Diana R.

2009-01-01

Task analysis in human performance technology is used to determine how human performance can be well supported with training, job aids, environmental changes, and other interventions. Early work by Miller (1953) and Gilbert (1969, 1974) addressed cue processing in task execution and recommended cue descriptions in task analysis. Modern task…

Skill Components of Task Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, Anne E.; Rogers, Wendy A.; Fisk, Arthur D.

2013-01-01

Some task analysis methods break down a task into a hierarchy of subgoals. Although an important tool of many fields of study, learning to create such a hierarchy (redescription) is not trivial. To further the understanding of what makes task analysis a skill, the present research examined novices' problems with learning Hierarchical Task…

Exploiting three kinds of interface propensities to identify protein binding sites.

PubMed

Liu, Bin; Wang, Xiaolong; Lin, Lei; Dong, Qiwen; Wang, Xuan

2009-08-01

Predicting the binding sites between two interacting proteins provides important clues to the function of a protein. In this study, we present a building block of proteins called order profiles to use the evolutionary information of the protein sequence frequency profiles and apply this building block to produce a class of propensities called order profile interface propensities. For comparisons, we revisit the usage of residue interface propensities and binary profile interface propensities for protein binding site prediction. Each kind of propensities combined with sequence profiles and accessible surface areas are inputted into SVM. When tested on four types of complexes (hetero-permanent complexes, hetero-transient complexes, homo-permanent complexes and homo-transient complexes), experimental results show that the order profile interface propensities are better than residue interface propensities and binary profile interface propensities. Therefore, order profile is a suitable profile-level building block of the protein sequences and can be widely used in many tasks of computational biology, such as the sequence alignment, the prediction of domain boundary, the designation of knowledge-based potentials and the protein remote homology detection.

The cuticular hydrocarbons profiles in the stingless bee Melipona marginata reflect task-related differences.

PubMed

Ferreira-Caliman, M J; Nascimento, F S; Turatti, I C; Mateus, S; Lopes, N P; Zucchi, R

2010-07-01

Members of social insect colonies employ a large variety of chemical signals during their life. Of these, cuticular hydrocarbons are of primary importance for social insects since they allow for the recognition of conspecifics, nestmates and even members of different castes. The objectives of this study were (1) to characterize the variation of the chemical profiles among workers of the stingless bee Melipona marginata, and (2) to investigate the dependence of the chemical profiles on the age and on the behavior of the studied individuals. The results showed that cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of workers were composed of alkanes, alkenes and alkadienes that varied quantitatively and qualitatively according to function of workers in the colony. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of Hearing Loss and Cognitive Load on Speech Recognition with Competing Talkers.

PubMed

Meister, Hartmut; Schreitmüller, Stefan; Ortmann, Magdalene; Rählmann, Sebastian; Walger, Martin

2016-01-01

Everyday communication frequently comprises situations with more than one talker speaking at a time. These situations are challenging since they pose high attentional and memory demands placing cognitive load on the listener. Hearing impairment additionally exacerbates communication problems under these circumstances. We examined the effects of hearing loss and attention tasks on speech recognition with competing talkers in older adults with and without hearing impairment. We hypothesized that hearing loss would affect word identification, talker separation and word recall and that the difficulties experienced by the hearing impaired listeners would be especially pronounced in a task with high attentional and memory demands. Two listener groups closely matched for their age and neuropsychological profile but differing in hearing acuity were examined regarding their speech recognition with competing talkers in two different tasks. One task required repeating back words from one target talker (1TT) while ignoring the competing talker whereas the other required repeating back words from both talkers (2TT). The competing talkers differed with respect to their voice characteristics. Moreover, sentences either with low or high context were used in order to consider linguistic properties. Compared to their normal hearing peers, listeners with hearing loss revealed limited speech recognition in both tasks. Their difficulties were especially pronounced in the more demanding 2TT task. In order to shed light on the underlying mechanisms, different error sources, namely having misunderstood, confused, or omitted words were investigated. Misunderstanding and omitting words were more frequently observed in the hearing impaired than in the normal hearing listeners. In line with common speech perception models, it is suggested that these effects are related to impaired object formation and taxed working memory capacity (WMC). In a post-hoc analysis, the listeners were further separated with respect to their WMC. It appeared that higher capacity could be used in the sense of a compensatory mechanism with respect to the adverse effects of hearing loss, especially with low context speech.

Wide spectral band beam analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aharon, Oren

2015-03-01

The reality in laser beam profiling is that measurements are performed over a wide spectrum of wavelengths and power ranges. Many applications use multiple laser wavelengths with very different power levels, a fact which dictates a need for a better measuring tool. Rapid progress in the fiber laser area has increased the demand for lasers in the wavelength range of 900 - 1030 nm, while the telecommunication market has increased the demand for wavelength range of 1300nm - 1600 nm, on the other hand the silicone chip manufacturing and mass production requirements tend to lower the laser wavelength towards the 190nm region. In many cases there is a need to combine several lasers together in order to perform a specific task. A typical application is to combine one visible laser for pointing, with a different laser for material processing with a very different wavelength and power level. The visible laser enables accurate pointing before the second laser is operated. The beam profile of the intensity distribution is an important parameter that indicates how a laser beam will behave in an application. Currently a lab, where many different lasers are used, will find itself using various laser beam profilers from several vendors with different specifications and accuracies. It is the propose of this article to present a technological breakthrough in the area of detectors, electronics and optics allowing intricate measurements of lasers with different wavelength and with power levels that vary many orders of magnitude by a single beam profiler.

Energy efficiency analysis and optimization for mobile platforms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Metri, Grace Camille

The introduction of mobile devices changed the landscape of computing. Gradually, these devices are replacing traditional personal computer (PCs) to become the devices of choice for entertainment, connectivity, and productivity. There are currently at least 45.5 million people in the United States who own a mobile device, and that number is expected to increase to 1.5 billion by 2015. Users of mobile devices expect and mandate that their mobile devices have maximized performance while consuming minimal possible power. However, due to the battery size constraints, the amount of energy stored in these devices is limited and is only growing by 5% annually. As a result, we focused in this dissertation on energy efficiency analysis and optimization for mobile platforms. We specifically developed SoftPowerMon, a tool that can power profile Android platforms in order to expose the power consumption behavior of the CPU. We also performed an extensive set of case studies in order to determine energy inefficiencies of mobile applications. Through our case studies, we were able to propose optimization techniques in order to increase the energy efficiency of mobile devices and proposed guidelines for energy-efficient application development. In addition, we developed BatteryExtender, an adaptive user-guided tool for power management of mobile devices. The tool enables users to extend battery life on demand for a specific duration until a particular task is completed. Moreover, we examined the power consumption of System-on-Chips (SoCs) and observed the impact on the energy efficiency in the event of offloading tasks from the CPU to the specialized custom engines. Based on our case studies, we were able to demonstrate that current software-based power profiling techniques for SoCs can have an error rate close to 12%, which needs to be addressed in order to be able to optimize the energy consumption of the SoC. Finally, we summarize our contributions and outline possible direction for future research in this field.

Task Analysis Assessment on Intrastate Bus Traffic Controllers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yen Bin, Teo; Azlis-Sani, Jalil; Nur Annuar Mohd Yunos, Muhammad; Ismail, S. M. Sabri S. M.; Tajedi, Noor Aqilah Ahmad

2016-11-01

Public transportation acts as social mobility and caters the daily needs of the society for passengers to travel from one place to another. This is true for a country like Malaysia where international trade has been growing significantly over the past few decades. Task analysis assessment was conducted with the consideration of cognitive ergonomic view towards problem related to human factors. Conducting research regarding the task analysis on bus traffic controllers had allowed a better understanding regarding the nature of work and the overall monitoring activities of the bus services. This paper served to study the task analysis assessment on intrastate bus traffic controllers and the objectives of this study include to conduct task analysis assessment on the bus traffic controllers. Task analysis assessment for the bus traffic controllers was developed via Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA). There are a total of five subsidiary tasks on level one and only two were able to be further broken down in level two. Development of HTA allowed a better understanding regarding the work and this could further ease the evaluation of the tasks conducted by the bus traffic controllers. Thus, human error could be reduced for the safety of all passengers and increase the overall efficiency of the system. Besides, it could assist in improving the operation of the bus traffic controllers by modelling or synthesizing the existing tasks if necessary.

Biowep: a workflow enactment portal for bioinformatics applications.

PubMed

Romano, Paolo; Bartocci, Ezio; Bertolini, Guglielmo; De Paoli, Flavio; Marra, Domenico; Mauri, Giancarlo; Merelli, Emanuela; Milanesi, Luciano

2007-03-08

The huge amount of biological information, its distribution over the Internet and the heterogeneity of available software tools makes the adoption of new data integration and analysis network tools a necessity in bioinformatics. ICT standards and tools, like Web Services and Workflow Management Systems (WMS), can support the creation and deployment of such systems. Many Web Services are already available and some WMS have been proposed. They assume that researchers know which bioinformatics resources can be reached through a programmatic interface and that they are skilled in programming and building workflows. Therefore, they are not viable to the majority of unskilled researchers. A portal enabling these to take profit from new technologies is still missing. We designed biowep, a web based client application that allows for the selection and execution of a set of predefined workflows. The system is available on-line. Biowep architecture includes a Workflow Manager, a User Interface and a Workflow Executor. The task of the Workflow Manager is the creation and annotation of workflows. These can be created by using either the Taverna Workbench or BioWMS. Enactment of workflows is carried out by FreeFluo for Taverna workflows and by BioAgent/Hermes, a mobile agent-based middleware, for BioWMS ones. Main workflows' processing steps are annotated on the basis of their input and output, elaboration type and application domain by using a classification of bioinformatics data and tasks. The interface supports users authentication and profiling. Workflows can be selected on the basis of users' profiles and can be searched through their annotations. Results can be saved. We developed a web system that support the selection and execution of predefined workflows, thus simplifying access for all researchers. The implementation of Web Services allowing specialized software to interact with an exhaustive set of biomedical databases and analysis software and the creation of effective workflows can significantly improve automation of in-silico analysis. Biowep is available for interested researchers as a reference portal. They are invited to submit their workflows to the workflow repository. Biowep is further being developed in the sphere of the Laboratory of Interdisciplinary Technologies in Bioinformatics - LITBIO.

Biowep: a workflow enactment portal for bioinformatics applications

PubMed Central

Romano, Paolo; Bartocci, Ezio; Bertolini, Guglielmo; De Paoli, Flavio; Marra, Domenico; Mauri, Giancarlo; Merelli, Emanuela; Milanesi, Luciano

2007-01-01

Background The huge amount of biological information, its distribution over the Internet and the heterogeneity of available software tools makes the adoption of new data integration and analysis network tools a necessity in bioinformatics. ICT standards and tools, like Web Services and Workflow Management Systems (WMS), can support the creation and deployment of such systems. Many Web Services are already available and some WMS have been proposed. They assume that researchers know which bioinformatics resources can be reached through a programmatic interface and that they are skilled in programming and building workflows. Therefore, they are not viable to the majority of unskilled researchers. A portal enabling these to take profit from new technologies is still missing. Results We designed biowep, a web based client application that allows for the selection and execution of a set of predefined workflows. The system is available on-line. Biowep architecture includes a Workflow Manager, a User Interface and a Workflow Executor. The task of the Workflow Manager is the creation and annotation of workflows. These can be created by using either the Taverna Workbench or BioWMS. Enactment of workflows is carried out by FreeFluo for Taverna workflows and by BioAgent/Hermes, a mobile agent-based middleware, for BioWMS ones. Main workflows' processing steps are annotated on the basis of their input and output, elaboration type and application domain by using a classification of bioinformatics data and tasks. The interface supports users authentication and profiling. Workflows can be selected on the basis of users' profiles and can be searched through their annotations. Results can be saved. Conclusion We developed a web system that support the selection and execution of predefined workflows, thus simplifying access for all researchers. The implementation of Web Services allowing specialized software to interact with an exhaustive set of biomedical databases and analysis software and the creation of effective workflows can significantly improve automation of in-silico analysis. Biowep is available for interested researchers as a reference portal. They are invited to submit their workflows to the workflow repository. Biowep is further being developed in the sphere of the Laboratory of Interdisciplinary Technologies in Bioinformatics – LITBIO. PMID:17430563

Trajectory Adjustments Underlying Task-Specific Intermittent Force Behaviors and Muscular Rhythms

PubMed Central

Chen, Yi-Ching; Lin, Yen-Ting; Huang, Chien-Ting; Shih, Chia-Li; Yang, Zong-Ru; Hwang, Ing-Shiou

2013-01-01

Force intermittency is one of the major causes of motor variability. Focusing on the dynamics of force intermittency, this study was undertaken to investigate how force trajectory is fine-tuned for static and dynamic force-tracking of a comparable physical load. Twenty-two healthy adults performed two unilateral resistance protocols (static force-tracking at 75% maximal effort and dynamic force-tracking in the range of 50%–100% maximal effort) using the left hand. The electromyographic activity and force profile of the designated hand were monitored. Gripping force was off-line decomposed into a primary movement spectrally identical to the target motion and a force intermittency profile containing numerous force pulses. The results showed that dynamic force-tracking exhibited greater intermittency amplitude and force pulse but a smaller amplitude ratio of primary movement to force intermittency than static force-tracking. Multi-scale entropy analysis revealed that force intermittency during dynamic force-tracking was more complex on a low time scale but more regular on a high time scale than that of static force-tracking. Together with task-dependent force intermittency properties, dynamic force-tracking exhibited a smaller 8–12 Hz muscular oscillation but a more potentiated muscular oscillation at 35–50 Hz than static force-tracking. In conclusion, force intermittency reflects differing trajectory controls for static and dynamic force-tracking. The target goal of dynamic tracking is achieved through trajectory adjustments that are more intricate and more frequent than those of static tracking, pertaining to differing organizations and functioning of muscular oscillations in the alpha and gamma bands. PMID:24098640

Applied Cognitive Task Analysis (ACTA) Methodology

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-11-01

experienced based cognitive skills. The primary goal of this project was to develop streamlined methods of Cognitive Task Analysis that would fill this need...We have made important progression this direction. We have developed streamlined methods of Cognitive Task Analysis . Our evaluation study indicates...developed a CD-based stand alone instructional package, which will make the Applied Cognitive Task Analysis (ACTA) tools widely accessible. A survey of the

Exemplar Training for Battalion Visualization (CD-ROM)

DTIC Science & Technology

cognitive task analysis to identify important visualization skill at a battalion level of command. The cognitive task analysis consisted of a review of...findings from the cognitive task analysis , 11 skill areas were identified as potential focal points of future training development. The findings from the... cognitive task analysis were used to design and develop exemplar training exercises for two skill areas; identify key problem elements employing the

Cognitive Task Analysis of the HALIFAX-Class Operations Room Officer

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-03-10

Image Cover Sheet CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM NUMBER 510918 UNCLASSIFIED llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll TITLE COGNITIVE TASK ANALYSIS OF THE...DATES COVERED 00-00-1999 to 00-00-1999 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Cognitive Task Analysis of the HALIFAX-Class Operations Room Officer 5a. CONTRACT...Ontario . ~ -- . ’ c ... - Incorporated Cognitive Task Analysis of the HALIFAX-Class Operations Room Officer: PWGSC Contract No. W7711-7-7404/001/SV

A Model-Based Cluster Analysis of Maternal Emotion Regulation and Relations to Parenting Behavior.

PubMed

Shaffer, Anne; Whitehead, Monica; Davis, Molly; Morelen, Diana; Suveg, Cynthia

2017-10-15

In a diverse community sample of mothers (N = 108) and their preschool-aged children (M age  = 3.50 years), this study conducted person-oriented analyses of maternal emotion regulation (ER) based on a multimethod assessment incorporating physiological, observational, and self-report indicators. A model-based cluster analysis was applied to five indicators of maternal ER: maternal self-report, observed negative affect in a parent-child interaction, baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and RSA suppression across two laboratory tasks. Model-based cluster analyses revealed four maternal ER profiles, including a group of mothers with average ER functioning, characterized by socioeconomic advantage and more positive parenting behavior. A dysregulated cluster demonstrated the greatest challenges with parenting and dyadic interactions. Two clusters of intermediate dysregulation were also identified. Implications for assessment and applications to parenting interventions are discussed. © 2017 Family Process Institute.

Advanced concentration analysis of atom probe tomography data: Local proximity histograms and pseudo-2D concentration maps.

PubMed

Felfer, Peter; Cairney, Julie

2018-06-01

Analysing the distribution of selected chemical elements with respect to interfaces is one of the most common tasks in data mining in atom probe tomography. This can be represented by 1D concentration profiles, 2D concentration maps or proximity histograms, which represent concentration, density etc. of selected species as a function of the distance from a reference surface/interface. These are some of the most useful tools for the analysis of solute distributions in atom probe data. In this paper, we present extensions to the proximity histogram in the form of 'local' proximity histograms, calculated for selected parts of a surface, and pseudo-2D concentration maps, which are 2D concentration maps calculated on non-flat surfaces. This way, local concentration changes at interfaces or and other structures can be assessed more effectively. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The effects of bedrest on crew performance during simulated shuttle reentry. Volume 2: Control task performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jex, H. R.; Peters, R. A.; Dimarco, R. J.; Allen, R. W.

1974-01-01

A simplified space shuttle reentry simulation performed on the NASA Ames Research Center Centrifuge is described. Anticipating potentially deleterious effects of physiological deconditioning from orbital living (simulated here by 10 days of enforced bedrest) upon a shuttle pilot's ability to manually control his aircraft (should that be necessary in an emergency) a comprehensive battery of measurements was made roughly every 1/2 minute on eight military pilot subjects, over two 20-minute reentry Gz vs. time profiles, one peaking at 2 Gz and the other at 3 Gz. Alternate runs were made without and with g-suits to test the help or interference offered by such protective devices to manual control performance. A very demanding two-axis control task was employed, with a subcritical instability in the pitch axis to force a high attentional demand and a severe loss-of-control penalty. The results show that pilots experienced in high Gz flying can easily handle the shuttle manual control task during 2 Gz or 3 Gz reentry profiles, provided the degree of physiological deconditioning is no more than induced by these 10 days of enforced bedrest.

Focused RBCC Experiments: Two-Rocket Configuration Experiments and Hydrocarbon/Oxygen Rocket Ejector Experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Santoro, Robert J.; Pal, Sibtosh

2003-01-01

This addendum report documents the results of two additional efforts for the Rocket Based Combined Cycle (RBCC) rocket-ejector mode research work carried out at the Penn State Propulsion Engineering Research Center in support of NASA s technology development efforts for enabling 3 d generation Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLV). The tasks reported here build on an earlier NASA MSFC funded research program on rocket ejector investigations. The first task investigated the improvements of a gaseous hydrogen/oxygen twin thruster RBCC rocket ejector system over a single rocket system. The second task investigated the performance of a hydrocarbon (liquid JP-7)/gaseous oxygen single thruster rocket-ejector system. To gain a systematic understanding of the rocket-ejector s internal fluid mechanic/combustion phenomena, experiments were conducted with both direct-connect and sea-level static diffusion and afterburning (DAB) configurations for a range of rocket operating conditions. For all experimental conditions, overall system performance was obtained through global measurements of wall static pressure profiles, heat flux profiles and engine thrust. Detailed mixing and combustion information was obtained through Raman spectroscopy measurements of major species (gaseous oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and water vapor) for the gaseous hydrogen/oxygen rocket ejector experiments.

Unique and Persistent Individual Patterns of Brain Activity Across Different Memory Retrieval Tasks

PubMed Central

Miller, Michael B.; Donovan, Christa-Lynn; Van Horn, John D.; German, Elaine; Sokol-Hessner, Peter; Wolford, George L.

