Using Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) to study dynamic stereoscopic depth perception

The parietal cortex has been widely implicated in the processing of depth perception by many neuroimaging studies, yet functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has been an under-utilised tool to examine the relationship of oxy- ([HbO]) and de-oxyhaemoglobin ([HbR]) in perception. Here we examine the haemodynamic response (HDR) to the processing of induced depth stimulation using dynamic random-dot-stereograms (RDS). We used fNIRS to measure the HDR associated with depth perception in healthy young adults (n = 13, mean age 24). Using a blocked design, absolute values of [HbO] and [HbR] were recorded across parieto-occipital and occipital cortices, in response to dynamic RDS. Control and test images were identical except for the horizontal shift in pixels in the RDS that resulted in binocular disparity and induced the percept of a 3D sine wave that 'popped out' of the test stimulus. The control stimulus had zero disparity and induced a 'flat' percept. All participants had stereoacuity within normal clinical limits and successfully perceived the depth in the dynamic RDS. Results showed a significant effect of this complex visual stimulation in the right parieto-occipital cortex (p < 0.01, η(2) = 0.54). The test stimulus elicited a significant increase in [HbO] during depth perception compared to the control image (p < 0.001, 99.99 % CI [0.008-0.294]). The similarity between the two stimuli may have resulted in the HDR of the occipital cortex showing no significant increase or decrease of cerebral oxygenation levels during depth stimulation. Cerebral oxygenation measures of [HbO] confirmed the strong association of the right parieto-occipital cortex with processing depth perception. Our study demonstrates the validity of fNIRS to investigate [HbO] and [HbR] during high-level visual processing of complex stimuli

An exploration of stakeholder perceptions on the link between student self-efficacy and their employability for MBA students in India

An exploration of stakeholder perceptions on the link between student self-efficacy and their employability for MBA students in India This thesis explored the perceptions that the students, faculty and employers of a Mumbai based business school had of the possible link between student self-efficacy and their employability. Research indicates that employers place significant importance on communication skills, social skills and critical thinking abilities, among other attributes of job candidates, while making their hiring decisions. However, some surveys have indicated that a significant proportion of employers are dissatisfied with the employability of fresh college graduates. The disparity between university efforts to develop student employability and employers’ dissatisfaction indicates a possible gap in understanding among various stakeholders about the attributes needed for student employability. Much research has been done in western countries in this area, but there has been less research done in the Indian environment. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of those involved in the employment of fresh college graduates in India, and to offer insights that might inform university efforts to build student employability. The study was conducted via an interpretive phenomenological analysis of the perceptions of three sets of stakeholders of a Mumbai based business school on graduate attributes and employability. In particular, their perceptions of the graduate attribute of self-efficacy was explored as it has been shown to be a key contributor to the development of other graduate attributes and is considered to be malleable to external interventions. Data was collected through individual interviews with 10 employers and group discussions with 1 set of faculty members and 2 sets of MBA students. A thematic analysis of the similarities and differences in their perceptions was then conducted and the data was viewed in the context of employability research and research on self-efficacy done in other countries. Employers’ perceptions on the attributes that contributed to a graduate’s long-term performance on the job included communication skills, person-environment fit, academic performance, personal adaptability and self-confidence. This was in contrast to the perceptions of the students and faculty who focused mainly on the attributes needed to perform well in the job hiring process. This may be due to the limitations of the job hiring process, where employers often determine a graduate’s suitability for a job role through the signals given by the attributes that are more visibly apparent. All three-stakeholder groups agreed on the importance of self-efficacy and related self-concepts as key attributes that contribute to the development of the other attributes needed for employability, along with suggestions on how to enhance it. This indicates that the perceptions of Indian stakeholders on the importance of self-efficacy seem to agree with the research findings in western countries of similar groups of stakeholders. Employers viewed a job candidate’s visible self-confidence in the job hiring process as a signal of their level of self-efficacy, which may explain the importance that students and faculty placed on displaying self-confidence over developing other employability attributes. This could lead to employer dissatisfaction as the hired candidate may not actually possess the desired attributes needed. The findings of this research offer a perspective on employability in the Indian context along with recommendations for Indian institutions on ways they can develop graduate employability through enhancing student self-efficacy and recommendations for Indian employers on ways they can alter their hiring process to determine if job candidates actually possess the attributes they visibly display. KEYWORDS Graduate employability, graduate attributes, self-efficacy, business educatio

