Dose response severity functions for acoustic disturbance in cetaceans using recurrent event survival analysis

This work was financially supported by the U. S. Office of Naval Research grant N00014‐12‐1‐0204, under the project “Multi‐study Ocean acoustics Human effects Analysis” (MOCHA). . L. Tyack received funding from the MASTS pooling initiative (The Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland) and their support is gratefully acknowledged. MASTS is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and contributing institutions. The case study data were provided by the 3S project, which was funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research, the Norwegian Ministry of Defense, the Netherlands Ministry of Defense, and WWF Norway.Behavioral response studies (BRSs) aim to enhance our understanding of the behavior changes made by animals in response to specific exposure levels of different stimuli, often presented in an increasing dosage. Here, we focus on BRSs that aim to understand behavioral responses of free-ranging whales and dolphins to manmade acoustic signals (although the methods are applicable more generally). One desired outcome of these studies is dose-response functions relevant to different species, signals and contexts. We adapted and applied recurrent event survival analysis (Cox proportional hazard models) to data from the 3S BRS project, where multiple behavioral responses of different severities had been observed per experimental exposure and per individual based upon expert scoring. We included species, signal type, exposure number and behavioral state prior to exposure as potential covariates. The best model included all main effect terms, with the exception of exposure number, as well as two interaction terms. The interactions between signal and behavioral state, and between species and behavioral state highlighted that the sensitivity of animals to different signal types (a 6–7 kHz upsweep sonar signal [MFAS] or a 1–2 kHz upsweep sonar signal [LFAS]) depended on their behavioral state (feeding or nonfeeding), and this differed across species. Of the three species included in this analysis (sperm whale [Physeter macrocephalus], killer whale [Orcinus orca] and long-finned pilot whale [Globicephala melas]), killer whales were consistently the most likely to exhibit behavioral responses to naval sonar exposure. We conclude that recurrent event survival analysis provides an effective framework for fitting dose-response severity functions to data from behavioral response studies. It can provide outputs that can help government and industry to evaluate the potential impacts of anthropogenic sound production in the ocean.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

SALSA: A Novel Dataset for Multimodal Group Behavior Analysis

Studying free-standing conversational groups (FCGs) in unstructured social settings (e.g., cocktail party ) is gratifying due to the wealth of information available at the group (mining social networks) and individual (recognizing native behavioral and personality traits) levels. However, analyzing social scenes involving FCGs is also highly challenging due to the difficulty in extracting behavioral cues such as target locations, their speaking activity and head/body pose due to crowdedness and presence of extreme occlusions. To this end, we propose SALSA, a novel dataset facilitating multimodal and Synergetic sociAL Scene Analysis, and make two main contributions to research on automated social interaction analysis: (1) SALSA records social interactions among 18 participants in a natural, indoor environment for over 60 minutes, under the poster presentation and cocktail party contexts presenting difficulties in the form of low-resolution images, lighting variations, numerous occlusions, reverberations and interfering sound sources; (2) To alleviate these problems we facilitate multimodal analysis by recording the social interplay using four static surveillance cameras and sociometric badges worn by each participant, comprising the microphone, accelerometer, bluetooth and infrared sensors. In addition to raw data, we also provide annotations concerning individuals' personality as well as their position, head, body orientation and F-formation information over the entire event duration. Through extensive experiments with state-of-the-art approaches, we show (a) the limitations of current methods and (b) how the recorded multiple cues synergetically aid automatic analysis of social interactions. SALSA is available at http://tev.fbk.eu/salsa.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figure

Discovering the relationships between event identity, satisfaction, image, WoM, and re-participation intention: The case of a repeated small-scale dance event