2009-01-01

Fourteen subjects were scanned in two fMRI sessions separated by several months. During each session, subjects performed an episodic retrieval task, a semantic retrieval task, and a working memory task. We found that 1) despite extensive intersubject variability in the pattern of activity across the whole brain, individual activity patterns were stable over time, 2) activity patterns of the same individual performing different tasks were more similar than activity patterns of different individuals performing the same task, and 3) that individual differences in decision criterion on a recognition test predicted the degree of similarity between any two individuals’ patterns of brain activity, but individual differences in memory accuracy or similarity in structural anatomy did not. These results imply that the exclusive use of group maps may be ineffective in profiling the pattern of activations for a given task. This may be particularly true for a task like episodic retrieval, which is relatively strategic and can involve widely-distributed specialized processes that are peripheral to the actual retrieval of stored information. Further, these processes may be differentially engaged depending on individual differences in cognitive processing and/or physiology. PMID:19540922

Hidden profiles and concealed information: strategic information sharing and use in group decision making.

PubMed

Toma, Claudia; Butera, Fabrizio

2009-06-01

Two experiments investigated the differential impact of cooperation and competition on strategic information sharing and use in a three-person group decision-making task. Information was distributed in order to create a hidden profile so that disconfirmation of group members' initial preferences was required to solve the task. Experiment 1 revealed that competition, compared to cooperation, led group members to withhold unshared information, a difference that was not significant for shared information. In competition, compared to cooperation, group members were also more reluctant to disconfirm their initial preferences. Decision quality was lower in competition than in cooperation, this effect being mediated by disconfirmation use and not by information sharing. Experiment 2 replicated these findings and revealed the role of mistrust in predicting strategic information sharing and use in competition. These results support a motivated information processing approach of group decision making.

External Validation of Bifactor Model of ADHD: Explaining Heterogeneity in Psychiatric Comorbidity, Cognitive Control, and Personality Trait Profiles Within DSM-IV ADHD

PubMed Central

Martel, Michelle M.; Roberts, Bethan; Gremillion, Monica; von Eye, Alexander; Nigg, Joel T.

2011-01-01

The current paper provides external validation of the bifactor model of ADHD by examining associations between ADHD latent factor/profile scores and external validation indices. 548 children (321 boys; 302 with ADHD), 6 to 18 years old, recruited from the community participated in a comprehensive diagnostic procedure. Mothers completed the Child Behavior Checklist, Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire, and California Q-Sort. Children completed the Stop and Trail-Making Task. Specific inattention was associated with depression/withdrawal, slower cognitive task performance, introversion, agreeableness, and high reactive control; specific hyperactivity-impulsivity was associated with rule-breaking/aggressive behavior, social problems, errors during set-shifting, extraversion, disagreeableness, and low reactive control. It is concluded that the bifactor model provides better explanation of heterogeneity within ADHD than DSM-IV ADHD symptom counts or subtypes. PMID:21735050

Task Analysis Strategies and Practices. Practice Application Brief.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Bettina Lankard

Worker-oriented, job-oriented, and cognitive task analyses have all been used as tools for closing the gap between what curriculum teaches and what workers do. Although they share a commonality of purpose, the focus, cost, and practicality of task analysis techniques vary. Worker-oriented task analysis focuses on general human behaviors required…

Identification of Child Pedestrian Training Objectives: The Role of Task Analysis and Empirical Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van der Molen, Hugo H.

1984-01-01

Describes a study designed to demonstrate that child pedestrian training objectives may be identified systematically through various task analysis methods, making use of different types of empirical information. Early approaches to analysis of pedestrian tasks are reviewed, and an outline of the Traffic Research Centre's pedestrian task analysis…

A Standard Procedure for Conducting Cognitive Task Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Redding, Richard E.

Traditional methods for task analysis have been largely based on the Instructional Systems Development (ISD) model, which is widely used throughout industry and the military. The first part of this document gives an overview of cognitive task analysis, which is conducted within the first phase of ISD. The following steps of cognitive task analysis…

Tool and Task Analysis Guide for Vocational Welding (150 Tasks). Performance Based Vocational Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

John H. Hinds Area Vocational School, Elwood, IN.

This book contains a task inventory, a task analysis of 150 tasks from that inventory, and a tool list for performance-based welding courses in the state of Indiana. The task inventory and tool list reflect 28 job titles found in Indiana. In the first part of the guide, tasks are listed by these domains: carbon-arc, electron beam, G.M.A.W., gas…

Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Does Not Facilitate Dynamic Balance Task Learning in Healthy Old Adults

PubMed Central

Kaminski, Elisabeth; Hoff, Maike; Rjosk, Viola; Steele, Christopher J.; Gundlach, Christopher; Sehm, Bernhard; Villringer, Arno; Ragert, Patrick

2017-01-01

Older adults frequently experience a decrease in balance control that leads to increased numbers of falls, injuries and hospitalization. Therefore, evaluating older adults’ ability to maintain balance and examining new approaches to counteract age-related decline in balance control is of great importance for fall prevention and healthy aging. Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) have been shown to beneficially influence motor behavior and motor learning. In the present study, we investigated the influence of tDCS applied over the leg area of the primary motor cortex (M1) on balance task learning of healthy elderly in a dynamic balance task (DBT). In total, 30 older adults were enrolled in a cross-sectional, randomized design including two consecutive DBT training sessions. Only during the first DBT session, either 20 min of anodal tDCS (a-tDCS) or sham tDCS (s-tDCS) were applied and learning improvement was compared between the two groups. Our data showed that both groups successfully learned to perform the DBT on both training sessions. Interestingly, between-group analyses revealed no difference between the a-tDCS and the s-tDCS group regarding their level of task learning. These results indicate that the concurrent application of tDCS over M1 leg area did not elicit DBT learning enhancement in our study cohort. However, a regression analysis revealed that DBT performance can be predicted by the kinematic profile of the movement, a finding that may provide new insights for individualized approaches of treating balance and gait disorders. PMID:28197085

Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Does Not Facilitate Dynamic Balance Task Learning in Healthy Old Adults.

PubMed

Kaminski, Elisabeth; Hoff, Maike; Rjosk, Viola; Steele, Christopher J; Gundlach, Christopher; Sehm, Bernhard; Villringer, Arno; Ragert, Patrick

2017-01-01

Older adults frequently experience a decrease in balance control that leads to increased numbers of falls, injuries and hospitalization. Therefore, evaluating older adults' ability to maintain balance and examining new approaches to counteract age-related decline in balance control is of great importance for fall prevention and healthy aging. Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) have been shown to beneficially influence motor behavior and motor learning. In the present study, we investigated the influence of tDCS applied over the leg area of the primary motor cortex (M1) on balance task learning of healthy elderly in a dynamic balance task (DBT). In total, 30 older adults were enrolled in a cross-sectional, randomized design including two consecutive DBT training sessions. Only during the first DBT session, either 20 min of anodal tDCS (a-tDCS) or sham tDCS (s-tDCS) were applied and learning improvement was compared between the two groups. Our data showed that both groups successfully learned to perform the DBT on both training sessions. Interestingly, between-group analyses revealed no difference between the a-tDCS and the s-tDCS group regarding their level of task learning. These results indicate that the concurrent application of tDCS over M1 leg area did not elicit DBT learning enhancement in our study cohort. However, a regression analysis revealed that DBT performance can be predicted by the kinematic profile of the movement, a finding that may provide new insights for individualized approaches of treating balance and gait disorders.

Uncovering beat deafness: detecting rhythm disorders with synchronized finger tapping and perceptual timing tasks.

PubMed

Dalla Bella, Simone; Sowiński, Jakub

2015-03-16

A set of behavioral tasks for assessing perceptual and sensorimotor timing abilities in the general population (i.e., non-musicians) is presented here with the goal of uncovering rhythm disorders, such as beat deafness. Beat deafness is characterized by poor performance in perceiving durations in auditory rhythmic patterns or poor synchronization of movement with auditory rhythms (e.g., with musical beats). These tasks include the synchronization of finger tapping to the beat of simple and complex auditory stimuli and the detection of rhythmic irregularities (anisochrony detection task) embedded in the same stimuli. These tests, which are easy to administer, include an assessment of both perceptual and sensorimotor timing abilities under different conditions (e.g., beat rates and types of auditory material) and are based on the same auditory stimuli, ranging from a simple metronome to a complex musical excerpt. The analysis of synchronized tapping data is performed with circular statistics, which provide reliable measures of synchronization accuracy (e.g., the difference between the timing of the taps and the timing of the pacing stimuli) and consistency. Circular statistics on tapping data are particularly well-suited for detecting individual differences in the general population. Synchronized tapping and anisochrony detection are sensitive measures for identifying profiles of rhythm disorders and have been used with success to uncover cases of poor synchronization with spared perceptual timing. This systematic assessment of perceptual and sensorimotor timing can be extended to populations of patients with brain damage, neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Parkinson's disease), and developmental disorders (e.g., Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).

Government Information Locator Service (GILS). Draft report to the Information Infrastructure Task Force

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1994-01-01

This is a draft report on the Government Information Locator Service (GILS) to the National Information Infrastructure (NII) task force. GILS is designed to take advantage of internetworking technology known as client-server architecture which allows information to be distributed among multiple independent information servers. Two appendices are provided -- (1) A glossary of related terminology and (2) extracts from a draft GILS profile for the use of the American National Standard Information Retrieval Application Service Definition and Protocol Specification for Library Applications.

The neural correlates of auditory and visuospatial span in logopenic progressive aphasia and Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Foxe, David; Leyton, Cristian E; Hodges, John R; Burrell, James R; Irish, Muireann; Piguet, Olivier

2016-10-01

Logopenic progressive aphasia (lv-PPA) is a form of primary progressive aphasia and is predominantly associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. The neuropsychological profiles of lv-PPA and typical clinical AD are, however, distinct. In particular, these two syndromes differ on attention span measures, where auditory attention span is more impaired in lv-PPA than in AD and visuospatial span appears more impaired in AD than in lv-PPA. The neural basis of these span profiles, however, remains unclear. Sixteen lv-PPA and 21 AD matched patients, and 15 education-matched healthy controls were recruited. All participants were assessed by a neurologist and completed a neuropsychological assessment that included the Wechsler Memory Scale-III Digit and Spatial Span tasks, and underwent a high-resolution structural brain MRI to conduct cortical thickness analyses. Patient groups were impaired on all span tasks compared to Controls. In addition, performance on Digit Span Forward (DSF) was significantly lower in the lv-PPA than the AD group, while Spatial Span Forward (SSF) was significantly lower in the AD than the lv-PPA group. No differences were found between patient groups on the Digit or Spatial Span Backward tasks. Neuroimaging analyses revealed that reduced DSF performance correlated to thinning of the left superior temporal gyrus in the lv-PPA group, whereas reduced SSF performance was related to bilateral precentral sulcus and parieto-occipital thinning in the AD group. Analyses of the backward span tasks revealed that reduced Spatial Span Backward (SSB) performance in the lv-PPA group related to cortical thinning of the left superior parietal lobule. This study demonstrates that while lv-PPA and AD commonly share the same underlying neuropathology, their span profiles are distinct and are mediated by divergent patterns of cortical degeneration. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effects of Training on Anxiety and Task Performance in Simulated Suborbital Spaceflight.

PubMed

Blue, Rebecca S; Bonato, Frederick; Seaton, Kimberly; Bubka, Andrea; Vardiman, Johnené L; Mathers, Charles; Castleberry, Tarah L; Vanderploeg, James M

2017-07-01

In commercial spaceflight, anxiety could become mission-impacting, causing negative experiences or endangering the flight itself. We studied layperson response to four varied-length training programs (ranging from 1 h-2 d of preparation) prior to centrifuge simulation of launch and re-entry acceleration profiles expected during suborbital spaceflight. We examined subject task execution, evaluating performance in high-stress conditions. We sought to identify any trends in demographics, hemodynamics, or similar factors in subjects with the highest anxiety or poorest tolerance of the experience. Volunteers participated in one of four centrifuge training programs of varied complexity and duration, culminating in two simulated suborbital spaceflights. At most, subjects underwent seven centrifuge runs over 2 d, including two +Gz runs (peak +3.5 Gz, Run 2) and two +Gx runs (peak +6.0 Gx, Run 4) followed by three runs approximating suborbital spaceflight profiles (combined +Gx and +Gz, peak +6.0 Gx and +4.0 Gz). Two cohorts also received dedicated anxiety-mitigation training. Subjects were evaluated on their performance on various tasks, including a simulated emergency. Participating in 2-7 centrifuge exposures were 148 subjects (105 men, 43 women, age range 19-72 yr, mean 39.4 ± 13.2 yr, body mass index range 17.3-38.1, mean 25.1 ± 3.7). There were 10 subjects who withdrew or limited their G exposure; history of motion sickness was associated with opting out. Shorter length training programs were associated with elevated hemodynamic responses. Single-directional G training did not significantly improve tolerance. Training programs appear best when high fidelity and sequential exposures may improve tolerance of physical/psychological flight stressors. The studied variables did not predict anxiety-related responses to these centrifuge profiles.Blue RS, Bonato F, Seaton K, Bubka A, Vardiman JL, Mathers C, Castleberry TL, Vanderploeg JM. The effects of training on anxiety and task performance in simulated suborbital spaceflight. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017; 88(7):641-650.

Unravelling the influence of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) on cognitive-linguistic processing: a comparative group analysis.

PubMed

Barwood, Caroline H S; Murdoch, Bruce E

2013-06-01

Cognitive-linguistic deficits often accompany traumatic brain injury (TBI) and can negatively impact communicative competency. The linguistic sequelae underpinning mild TBI (MTBI) remain largely unexplored in contemporary literature. The present research methods aim to provide group evidence pertaining to the influence of MTBI on linguistic and higher-level language processing. Extrapolating on the findings of recent case reports, it is hypothesized that performance of the MTBI patients will be significantly reduced compared to normal controls performance on the employed high-level linguistic tasks. Sixteen patients with MTBI and 16 age- and education-matched normal control participants were assessed using a comprehensive battery of cognitive-linguistic assessments. The results demonstrated statistically significant differences between MTBI and normal control group performance across a number of higher-level linguistic, general cognitive and general language tasks. MTBI group performance was significantly lower than the normal control group on tasks requiring complex lexical semantic operations and memory demands, including: Recall, organization, making inferences, naming and perception/discrimination. These outcomes confer that post-MTBI, cognitive, high-level language and isolated general language performance (e.g. naming) is significantly reduced in MTBI patients, compared to normal controls. Furthermore, the detailed cognitive-linguistic profile offered provides a necessary direction for the identification of areas of linguistic decline in MTBI and targets for therapeutic intervention of impaired cognitive-linguistic processes to ultimately improve communicative outcomes in MTBI.

Beyond interference control impairment in ADHD: evidence from increased intraindividual variability in the color-stroop test.

PubMed

Borella, Erika; de Ribaupierre, Anik; Cornoldi, Cesare; Chicherio, Christian

2013-09-01

The present study investigates intraindividual variability (IIV) in the Color-Stroop test and in a simple reaction time (SRT) task. Performance level and variability in reaction times (RTs)-quantified with different measures such as individual standard deviation (ISD) and coefficient of variation (ICV), as well as ex-Gaussian parameters (mu, sigma, tau)-were analyzed in 24 children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 24 typically developing children (TDC). Children with ADHD and TDC presented equivalent Color-Stroop interference effects when mean RTs were considered, and the two groups did not differ in the SRT task. Interestingly, compared to TDC, children with ADHD were more variable in their responses, showing increased ISD and ICV in the Color-Stroop interference condition and in the SRT task. Moreover, children with ADHD exhibited higher tau values-that is, more frequent abnormally long RTs-in the Color-Stroop interference condition than did the TDC, but comparable tau values in the SRT, suggesting more variable responses. These results speak in favor of a general deficit in more basic and central processes that only secondarily may affect the efficiency of inhibitory processes in children with ADHD. Overall the present findings confirm the role of IIV as a cornerstone in the ADHD cognitive profile and support the search for fine-grained analysis of performance fluctuations.

Quantitative autoradiographic analysis of muscarinic receptor subtypes and their role in representational memory

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

Messer, W.S.

1986-01-01

Autoradiographic techniques were used to examine the distribution of muscarinic receptors in rat brain slices. Agonist and selective antagonist binding were examined by measuring the ability for unlabeled ligands to inhibit (/sup 3/H)-1-QNB labeling of muscarinic receptors. The distribution of high affinity pirenzepine binding sites (M/sub 1/ subtype) was distinct from the distribution of high affinity carbamylcholine sites, which corresponded to the M/sub 2/ subtype. In a separate assay, the binding profile for pirenzepine was shown to differ from the profile for scopolamine, a classical muscarinic antagonist. Muscarinic antagonists, when injected into the Hippocampus, impaired performance of a representational memorymore » task. Pirenzepine, the M/sub 1/ selective antagonist, produced representational memory deficits. Scopolamine, a less selective muscarinic antagonist, caused increases in running times in some animals which prevented a definitive interpretation of the nature of the impairment. Pirenzepine displayed a higher affinity for the hippocampus and was more effective in producing a selective impairment of representational memory than scopolamine. The data indicated that cholinergic activity in the hippocampus was necessary for representation memory function.« less

A neural measure of precision in visual working memory.

PubMed

Ester, Edward F; Anderson, David E; Serences, John T; Awh, Edward

2013-05-01

Recent studies suggest that the temporary storage of visual detail in working memory is mediated by sensory recruitment or sustained patterns of stimulus-specific activation within feature-selective regions of visual cortex. According to a strong version of this hypothesis, the relative "quality" of these patterns should determine the clarity of an individual's memory. Here, we provide a direct test of this claim. We used fMRI and a forward encoding model to characterize population-level orientation-selective responses in visual cortex while human participants held an oriented grating in memory. This analysis, which enables a precise quantitative description of multivoxel, population-level activity measured during working memory storage, revealed graded response profiles whose amplitudes were greatest for the remembered orientation and fell monotonically as the angular distance from this orientation increased. Moreover, interparticipant differences in the dispersion-but not the amplitude-of these response profiles were strongly correlated with performance on a concurrent memory recall task. These findings provide important new evidence linking the precision of sustained population-level responses in visual cortex and memory acuity.

Differential Gene Expression (DEX) and Alternative Splicing Events (ASE) for Temporal Dynamic Processes Using HMMs and Hierarchical Bayesian Modeling Approaches.

PubMed

Oh, Sunghee; Song, Seongho

2017-01-01

In gene expression profile, data analysis pipeline is categorized into four levels, major downstream tasks, i.e., (1) identification of differential expression; (2) clustering co-expression patterns; (3) classification of subtypes of samples; and (4) detection of genetic regulatory networks, are performed posterior to preprocessing procedure such as normalization techniques. To be more specific, temporal dynamic gene expression data has its inherent feature, namely, two neighboring time points (previous and current state) are highly correlated with each other, compared to static expression data which samples are assumed as independent individuals. In this chapter, we demonstrate how HMMs and hierarchical Bayesian modeling methods capture the horizontal time dependency structures in time series expression profiles by focusing on the identification of differential expression. In addition, those differential expression genes and transcript variant isoforms over time detected in core prerequisite steps can be generally further applied in detection of genetic regulatory networks to comprehensively uncover dynamic repertoires in the aspects of system biology as the coupled framework.

Interplay of heritage and habitat in the distribution of bacterial signal transduction systems.

