Associating the Change in New COVID-19 Cases to GDP per Capita in 38 European Countries in the First Wave of the Pandemic.

COVID-19 has affected all countries globally. We explore associations between the change in new COVID-19 registered cases per million population and various macroeconomic and well-being indicators in 38 European countries over a 2-month period (1st April-31st May 2020). A statistically significant (p = 0.002) negative association was estimated between the change in new COVID-19 cases and GDP per capita, after controlling for key health determinants including public expenditure on health, life expectancy, smoking tobacco and sanitation. The country with the highest GDP per capita in Europe (i.e., Luxemburg) was found to experience the lowest change in new COVID-19 cases within the time period whilst the opposite was found for countries with lower GDP per capita (i.e., Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Romania). The outcomes of this study indicate that, in the first wave of the pandemic in Europe, a country's GDP per capita might be associated with a lower rate of new COVID-19 cases. The study concludes by suggesting that in European regions a country's economic performance should be a critical health priority for policy makers

Change detection in visual short-term memory: the relative impact of pairwise switches and identity substitutions

Numerous kinds of visual events challenge our ability to keep track of objects that populate our visual environment from moment to moment. These include blinks, occlusion, shifting visual attention and changes to object’s visual and spatial properties over time. These visual events may lead to objects falling out of our visual awareness but can also lead to unnoticed changes, such as undetected object replacements and positional exchanges. Current visual memory models do not predict which visual changes are likely to be the most difficult to detect. We examined the accuracy with which switches (where two objects exchange locations) and substitutions (where one or two objects are replaced) are detected. Inferior performance for one-object substitutions vs. two-objects switches, along with superior performance for two-object substitutions vs. two-object switches was found. Our results are interpreted in terms of object file theory, trade-offs between diffused and localized attention, and net visual change

Emotional Health of People with Visual Impairment Caused by Retinitis Pigmentosa

Purpose- To understand the emotional difficulties associated with living with the ocular condition Retinitis Pigmentosa, and to examine the functioning of a self-report instrument used to assess this construct. Methods- The difficulty of goals and tasks in the emotional health domain of the Dutch ICF Activity Inventory were rated by 166 people with Retinitis Pigmentosa in a cross-sectional study. Demographic factors were also assessed. Results- Responses to the 23 emotional health tasks were Rasch analysed and could be used to form either one 20 item overview scale with some multidimensionality, or three unidimensional subscales addressing feelings (4 items), communicating visual loss (5 items) and fatigue (7 items). The most difficult individual tasks related to communicating visual loss to other people, and dealing with feelings such as frustration, anxiety and stress. The use of mobility aids and female gender were associated with increased difficulty with emotional health, explaining 19% of the variance in the overview scale. Conclusions- The emotional health domain of the Dutch ICF Activity Inventory is a valid tool to assess emotional difficulties arising from visual loss. Interventions to aid people with Retinitis Pigmentosa deal with emotional difficulties should particularly address communicating vision loss effectively to others and coping with negative feelings

Difficulties With Goals of the Dutch ICF Activity Inventory: Perceptions of Those With Retinitis Pigmentosa and of Those Who Support Them

PURPOSE: To provide a comprehensive overview of the perceived difficulties with visual activities and participation by those with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), and as perceived by those who support people with RP. Further, to examine the performance of the Dutch ICF Activity Inventory (D-AI) using Rasch analysis. METHODS: Three hundred fifty people with RP and 75 supporters of people with RP provided demographic information and completed the D-AI at goal level (47 goals). RESULTS: Following removal of four goals, the D-AI behaved well in Rasch analysis, but with limitations to its unidimensionality. The most difficult goals for people with RP related to mobility and to work-related activities. Greater difficulty was associated with higher visual impairment registration status, use of mobility aids, and longer duration of visual impairment. For those with less severe visual loss, goals relating to communicating with people were relatively more difficult. In more severe loss, goals involving good central vision (e.g., dealing with correspondence) were relatively more difficult. The perceptions of supporters matched those of the people with RP relatively well, but with a tendency for supporters to overestimate the difficulty of goals, which related to administration and domestic chores, and to underestimate difficulty with goals relating to communication with people. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate important areas of rehabilitation to address in addition to orientation and mobility in those with RP, including work-related activities and goals involving good central vision. Both people with RP and those supporting them could benefit from help addressing difficulties with communication