Although small-scale dance events are popular as a postmodern socialization tool for modern people, little is known about participants’ behavioral intentions in active small-scale dance events. This research examined the hierarchical relationship between event image, event satisfaction, event identity, and behavioral intentions, including re-participation intention and positive word-of-mouth (WoM) behavior, in a repeated small-scale dance event. A total of 412 participants of the Eskisehir Dance Festival (EDF), a repeated small-scale dance event, were reached by the convenience sampling method. Research data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). First, the model’s compatibility with the data was evaluated by applying confirmatory factor analysis to the model, which includes all research structures. AVE, Cronbach alpha, and CR values were analyzed for all constructs. The conceptual model of the research was analyzed using the AMOS v22. Event image is an important predictor of both event satisfaction (β =0.88; p <0.01) and event identity (β =0.46; p <0.01). In addition, event satisfaction significantly impacted event identity (β =0.76; p <0.01). Event identity is the predictor of re-participation intention (β =0.24; p <0.01) and positive WoM behavior (β =0.88; p <0.01). Finally, WoM behavior positively affected reparticipation intention (β =0.88; p <0,01). Research results made significant empirical contributions to the literature on repeated small-scale dance events. In addition, based on the research results, suggestions were presented to managers of small-scale dance events that they could use in their marketing strategies

Incorporating an ERP project into undergraduate instruction

Electroencephalogram (EEG) is a relatively non-invasive, simple technique, and recent advances in open source analysis tools make it feasible to implement EEG as a component in undergraduate neuroscience curriculum. We have successfully led students to design novel experiments, record EEG data, and analyze event-related potentials (ERPs) during a one-semester laboratory course for undergraduates in cognitive neuroscience. First, students learned how to set up an EEG recording and completed an analysis tutorial. Students then learned how to set up a novel EEG experiment; briefly, they formed groups of four and designed an EEG experiment on a topic of their choice. Over the course of two weeks students collected behavioral and EEG data. Each group then analyzed their behavioral and ERP data and presented their results both as a presentation and as a final paper. Upon completion of the group project students reported a deeper understanding of cognitive neuroscience methods and a greater appreciation for the strengths and weaknesses of the EEG technique. Although recent advances in open source software made this project possible, it also required access to EEG recording equipment and proprietary software. Future efforts should be directed at making publicly available datasets to learn ERP analysis techniques and making publicly available EEG recording and analysis software to increase the accessibility of hands-on research experience in undergraduate cognitive neuroscience laboratory courses. Copyrigh

A graphical simulator for modeling complex crowd behaviors

Abnormal crowd behaviors of varied real-world settings could represent or pose serious threat to public safety. The video data required for relevant analysis are often difficult to acquire due to security, privacy and data protection issues. Without large amounts of realistic crowd data, it is difficult to develop and verify crowd behavioral models, event detection techniques, and corresponding test and evaluations. This paper presented a synthetic method for generating crowd movements and tendency based on existing social and behavioral studies. Graph and tree searching algorithms as well as game engine-enabled techniques have been adopted in the study. The main outcomes of this research include a categorization model for entity-based behaviors following a linear aggregation approach; and the construction of an innovative agent-based pipeline for the synthesis of A-Star path-finding algorithm and an enhanced Social Force Model. A Spatial-Temporal Texture (STT) technique has been adopted for the evaluation of the model's effectiveness. Tests have highlighted the visual similarities between STTs extracted from the simulations and their counterparts - video recordings - from the real-world

Creating a Culture of Courage: A Behavioral Health Study of Resilience and Response to Traumatic Events for Firefighters

Firefighters experience a variety of challenging situations and traumatic events while performing necessary job duties as public servants, which can create behavioral health concerns and even suicide ideation. The purpose of this study is to recognize how individual resilience relates to lived experiences for firefighters who may need next-level behavioral healthcare, which in turn, will identify higher “at risk” firefighters with suicide ideation who need increased mental and emotional care outside of peer interventions. The fundamental question centers on what role does individual resilience, as well as formal and informal resources of behavioral health support, play in mitigating the impact of traumatic events? This study utilized qualitative research, specifically Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, to identify how firefighters make meaning of resilience as it relates to lived experiences associated as a firefighter. Through direct observation interviews, analysis of the recorded data, descriptive, linguistic, and conceptual coding associations, and data-driven results, firefighters will provide the essence of their experiences in relation to individual resilience, post-traumatic stress symptoms, and suicide ideation while filling gaps in already conducted research within the fire service. Six themes emerged that will foster cultural change for firefighter behavioral health initiatives such as a tiered support plan, educative initiatives, intentional leadership actions, communicative resources, normalizing the symptomatic response as much as the event, and the need for a caring community for firefighters. Limitations of research design entail time constraints for a longitudinal study