PubMed

Galperin, Michael Y; Higdon, Roger; Kolker, Eugene

2010-04-01

Comparative analysis of the complete genome sequences from a variety of poorly studied organisms aims at predicting ecological and behavioral properties of these organisms and helping in characterizing their habitats. This task requires finding appropriate descriptors that could be correlated with the core traits of each system and would allow meaningful comparisons. Using the relatively simple bacterial models, first attempts have been made to introduce suitable metrics to describe the complexity of organism's signaling machinery, which included introducing the "bacterial IQ" score. Here, we use an updated census of prokaryotic signal transduction systems to improve this parameter and evaluate its consistency within selected bacterial phyla. We also introduce a more elaborate descriptor, a set of profiles of relative abundance of members of each family of signal transduction proteins encoded in each genome. We show that these family profiles are well conserved within each genus and are often consistent within families of bacteria. Thus, they reflect evolutionary relationships between organisms as well as individual adaptations of each organism to its specific ecological niche.

Word list and story recall elicit different patterns of memory deficit in patients with Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, subcortical ischemic vascular disease, and Lewy body dementia.

PubMed

Perri, Roberta; Fadda, Lucia; Caltagirone, Carlo; Carlesimo, Giovanni Augusto

2013-01-01

Different roles have been attributed to mesio-temporal areas and frontal lobes in declarative memory functioning, and qualitative differences have been observed in the amnesic symptoms due to pathological damage of these two portions of the central nervous system. The aim of the present study was to look for memory profiles related to pathological involvement in the temporal and frontal structures in patients with different dementia syndromes on word-list and prose memory tasks. 20 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), 20 with frontal variant of FTD (fvFTD), 20 with subcortical ischemic vascular dementia (SIVD), and 20 with Lewy body dementia (LBD) and 34 healthy subjects (NCs) were submitted to word-list and prose memory tasks. All groups performed similarly on both the immediate and delayed recall of the word-list. Conversely, AD patients performed worse than all the other dementia groups on the immediate prose recall. On delayed prose recall, AD patients performed worse than fvFTD and SIVD patients but similar to LBD patients. Differential scores between word-list and prose tests were minimal in the AD group and very pronounced in fvFTD and SIVD groups. The combined use of the prose and word-list tasks evidenced a "mesio-temporal" memory profile in AD patients as opposed to a "frontal" one in fvFTD and SIVD patients and a mixed profile in the LBD patients. In particular, a differential score between the two tests can be useful in differentiating AD patients from patients with other forms of dementia.

Mechanical problem-solving strategies in Alzheimer's disease and semantic dementia.

PubMed

Lesourd, Mathieu; Baumard, Josselin; Jarry, Christophe; Etcharry-Bouyx, Frédérique; Belliard, Serge; Moreaud, Olivier; Croisile, Bernard; Chauviré, Valérie; Granjon, Marine; Le Gall, Didier; Osiurak, François

2016-07-01

The goal of this study was to explore whether the tool-use disorders observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and semantic dementia (SD) are of the same nature as those observed in left brain-damaged (LBD) patients. Recent evidence indicates that LBD patients with apraxia of tool use encounter difficulties in solving mechanical problems, characterized by the absence of specific strategies. This pattern may show the presence of impaired mechanical knowledge, critical for both familiar and novel tool use. So, we explored the strategies followed by AD and SD patients in mechanical problem-solving tasks in order to determine whether mechanical knowledge is also impaired in these patients. We used a mechanical problem-solving task in both choice (i.e., several tools were proposed) and no-choice (i.e., only 1 tool was proposed) conditions. We analyzed quantitative data and strategy profiles. AD patients but not SD patients met difficulties in solving mechanical problem-solving tasks. However, the key finding is that AD patients, despite their difficulties, showed strategy profiles that are similar to that of SD patients or controls. Moreover, AD patients exhibited a strategy profile distinct from the one previously observed in LBD patients. Those observations lead us to consider that difficulties met by AD patients to solve mechanical problems or even to use familiar tools may not be caused by mechanical knowledge impairment per se. In broad terms, what we call apraxia of tool use in AD is certainly not the same as apraxia of tool use observed in LBD patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Differential focal and nonfocal prospective memory accuracy in a demographically diverse group of nondemented community-dwelling older adults.

PubMed

Chi, Susan Y; Rabin, Laura A; Aronov, Avner; Fogel, Joshua; Kapoor, Ashu; Wang, Cuiling

2014-11-01

Although prospective memory (PM) is compromised in mild cognitive impairment (MCI), it is unclear which specific cognitive processes underlie these PM difficulties. We investigated older adults' performance on a computerized event-based focal versus nonfocal PM task that made varying demands on the amount of attentional control required to support intention retrieval. Participants were nondemented individuals (mean age=81.8 years; female=66.1%) enrolled in a community-based longitudinal study, including those with amnestic MCI (aMCI), nonamnestic MCI (naMCI), subjective cognitive decline (SCD), and healthy controls (HC). Participants included in the primary analysis (n=189) completed the PM task and recalled and/or recognized both focal and nonfocal PM cues presented in the task. Participants and their informants also completed a questionnaire assessing everyday PM failures. Relative to HC, those with aMCI and naMCI were significantly impaired in focal PM accuracy (p<.05). In a follow-up analysis that included 13 additional participants who successfully recalled and/or recognized at least one of the two PM cues, the naMCI group showed deficits in nonfocal PM accuracy (p<.05). There was a significant negative correlation between informant reports of PM difficulties and nonfocal PM accuracy (p<.01). PM failures in aMCI may be primarily related to impairment of spontaneous retrieval processes associated with the medial temporal lobe system, while PM failures in naMCI potentially indicate additional deficits in executive control functions and prefrontal systems. The observed focal versus nonfocal PM performance profiles in aMCI and naMCI may constitute specific behavioral markers of PM decline that result from compromise of separate neurocognitive systems.

Task Analysis for Health Occupations. Cluster: Nursing. Occupation: Professional Nurse (Associate Degree). Education for Employment Task Lists.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lake County Area Vocational Center, Grayslake, IL.

This document contains a task analysis for health occupations (professional nurse) in the nursing cluster. For each task listed, occupation, duty area, performance standard, steps, knowledge, attitudes, safety, equipment/supplies, source of analysis, and Illinois state goals for learning are listed. For the duty area of "providing therapeutic…

Task Analysis for Health Occupations. Cluster: Nursing. Occupation: Home Health Aide. Education for Employment Task Lists.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lake County Area Vocational Center, Grayslake, IL.

This document contains a task analysis for health occupations (home health aid) in the nursing cluster. For each task listed, occupation, duty area, performance standard, steps, knowledge, attitudes, safety, equipment/supplies, source of analysis, and Illinois state goals for learning are listed. For the duty area of "providing therapeutic…

Raster profile development for the spatial data transfer standard

USGS Publications Warehouse

Szemraj, John A.

1993-01-01

The Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS), recently approved as Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) Publication 173, is designed to transfer various types of spatial data. Implementing all of the standard's options at one time is impractical. Profiles, or limited subsets of the SDTS, are the mechanisms by which the standards will be implemented. The development of a raster profile is being coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) SDTS Task Force. This raster profile is intended to accommodate digital georeferenced image data and regularly spaces, georeferenced gridded data. The USGS's digital elevation models (DEMs) and digital orthophoto quadrangles (DOQs), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) advanced very huh resolution radiometer (AVHRR) and Landsat data, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Earth observing system (EOS) data are among the candidate data sets for this profile. Other raster profiles, designed to support nongeoreferenced and other types of "raw" sensor data will be consider in the future. As with the Topological Vector Profile (TVP) for the SDTS, development of the raster profile includes designing a prototype profile, testing the prototype profile using sample data sets, and finally, requesting and receiving FIPS approval.

Predicting dual-task performance with the Multiple Resources Questionnaire (MRQ).

PubMed

Boles, David B; Bursk, Jonathan H; Phillips, Jeffrey B; Perdelwitz, Jason R

2007-02-01

The objective was to assess the validity of the Multiple Resources Questionnaire (MRQ) in predicting dual-task interference. Subjective workload measures such as the Subjective Workload Assessment Technique (SWAT) and NASA Task Load Index are sensitive to single-task parameters and dual-task loads but have not attempted to measure workload in particular mental processes. An alternative is the MRQ. In Experiment 1, participants completed simple laboratory tasks and the MRQ after each. Interference between tasks was then correlated to three different task similarity metrics: profile similarity, based on r(2) between ratings; overlap similarity, based on summed minima; and overall demand, based on summed ratings. Experiment 2 used similar methods but more complex computer-based games. In Experiment 1 the MRQ moderately predicted interference (r = +.37), with no significant difference between metrics. In Experiment 2 the metric effect was significant, with overlap similarity excelling in predicting interference (r = +.83). Mean ratings showed high diagnosticity in identifying specific mental processing bottlenecks. The MRQ shows considerable promise as a cognitive-process-sensitive workload measure. Potential applications of the MRQ include the identification of dual-processing bottlenecks as well as process overloads in single tasks, preparatory to redesign in areas such as air traffic management, advanced flight displays, and medical imaging.

Comparison of Physiological and Psychological Relaxation Using Measurements of Heart Rate Variability, Prefrontal Cortex Activity, and Subjective Indexes after Completing Tasks with and without Foliage Plants

PubMed Central

Park, Sin-Ae

2017-01-01

The objective of this study was to compare physiological and psychological relaxation by assessing heart rate variability (HRV), prefrontal cortex activity, and subjective indexes while subjects performed a task with and without foliage plants. In a crossover experimental design, 24 university students performed a task transferring pots with and without a foliage plant for 3 min. HRV and oxyhemoglobin (oxy-Hb) concentration in the prefrontal cortex were continuously measured. Immediately thereafter, subjective evaluation of emotions was performed using a modified semantic differential (SD) method and a profile of mood state questionnaire (POMS). Results showed that the natural logarithmic (ln) ratio of low frequency/high frequency, as an estimate of sympathetic nerve activity, was significantly lower while performing the task with foliage plants for the average 3 min measurement interval. Oxy-Hb concentration in the left prefrontal cortex showed a tendency to decrease in the 2–3 min interval in the task with foliage plants compared to the task without plants. Moreover, significant psychological relaxation according to POMS score and SD was demonstrated when the task involved foliage plants. In conclusion, the task involving foliage plants led to more physiological and psychological relaxation compared with the task without foliage plants. PMID:28930169

Comparison of Physiological and Psychological Relaxation Using Measurements of Heart Rate Variability, Prefrontal Cortex Activity, and Subjective Indexes after Completing Tasks with and without Foliage Plants.

PubMed

Park, Sin-Ae; Song, Chorong; Oh, Yun-Ah; Miyazaki, Yoshifumi; Son, Ki-Cheol

2017-09-20

The objective of this study was to compare physiological and psychological relaxation by assessing heart rate variability (HRV), prefrontal cortex activity, and subjective indexes while subjects performed a task with and without foliage plants. In a crossover experimental design, 24 university students performed a task transferring pots with and without a foliage plant for 3 min. HRV and oxyhemoglobin (oxy-Hb) concentration in the prefrontal cortex were continuously measured. Immediately thereafter, subjective evaluation of emotions was performed using a modified semantic differential (SD) method and a profile of mood state questionnaire (POMS). Results showed that the natural logarithmic (ln) ratio of low frequency/high frequency, as an estimate of sympathetic nerve activity, was significantly lower while performing the task with foliage plants for the average 3 min measurement interval. Oxy-Hb concentration in the left prefrontal cortex showed a tendency to decrease in the 2-3 min interval in the task with foliage plants compared to the task without plants. Moreover, significant psychological relaxation according to POMS score and SD was demonstrated when the task involved foliage plants. In conclusion, the task involving foliage plants led to more physiological and psychological relaxation compared with the task without foliage plants.

Acquisition and production of skilled behavior in dynamic decision-making tasks. Semiannual Status Report M.S. Thesis - Georgia Inst. of Tech., Nov. 1992

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirlik, Alex; Kossack, Merrick Frank

1993-01-01

This status report consists of a thesis entitled 'Ecological Task Analysis: A Method for Display Enhancements.' Previous use of various analysis processes for the purpose of display interface design or enhancement has run the risk of failing to improve user performance due to the analysis resulting in only a sequencial listing of user tasks. Adopting an ecological approach to performing the task analysis, however, may result in the necessary modeling of an unpredictable and variable task domain required to improve user performance. Kirlik has proposed an Ecological Task Analysis framework which is designed for this purpose. It is the purpose of this research to measure this framework's effectiveness at enhancing display interfaces in order to improve user performance. Following the proposed framework, an ecological task analysis of experienced users of a complex and dynamic laboratory task, Star Cruiser, was performed. Based on this analysis, display enhancements were proposed and implemented. An experiment was then conducted to compare this new version of Star Cruiser to the original. By measuring user performance at different tasks, it was determined that during early sessions, use of the enhanced display contributed to better user performance compared to that achieved using the original display. Furthermore, the results indicate that the enhancements proposed as a result of the ecological task analysis affected user performance differently depending on whether they are enhancements which aid in the selection of a possible action or in the performance of an action. Generalizations of these findings to larger, more complex systems were avoided since the analysis was only performed on this one particular system.

Task Analysis - Its Relation to Content Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gagne, Robert M.

Task analysis is a procedure having the purpose of identifying different kinds of performances which are outcomes of learning, in order to make possible the specification of optimal instructional conditions for each kind of outcome. Task analysis may be related to content analysis in two different ways: (1) it may be used to identify the probably…

MBTA Green Line Tests - Riverside Line, December 1972 : Volume 4. Westbound Track Profile.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1973-01-01

The Urban Rail Supporting Technology Program emphasizes three major task areas; facilities development, technology development, and test program development. The test program development is composed of three sub-areas; vehicle testing, ways and struc...

MBTA Green Line Tests - Riverside Line, December 1972 : Volume 3. Eastbound Track Profile.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1973-01-01

The Urban Rail Supporting Technology Program emphasizes three major task areas; facilities development, technology development, and test program development. The test program development is composed of three sub-areas; vehicle testing, ways and struc...

Classification of Ancient Mammal Individuals Using Dental Pulp MALDI-TOF MS Peptide Profiling

PubMed Central

Tran, Thi-Nguyen-Ny; Aboudharam, Gérard; Gardeisen, Armelle; Davoust, Bernard; Bocquet-Appel, Jean-Pierre; Flaudrops, Christophe; Belghazi, Maya; Raoult, Didier; Drancourt, Michel

2011-01-01

Background The classification of ancient animal corpses at the species level remains a challenging task for forensic scientists and anthropologists. Severe damage and mixed, tiny pieces originating from several skeletons may render morphological classification virtually impossible. Standard approaches are based on sequencing mitochondrial and nuclear targets. Methodology/Principal Findings We present a method that can accurately classify mammalian species using dental pulp and mass spectrometry peptide profiling. Our work was organized into three successive steps. First, after extracting proteins from the dental pulp collected from 37 modern individuals representing 13 mammalian species, trypsin-digested peptides were used for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis. The resulting peptide profiles accurately classified every individual at the species level in agreement with parallel cytochrome b gene sequencing gold standard. Second, using a 279–modern spectrum database, we blindly classified 33 of 37 teeth collected in 37 modern individuals (89.1%). Third, we classified 10 of 18 teeth (56%) collected in 15 ancient individuals representing five mammal species including human, from five burial sites dating back 8,500 years. Further comparison with an upgraded database comprising ancient specimen profiles yielded 100% classification in ancient teeth. Peptide sequencing yield 4 and 16 different non-keratin proteins including collagen (alpha-1 type I and alpha-2 type I) in human ancient and modern dental pulp, respectively. Conclusions/Significance Mass spectrometry peptide profiling of the dental pulp is a new approach that can be added to the arsenal of species classification tools for forensics and anthropology as a complementary method to DNA sequencing. The dental pulp is a new source for collagen and other proteins for the species classification of modern and ancient mammal individuals. PMID:21364886

Is the Positive Bias an ADHD Phenomenon? Reexamining the Positive Bias and its Correlates in a Heterogeneous Sample of Children.

PubMed

Bourchtein, Elizaveta; Owens, Julie S; Dawson, Anne E; Evans, Steven W; Langberg, Joshua M; Flory, Kate; Lorch, Elizabeth P

2017-11-25

The goals of this study were to (a) evaluate the presence of the positive bias (PB) in elementary-school-aged children with and without ADHD when PB is defined at the individual level through latent profile analysis and (b) examine the extent to which several correlates (i.e., social functioning, aggression, depression, and anxiety) are associated with the PB. Participants were 233 youth (30% female; 8 to 10 years of age), 51% of whom met criteria for ADHD. During an individual evaluation, children and parents completed a battery of questionnaires to assess child competence, depression, anxiety, and aggression. Children also participated in a novel group session with same-sex unfamiliar peers (half of the group was comprised of children with ADHD) to engage in group problem-solving tasks and free play activities. After the group session, peers and staff completed ratings of each child's behavior (e.g., likeability, rule following). The best fitting LPA model for parent and self-ratings of competence revealed four profiles: High Competence/Self-Aware; Variable Competence/Self-Aware; Low Competence/Self-Aware; and Low Competence/PB, in which the PB was present across domains. Only 10% of youth showed a PB and youth with ADHD were no more likely to display the PB than their non-ADHD peers with similar levels of low competence. Lastly, the Low Competence/Self-Aware profile demonstrated higher levels of anxiety and depression than the Low Competence/PB profile; the profiles did not differ on aggression or peer or staff ratings of social/behavioral functioning. Implications for understanding the PB in children with and without ADHD are discussed.

Effectiveness of Neuromuscular Training Based on the Neuromuscular Risk Profile.

PubMed

Hewett, Timothy E; Ford, Kevin R; Xu, Yingying Y; Khoury, Jane; Myer, Gregory D

2017-07-01

The effects of targeted neuromuscular training (TNMT) on movement biomechanics associated with the risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are currently unknown. Purpose/Hypotheses: To determine the effectiveness of TNMT specifically designed to increase trunk control and hip strength. The hypotheses were that (1) TNMT would decrease biomechanical and neuromuscular factors related to an increased ACL injury risk and (2) TNMT would decrease these biomechanical and neuromuscular factors to a greater extent in athletes identified as being at a high risk for future ACL injuries. Controlled laboratory study. Female athletes who participated in jumping, cutting, and pivoting sports underwent 3-dimensional biomechanical testing before the season and after completing TNMT. During testing, athletes performed 3 different types of tasks: (1) drop vertical jump, (2) single-leg drop, and (3) single-leg cross drop. Analysis of covariance was used to examine the treatment effects of TNMT designed to enhance core and hip strength on biomechanical and neuromuscular characteristics. Differences were also evaluated by risk profile. Differences were considered statistically significant at P < .05. TNMT significantly increased hip external rotation moments and moment impulses, increased peak trunk flexion, and decreased peak trunk extension. Athletes with a high risk before the intervention (risk profile III) had a more significant treatment effect of TNMT than low-risk groups (risk profiles I and II). TNMT significantly improved proximal biomechanics, including increased hip external rotation moments and moment impulses, increased peak trunk flexion, and decreased peak trunk extension. TNMT that focuses exclusively on proximal leg and trunk risk factors is not, however, adequate to induce significant changes in frontal-plane knee loading. Biomechanical changes varied across the risk profile groups, with higher risk groups exhibiting greater improvements in their biomechanics.

Application of Cognitive Task Analysis in User Requirements and Prototype Design Presentation/Briefing

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-10-01

AFRL-HE-WP-TP-2005-0030 AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY Application of Cognitive Task Analysis in User Requirements and Prototype Design Presentation...TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER FA8650-04-C-6406 Application of Cognitive Task Analysis in User Requirements 5b.GRANTNUMBER and Prototype...maintainer experience 21 21 Questions & Answers Application of Cognitive Task Analysis in User Requirements Definition and Prototype Design Christopher Curtis

BioVLAB-MMIA: a cloud environment for microRNA and mRNA integrated analysis (MMIA) on Amazon EC2.