Relative Difficulties of Daily Living Tasks with Retinitis Pigmentosa

Purpose: To determine the relative difficulty of activity of daily living tasks for people with retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Methods: Participants with RP (n = 166) rated the difficulty of tasks (n = 43) underpinning the Dutch Activity Inventory goals of mobility indoors and outdoors, shopping, and using public transport. Demographic characteristics were also determined. Responses were Rasch analyzed to determine properties of the scale, derive unidimensional subscales, and consider differential item functioning (DIF). Results: After removal of one ill-fitting item, the remaining 42 tasks formed a scale with reasonable Rasch parameters but poor unidimensionality. The most difficult tasks were orienting in poor and bright light both indoors and outdoors, and avoiding peripheral obstacles outdoors. Eight subscales were derived with unidimensional properties, each of which could be considered as requiring similar skills. DIF identified that tasks from the “poor light and obstacles” subscale were more difficult for those younger than the median age, nonusers of mobility aids, and those not registered or registered sight impaired. Tasks from the “finding products” and “public transport” subscales were more difficult for those older than the median age, with longer duration of visual loss, users of mobility aids, and those registered severely sight impaired. Conclusions: The most difficult tasks for people with RP of orienting in poor light and avoiding peripheral obstacles are relatively more difficult for those not registered as “severely sight impaired,” but are less difficult for those who use mobility aids. Mobility aids (guide dog or cane), therefore, do benefit users in their perceived ability in these particular tasks. The derived unidimensional subscales reorganize the tasks from those grouped together by goal (researcher driven) to those perceived as requiring similar skills by people with RP (patient driven) and can be used as an evidence base for orientation and mobility training protocols

Associations between Accommodative Facility, Age, and Refractive Errors in Early, Older Adolescent Myopes and Emmetropes

Background: Accommodative functions are known to differ between myopes and emmetropes. It is not known whether accommodative facility differs at near between younger adolescent and older adolescent myopes and emmetropes. Aim: To examine whether accommodative facility differs at near between younger and older adolescent myopes and emmetropes. Methods: 119 participants aged between 11–21 years were recruited. Refractive error was measured using cycloplegic retinoscopy. Near monocular accommodative facility was measured for 60 seconds, using a +2.00D/–2.00D handheld flipper and N6 print at 40 cm. Participants were classified into two age groups: (i) younger adolescents (range: 11–14 years) and (ii) older adolescents (range: 15–21 years). The criterion applied to define myopia was spherical equivalent refraction: ≥–0.50D) and spherical equivalent refraction: –0.25D to +0.75D) for emmetropia. Univariate Analysis of Variance was carried out to analyze the interaction of age groups and refractive groups on near accommodative facility. Results: Near monocular accommodative facility was significantly lower (p = 0.003) in younger adolescents (5.87 ± 3.72 cpm) compared to older adolescents (8.11 ± 4.11 cpm), indicating age as a significant main effect (F1,115 = 13.44; p = 0.0001). Younger adolescent emmetropes (4.77 ± 2.05 cpm, p = 0.005) and younger adolescent myopes (6.48 ± 4.12 cpm, p = 0.022) had significantly lower monocular near accommodative facility compared to older adolescent emmetropes (9.52 ± 3.27 cpm), but did not show any difference when compared to older adolescent myopes (p > 0.05). This indicates a significant association linking age and refractive error to near accommodative facility (F1,115 = 4.60; p = 0.03). Conclusion: Younger adolescent myopes and younger adolescent emmetropes had reduced monocular near accommodative facility than older adolescent emmetropes, but not when compared to older adolescent myopes

Echoic Sensory Substitution Information in a Single Obstacle Circumvention Task.