Examining the implementation of competency-based approach to increase the efficiency in Zahedan University of Medical Sciences

Today, intense competition and technological change upsurges the increasing pressure on organizations and their different ways of increasing the productivity of their workforces; this is what makes competency the most important part of a competitive environment. This study was designed to see whether implementing a competency-based performance management system resolve the problems that were inherent in the previous job-based system. Therefore, the aim of this study was to collect data from behavioral event interviews and methods of data analysis; and by presenting questionnaires to the experts and managers, our results were acquired about the role of merit in improving the efficiency and effectiveness. The results showed that all individuals confirmed that competency is the key elements of increasing the efficiency and productivity and they should be applied in all organization for designing and developing the competency –based orientations

Examining the implementation of competency-based approach to increase the efficiency in Zahedan University of Medical Sciences

Today, intense competition and technological change upsurges the increasing pressure on organizations and their different ways of increasing the productivity of their workforces; this is what makes competency the most important part of a competitive environment. This study was designed to see whether implementing a competency-based performance management system resolve the problems that were inherent in the previous job-based system. Therefore, the aim of this study was to collect data from behavioral event interviews and methods of data analysis; and by presenting questionnaires to the experts and managers, our results were acquired about the role of merit in improving the efficiency and effectiveness. The results showed that all individuals confirmed that competency is the key elements of increasing the efficiency and productivity and they should be applied in all organization for designing and developing the competency –based orientations

Social and Hydrological Responses to Extreme Precipitations: An Interdisciplinary Strategy for Postflood Investigation

International audienceThis paper describes and illustrates a methodology to conduct postflood investigations based on interdisciplinary collaboration between social and physical scientists. The method, designed to explore the link between crisis behavioral response and hydrometeorological dynamics, aims at understanding the spatial and temporal capacities and constraints on human behaviors in fast-evolving hydrometeorological conditions. It builds on methods coming from both geosciences and transportations studies to complement existing post-flood field investigation methodology used by hydrometeorologists. The authors propose an interview framework, structured around a chronological guideline to allow people who experienced the flood firsthand to tell the stories of the circumstances in which their activities were affected during the flash flood. This paper applies the data collection method to the case of the 15 June 2010 flash flood event that killed 26 people in the Draguignan area (Var, France). As a first step, based on the collected narratives, an abductive approach allowed the identification of the possible factors influencing individual responses to flash floods. As a second step, behavioral responses were classified into categories of activities based on the respondents' narratives. Then, aspatial and temporal analysis of the sequences made of the categories of action to contextualize the set of coping responses with respect to local hydrometeorological conditions is proposed. During this event, the respondents mostly follow the pace of change in their local environmental conditions as the flash flood occurs, official flood anticipation being rather limited and based on a large-scale weather watch. Therefore, contextual factors appear as strongly influencing the individual's ability to cope with the event in such a situation

Electrophysiological study of local/global processing in Williams syndrome

Persons with Williams syndrome (WS) demonstrate pronounced deficits in visuo-spatial processing. The purpose of the current study was to examine the preferred level of perceptual analysis in young adults with WS (n = 21) and the role of attention in the processing of hierarchical stimuli. Navon-like letter stimuli were presented to adults with WS and age-matched typical controls in an oddball paradigm where local and global targets could appear with equal probability. Participants received no explicit instruction to direct their attention toward a particular stimulus level. Behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) data were recorded. Behavioral data indicated presence of a global precedence effect in persons with WS. However, their ERP responses revealed atypical brain mechanisms underlying attention to local information. During the early perceptual analysis, global targets resulted in reduced P1 and enhanced N150 responses in both participant groups. However, only the typical comparison group demonstrated a larger N150 to local targets. At the more advanced stages of cognitive processing, a larger P3b response to global and local targets was observed in the typical group but not in persons with WS, who instead demonstrated an enhanced P3a to global targets only. The results indicate that in a perceptual task, adults with WS may experience greater than typical global-to-local interference and not allocate sufficient attentional resources to local information