PubMed

Lee, Hyungro; Yang, Youngik; Chae, Heejoon; Nam, Seungyoon; Choi, Donghoon; Tangchaisin, Patanachai; Herath, Chathura; Marru, Suresh; Nephew, Kenneth P; Kim, Sun

2012-09-01

MicroRNAs, by regulating the expression of hundreds of target genes, play critical roles in developmental biology and the etiology of numerous diseases, including cancer. As a vast amount of microRNA expression profile data are now publicly available, the integration of microRNA expression data sets with gene expression profiles is a key research problem in life science research. However, the ability to conduct genome-wide microRNA-mRNA (gene) integration currently requires sophisticated, high-end informatics tools, significant expertise in bioinformatics and computer science to carry out the complex integration analysis. In addition, increased computing infrastructure capabilities are essential in order to accommodate large data sets. In this study, we have extended the BioVLAB cloud workbench to develop an environment for the integrated analysis of microRNA and mRNA expression data, named BioVLAB-MMIA. The workbench facilitates computations on the Amazon EC2 and S3 resources orchestrated by the XBaya Workflow Suite. The advantages of BioVLAB-MMIA over the web-based MMIA system include: 1) readily expanded as new computational tools become available; 2) easily modifiable by re-configuring graphic icons in the workflow; 3) on-demand cloud computing resources can be used on an "as needed" basis; 4) distributed orchestration supports complex and long running workflows asynchronously. We believe that BioVLAB-MMIA will be an easy-to-use computing environment for researchers who plan to perform genome-wide microRNA-mRNA (gene) integrated analysis tasks.

COMPARISON OF LAPAROSCOPIC SKILLS PERFORMANCE USING SINGLE-SITE ACCESS (SSA) DEVICES VS. AN INDEPENDENT-PORT SSA APPROACH

PubMed Central

Schill, Matthew R.; Varela, J. Esteban; Frisella, Margaret M.; Brunt, L. Michael

2015-01-01

Background We compared performance of validated laparoscopic tasks on four commercially available single site access (SSA) access devices (AD) versus an independent port (IP) SSA set-up. Methods A prospective, randomized comparison of laparoscopic skills performance on four AD (GelPOINT™, SILS™ Port, SSL Access System™, TriPort™) and one IP SSA set-up was conducted. Eighteen medical students (2nd–4th year), four surgical residents, and five attending surgeons were trained to proficiency in multi-port laparoscopy using four laparoscopic drills (peg transfer, bean drop, pattern cutting, extracorporeal suturing) in a laparoscopic trainer box. Drills were then performed in random order on each IP-SSA and AD-SSA set-up using straight laparoscopic instruments. Repetitions were timed and errors recorded. Data are mean ± SD, and statistical analysis was by two-way ANOVA with Tukey HSD post-hoc tests. Results Attending surgeons had significantly faster total task times than residents or students (p< 0.001), but the difference between residents and students was NS. Pair-wise comparisons revealed significantly faster total task times for the IP-SSA set-up compared to all four AD-SSA’s within the student group only (p<0.05). Total task times for residents and attending surgeons showed a similar profile, but the differences were NS. When data for the three groups was combined, the total task time was less for the IP-SSA set-up than for each of the four AD-SSA set-ups (p < 0.001). Similarly,, the IP-SSA set-up was significantly faster than 3 of 4 AD-SSA set-ups for peg transfer, 3 of 4 for pattern cutting, and 2 of 4 for suturing. No significant differences in error rates between IP-SSA and AD-SSA set-ups were detected. Conclusions When compared to an IP-SSA laparoscopic set-up, single site access devices are associated with longer task performance times in a trainer box model, independent of level of training. Task performance was similar across different SSA devices. PMID:21993938

The Neuropsychology of Male Adults With High-Functioning Autism or Asperger Syndrome†

PubMed Central

Wilson, C Ellie; Happé, Francesca; Wheelwright, Sally J; Ecker, Christine; Lombardo, Michael V; Johnston, Patrick; Daly, Eileen; Murphy, Clodagh M; Spain, Debbie; Lai, Meng-Chuan; Chakrabarti, Bhismadev; Sauter, Disa A; Baron-Cohen, Simon; Murphy, Declan G M

2014-01-01

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is diagnosed on the basis of behavioral symptoms, but cognitive abilities may also be useful in characterizing individuals with ASD. One hundred seventy-eight high-functioning male adults, half with ASD and half without, completed tasks assessing IQ, a broad range of cognitive skills, and autistic and comorbid symptomatology. The aims of the study were, first, to determine whether significant differences existed between cases and controls on cognitive tasks, and whether cognitive profiles, derived using a multivariate classification method with data from multiple cognitive tasks, could distinguish between the two groups. Second, to establish whether cognitive skill level was correlated with degree of autistic symptom severity, and third, whether cognitive skill level was correlated with degree of comorbid psychopathology. Fourth, cognitive characteristics of individuals with Asperger Syndrome (AS) and high-functioning autism (HFA) were compared. After controlling for IQ, ASD and control groups scored significantly differently on tasks of social cognition, motor performance, and executive function (P's < 0.05). To investigate cognitive profiles, 12 variables were entered into a support vector machine (SVM), which achieved good classification accuracy (81%) at a level significantly better than chance (P < 0.0001). After correcting for multiple correlations, there were no significant associations between cognitive performance and severity of either autistic or comorbid symptomatology. There were no significant differences between AS and HFA groups on the cognitive tasks. Cognitive classification models could be a useful aid to the diagnostic process when used in conjunction with other data sources—including clinical history. Autism Res 2014, 7: 568–581. © 2014 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:24903974

Temporal profile of prolonged, night-time driving performance: breaks from driving temporarily reduce time-on-task fatigue but not sleepiness.

PubMed

Phipps-Nelson, Jo; Redman, Jennifer R; Rajaratnam, Shantha M W

2011-09-01

Breaks are often used by drivers to counteract sleepiness and time-on-task fatigue during prolonged driving. We examined the temporal profile of changes in driving performance, electroencephalogram (EEG) activity and subjective measures of sleepiness and fatigue during prolonged nocturnal driving in a car simulator. In addition, the study examined the impact of regular breaks from driving on performance, sleepiness and fatigue. Healthy volunteers (n=12, 23-45 years) maintained a regular sleep-wake pattern for 14 days and were then in a laboratory from 21:00 to 08:30 hours. The driving simulator scene was designed to simulate monotonous night-time rural driving. Participants drove 4 × 2-h test sessions, with a break from driving of 1 h between each session. During the break participants performed tests assessing sleepiness and fatigue, and psychomotor performance (~30 mins), and then were permitted to sit quietly. They were monitored for wakefulness, and not permitted to nap or ingest caffeine. EEG was recorded during the driving task, and subjective assessments of sleepiness and fatigue were obtained at the start and completion of each session. We found that driving performance deteriorated (2.5-fold), EEG delta, theta and alpha activity increased, and subjective sleepiness and fatigue ratings increased across the testing period. Driving performance and fatigue ratings improved following the scheduled breaks from driving, while the breaks did not affect EEG activity and subjective sleepiness. Time-on-task effects increased through the testing period, indicating that these effects are exacerbated by increasing sleepiness. Breaks from driving without sleep temporarily ameliorate time-on-task fatigue, but provide little benefit to the sleepy driver. © 2010 European Sleep Research Society.

OBSERVER RATING VERSUS THREE-DIMENSIONAL MOTION ANALYSIS OF LOWER EXTREMITY KINEMATICS DURING FUNCTIONAL SCREENING TESTS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW.

PubMed

Maclachlan, Liam; White, Steven G; Reid, Duncan

2015-08-01

Functional assessments are conducted in both clinical and athletic settings in an attempt to identify those individuals who exhibit movement patterns that may increase their risk of non-contact injury. In place of highly sophisticated three-dimensional motion analysis, functional testing can be completed through observation. To evaluate the validity of movement observation assessments by summarizing the results of articles comparing human observation in real-time or video play-back and three-dimensional motion analysis of lower extremity kinematics during functional screening tests. Systematic review. A computerized systematic search was conducted through Medline, SPORTSdiscus, Scopus, Cinhal, and Cochrane health databases between February and April of 2014. Validity studies comparing human observation (real-time or video play-back) to three-dimensional motion analysis of functional tasks were selected. Only studies comprising uninjured, healthy subjects conducting lower extremity functional assessments were appropriate for review. Eligible observers were certified health practitioners or qualified members of sports and athletic training teams that conduct athlete screening. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 (QUADAS-2) was used to appraise the literature. Results are presented in terms of functional tasks. Six studies met the inclusion criteria. Across these studies, two-legged squats, single-leg squats, drop-jumps, and running and cutting manoeuvres were the functional tasks analysed. When compared to three-dimensional motion analysis, observer ratings of lower extremity kinematics, such as knee position in relation to the foot, demonstrated mixed results. Single-leg squats achieved target sensitivity values (≥ 80%) but not specificity values (≥ 50%>%). Drop-jump task agreement ranged from poor (< 50%) to excellent (> 80%). Two-legged squats achieved 88% sensitivity and 85% specificity. Mean underestimations as large as 198 (peak knee flexion) were found in the results of those assessing running and side-step cutting manoeuvres. Variables such as the speed of movement, the methods of rating, the profiles of participants and the experience levels of observers may have influenced the outcomes of functional testing. The small number of studies used limits generalizability. Furthermore, this review used two dimensional video-playback for the majority of observations. If the movements had been rated in real-time three dimensional video, the results may have been different. Slower, speed controlled movements using dichotomous ratings reach target sensitivity and demonstrate higher overall levels of agreement. As a result, their utilization in functional screening is advocated. 1A.

Time-Frequency Cross Mutual Information Analysis of the Brain Functional Networks Underlying Multiclass Motor Imagery.

PubMed

Gong, Anmin; Liu, Jianping; Chen, Si; Fu, Yunfa

2018-01-01

To study the physiologic mechanism of the brain during different motor imagery (MI) tasks, the authors employed a method of brain-network modeling based on time-frequency cross mutual information obtained from 4-class (left hand, right hand, feet, and tongue) MI tasks recorded as brain-computer interface (BCI) electroencephalography data. The authors explored the brain network revealed by these MI tasks using statistical analysis and the analysis of topologic characteristics, and observed significant differences in the reaction level, reaction time, and activated target during 4-class MI tasks. There was a great difference in the reaction level between the execution and resting states during different tasks: the reaction level of the left-hand MI task was the greatest, followed by that of the right-hand, feet, and tongue MI tasks. The reaction time required to perform the tasks also differed: during the left-hand and right-hand MI tasks, the brain networks of subjects reacted promptly and strongly, but there was a delay during the feet and tongue MI task. Statistical analysis and the analysis of network topology revealed the target regions of the brain network during different MI processes. In conclusion, our findings suggest a new way to explain the neural mechanism behind MI.

Inter-subject phase synchronization for exploratory analysis of task-fMRI.

PubMed

Bolt, Taylor; Nomi, Jason S; Vij, Shruti G; Chang, Catie; Uddin, Lucina Q

2018-08-01

Analysis of task-based fMRI data is conventionally carried out using a hypothesis-driven approach, where blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) time courses are correlated with a hypothesized temporal structure. In some experimental designs, this temporal structure can be difficult to define. In other cases, experimenters may wish to take a more exploratory, data-driven approach to detecting task-driven BOLD activity. In this study, we demonstrate the efficiency and power of an inter-subject synchronization approach for exploratory analysis of task-based fMRI data. Combining the tools of instantaneous phase synchronization and independent component analysis, we characterize whole-brain task-driven responses in terms of group-wise similarity in temporal signal dynamics of brain networks. We applied this framework to fMRI data collected during performance of a simple motor task and a social cognitive task. Analyses using an inter-subject phase synchronization approach revealed a large number of brain networks that dynamically synchronized to various features of the task, often not predicted by the hypothesized temporal structure of the task. We suggest that this methodological framework, along with readily available tools in the fMRI community, provides a powerful exploratory, data-driven approach for analysis of task-driven BOLD activity. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Moral Cognition and Multiple Sclerosis: A Neuropsychological Study.

PubMed

Realmuto, Sabrina; Dodich, Alessandra; Meli, Riccardo; Canessa, Nicola; Ragonese, Paolo; Salemi, Giuseppe; Cerami, Chiara

2018-05-30

Recent literature proved that social cognition impairments may characterize the neuropsychological profile of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients. However, little is still known about moral cognition in MS. In this study, we evaluated non-social, social, and moral cognitive performances in 45 relapsing-remitting MS patients. Patients underwent the Brief International Cognitive Assessment for Multiple Sclerosis battery, the Cognitive Estimation and Stroop tasks, the Ekman-60 Faces test, the Reading the Mind in the Eye and Story-based Empathy task. Additionally, a task of moral dilemmas including both "instrumental" and "incidental" conditions was administered to patients. Forty-five age-, gender- and education-matched healthy control subjects (HC) were enrolled for comparisons. The majority of patients (i.e., 77.6%) showed deficits at non-social tasks, particularly in the executive domains. A subset of MS sample (i.e., 24%) presented with emotion recognition and socio-affective processing impairments. Overall, MS patients showed comparable levels of moral judgment with respect to HC. The rate of yes/no response in resolution of moral dilemmas and scores of attribution of emotional valence were comparable between groups. Nevertheless, lower moral permissibility and emotional arousal, particularly for the instrumental dilemmas, characterized the MS profile. Significant correlations between the attribution of emotional valence to moral actions and mentalizing scores emerged. Our findings expand current literature on MS supporting not only deficits in executive and socio-emotional domains but also low levels of permissibility of immoral actions and emotional detachment in the moral judgment process.

Development of a task analysis tool to facilitate user interface design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scholtz, Jean C.

1992-01-01

A good user interface is one that facilitates the user in carrying out his task. Such interfaces are difficult and costly to produce. The most important aspect in producing a good interface is the ability to communicate to the software designers what the user's task is. The Task Analysis Tool is a system for cooperative task analysis and specification of the user interface requirements. This tool is intended to serve as a guide to development of initial prototypes for user feedback.

Determining Pain Detection and Tolerance Thresholds Using an Integrated, Multi-Modal Pain Task Battery.

PubMed

Hay, Justin L; Okkerse, Pieter; van Amerongen, Guido; Groeneveld, Geert Jan

2016-04-14

Human pain models are useful in the assessing the analgesic effect of drugs, providing information about a drug's pharmacology and identify potentially suitable therapeutic populations. The need to use a comprehensive battery of pain models is highlighted by studies whereby only a single pain model, thought to relate to the clinical situation, demonstrates lack of efficacy. No single experimental model can mimic the complex nature of clinical pain. The integrated, multi-modal pain task battery presented here encompasses the electrical stimulation task, pressure stimulation task, cold pressor task, the UVB inflammatory model which includes a thermal task and a paradigm for inhibitory conditioned pain modulation. These human pain models have been tested for predicative validity and reliability both in their own right and in combination, and can be used repeatedly, quickly, in short succession, with minimum burden for the subject and with a modest quantity of equipment. This allows a drug to be fully characterized and profiled for analgesic effect which is especially useful for drugs with a novel or untested mechanism of action.

Task Analysis for Health Occupations. Cluster: Nursing. Occupation: Geriatric Aide. Education for Employment Task Lists.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lake County Area Vocational Center, Grayslake, IL.

This task analysis for nursing education provides performance standards, steps to be followed, knowledge required, attitudes to be developed, safety procedures, and equipment and supplies needed for 13 tasks performed by geriatric aides in the duty area of performing diagnostic measures and for 30 tasks in the duty area of providing therapeutic…

Task Analysis for Legal Assistant Program. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schrader, Marvin A.; Knight, John

The Legal Assistant Task Analysis Project was undertaken to provide data related to the importance of tasks and the frequency of tasks that are, or could be, assigned to an assistant. In order to accomplish this, a task survey form was constructed and distributed to a sample of attorneys in (1) private practice, (2) companies or corporations, and…

Task Inventory Construction. Evaluation of the Marine Corps Task Analysis Program. Technical Report No. 14.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kishi, Akemi

To aid in the construction of effective task analysis inventories, this technical report discusses: (1) an optimum questionnaire length that adequately covers Marine tasks without unduly fatiguing respondents; (2) procedures for the phrasing of task statements to avoid ambiguities and be understandable to as broad a range of Marines as is…

Dissociating temporal attention from spatial attention and motor response preparation: A high-density EEG study.

PubMed

Faugeras, Frédéric; Naccache, Lionel

2016-01-01

Engagement of various forms of attention and response preparation determines behavioral performance during stimulus-response tasks. Many studies explored the respective properties and neural signatures of each of these processes. However, very few experiments were conceived to explore their interaction. In the present work we used an auditory target detection task during which both temporal attention on the one side, and spatial attention and motor response preparation on the other side could be explicitly cued. Both cueing effects speeded response times, and showed strictly additive effects. Target ERP analysis revealed modulations of N1 and P3 responses by these two forms of cueing. Cue-target interval analysis revealed two main effects paralleling behavior. First, a typical contingent negative variation (CNV), induced by the cue and resolved immediately after target onset, was found larger for temporal attention cueing than for spatial and motor response cueing. Second, a posterior and late cue-P3 complex showed the reverse profile. Analyses of lateralized readiness potentials (LRP) revealed both patterns of motor response inhibition and activation. Taken together these results help to clarify and disentangle the respective effects of temporal attention on the one hand, and of the combination of spatial attention and motor response preparation on the other hand on brain activity and behavior. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Pragmatic Cognitive System Engineering Approach to Model Dynamic Human Decision-Making Activities in Intelligent and Automated Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-10-01

Among the procedures developed to identify cognitive processes, there are the Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) and the Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA...of Cognitive Task Design. [11] Potter, S.S., Roth, E.M., Woods, D.D., and Elm, W.C. (2000). Cognitive Task Analysis as Bootstrapping Multiple...Converging Techniques, In Schraagen, Chipman, and Shalin (Eds.). Cognitive Task Analysis . Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. [12] Roth, E.M

Cognitive Task Analysis of the HALIFAX-Class Operations Room Officer: Data Sheets. Annexes

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-03-10

Image Cover Sheet CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM NUMBER 510920 UNCLASSIFIED 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111 TITLE ANNEXES TO: COGNITIVE TASK ANALYSIS OF...1999 2. REPORT TYPE 3. DATES COVERED 00-00-1999 to 00-00-1999 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Annexes to: Cognitive Task Analysis of the HALIFAX-Class...by ANSI Std Z39-18 Guelph, Ontario .H U. M A N S X S T E M S Incorporated Annexes to: Cognitive Task Analysis of the HALIFAX-Class Operations

Profiling Coping Strategies in Male and Female Rats: Potential neurobehavioral markers of increased resilience to depressive symptoms

PubMed Central

Kent, Molly; Bardi, Massimo; Hazelgrove, Ashley; Sewell, Kaitlyn; Kirk, Emily; Thompson, Brooke; Trexler, Kristen; Terhune-Cotter, Brennan; Lambert, Kelly

2018-01-01

Coping strategies have been associated with differential stress responsivity, perhaps providing a valuable neurobiological marker for susceptibility to the emergence of depressogenic symptoms or vulnerability to other anxiety-related disorders. Rats profiled with a flexible coping phenotype, for example, exhibit increased neurobiological markers of emotional regulation compared to active and passive copers (Bardi et al., 2012; Lambert et al., 2014). In the current study, responses of male and female rats to prediction errors in a spatial foraging task (dry land maze; DLM) were examined after animals were exposed to chronic unpredictable stress (CUS). Brains were processed following the DLM training/assessment for fos-activation patterns and several measures of neuroplasticity in relevant areas. Behavioral responses observed during both the CUS and DLM phases of testing suggested that males and females employ different means of gathering information such as increased ambulatory exploration in males and rear responses in females. Fecal samples collected during baseline and following CUS swim exposure revealed higher corticosterone (CORT) in active copers, whereas flexible copers had higher dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and DHEA/CORT ratios, both indications of enhanced emotional regulation. Focusing on the neural analysis, flexible copers exhibited fewer fos-immunoreactive cells in the basolateral amygdala and a trend toward lower activation in the insula while encountering the prediction error associated with the DLM probe trial. Coping profiles also differentially influenced markers of neuroplasticity; specifically, flexible copers exhibited higher levels nestin-immunoreactivity (ir). Further, less hippocampal glucocorticoid receptor-ir was observed in the flexible copers than the active and passive copers. In sum, flexible coping rats exhibited evidence of emotional resilience as indicated by several neurobiological measures; however, despite increased rates of depression and related symptoms reported in human females, sex effects weren’t as pervasive as coping strategy profiles in the analysis of neurobiological markers employed in the current study. PMID:28755980

Academic Self-Handicapping and Achievement Goals: A Further Examination.