Accurate motor control is required when walking around obstacles in order to avoid collisions. When vision is unavailable, sensory substitution can be used to improve locomotion through the environment. Tactile sensory substitution devices (SSDs) are electronic travel aids, some of which indicate the distance of an obstacle using the rate of vibration of a transducer on the skin. We investigated how accurately such an SSD guided navigation in an obstacle circumvention task. Using an SSD, 12 blindfolded participants navigated around a single flat 0.6 x 2 m obstacle. A 3-dimensional Vicon motion capture system was used to quantify various kinematic indices of human movement. Navigation performance under full vision was used as a baseline for comparison. The obstacle position was varied from trial to trial relative to the participant, being placed at two distances 25 cm to the left, right or directly ahead. Under SSD guidance, participants navigated without collision in 93% of trials. No collisions occurred under visual guidance. Buffer space (clearance between the obstacle and shoulder) was larger by a factor of 2.1 with SSD guidance than with visual guidance, movement times were longer by a factor of 9.4, and numbers of velocity corrections were larger by a factor of 5 (all p<0.05). Participants passed the obstacle on the side affording the most space in the majority of trials for both SSD and visual guidance conditions. The results are consistent with the idea that SSD information can be used to generate a protective envelope during locomotion in order to avoid collisions when navigating around obstacles, and to pass on the side of the obstacle affording the most space in the majority of trials.Vision and Eye Research Unit, Postgraduate Medical Institute at Anglia Ruskin University; Medical Research Council (Grant ID: G0701870)This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from the Public Library of Science via http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.016087

A Comparison of Reach-to-Grasp and Transport-to-Place Performance in Participants With Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Glaucoma

PURPOSE: To compare visually guided manual prehension in participants with primarily central field loss (CFL) due to age-related macular degeneration and peripheral visual field loss (PFL) due to glaucoma. This study extends current literature by comparing directly "reach-to-grasp" performance, and presents a new task of "transport-to-place" the object accurately to a new location. Data were compared to age-matched controls. METHODS: Three-dimensional motion data were collected from 17 glaucoma participants with PFL, 17 participants with age-related macular degeneration CFL and 10 age-matched control participants. Participants reached toward and grasped a cylindrical object (reach-to-grasp), and then transported and placed (transport-to-place) it at a different (predefined) peripheral location. Various kinematic indices were measured. Correlation analyses explored relationships between visual function and kinematic data. RESULTS: In the reach-to-grasp phase, CFL patients exhibited significantly longer movement and reaction times when compared to PFL participants and controls. Central field loss participants also took longer to complete the movement and made more online movements in the latter part of the reach. During the transport-to-place phase, CFL participants showed increased deceleration times, longer movement trajectory, and increased vertical wrist displacement. Central field loss also showed higher errors in placing the object at a predefined location. A number of kinematic indices correlated significantly to central visual function indices (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Significant differences in performance exist between CFL and PFL participants. Various indices correlated significantly with loss in acuity and contrast sensitivity (CS), suggesting that performance is more dependent on central visual function irrespective of underlying pathology

Auditory distance perception in humans: a review of cues, development, neuronal bases, and effects of sensory loss.

Auditory distance perception plays a major role in spatial awareness, enabling location of objects and avoidance of obstacles in the environment. However, it remains under-researched relative to studies of the directional aspect of sound localization. This review focuses on the following four aspects of auditory distance perception: cue processing, development, consequences of visual and auditory loss, and neurological bases. The several auditory distance cues vary in their effective ranges in peripersonal and extrapersonal space. The primary cues are sound level, reverberation, and frequency. Nonperceptual factors, including the importance of the auditory event to the listener, also can affect perceived distance. Basic internal representations of auditory distance emerge at approximately 6 months of age in humans. Although visual information plays an important role in calibrating auditory space, sensorimotor contingencies can be used for calibration when vision is unavailable. Blind individuals often manifest supranormal abilities to judge relative distance but show a deficit in absolute distance judgments. Following hearing loss, the use of auditory level as a distance cue remains robust, while the reverberation cue becomes less effective. Previous studies have not found evidence that hearing-aid processing affects perceived auditory distance. Studies investigating the brain areas involved in processing different acoustic distance cues are described. Finally, suggestions are given for further research on auditory distance perception, including broader investigation of how background noise and multiple sound sources affect perceived auditory distance for those with sensory loss.The research was supported by MRC grant G0701870 and the Vision and Eye Research Unit (VERU), Postgraduate Medical Institute at Anglia Ruskin University.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13414-015-1015-