PubMed

Midgley, Carol; Urdan, Tim

2001-01-01

This study extends previous research on the relations among students' personal achievement goals, perceptions of the classroom goal structure, and reports of the use of self-handicapping strategies. Surveys, specific to the math domain, were given to 484 7th-grade students in nine middle schools. Personal performance-avoid goals positively predicted handicapping, whereas personal performance-approach goals did not. Personal task goals negatively predicted handicapping. Perceptions of a performance goal structure positively predicted handicapping, and perceptions of a task goal structure negatively predicted handicapping, independent of personal goals. Median splits used to examine multiple goal profiles revealed that students high in performance-avoid goals used handicapping more than did those low in performance-avoid goals regardless of the level of task goals. Students low in performance-avoid goals and high in task goals handicapped less than those low in both goals. Level of performance-approach goals had little effect on the relation between task goals and handicapping. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

Alignment-free genetic sequence comparisons: a review of recent approaches by word analysis

PubMed Central

Steele, Joe; Bastola, Dhundy

2014-01-01

Modern sequencing and genome assembly technologies have provided a wealth of data, which will soon require an analysis by comparison for discovery. Sequence alignment, a fundamental task in bioinformatics research, may be used but with some caveats. Seminal techniques and methods from dynamic programming are proving ineffective for this work owing to their inherent computational expense when processing large amounts of sequence data. These methods are prone to giving misleading information because of genetic recombination, genetic shuffling and other inherent biological events. New approaches from information theory, frequency analysis and data compression are available and provide powerful alternatives to dynamic programming. These new methods are often preferred, as their algorithms are simpler and are not affected by synteny-related problems. In this review, we provide a detailed discussion of computational tools, which stem from alignment-free methods based on statistical analysis from word frequencies. We provide several clear examples to demonstrate applications and the interpretations over several different areas of alignment-free analysis such as base–base correlations, feature frequency profiles, compositional vectors, an improved string composition and the D2 statistic metric. Additionally, we provide detailed discussion and an example of analysis by Lempel–Ziv techniques from data compression. PMID:23904502

Methylphenidate enhances cognitive performance in adults with poor baseline capacities regardless of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder diagnosis.

PubMed

Agay, Nirit; Yechiam, Eldad; Carmel, Ziv; Levkovitz, Yechiel

2014-04-01

We compare the view that the effect of methylphenidate (MPH) is selective to individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with an alternative approach suggesting that its effect is more prominent for individuals with weak baseline capacities in relevant cognitive tasks. To evaluate theses 2 approaches, we administered sustained attention, working memory, and decision-making tasks to 20 ADHD adults and 19 control subjects, using a within-subject placebo-controlled design. The results demonstrated no main effects of MPH in the decision-making tasks. In the sustained attention and working-memory tasks, MPH enhanced performance of both ADHD and non-ADHD adults to a similar extent compared with placebo. Hence, the effect of MPH was not selective to ADHD adults. In addition, those benefitting most from MPH in all 3 task domains tended to be individuals with poor task performance. However, in most tasks, individuals whose performance was impaired by MPH were not necessarily better (or worse) performers. The findings suggest that the administration of MPH to adults with ADHD should consider not only clinical diagnosis but also their functional (performance-based) profile.

Practice reduces task relevant variance modulation and forms nominal trajectory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osu, Rieko; Morishige, Ken-Ichi; Nakanishi, Jun; Miyamoto, Hiroyuki; Kawato, Mitsuo

2015-12-01

Humans are capable of achieving complex tasks with redundant degrees of freedom. Much attention has been paid to task relevant variance modulation as an indication of online feedback control strategies to cope with motor variability. Meanwhile, it has been discussed that the brain learns internal models of environments to realize feedforward control with nominal trajectories. Here we examined trajectory variance in both spatial and temporal domains to elucidate the relative contribution of these control schemas. We asked subjects to learn reaching movements with multiple via-points, and found that hand trajectories converged to stereotyped trajectories with the reduction of task relevant variance modulation as learning proceeded. Furthermore, variance reduction was not always associated with task constraints but was highly correlated with the velocity profile. A model assuming noise both on the nominal trajectory and motor command was able to reproduce the observed variance modulation, supporting an expression of nominal trajectories in the brain. The learning-related decrease in task-relevant modulation revealed a reduction in the influence of optimal feedback around the task constraints. After practice, the major part of computation seems to be taken over by the feedforward controller around the nominal trajectory with feedback added only when it becomes necessary.

Mind-wandering, cognition, and performance: a theory-driven meta-analysis of attention regulation.

PubMed

Randall, Jason G; Oswald, Frederick L; Beier, Margaret E

2014-11-01

The current meta-analysis accumulates empirical findings on the phenomenon of mind-wandering, integrating and interpreting findings in light of psychological theories of cognitive resource allocation. Cognitive resource theory emphasizes both individual differences in attentional resources and task demands together to predict variance in task performance. This theory motivated our conceptual and meta-analysis framework by introducing moderators indicative of task-demand to predict who is more likely to mind-wander under what conditions, and to predict when mind-wandering and task-related thought are more (or less) predictive of task performance. Predictions were tested via a random-effects meta-analysis of correlations obtained from normal adult samples (k = 88) based on measurement of specified episodes of off-task and/or on-task thought frequency and task performance. Results demonstrated that people with fewer cognitive resources tend to engage in more mind-wandering, whereas those with more cognitive resources are more likely to engage in task-related thought. Addressing predictions of resource theory, we found that greater time-on-task-although not greater task complexity-tended to strengthen the negative relation between cognitive resources and mind-wandering. Additionally, increases in mind-wandering were generally associated with decreases in task performance, whereas increases in task-related thought were associated with increased performance. Further supporting resource theory, the negative relation between mind-wandering and performance was more pronounced for more complex tasks, though not longer tasks. Complementarily, the positive association between task-related thought and performance was stronger for more complex tasks and for longer tasks. We conclude by discussing implications and future research directions for mind-wandering as a construct of interest in psychological research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

The Relationship between Rating Scales Used to Evaluate Tasks from Task Inventories for Licensure and Certification Examinations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cadle, Adrienne Woodley

2012-01-01

The first step in developing or updating a licensure or certification examination is to conduct a job or task analysis. Following completion of the job analysis, a survey validation study is performed to validate the results of the job analysis and to obtain task ratings so that an examination blueprint may be created. Psychometricians and job…

SPARTA: Simple Program for Automated reference-based bacterial RNA-seq Transcriptome Analysis.

PubMed

Johnson, Benjamin K; Scholz, Matthew B; Teal, Tracy K; Abramovitch, Robert B

2016-02-04

Many tools exist in the analysis of bacterial RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) transcriptional profiling experiments to identify differentially expressed genes between experimental conditions. Generally, the workflow includes quality control of reads, mapping to a reference, counting transcript abundance, and statistical tests for differentially expressed genes. In spite of the numerous tools developed for each component of an RNA-seq analysis workflow, easy-to-use bacterially oriented workflow applications to combine multiple tools and automate the process are lacking. With many tools to choose from for each step, the task of identifying a specific tool, adapting the input/output options to the specific use-case, and integrating the tools into a coherent analysis pipeline is not a trivial endeavor, particularly for microbiologists with limited bioinformatics experience. To make bacterial RNA-seq data analysis more accessible, we developed a Simple Program for Automated reference-based bacterial RNA-seq Transcriptome Analysis (SPARTA). SPARTA is a reference-based bacterial RNA-seq analysis workflow application for single-end Illumina reads. SPARTA is turnkey software that simplifies the process of analyzing RNA-seq data sets, making bacterial RNA-seq analysis a routine process that can be undertaken on a personal computer or in the classroom. The easy-to-install, complete workflow processes whole transcriptome shotgun sequencing data files by trimming reads and removing adapters, mapping reads to a reference, counting gene features, calculating differential gene expression, and, importantly, checking for potential batch effects within the data set. SPARTA outputs quality analysis reports, gene feature counts and differential gene expression tables and scatterplots. SPARTA provides an easy-to-use bacterial RNA-seq transcriptional profiling workflow to identify differentially expressed genes between experimental conditions. This software will enable microbiologists with limited bioinformatics experience to analyze their data and integrate next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies into the classroom. The SPARTA software and tutorial are available at sparta.readthedocs.org.

Cognitive Task Analysis and Work-Centered Support System Recommendations for a Deployed Network Operations Support Center (NOSC-D)

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-08-01

This report presents the results of a preliminary Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) of the deployed Network Operations Support Center (NOSC-D), and the...conducted Cognitive Task Analysis interviews with four (4) NOSC-D personnel. Because of the preliminary nature of the finding, the analysis is

49 CFR 236.923 - Task analysis and basic requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... classroom, simulator, computer-based, hands-on, or other formally structured training and testing, except... for Processor-Based Signal and Train Control Systems § 236.923 Task analysis and basic requirements...) Based on a formal task analysis, identify the installation, maintenance, repair, modification...

Designing Preclinical Instruction for Psychomotor Skills (II)--Instructional Engineering: Task Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knight, G. William; And Others

1994-01-01

The first step in engineering the instruction of dental psychomotor skills, task analysis, is explained. A chart details the procedural, cognitive, desired-criteria, and desired-performance analysis of a single task, occlusal preparation for amalgam restoration with carious lesion. (MSE)

Relationship between Self-Administered Cues and Rehabilitation Outcomes in Individuals with Aphasia: Understanding Individual Responsiveness to a Technology-Based Rehabilitation Program.

PubMed

Des Roches, Carrie A; Mitko, Annette; Kiran, Swathi

2017-01-01

An advantage of rehabilitation administered on computers or tablets is that the tasks can be self-administered and the cueing required to complete the tasks can be monitored. Though there are many types of cueing, few studies have examined how participants' response to rehabilitation is influenced by self-administered cueing, which is cueing that is always available but the individual decides when and which cue to administer. In this study, participants received a tablet-based rehabilitation where the tasks were selfpaced and remotely monitored by a clinician. The results of the effectiveness of this study were published previously (Des Roches et al., 2015). The current study looks at the effect of cues on accuracy and rehabilitation outcomes. Fifty-one individuals with aphasia completed a 10-week program using Constant Therapy on an iPad targeted at improving language and cognitive deficits. Three questions were examined. The first examined the effect of cues on accuracy collapsed across time. Results showed a trend where the greater the cue use, the lower the accuracy, although some participants showed the opposite effect. This analysis divided participants into profiles based on cue use and accuracy. The second question examined how each profile differed in percent cue use and on standardized measures at baseline. Results showed that the four profiles were significantly different in frequency of cues and scores on WAB-R, CLQT, BNT, and ASHA-FACS, indicating that participants with lower scores on the standardized tests used a higher percentage of cues, which were not beneficial, while participants with higher scores on the standardized tests used a lower frequency of cues, which were beneficial. The third question examined how the relationship between cues and accuracy was affected by the course of treatment. Results showed that both more and less severe participants showed a decrease in cue use and an increase in accuracy over time, though more severe participants continued to used a greater number of cues. It is possible that self-administered cues help some individuals to access information that is otherwise inaccessible, even if there is not an immediate effect. Ultimately, the results demonstrate the need for individually modifying the levels of assistance during rehabilitation. time, though more severe participants continued to used a greater number of cues. It is possible that self-administered cues help some individuals to access information that is otherwise inaccessible, even if there is not an immediate effect. Ultimately, the results demonstrate the need for individually modifying the levels of assistance during rehabilitation.

Mission analysis of photovoltaic solar energy systems. Quarterly progress report, 1 March 1976-31 May 1976

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

Leonard, S.L.; Munjal, P.K.; Rattin, E.J.

1976-06-01

The main emphasis of the activity during the second quarter of this project continued to be on Task 1, Analysis of Near-Term Missions, and on Task 2, Analysis of Major Mid-Term Missions. In addition, considerable progress was also made on Task 6, Comparison of the True Societal Costs of Conventional and Photovoltaic Power Production, and starts were made on Task 3, Review and Updating of the ERDA Technology Implementation Plan, and Task 4, Critical External Issues. As was planned, work on Task 5, Impact of Incentives, was deferred to the second half of the program. Progress is reported. (WHK)

Ego Depletion in Real-Time: An Examination of the Sequential-Task Paradigm.

PubMed

Arber, Madeleine M; Ireland, Michael J; Feger, Roy; Marrington, Jessica; Tehan, Joshua; Tehan, Gerald

2017-01-01

Current research into self-control that is based on the sequential task methodology is currently at an impasse. The sequential task methodology involves completing a task that is designed to tax self-control resources which in turn has carry-over effects on a second, unrelated task. The current impasse is in large part due to the lack of empirical research that tests explicit assumptions regarding the initial task. Five studies test one key, untested assumption underpinning strength (finite resource) models of self-regulation: Performance will decline over time on a task that depletes self-regulatory resources. In the aftermath of high profile replication failures using a popular letter-crossing task and subsequent criticisms of that task, the current studies examined whether depletion effects would occur in real time using letter-crossing tasks that did not invoke habit-forming and breaking, and whether these effects were moderated by administration type (paper and pencil vs. computer administration). Sample makeup and sizes as well as response formats were also varied across the studies. The five studies yielded a clear and consistent pattern of increasing performance deficits (errors) as a function of time spent on task with generally large effects and in the fifth study the strength of negative transfer effects to a working memory task were related to individual differences in depletion. These results demonstrate that some form of depletion is occurring on letter-crossing tasks though whether an internal regulatory resource reservoir or some other factor is changing across time remains an important question for future research.

Ego Depletion in Real-Time: An Examination of the Sequential-Task Paradigm

PubMed Central

Arber, Madeleine M.; Ireland, Michael J.; Feger, Roy; Marrington, Jessica; Tehan, Joshua; Tehan, Gerald

2017-01-01

Current research into self-control that is based on the sequential task methodology is currently at an impasse. The sequential task methodology involves completing a task that is designed to tax self-control resources which in turn has carry-over effects on a second, unrelated task. The current impasse is in large part due to the lack of empirical research that tests explicit assumptions regarding the initial task. Five studies test one key, untested assumption underpinning strength (finite resource) models of self-regulation: Performance will decline over time on a task that depletes self-regulatory resources. In the aftermath of high profile replication failures using a popular letter-crossing task and subsequent criticisms of that task, the current studies examined whether depletion effects would occur in real time using letter-crossing tasks that did not invoke habit-forming and breaking, and whether these effects were moderated by administration type (paper and pencil vs. computer administration). Sample makeup and sizes as well as response formats were also varied across the studies. The five studies yielded a clear and consistent pattern of increasing performance deficits (errors) as a function of time spent on task with generally large effects and in the fifth study the strength of negative transfer effects to a working memory task were related to individual differences in depletion. These results demonstrate that some form of depletion is occurring on letter-crossing tasks though whether an internal regulatory resource reservoir or some other factor is changing across time remains an important question for future research. PMID:29018390

Optical characterization of high speed microscanners based on static slit profiling method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alaa Elhady, A.; Sabry, Yasser M.; Khalil, Diaa

2017-01-01

Optical characterization of high-speed microscanners is a challenging task that usually requires special high speed, extremely expensive camera systems. This paper presents a novel simple method to characterize the scanned beam spot profile and size in high-speed optical scanners under operation. It allows measuring the beam profile and the spot sizes at different scanning angles. The method is analyzed theoretically and applied experimentally on the characterization of a Micro Electro Mechanical MEMS scanner operating at 2.6 kHz. The variation of the spot size versus the scanning angle, up to ±15°, is extracted and the dynamic bending curvature effect of the micromirror is predicted.

Implementation of an optimum profile guidance system on STOLAND

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Flanagan, P. F.

1978-01-01

The implementation on the STOLAND airborne digital computer of an optimum profile guidance system for the augmentor wing jet STOL research aircraft is described. Major tasks were to implement the guidance and control logic to airborne computer software and to integrate the module with the existing STOLAND navigation, display, and autopilot routines. The optimum profile guidance system comprises an algorithm for synthesizing mimimum fuel trajectories for a wide range of starting positions in the terminal area and a control law for flying the aircraft automatically along the trajectory. The avionics software developed is described along with a FORTRAN program that was constructed to reflect the modular nature and algorthms implemented in the avionics software.

Brain activity across the development of automatic categorization: A comparison of categorization tasks using multi-voxel pattern analysis

PubMed Central

Soto, Fabian A.; Waldschmidt, Jennifer G.; Helie, Sebastien; Ashby, F. Gregory

2013-01-01

Previous evidence suggests that relatively separate neural networks underlie initial learning of rule-based and information-integration categorization tasks. With the development of automaticity, categorization behavior in both tasks becomes increasingly similar and exclusively related to activity in cortical regions. The present study uses multi-voxel pattern analysis to directly compare the development of automaticity in different categorization tasks. Each of three groups of participants received extensive training in a different categorization task: either an information-integration task, or one of two rule-based tasks. Four training sessions were performed inside an MRI scanner. Three different analyses were performed on the imaging data from a number of regions of interest (ROIs). The common patterns analysis had the goal of revealing ROIs with similar patterns of activation across tasks. The unique patterns analysis had the goal of revealing ROIs with dissimilar patterns of activation across tasks. The representational similarity analysis aimed at exploring (1) the similarity of category representations across ROIs and (2) how those patterns of similarities compared across tasks. The results showed that common patterns of activation were present in motor areas and basal ganglia early in training, but only in the former later on. Unique patterns were found in a variety of cortical and subcortical areas early in training, but they were dramatically reduced with training. Finally, patterns of representational similarity between brain regions became increasingly similar across tasks with the development of automaticity. PMID:23333700

A novel mechanistic modeling framework for analysis of electrode balancing and degradation modes in commercial lithium-ion cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schindler, Stefan; Danzer, Michael A.

2017-03-01

Aiming at a long-term stable and safe operation of rechargeable lithium-ion cells, elementary design aspects and degradation phenomena have to be considered depending on the specific application. Among the degrees of freedom in cell design, electrode balancing is of particular interest and has a distinct effect on useable capacity and voltage range. Concerning intrinsic degradation modes, understanding the underlying electrochemical processes and tracing the overall degradation history are the most crucial tasks. In this study, a model-based, minimal parameter framework for combined elucidation of electrode balancing and degradation pathways in commercial lithium-ion cells is introduced. The framework rests upon the simulation of full cell voltage profiles from the superposition of equivalent, artificially degraded half-cell profiles and allows to separate aging contributions from loss of available lithium and active materials in both electrodes. A physically meaningful coupling between thermodynamic and kinetic degradation modes based on the correlation between altered impedance features and loss of available lithium as well as loss of active material is proposed and validated by a low temperature degradation profile examined in one of our recent publications. The coupled framework is able to determine the electrode balancing within an error range of < 1% and the projected cell degradation is qualitatively and quantitatively in line with experimental observations.

Muscle activity pattern dependent pain development and alleviation.

PubMed

Sjøgaard, Gisela; Søgaard, Karen

2014-12-01

Muscle activity is for decades considered to provide health benefits irrespectively of the muscle activity pattern performed and whether it is during e.g. sports, transportation, or occupational work tasks. Accordingly, the international recommendations for public health-promoting physical activity do not distinguish between occupational and leisure time physical activity. However, in this body of literature, attention has not been paid to the extensive documentation on occupational physical activity imposing a risk of impairment of health - in particular musculoskeletal health in terms of muscle pain. Focusing on muscle activity patterns and musculoskeletal health it is pertinent to elucidate the more specific aspects regarding exposure profiles and body regional pain. Static sustained muscle contraction for prolonged periods often occurs in the neck/shoulder area during occupational tasks and may underlie muscle pain development in spite of rather low relative muscle load. Causal mechanisms include a stereotype recruitment of low threshold motor units (activating type 1 muscle fibers) characterized by a lack of temporal as well as spatial variation in recruitment. In contrast during physical activities at leisure and sport the motor recruitment patterns are more dynamic including regularly relatively high muscle forces - also activating type 2 muscles fibers - as well as periods of full relaxation even of the type 1 muscle fibers. Such activity is unrelated to muscle pain development if adequate recovery is granted. However, delayed muscle soreness may develop following intensive eccentric muscle activity (e.g. down-hill skiing) with peak pain levels in thigh muscles 1-2 days after the exercise bout and a total recovery within 1 week. This acute pain profile is in contrast to the chronic muscle pain profile related to repetitive monotonous work tasks. The painful muscles show adverse functional, morphological, hormonal, as well as metabolic characteristics. Of note is that intensive muscle strength training actually may rehabilitate painful muscles, which has recently been repeatedly proven in randomized controlled trials. With training the maximal muscle activation and strength can be shown to recover, and consequently allow for decreased relative muscle load during occupational repetitive work tasks. Exercise training induces adaptation of metabolic and stress-related mRNA and protein responses in the painful muscles, which is in contrast to the responses evoked during repetitive work tasks per se. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Wechsler profiles in referred children with intellectual giftedness: Associations with trait-anxiety, emotional dysregulation, and heterogeneity of Piaget-like reasoning processes.

PubMed

Guénolé, Fabian; Speranza, Mario; Louis, Jacqueline; Fourneret, Pierre; Revol, Olivier; Baleyte, Jean-Marc

2015-07-01

It is common that intellectually gifted children (IQ ≥ 130) are referred to paediatric or child neuropsychiatry clinics for socio-emotional problems and/or school underachievement or maladjustment. Among them, those displaying developmental asynchrony - a heterogeneous developmental pattern reflected in a significant verbal-performance discrepancy (SVPD) on Wechsler's intelligence profile - are thought to be more emotionally and behaviourally impaired than others. Our purpose was to investigate this clinical dichotomy using a cognitive psychopathological approach. Trait-anxiety and emotional dysregulation were investigated in two groups of referred gifted children (n = 107 and 136, respectively), a pilot-study of reasoning processes on extensive Piaget-like tasks was also performed in an additional small group (n = 12). Compared to those with a homogenous Wechsler profile, children with a SVPD exhibited: 1) a decreased prevalence of social preoccupation-anxiety (11.1% versus 27.4%; p < 0.05); 2) an increased prevalence of emotional dysregulation (58.7% versus 41.3%; p < 0.05); and 3) an increased prevalence of pathological cognitive disharmony on Piaget-like tasks (87.5% versus 0.0%; p < 0.05). The results support a clinical dichotomy of behaviourally-impaired children with intellectual giftedness, with developmentally asynchronous ones exhibiting more severe psychopathological features. This suggests that developmental asynchrony matters when examining emotional and behavioural problems in gifted children and call for further investigation of this profile. Copyright © 2015 European Paediatric Neurology Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Task Report for Task Authorization 1 for: Technology Demonstration of the Joint Network Defence and Management System (JNDMS) Project

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-01-30

tool written in Java to support the automated creation of simulated subnets. It can be run giving it a subnet, the number of hosts to create, the...network and can also be used to create subnets with specific profiles. Subnet Creator command line: > java –jar SubnetCreator.jar –j [path to client...command: > java –jar jss_client.jar com.mdacorporation.jndms.JSS.Client.JSSBatchClient [file] 5. Software: This is the output file that will store the

Surgical task analysis of simulated laparoscopic cholecystectomy with a navigation system.

PubMed

Sugino, T; Kawahira, H; Nakamura, R

2014-09-01

   Advanced surgical procedures, which have become complex and difficult, increase the burden of surgeons. Quantitative analysis of surgical procedures can improve training, reduce variability, and enable optimization of surgical procedures. To this end, a surgical task analysis system was developed that uses only surgical navigation information.    Division of the surgical procedure, task progress analysis, and task efficiency analysis were done. First, the procedure was divided into five stages. Second, the operating time and progress rate were recorded to document task progress during specific stages, including the dissecting task. Third, the speed of the surgical instrument motion (mean velocity and acceleration), as well as the size and overlap ratio of the approximate ellipse of the location log data distribution, was computed to estimate the task efficiency during each stage. These analysis methods were evaluated based on experimental validation with two groups of surgeons, i.e., skilled and "other" surgeons. The performance metrics and analytical parameters included incidents during the operation, the surgical environment, and the surgeon's skills or habits.    Comparison of groups revealed that skilled surgeons tended to perform the procedure in less time and involved smaller regions; they also manipulated the surgical instruments more gently.    Surgical task analysis developed for quantitative assessment of surgical procedures and surgical performance may provide practical methods and metrics for objective evaluation of surgical expertise.

Spatial cognition in autism spectrum disorders: superior, impaired, or just intact?

PubMed

Edgin, Jamie O; Pennington, Bruce F

2005-12-01

The profile of spatial ability is of interest across autism spectrum disorders (ASD) because of reported spatial strengths in ASD and due to the recent association of Asperger's syndrome with Nonverbal Learning Disability. Spatial functions were examined in relation to two cognitive theories in autism: the central coherence and executive function (EF) theories. Performance on spatial tasks, EFs, and global/local processing was compared in children with ASD and controls. While the ASD group had faster reaction times on the Embedded Figures task, spatial performance was intact, but not superior, on other tasks. There was no evidence for impairments in EF or in processing global/local information, therefore contradicting these two theories. The implications of these results for these two theories are discussed.

Heterogeneous fractionation profiles of meta-analytic coactivation networks.

PubMed

Laird, Angela R; Riedel, Michael C; Okoe, Mershack; Jianu, Radu; Ray, Kimberly L; Eickhoff, Simon B; Smith, Stephen M; Fox, Peter T; Sutherland, Matthew T

2017-04-01

Computational cognitive neuroimaging approaches can be leveraged to characterize the hierarchical organization of distributed, functionally specialized networks in the human brain. To this end, we performed large-scale mining across the BrainMap database of coordinate-based activation locations from over 10,000 task-based experiments. Meta-analytic coactivation networks were identified by jointly applying independent component analysis (ICA) and meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) across a wide range of model orders (i.e., d=20-300). We then iteratively computed pairwise correlation coefficients for consecutive model orders to compare spatial network topologies, ultimately yielding fractionation profiles delineating how "parent" functional brain systems decompose into constituent "child" sub-networks. Fractionation profiles differed dramatically across canonical networks: some exhibited complex and extensive fractionation into a large number of sub-networks across the full range of model orders, whereas others exhibited little to no decomposition as model order increased. Hierarchical clustering was applied to evaluate this heterogeneity, yielding three distinct groups of network fractionation profiles: high, moderate, and low fractionation. BrainMap-based functional decoding of resultant coactivation networks revealed a multi-domain association regardless of fractionation complexity. Rather than emphasize a cognitive-motor-perceptual gradient, these outcomes suggest the importance of inter-lobar connectivity in functional brain organization. We conclude that high fractionation networks are complex and comprised of many constituent sub-networks reflecting long-range, inter-lobar connectivity, particularly in fronto-parietal regions. In contrast, low fractionation networks may reflect persistent and stable networks that are more internally coherent and exhibit reduced inter-lobar communication. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Heterogeneous fractionation profiles of meta-analytic coactivation networks

PubMed Central

Laird, Angela R.; Riedel, Michael C.; Okoe, Mershack; Jianu, Radu; Ray, Kimberly L.; Eickhoff, Simon B.; Smith, Stephen M.; Fox, Peter T.; Sutherland, Matthew T.

2017-01-01

Computational cognitive neuroimaging approaches can be leveraged to characterize the hierarchical organization of distributed, functionally specialized networks in the human brain. To this end, we performed large-scale mining across the BrainMap database of coordinate-based activation locations from over 10,000 task-based experiments. Meta-analytic coactivation networks were identified by jointly applying independent component analysis (ICA) and meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) across a wide range of model orders (i.e., d = 20 to 300). We then iteratively computed pairwise correlation coefficients for consecutive model orders to compare spatial network topologies, ultimately yielding fractionation profiles delineating how “parent” functional brain systems decompose into constituent “child” sub-networks. Fractionation profiles differed dramatically across canonical networks: some exhibited complex and extensive fractionation into a large number of sub-networks across the full range of model orders, whereas others exhibited little to no decomposition as model order increased. Hierarchical clustering was applied to evaluate this heterogeneity, yielding three distinct groups of network fractionation profiles: high, moderate, and low fractionation. BrainMap-based functional decoding of resultant coactivation networks revealed a multi-domain association regardless of fractionation complexity. Rather than emphasize a cognitive-motor-perceptual gradient, these outcomes suggest the importance of inter-lobar connectivity in functional brain organization. We conclude that high fractionation networks are complex and comprised of many constituent sub-networks reflecting long-range, inter-lobar connectivity, particularly in fronto-parietal regions. In contrast, low fractionation networks may reflect persistent and stable networks that are more internally coherent and exhibit reduced inter-lobar communication. PMID:28222386

Perceptual discrimination difficulty and familiarity in the Uncanny Valley: more like a "Happy Valley".

PubMed

Cheetham, Marcus; Suter, Pascal; Jancke, Lutz

2014-01-01

The Uncanny Valley Hypothesis (UVH) predicts that greater difficulty perceptually discriminating between categorically ambiguous human and humanlike characters (e.g., highly realistic robot) evokes negatively valenced (i.e., uncanny) affect. An ABX perceptual discrimination task and signal detection analysis was used to examine the profile of perceptual discrimination (PD) difficulty along the UVH' dimension of human likeness (DHL). This was represented using avatar-to-human morph continua. Rejecting the implicitly assumed profile of PD difficulty underlying the UVH' prediction, Experiment 1 showed that PD difficulty was reduced for categorically ambiguous faces but, notably, enhanced for human faces. Rejecting the UVH' predicted relationship between PD difficulty and negative affect (assessed in terms of the UVH' familiarity dimension), Experiment 2 demonstrated that greater PD difficulty correlates with more positively valenced affect. Critically, this effect was strongest for the ambiguous faces, suggesting a correlative relationship between PD difficulty and feelings of familiarity more consistent with the metaphor happy valley. This relationship is also consistent with a fluency amplification instead of the hitherto proposed hedonic fluency account of affect along the DHL. Experiment 3 found no evidence that the asymmetry in the profile of PD along the DHL is attributable to a differential processing bias (cf. other-race effect), i.e., processing avatars at a category level but human faces at an individual level. In conclusion, the present data for static faces show clear effects that, however, strongly challenge the UVH' implicitly assumed profile of PD difficulty along the DHL and the predicted relationship between this and feelings of familiarity.

Perceptual discrimination difficulty and familiarity in the Uncanny Valley: more like a “Happy Valley”

PubMed Central

Cheetham, Marcus; Suter, Pascal; Jancke, Lutz

2014-01-01

The Uncanny Valley Hypothesis (UVH) predicts that greater difficulty perceptually discriminating between categorically ambiguous human and humanlike characters (e.g., highly realistic robot) evokes negatively valenced (i.e., uncanny) affect. An ABX perceptual discrimination task and signal detection analysis was used to examine the profile of perceptual discrimination (PD) difficulty along the UVH' dimension of human likeness (DHL). This was represented using avatar-to-human morph continua. Rejecting the implicitly assumed profile of PD difficulty underlying the UVH' prediction, Experiment 1 showed that PD difficulty was reduced for categorically ambiguous faces but, notably, enhanced for human faces. Rejecting the UVH' predicted relationship between PD difficulty and negative affect (assessed in terms of the UVH' familiarity dimension), Experiment 2 demonstrated that greater PD difficulty correlates with more positively valenced affect. Critically, this effect was strongest for the ambiguous faces, suggesting a correlative relationship between PD difficulty and feelings of familiarity more consistent with the metaphor happy valley. This relationship is also consistent with a fluency amplification instead of the hitherto proposed hedonic fluency account of affect along the DHL. Experiment 3 found no evidence that the asymmetry in the profile of PD along the DHL is attributable to a differential processing bias (cf. other-race effect), i.e., processing avatars at a category level but human faces at an individual level. In conclusion, the present data for static faces show clear effects that, however, strongly challenge the UVH' implicitly assumed profile of PD difficulty along the DHL and the predicted relationship between this and feelings of familiarity. PMID:25477829

A discriminative method for protein remote homology detection and fold recognition combining Top-n-grams and latent semantic analysis.

PubMed

Liu, Bin; Wang, Xiaolong; Lin, Lei; Dong, Qiwen; Wang, Xuan

2008-12-01

Protein remote homology detection and fold recognition are central problems in bioinformatics. Currently, discriminative methods based on support vector machine (SVM) are the most effective and accurate methods for solving these problems. A key step to improve the performance of the SVM-based methods is to find a suitable representation of protein sequences. In this paper, a novel building block of proteins called Top-n-grams is presented, which contains the evolutionary information extracted from the protein sequence frequency profiles. The protein sequence frequency profiles are calculated from the multiple sequence alignments outputted by PSI-BLAST and converted into Top-n-grams. The protein sequences are transformed into fixed-dimension feature vectors by the occurrence times of each Top-n-gram. The training vectors are evaluated by SVM to train classifiers which are then used to classify the test protein sequences. We demonstrate that the prediction performance of remote homology detection and fold recognition can be improved by combining Top-n-grams and latent semantic analysis (LSA), which is an efficient feature extraction technique from natural language processing. When tested on superfamily and fold benchmarks, the method combining Top-n-grams and LSA gives significantly better results compared to related methods. The method based on Top-n-grams significantly outperforms the methods based on many other building blocks including N-grams, patterns, motifs and binary profiles. Therefore, Top-n-gram is a good building block of the protein sequences and can be widely used in many tasks of the computational biology, such as the sequence alignment, the prediction of domain boundary, the designation of knowledge-based potentials and the prediction of protein binding sites.

Focused Rocket-Ejector RBCC Experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Santoro, Robert J.; Pal, Sibtosh

2003-01-01

This document reports the results of additional efforts for the Rocket Based Combined Cycle (RBCC) rocket-ejector mode research work carried out at the Perm State Propulsion Engineering Research Center in support of NASA s technology development efforts for enabling 3rd generation Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLV). The two tasks conducted under this program build on earlier NASA MSFC funded research program on rocket ejector investigations. The first task continued a systematic investigation of the improvements provided by a gaseous hydrogen (GHz)/oxygen (GO2) twin thruster RBCC rocket ejector system over a single rocket system. In a similar vein, the second task continued investigations into the performance of a hydrocarbon (liquid JP-7)/gaseous oxygen single thruster rocket-ejector system. To gain a systematic understanding of the rocket-ejector s internal fluid mechanic/combustion phenomena, experiments were conducted with both direct-connect and sea-level static diffusion and afterburning (DAB) configurations for a range of rocket operating conditions. For all experimental conditions, overall system performance was obtained through global measurements of wall static pressure profiles, heat flux profiles and engine thrust. For the GH2/GO2 propellant rocket ejector experiments, high frequency measurements of the pressure field within the system were also made to understand the unsteady behavior of the flowfield.

Word Fluency: A Task Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laine, Matti

It is suggested that models of human problem solving are useful in the analysis of word fluency (WF) test performance. In problem-solving terms, WF tasks would require the subject to define and clarify the conditions of the task (task acquisition), select and employ appropriate strategies, and monitor one's performance. In modern neuropsychology,…

Applied cognitive task analysis (ACTA): a practitioner's toolkit for understanding cognitive task demands.

PubMed

Militello, L G; Hutton, R J

1998-11-01

Cognitive task analysis (CTA) is a set of methods for identifying cognitive skills, or mental demands, needed to perform a task proficiently. The product of the task analysis can be used to inform the design of interfaces and training systems. However, CTA is resource intensive and has previously been of limited use to design practitioners. A streamlined method of CTA, Applied Cognitive Task Analysis (ACTA), is presented in this paper. ACTA consists of three interview methods that help the practitioner to extract information about the cognitive demands and skills required for a task. ACTA also allows the practitioner to represent this information in a format that will translate more directly into applied products, such as improved training scenarios or interface recommendations. This paper will describe the three methods, an evaluation study conducted to assess the usability and usefulness of the methods, and some directions for future research for making cognitive task analysis accessible to practitioners. ACTA techniques were found to be easy to use, flexible, and to provide clear output. The information and training materials developed based on ACTA interviews were found to be accurate and important for training purposes.

Australian Public Preferences for the Funding of New Health Technologies: A Comparison of Discrete Choice and Profile Case Best-Worst Scaling Methods.

PubMed

Whitty, Jennifer A; Ratcliffe, Julie; Chen, Gang; Scuffham, Paul A

2014-07-01

Ethical, economic, political, and legitimacy arguments support the consideration of public preferences in health technology decision making. The objective was to assess public preferences for funding new health technologies and to compare a profile case best-worst scaling (BWS) and traditional discrete choice experiment (DCE) method. An online survey consisting of a DCE and BWS task was completed by 930 adults recruited via an Internet panel. Respondents traded between 7 technology attributes. Participation quotas broadly reflected the population of Queensland, Australia, by gender and age. Choice data were analyzed using a generalized multinomial logit model. The findings from both the BWS and DCE were generally consistent in that respondents exhibited stronger preferences for technologies offering prevention or early diagnosis over other benefit types. Respondents also prioritized technologies that benefit younger people, larger numbers of people, those in rural areas, or indigenous Australians; that provide value for money; that have no available alternative; or that upgrade an existing technology. However, the relative preference weights and consequent preference orderings differed between the DCE and BWS models. Further, poor correlation between the DCE and BWS weights was observed. While only a minority of respondents reported difficulty completing either task (22.2% DCE, 31.9% BWS), the majority (72.6%) preferred the DCE over BWS task. This study provides reassurance that many criteria routinely used for technology decision making are considered to be relevant by the public. The findings clearly indicate the perceived importance of prevention and early diagnosis. The dissimilarity observed between DCE and profile case BWS weights is contrary to the findings of previous comparisons and raises uncertainty regarding the comparative merits of these stated preference methods in a priority-setting context. © The Author(s) 2014.

Enhanced attentional gain as a mechanism for generalized perceptual learning in human visual cortex.

PubMed

Byers, Anna; Serences, John T

2014-09-01

Learning to better discriminate a specific visual feature (i.e., a specific orientation in a specific region of space) has been associated with plasticity in early visual areas (sensory modulation) and with improvements in the transmission of sensory information from early visual areas to downstream sensorimotor and decision regions (enhanced readout). However, in many real-world scenarios that require perceptual expertise, observers need to efficiently process numerous exemplars from a broad stimulus class as opposed to just a single stimulus feature. Some previous data suggest that perceptual learning leads to highly specific neural modulations that support the discrimination of specific trained features. However, the extent to which perceptual learning acts to improve the discriminability of a broad class of stimuli via the modulation of sensory responses in human visual cortex remains largely unknown. Here, we used functional MRI and a multivariate analysis method to reconstruct orientation-selective response profiles based on activation patterns in the early visual cortex before and after subjects learned to discriminate small offsets in a set of grating stimuli that were rendered in one of nine possible orientations. Behavioral performance improved across 10 training sessions, and there was a training-related increase in the amplitude of orientation-selective response profiles in V1, V2, and V3 when orientation was task relevant compared with when it was task irrelevant. These results suggest that generalized perceptual learning can lead to modified responses in the early visual cortex in a manner that is suitable for supporting improved discriminability of stimuli drawn from a large set of exemplars. Copyright © 2014 the American Physiological Society.

Shoulder Kinematics and Spatial Pattern of Trapezius Electromyographic Activity in Real and Virtual Environments

PubMed Central

Samani, Afshin; Pontonnier, Charles; Dumont, Georges; Madeleine, Pascal

2015-01-01

The design of an industrial workstation tends to include ergonomic assessment steps based on a digital mock-up and a virtual reality setup. Lack of interaction and system fidelity is often reported as a main issue in such virtual reality applications. This limitation is a crucial issue as thorough ergonomic analysis is required for an investigation of the biomechanics. In the current study, we investigated the biomechanical responses of the shoulder joint in a simulated assembly task for comparison with the biomechanical responses in virtual environments. Sixteen male healthy novice subjects performed the task on three different platforms: real (RE), virtual (VE), and virtual environment with force feedback (VEF) with low and high precision demands. The subjects repeated the task 12 times (i.e., 12 cycles). High density electromyography from the upper trapezius and rotation angles of the shoulder joint were recorded and split into the cycles. The angular trajectories and velocity profiles of the shoulder joint angles over a cycle were computed in 3D. The inter-subject similarity in terms of normalized mutual information on kinematics and electromyography was investigated. Compared with RE the task in VE and VEF was characterized by lower kinematic maxima. The inter-subject similarity in RE compared with intra-subject similarity across the platforms was lower in terms of movement trajectories and greater in terms of trapezius muscle activation. The precision demand resulted in lower inter- and intra-subject similarity across platforms. The proposed approach identifies biomechanical differences in the shoulder joint in both VE and VEF compared with the RE platform, but these differences are less marked in VE mostly due to technical limitations of co-localizing the force feedback system in the VEF platform. PMID:25768123

Dexterity: A MATLAB-based analysis software suite for processing and visualizing data from tasks that measure arm or forelimb function.

PubMed

Butensky, Samuel D; Sloan, Andrew P; Meyers, Eric; Carmel, Jason B

2017-07-15

Hand function is critical for independence, and neurological injury often impairs dexterity. To measure hand function in people or forelimb function in animals, sensors are employed to quantify manipulation. These sensors make assessment easier and more quantitative and allow automation of these tasks. While automated tasks improve objectivity and throughput, they also produce large amounts of data that can be burdensome to analyze. We created software called Dexterity that simplifies data analysis of automated reaching tasks. Dexterity is MATLAB software that enables quick analysis of data from forelimb tasks. Through a graphical user interface, files are loaded and data are identified and analyzed. These data can be annotated or graphed directly. Analysis is saved, and the graph and corresponding data can be exported. For additional analysis, Dexterity provides access to custom scripts created by other users. To determine the utility of Dexterity, we performed a study to evaluate the effects of task difficulty on the degree of impairment after injury. Dexterity analyzed two months of data and allowed new users to annotate the experiment, visualize results, and save and export data easily. Previous analysis of tasks was performed with custom data analysis, requiring expertise with analysis software. Dexterity made the tools required to analyze, visualize and annotate data easy to use by investigators without data science experience. Dexterity increases accessibility to automated tasks that measure dexterity by making analysis of large data intuitive, robust, and efficient. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Korean Adoptee Identity: Adoptive and Ethnic Identity Profiles of Adopted Korean Americans.

PubMed

Beaupre, Adam J; Reichwald, Reed; Zhou, Xiang; Raleigh, Elizabeth; Lee, Richard M

2015-12-01

Adopted Korean adolescents face the task of grappling with their identity as Koreans and coming to terms with their adoptive status. In order to explore these dual identities, the authors conducted a person-centered study of the identity profiles of 189 adopted Korean American adolescents. Using cluster analytic procedures, the study examined patterns of commitment to ethnic and adoptive identities, revealing six conceptually unique identity clusters. Analyzing the association between these identity profiles and psychological adjustment, the study found that the identity profiles were undifferentiated with respect to behavioral development and risk behaviors. However, group differences were found on life satisfaction, school adjustment, and family functioning. Results confirm the importance of considering the collective impact of multiple social identities on a variety of outcomes. The social implications of the results are discussed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Automatic imitation: A meta-analysis.

PubMed

Cracco, Emiel; Bardi, Lara; Desmet, Charlotte; Genschow, Oliver; Rigoni, Davide; De Coster, Lize; Radkova, Ina; Deschrijver, Eliane; Brass, Marcel

2018-05-01

Automatic imitation is the finding that movement execution is facilitated by compatible and impeded by incompatible observed movements. In the past 15 years, automatic imitation has been studied to understand the relation between perception and action in social interaction. Although research on this topic started in cognitive science, interest quickly spread to related disciplines such as social psychology, clinical psychology, and neuroscience. However, important theoretical questions have remained unanswered. Therefore, in the present meta-analysis, we evaluated seven key questions on automatic imitation. The results, based on 161 studies containing 226 experiments, revealed an overall effect size of g z = 0.95, 95% CI [0.88, 1.02]. Moderator analyses identified automatic imitation as a flexible, largely automatic process that is driven by movement and effector compatibility, but is also influenced by spatial compatibility. Automatic imitation was found to be stronger for forced choice tasks than for simple response tasks, for human agents than for nonhuman agents, and for goalless actions than for goal-directed actions. However, it was not modulated by more subtle factors such as animacy beliefs, motion profiles, or visual perspective. Finally, there was no evidence for a relation between automatic imitation and either empathy or autism. Among other things, these findings point toward actor-imitator similarity as a crucial modulator of automatic imitation and challenge the view that imitative tendencies are an indicator of social functioning. The current meta-analysis has important theoretical implications and sheds light on longstanding controversies in the literature on automatic imitation and related domains. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

The Use of Cognitive Task Analysis and Simulators for After Action Review of Medical Events in Iraq

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

research attempts to improve medical AAR with a novel combination of Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) conducted while interviewees moulage simulators...combination of medical Cognitive Task Analysis combined with the moulage of instruments and depictions of the femoral artery will more accurately

Hierarchical Task Analysis and Training Decisions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shepherd, A.

1985-01-01

Hierarchical task analysis (HTA), which requires description of a task in terms of a hierarchy of operations and plans, is reviewed and examined as a basis for making training decisions. Benefits of HTA in terms of economy of analysis and as a means of accounting for complex performance are outlined. (Author/MBR)

Claretian Medical Center Task Analysis. Worker Education Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees.

This task analysis for positions at the Claretian Medical Center in southeast Chicago was developed to improve communication and customer service in the workplace. The task analysis was prepared through clinic tours, employee interviews, and supervisor questionnaires. It is used for the purpose of curriculum development for onsite instruction in…

Analysis of Human Communication during Assembly Tasks.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-06-01

AD-A7l 43 ANALYSIS OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION DURING ASSEMBLY TASKS in1(U) CRNEGIE-MELLO UNIY PITTSBURGH PA ROBOTICS INST UNCLSSIIEDK S BARBER ET AL...ao I Dur~~~~IngAbcbyTs; 7c .S:in i lSAo .0. Analysis of Human Communication During Assembly Tasks K. Suzanne Barber and Gerald J. Agin CMU-RI-TR-86-1...TYPE or REPORT & PE-Rioo CevCZaz Analysis of Human Communication During Assembly Inlterim Tasks I . PERFORMING 00RG. REPORT NUMBER 1. £UT~oOR~e) IL

Evaluating the Ergonomics of Flexible Ureteroscopy.

PubMed

Ludwig, Wesley W; Lee, Gyusung; Ziemba, Justin B; Ko, Joan S; Matlaga, Brian R

2017-10-01

To date, the ergonomics of flexible ureteroscopy (URS) have not been well described. We performed a study to assess the biomechanical stresses on urologists performing URS and to investigate the effect of ureteroscope type on these parameters. Electromyography (EMG) was used to quantify the activation level of muscle groups involved in URS. Surface EMG electrodes (Delsys, Boston, MA) were placed on the right and left thenar, flexor carpi ulnaris (FCU), extensor carpi ulnaris (ECU), biceps, triceps, and deltoid. Three endoscopes were studied: single-use digital (Boston Scientific LithoVue), reusable digital (Karl Storz Flex-X c ), and reusable fiber-optic (Karl Storz Flex-X 2 ). Each ureteroscope was used to perform a set sequence of navigation and procedural tasks in a training model. EMG data were processed and normalized to compare the maximum voluntary contractions between muscle groups. Cumulative muscular workload (CMW) and average muscular work per second (AWS) were used for comparative analysis. For navigational tasks, CMW and AWS were greatest for the ECU, followed in descending order by right and left thenar, FCU, biceps, deltoid, and triceps. For procedural tasks, CMW and AWS were greatest for the right thenar, followed in descending order by the left thenar, ECU, FCU, triceps, biceps, and deltoid. During navigational tasks, both LithoVue and Flex-X c had lower CMWs for every muscle group than Flex-X 2 (p < 0.05). LithoVue and Flex-X c had similar AWS and both were lower than Flex-X 2 for the right thenar, ECU, biceps, and deltoid activation (p < 0.05). During procedural tasks, both LithoVue and Flex-X c had lower CMWs and AWS for right and left thenar, ECU, and biceps than Flex-X 2 (p < 0.05). This study provides the first description of EMG-measured ergonomics of URS. Both the single-use and reusable digital ureteroscopes have similar profiles, and both have significantly better ergonomic metrics than the reusable fiber-optic ureteroscope.

Across-task priming revisited: response and task conflicts disentangled using ex-Gaussian distribution analysis.

PubMed

Moutsopoulou, Karolina; Waszak, Florian

2012-04-01

The differential effects of task and response conflict in priming paradigms where associations are strengthened between a stimulus, a task, and a response have been demonstrated in recent years with neuroimaging methods. However, such effects are not easily disentangled with only measurements of behavior, such as reaction times (RTs). Here, we report the application of ex-Gaussian distribution analysis on task-switching RT data and show that conflict related to stimulus-response associations retrieved after a switch of tasks is reflected in the Gaussian component. By contrast, conflict related to the retrieval of stimulus-task associations is reflected in the exponential component. Our data confirm that the retrieval of stimulus-task and -response associations affects behavior differently. Ex-Gaussian distribution analysis is a useful tool for pulling apart these different levels of associative priming that are not distinguishable in analyses of RT means.

Do tasks make a difference? Accounting for heterogeneity of performance of children with reading difficulties on tasks of executive function: findings from a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Booth, Josephine N; Boyle, James M E; Kelly, Steve W

2010-03-01

Research studies have implicated executive functions in reading difficulties (RD). But while some studies have found children with RD to be impaired on tasks of executive function other studies report unimpaired performance. A meta-analysis was carried out to determine whether these discrepant findings can be accounted for by differences in the tasks of executive function that are utilized. A total of 48 studies comparing the performance on tasks of executive function of children with RD with their typically developing peers were included in the meta-analysis, yielding 180 effect sizes. An overall effect size of 0.57 (SE .03) was obtained, indicating that children with RD have impairments on tasks of executive function. However, effect sizes varied considerably suggesting that the impairment is not uniform. Moderator analysis revealed that task modality and IQ-achievement discrepancy definitions of RD influenced the magnitude of effect; however, the age and gender of participants and the nature of the RD did not have an influence. While the children's RD were associated with executive function impairments, variation in effect size is a product of the assessment task employed, underlying task demands, and definitional criteria.

Familiarity and recollection in Williams syndrome.

PubMed

Costanzo, Floriana; Vicari, Stefano; Carlesimo, Giovanni A

2013-01-01

Interest is being shown in a componential analysis of performance on declarative memory tasks that distinguishes two different kinds of access to stored memories, recollection and familiarity. From a developmental perspective, it has been hypothesized that recollection emerges later and shows more developmental changes than familiarity. Nevertheless, the contribution of recollection and familiarity to the recognition performance of individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) has been rarely examined. The present study was aimed at investigating the qualitative profile of declarative long-term memory in a group of individuals with Williams syndrome (WS). We compared 13 individuals with WS and 13 mental-age-matched typically developing children in two different experimental paradigms to assess the contribution of familiarity and recollection to recognition performance. We adopted a modified version of the process dissociation procedure and a task dissociation procedure, both of which are suited to individuals with ID. Results of both experimental paradigms demonstrated reduced recollection and spared familiarity in the declarative memory performances of individuals with WS. These results provide direct evidence of a dissociation between recollection and familiarity in a neurodevelopmental disorder and are discussed in relation to alternative approaches for explaining abnormal cognition in individuals with ID. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Technology needs for high speed rotorcraft (3)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Detore, Jack; Conway, Scott

1991-01-01

The spectrum of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) type aircraft is examined to determine which aircraft are most likely to achieve high subsonic cruise speeds and have hover qualities similar to a helicopter. Two civil mission profiles are considered: a 600-n.mi. mission for a 15- and a 30-passenger payload. Applying current technology, only the 15- and 30-passenger tiltfold aircraft are capable of attaining the 450-knot design goal. The two tiltfold aircraft at 450 knots and a 30-passenger tiltrotor at 375 knots were further developed for the Task II technology analysis. A program called High-Speed Total Envelope Proprotor (HI-STEP) is recommended to meet several of these issues based on the tiltrotor concept. A program called Tiltfold System (TFS) is recommended based on the tiltrotor concept. A task is identified to resolve the best design speed from productivity and demand considerations based on the technology that emerges from the recommended programs. HI-STEP's goals are to investigate propulsive efficiency, maneuver loads, and aeroelastic stability. Programs currently in progress that may meet the other technology needs include the Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology (IHPTET) (NASA Lewis) and the Advanced Structural Concepts Program funded through NASA Langley.

Technology optimization techniques for multicomponent optical band-pass filter manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baranov, Yuri P.; Gryaznov, Georgiy M.; Rodionov, Andrey Y.; Obrezkov, Andrey V.; Medvedev, Roman V.; Chivanov, Alexey N.

2016-04-01

Narrowband optical devices (like IR-sensing devices, celestial navigation systems, solar-blind UV-systems and many others) are one of the most fast-growing areas in optical manufacturing. However, signal strength in this type of applications is quite low and performance of devices depends on attenuation level of wavelengths out of operating range. Modern detectors (photodiodes, matrix detectors, photomultiplier tubes and others) usually do not have required selectivity or have higher sensitivity to background spectrum at worst. Manufacturing of a single component band-pass filter with high attenuation level of wavelength is resource-intensive task. Sometimes it's not possible to find solution for this problem using existing technologies. Different types of filters have technology variations of transmittance profile shape due to various production factors. At the same time there are multiple tasks with strict requirements for background spectrum attenuation in narrowband optical devices. For example, in solar-blind UV-system wavelengths above 290-300 nm must be attenuated by 180dB. In this paper techniques of multi-component optical band-pass filters assembly from multiple single elements with technology variations of transmittance profile shape for optimal signal-tonoise ratio (SNR) were proposed. Relationships between signal-to-noise ratio and different characteristics of transmittance profile shape were shown. Obtained practical results were in rather good agreement with our calculations.

Heuristic Task Analysis on E-Learning Course Development: A Formative Research Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Ji-Yeon; Reigeluth, Charles M.

2009-01-01

Utilizing heuristic task analysis (HTA), a method developed for eliciting, analyzing, and representing expertise in complex cognitive tasks, a formative research study was conducted on the task of e-learning course development to further improve the HTA process. Three instructional designers from three different post-secondary institutions in the…

Agricultural Production: Task Analysis for Livestock Production. Competency-Based Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henrico County Public Schools, Glen Allen, VA. Virginia Vocational Curriculum Center.

This task analysis guide is intended to help teachers and administrators develop instructional materials and implement competency-based education in the agricultural production program. Section 1 contains a validated task inventory for the livestock production portion of agricultural production IV and V. Tasks are divided into six duty areas:…

The CPU and You: Mastering the Microcomputer.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kansky, Robert

1983-01-01

Computers are both understandable and controllable. Educators need some understanding of a computer's cognitive profile, component parts, and systematic nature in order to set it to work on some of the teaching tasks that need to be done. Much computer-related vocabulary is discussed. (MP)

The data operation centre tool. Architecture and population strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dal Pra, Stefano; Crescente, Alberto

2012-12-01

Keeping track of the layout of the informatic resources in a big datacenter is a complex task. DOCET is a database-based webtool designed and implemented at INFN. It aims at providing a uniform interface to manage and retrieve needed information about one or more datacenter, such as available hardware, software and their status. Having a suitable application is however useless until most of the information about the centre are not inserted in the DOCET'S database. Manually inserting all the information from scratch is an unfeasible task. After describing DOCET'S high level architecture, its main features and current development track, we present and discuss the work done to populate the DOCET database for the INFN-T1 site by retrieving information from a heterogenous variety of authoritative sources, such as DNS, DHCP, Quattor host profiles, etc. We then describe the work being done to integrate DOCET with some common management operation, such as adding a newly installed host to DHCP and DNS, or creating a suitable Quattor profile template for it.

Understanding Performance Decrements in a Letter-Canceling Task: Overcoming Habits or Inhibition of Reading.

PubMed

Myers, Larry; Downie, Steven; Taylor, Grant; Marrington, Jessica; Tehan, Gerald; Ireland, Michael J

2018-01-01

The importance of self-regulation in human behavior is readily apparent and diverse theoretical accounts for explaining self-regulation failures have been proposed. Typically, these accounts are based on a sequential task methodology where an initial task is presented to deplete self-regulatory resources, and carryover effects are then examined on a second outcome task. In the aftermath of high profile replication failures using a popular letter-crossing task as a means of depleting self-regulatory resources and subsequent criticisms of that task, current research into self-control is currently at an impasse. This is largely due to the lack of empirical research that tests explicit assumptions regarding the initial task. One such untested assumption is that for resource depletion to occur, the initial task must first establish an habitual response and then this habitual response must be inhibited, with behavioral inhibition being the causal factor in inducing depletion. This study reports on four experiments exploring performance on a letter-canceling task, where the rules for target identification remained constant but the method of responding differed (Experiment 1) and the coherence of the text was manipulated (Experiments 1-4). Experiment 1 established that habit forming and behavioral inhibition did not produce any performance decrement when the targets were embedded in random letter strings. Experiments 2-4 established that target detection was sensitive to language characteristics and the coherence of the background text, suggesting that participants' automatic reading processes is a key driver of performance in the letter-e task.

Walking Stroop carpet: an innovative dual-task concept for detecting cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Perrochon, A; Kemoun, G; Watelain, E; Berthoz, A

2013-01-01

Several studies have reported the potential value of the dual-task concept during locomotion in clinical evaluation because cognitive decline is strongly associated with gait abnormalities. However, current dual-task tests appear to be insufficient for early diagnosis of cognitive impairment. Forty-nine subjects (young, old, with or without mild cognitive impairment) underwent cognitive evaluation (Mini-Mental State Examination, Frontal Assessment Battery, five-word test, Stroop, clock-drawing) and single-task locomotor evaluation on an electronic walkway. They were then dual-task-tested on the Walking Stroop carpet, which is an adaptation of the Stroop color-word task for locomotion. A cluster analysis, followed by an analysis of variance, was performed to assess gait parameters. Cluster analysis of gait parameters on the Walking Stroop carpet revealed an interaction between cognitive and functional abilities because it made it possible to distinguish dysexecutive cognitive fragility or decline with a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 94%. Locomotor abilities differed according to the group and dual-task conditions. Healthy subjects performed less well on dual-tasking under reading conditions than when they were asked to distinguish colors, whereas dysexecutive subjects had worse motor performances when they were required to dual task. The Walking Stroop carpet is a dual-task test that enables early detection of cognitive fragility that has not been revealed by traditional neuropsychological tests or single-task walking analysis.

Walking Stroop carpet: an innovative dual-task concept for detecting cognitive impairment

PubMed Central

Perrochon, A; Kemoun, G; Watelain, E; Berthoz, A

2013-01-01

Background Several studies have reported the potential value of the dual-task concept during locomotion in clinical evaluation because cognitive decline is strongly associated with gait abnormalities. However, current dual-task tests appear to be insufficient for early diagnosis of cognitive impairment. Methods Forty-nine subjects (young, old, with or without mild cognitive impairment) underwent cognitive evaluation (Mini-Mental State Examination, Frontal Assessment Battery, five-word test, Stroop, clock-drawing) and single-task locomotor evaluation on an electronic walkway. They were then dual-task-tested on the Walking Stroop carpet, which is an adaptation of the Stroop color–word task for locomotion. A cluster analysis, followed by an analysis of variance, was performed to assess gait parameters. Results Cluster analysis of gait parameters on the Walking Stroop carpet revealed an interaction between cognitive and functional abilities because it made it possible to distinguish dysexecutive cognitive fragility or decline with a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 94%. Locomotor abilities differed according to the group and dual-task conditions. Healthy subjects performed less well on dual-tasking under reading conditions than when they were asked to distinguish colors, whereas dysexecutive subjects had worse motor performances when they were required to dual task. Conclusion The Walking Stroop carpet is a dual-task test that enables early detection of cognitive fragility that has not been revealed by traditional neuropsychological tests or single-task walking analysis. PMID:23682211

A framework for characterizing eHealth literacy demands and barriers.

PubMed

Chan, Connie V; Kaufman, David R

2011-11-17

Consumer eHealth interventions are of a growing importance in the individual management of health and health behaviors. However, a range of access, resources, and skills barriers prevent health care consumers from fully engaging in and benefiting from the spectrum of eHealth interventions. Consumers may engage in a range of eHealth tasks, such as participating in health discussion forums and entering information into a personal health record. eHealth literacy names a set of skills and knowledge that are essential for productive interactions with technology-based health tools, such as proficiency in information retrieval strategies, and communicating health concepts effectively. We propose a theoretical and methodological framework for characterizing complexity of eHealth tasks, which can be used to diagnose and describe literacy barriers and inform the development of solution strategies. We adapted and integrated two existing theoretical models relevant to the analysis of eHealth literacy into a single framework to systematically categorize and describe task demands and user performance on tasks needed by health care consumers in the information age. The method derived from the framework is applied to (1) code task demands using a cognitive task analysis, and (2) code user performance on tasks. The framework and method are applied to the analysis of a Web-based consumer eHealth task with information-seeking and decision-making demands. We present the results from the in-depth analysis of the task performance of a single user as well as of 20 users on the same task to illustrate both the detailed analysis and the aggregate measures obtained and potential analyses that can be performed using this method. The analysis shows that the framework can be used to classify task demands as well as the barriers encountered in user performance of the tasks. Our approach can be used to (1) characterize the challenges confronted by participants in performing the tasks, (2) determine the extent to which application of the framework to the cognitive task analysis can predict and explain the problems encountered by participants, and (3) inform revisions to the framework to increase accuracy of predictions. The results of this illustrative application suggest that the framework is useful for characterizing task complexity and for diagnosing and explaining barriers encountered in task completion. The framework and analytic approach can be a potentially powerful generative research platform to inform development of rigorous eHealth examination and design instruments, such as to assess eHealth competence, to design and evaluate consumer eHealth tools, and to develop an eHealth curriculum.

A Framework for Characterizing eHealth Literacy Demands and Barriers

PubMed Central

Chan, Connie V

2011-01-01

Background Consumer eHealth interventions are of a growing importance in the individual management of health and health behaviors. However, a range of access, resources, and skills barriers prevent health care consumers from fully engaging in and benefiting from the spectrum of eHealth interventions. Consumers may engage in a range of eHealth tasks, such as participating in health discussion forums and entering information into a personal health record. eHealth literacy names a set of skills and knowledge that are essential for productive interactions with technology-based health tools, such as proficiency in information retrieval strategies, and communicating health concepts effectively. Objective We propose a theoretical and methodological framework for characterizing complexity of eHealth tasks, which can be used to diagnose and describe literacy barriers and inform the development of solution strategies. Methods We adapted and integrated two existing theoretical models relevant to the analysis of eHealth literacy into a single framework to systematically categorize and describe task demands and user performance on tasks needed by health care consumers in the information age. The method derived from the framework is applied to (1) code task demands using a cognitive task analysis, and (2) code user performance on tasks. The framework and method are applied to the analysis of a Web-based consumer eHealth task with information-seeking and decision-making demands. We present the results from the in-depth analysis of the task performance of a single user as well as of 20 users on the same task to illustrate both the detailed analysis and the aggregate measures obtained and potential analyses that can be performed using this method. Results The analysis shows that the framework can be used to classify task demands as well as the barriers encountered in user performance of the tasks. Our approach can be used to (1) characterize the challenges confronted by participants in performing the tasks, (2) determine the extent to which application of the framework to the cognitive task analysis can predict and explain the problems encountered by participants, and (3) inform revisions to the framework to increase accuracy of predictions. Conclusions The results of this illustrative application suggest that the framework is useful for characterizing task complexity and for diagnosing and explaining barriers encountered in task completion. The framework and analytic approach can be a potentially powerful generative research platform to inform development of rigorous eHealth examination and design instruments, such as to assess eHealth competence, to design and evaluate consumer eHealth tools, and to develop an eHealth curriculum. PMID:22094891

Characterizing age-related decline of recognition memory and brain activation profile in mice.

PubMed

Belblidia, Hassina; Leger, Marianne; Abdelmalek, Abdelouadoud; Quiedeville, Anne; Calocer, Floriane; Boulouard, Michel; Jozet-Alves, Christelle; Freret, Thomas; Schumann-Bard, Pascale

2018-06-01

Episodic memory decline is one of the earlier deficits occurring during normal aging in humans. The question of spatial versus non-spatial sensitivity to age-related memory decline is of importance for a full understanding of these changes. Here, we characterized the effect of normal aging on both non-spatial (object) and spatial (object location) memory performances as well as on associated neuronal activation in mice. Novel-object (NOR) and object-location (OLR) recognition tests, respectively assessing the identity and spatial features of object memory, were examined at different ages. We show that memory performances in both tests were altered by aging as early as 15 months of age: NOR memory was partially impaired whereas OLR memory was found to be fully disrupted at 15 months of age. Brain activation profiles were assessed for both tests using immunohistochemical detection of c-Fos (neuronal activation marker) in 3and 15 month-old mice. Normal performances in NOR task by 3 month-old mice were associated to an activation of the hippocampus and a trend towards an activation in the perirhinal cortex, in a way that did significantly differ with 15 month-old mice. During OLR task, brain activation took place in the hippocampus in 3 month-old but not significantly in 15 month-old mice, which were fully impaired at this task. These differential alterations of the object- and object-location recognition memory may be linked to differential alteration of the neuronal networks supporting these tasks. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Large area sheet task: Advanced dendritic web growth development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duncan, C. S.; Seidensticker, R. G.; Mchugh, J. P.; Hopkins, R. H.; Meier, D.; Schruben, J.

1981-01-01

The growth of silicon dendritic web for photovoltaic applications was investigated. The application of a thermal model for calculating buckling stresses as a function of temperature profile in the web is discussed. Lid and shield concepts were evaluated to provide the data base for enhancing growth velocity. An experimental web growth machine which embodies in one unit the mechanical and electronic features developed in previous work was developed. In addition, evaluation of a melt level control system was begun, along with preliminary tests of an elongated crucible design. The economic analysis was also updated to incorporate some minor cost changes. The initial applications of the thermal model to a specific configuration gave results consistent with experimental observation in terms of the initiation of buckling vs. width for a given crystal thickness.

Profiles of Executive Functioning: Associations with Substance Dependence and Risky Sexual Behavior

PubMed Central

Golub, Sarit A.; Starks, Tyrel J.; Kowalczyk, William J.; Thompson, Louisa I.; Parsons, Jeffrey T.

2012-01-01

The present investigations applied a theoretical perspective regarding the impact of executive functioning (EF) on sexual risk among substance users, by using a methodological approach designed to examine whether EF subtypes differentially predict behavior patterns. Participants included 104 substance-using HIV-negative gay and bisexual men. Participants completed five neuropsychological assessment tasks selected to tap discrete EF components, and these data were linked to data on substance dependence and behavioral reports of substance use and sexual risk in the past 30 days. Cluster analysis identified three EF subtypes: a) High-performing (good performance across all measures); b) Low Performing (poor performance across all measures); and c) Poor IGT Performance (impairment on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and its variant, but good performance on all other tasks). The three subtypes did not differ in amount of substance use, but the Low-Performing subtype was associated with greater rates of substance dependence. The Low-Performing subtype reported the highest rates of sexual behavior and risk, while the Poor IGT-Performance subtype reported the lowest rates of sexual risk-taking. Global associations between substance use and sexual risk were strongest among the Low-Performing subtype, but event-level associations appeared strongest among individuals in the High-Performing subtype. These data suggest complex associations between EF and sexual risk among substance users, and suggest that the relationship between substance use and sexual risk may vary by EF subtypes. PMID:22775771

Profiles of executive functioning: associations with substance dependence and risky sexual behavior.

PubMed

Golub, Sarit A; Starks, Tyrel J; Kowalczyk, William J; Thompson, Louisa I; Parsons, Jeffrey T

2012-12-01

The present investigations applied a theoretical perspective regarding the impact of executive functioning (EF) on sexual risk among substance users, using a methodological approach designed to examine whether EF subtypes differentially predict behavior patterns. Participants included 104 substance-using HIV-negative gay and bisexual men. Participants completed 5 neuropsychological assessment tasks selected to tap discrete EF components, and these data were linked to data on substance dependence and behavioral reports of substance use and sexual risk in the past 30 days. Cluster analysis identified 3 EF subtypes: (a) high performing (good performance across all measures); (b) low performing (poor performance across all measures); and (c) poor IGT performance (impairment on the Iowa Gambling Task [IGT] and its variant, but good performance on all other tasks). The 3 subtypes did not differ in amount of substance use, but the low-performing subtype was associated with greater rates of substance dependence. The low-performing subtype reported the highest rates of sexual behavior and risk, while the poor-IGT-performance subtype reported the lowest rates of sexual risk taking. Global associations between substance use and sexual risk were strongest among the low-performing subtype, but event-level associations appeared strongest among individuals in the high-performing subtype. These data suggest complex associations between EF and sexual risk among substance users, and suggest that the relationship between substance use and sexual risk may vary by EF subtypes. 2013 APA, all rights reserved

Evaluation and Socio-occupational Intervention in Bipolar and Schizophrenic Patients within a Multimodal Intervention Program- PRISMA.

PubMed

Díaz Zuluaga, Ana M; Duica, Kelly; Ruiz Galeano, Carlos; Vargas, Cristian; Agudelo Berruecos, Yuli; Ospina, Sigifredo; López-Jaramillo, Carlos

Functional improvement in bipolar and schizophrenic patients is one of the main aims of treatment. Nevertheless, there is no evidence about the effect of socio-occupational intervention within a multimodal intervention (MI) programme. To describe the socio-occupational profile and to evaluate the functional effect of a MI in bipolar I and schizophrenic patients. A prospective, longitudinal, therapeutic-comparative study was performed including 302 subjects (104 schizophrenic and 198 Bipolar Disorder I [BDI] patients), who were randomised into two groups, multimodal (psychiatry, psychology, medicine, occupational therapy, neuropsychology, and family therapy), or traditional intervention (psychiatry and medicine only). Several scales were applied to assess assertiveness, free time management, social abilities, general anxiety, self-care and performance in home, work and community tasks. After performing the longitudinal analysis, it was shown that the multimodal intervention was more effective than traditional intervention in general anxiety scores (P=.026) and development in home tasks (P=.03) in schizophrenic patients. No statistical differences were found in bipolar patients. The other variables showed improvement, however, their effect was similar in both intervention groups. Our study identified functional improvement in home tasks in schizophrenic patients after receiving multimodal intervention. Other variables also showed improvement for both interventions groups. Future studies, applying longer rehabilitation programs and other ecological strategies should be performed to identify the most effective interventions. Copyright © 2017 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

Mission Operations with an Autonomous Agent

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pell, Barney; Sawyer, Scott R.; Muscettola, Nicola; Smith, Benjamin; Bernard, Douglas E.

1998-01-01

The Remote Agent (RA) is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system which automates some of the tasks normally reserved for human mission operators and performs these tasks autonomously on-board the spacecraft. These tasks include activity generation, sequencing, spacecraft analysis, and failure recovery. The RA will be demonstrated as a flight experiment on Deep Space One (DSI), the first deep space mission of the NASA's New Millennium Program (NMP). As we moved from prototyping into actual flight code development and teamed with ground operators, we made several major extensions to the RA architecture to address the broader operational context in which PA would be used. These extensions support ground operators and the RA sharing a long-range mission profile with facilities for asynchronous ground updates; support ground operators monitoring and commanding the spacecraft at multiple levels of detail simultaneously; and enable ground operators to provide additional knowledge to the RA, such as parameter updates, model updates, and diagnostic information, without interfering with the activities of the RA or leaving the system in an inconsistent state. The resulting architecture supports incremental autonomy, in which a basic agent can be delivered early and then used in an increasingly autonomous manner over the lifetime of the mission. It also supports variable autonomy, as it enables ground operators to benefit from autonomy when L'@ey want it, but does not inhibit them from obtaining a detailed understanding and exercising tighter control when necessary. These issues are critical to the successful development and operation of autonomous spacecraft.

SRM Internal Flow Test and Computational Fluid Dynamic Analysis. Volume 1; Major Task Summaries

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whitesides, R. Harold; Dill, Richard A.; Purinton, David C.

1995-01-01

During the four year period of performance for NASA contract, NASB-39095, ERC has performed a wide variety of tasks to support the design and continued development of new and existing solid rocket motors and the resolution of operational problems associated with existing solid rocket motor's at NASA MSFC. This report summarizes the support provided to NASA MSFC during the contractual period of performance. The report is divided into three main sections. The first section presents summaries for the major tasks performed. These tasks are grouped into three major categories: full scale motor analysis, subscale motor analysis and cold flow analysis. The second section includes summaries describing the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tasks performed. The third section, the appendices of the report, presents detailed descriptions of the analysis efforts as well as published papers, memoranda and final reports associated with specific tasks. These appendices are referenced in the summaries. The subsection numbers for the three sections correspond to the same topics for direct cross referencing.

The Use of Cognitive Task Analysis and Simulators for After Action Review of Medical Events in Iraq

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-12-01

research attempts to improve medical AAR with a novel combination of Cognitive Task Analysis conducted while interviewees moulage simulators (Clark and...hypothesized that our protocol which employed a novel combination of medical Cognitive Task Analysis combined with the moulage of instruments and depictions

Making Sense of Sensemaking: Requirements of a Cognitive Analysis to Support C2 Decision Support System Design

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-06-01

heart of a distinction within the CSE community with respect to the differences between Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) and Cognitive Work Analysis...Wesley. Pirolli, P. and Card, S. (2005). The sensemaking process and leverage points for analyst technology as identified through cognitive task analysis . In...D. D., and Elm, W. C. (2000). Cognitive task analysis as bootstrapping multiple converging techniques. In Schraagen, Chipman, and Shalin (Eds

Inhibition, flexibility, working memory and planning in autism spectrum disorders with and without comorbid ADHD-symptoms

PubMed Central

Sinzig, Judith; Morsch, Dagmar; Bruning, Nicole; Schmidt, Martin H; Lehmkuhl, Gerd

2008-01-01

Background Recent studies have not paid a great deal of attention to comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in autistic children even though it is well known that almost half of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suffer from hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity. The goal of this study was to evaluate and compare executive functioning (EF) profiles in children with ADHD and in children with ASD with and without comorbid ADHD. Methods Children aged 6 to 18 years old with ADHD (n = 20) or ASD (High-Functioning autism or Asperger syndrome) with (n = 20) and without (n = 20) comorbid ADHD and a typically developing group (n = 20) were compared on a battery of EF tasks comprising inhibition, flexibility, working memory and planning tasks. A MANOVA, effect sizes as well as correlations between ADHD-symptomatology and EF performance were calculated. Age- and IQ-corrected z scores were used. Results There was a significant effect for the factor group (F = 1.55; dF = 42; p = .02). Post-hoc analysis revealed significant differences between the ADHD and the TD group on the inhibition task for false alarms (p = .01) and between the ADHD group, the ASD+ group (p = .03), the ASD- group (p = .02) and the TD group (p = .01) for omissions. Effect sizes showed clear deficits of ADHD children in inhibition and working memory tasks. Participants with ASD were impaired in planning and flexibility abilities. The ASD+ group showed compared to the ASD- group more problems in inhibitory performance but not in the working memory task. Conclusion Our findings replicate previous results reporting impairment of ADHD children in inhibition and working memory tasks and of ASD children in planning and flexibility abilities. The ASD + group showed similarities to the ADHD group with regard to inhibitory but not to working memory deficits. Nevertheless the heterogeneity of these and previous results shows that EF assessment is not useful for differential diagnosis between ADHD and ASD. It might be useful for evaluating strengths and weaknesses in individual children. PMID:18237439

Mentalising and social problem solving in adults with Asperger's syndrome

PubMed Central

Channon, Shelley; Crawford, Sarah; Orlowska, Danuta; Parikh, Nimmi; Thoma, Patrizia

2013-01-01

Introduction It is well established that autistic spectrum disorder is linked to difficulties with mentalising, but the ways in which this affects everyday behaviour is less well understood. This study explored the nature and extent of difficulties in everyday social functioning in adults with Asperger's syndrome (AS), since increased understanding can enhance the development of more effective intervention strategies. Methods Individuals with AS (n = 21) were compared with healthy control participants (n = 21) on three tests of social cognition: the Mentalistic Interpretation task, which assesses interpretation of sarcasm and actions; the Social Problem Fluency task, which assesses ability to generate problem solutions; and the Social Problem Resolution task, which assesses judgement in selecting problem solutions. Results Comprehension of both sarcastic remarks and actions was impaired in those with AS on the mentalistic interpretation task. Participants with AS showed difficulties in identifying the awkward elements of everyday social scenarios, and they were also impaired in generating problem solutions but not in judging alternative solutions on the social problem fluency and resolution tasks. Conclusions These tasks potentially provide a means of profiling strengths and weaknesses in social processing, which in turn has implications for informing clinical evaluation and training. PMID:23875885

Development and Application of a Multi-Modal Task Analysis to Support Intelligent Tutoring of Complex Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skinner, Anna; Diller, David; Kumar, Rohit; Cannon-Bowers, Jan; Smith, Roger; Tanaka, Alyssa; Julian, Danielle; Perez, Ray

2018-01-01

Background: Contemporary work in the design and development of intelligent training systems employs task analysis (TA) methods for gathering knowledge that is subsequently encoded into task models. These task models form the basis of intelligent interpretation of student performance within education and training systems. Also referred to as expert…

The Effects of Describing Antecedent Stimuli and Performance Criteria in Task Analysis Instruction for Graphing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tyner, Bryan C.; Fienup, Daniel M.

2016-01-01

Task analyses are ubiquitous to applied behavior analysis interventions, yet little is known about the factors that make them effective. Numerous task analyses have been published in behavior analytic journals for constructing single-subject design graphs; however, learner outcomes using these task analyses may fall short of what could be…