Editorial: From Pedagogic Research to Embedded E-Learning

This Special Issue of Reflecting Education arises from the work of the PREEL project (From Pedagogic Research to Embedded e-Learning) at the Institute of Education from 2006-2008. This project was one of nine HEA/JISC (Higher Education Academy and Joint Information Systems Committee) Pilot Pathfinder Projects and followed on from our involvement in the Pilot Benchmarking of e-Learning Programme. In the benchmarking exercise we identified a lack of coordination between research and practice in e-learning at the IoE as one of our crucial weaknesses, and so our Pilot Pathfinder project concentrated on this theme of building links between e-learning research and practice

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase mediates haloperidol-induced cataleptic behavior.

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a ubiquitously expressed serine/threonine kinase protein complex (mTORC1 or mTORC2) that orchestrates diverse functions ranging from embryonic development to aging. However, its brain tissue-specific roles remain less explored. Here, we have identified that the depletion of the mTOR gene in the mice striatum completely prevented the extrapyramidal motor side effects (catalepsy) induced by the dopamine 2 receptor (D2R) antagonist haloperidol, which is the most widely used typical antipsychotic drug. Conversely, a lack of striatal mTOR in mice did not affect catalepsy triggered by the dopamine 1 receptor (D1R) antagonist SCH23390. Along with the lack of cataleptic effects, the administration of haloperidol in mTOR mutants failed to increase striatal phosphorylation levels of ribosomal protein pS6 (S235/236) as seen in control animals. To confirm the observations of the genetic approach, we used a pharmacological method and determined that the mTORC1 inhibitor rapamycin has a profound influence upon post-synaptic D2R-dependent functions. We consistently found that pretreatment with rapamycin entirely prevented (in a time-dependent manner) the haloperidol-induced catalepsy, and pS6K (T389) and pS6 (S235/236) signaling upregulation, in wild-type mice. Collectively, our data indicate that striatal mTORC1 blockade may offer therapeutic benefits with regard to the prevention of D2R-dependent extrapyramidal motor side effects of haloperidol in psychiatric illness

Mechanical Properties of A356 Matrix Composites Reinforced with Nano-SiC Particles

Metal matrix composites form one group of the new engineered materials in which a strong ceramic reinforcement is incorporated into a metal matrix to improve its properties including specific strength, specific stiffness, wear resistance, excellent corrosion resistance and high elastic modulus. A compocasting method was employed to incorporate SiC nano-particles into the aluminum alloy and fabricate metal matrix nanocomposites with uniform reinforcement distribution. Microstructural characterization of compocast composites show a uniform distribution of nano-particles, grain refinement of aluminum matrix, and presence of the minimal porosity. It was revealed that the presence of nano-SiC reinforcement led to significant improvement in hardness, 0.2% yield strength and UTS while the ductility of the aluminum matrix is retained.Композиты с металлической матрицей образуют группу новых искусственно спроектированных материалов, в металлическую матрицу которых вводятся керамические упрочняющие компоненты с целью улучшения ее механических свойств, включая удельную прочность и удельную жесткость, а также износостойкость, и обеспечения высокой коррозионной устойчивости и высокого модуля упругости. Метод композиционного литья использовался для введения наночастиц SiC в алюминиевый сплав и изготовления нанокомпозитов с металлической матрицей и однородным распределением упрочняющих компонентов. Микроструктурный анализ композитов, полученных методом композиционного литья, показал однородное распределение наночастиц, уменьшение размеров зерен матрицы из алюминиевого сплава и минимальную пористость материала. Установлено, что наличие наночастиц карбида кремния существенно повышает твердость, условный предел текучести и предел прочности при сохранении исходной пластичности алюминиевой матрицы.Композити з металічною матрицею утворюють групу нових штучно спроектованих матеріалів, у металічну матрицю яких вводяться керамічні зміцнювальні компоненти з метою покращання її механічних властивостей, включаючи питомі міцність і жорсткість, а також зносостійкість, та забезпечення високої корозійної стійкості і високого модуля пружності. Метод композиційного лиття використовувався для введення наночастинок SiC у алюмінієвий сплав та виготовлення нанокомпозитів із металічною матрицею й однорідним розподілом зміцнюваних компонентів. Мікроструктурний аналіз композит ів, що отримані методом композиційною лиття, показав однорідний розподіл наночастинок, зменшення розмірів зерен матриці з алюмінієвого сплаву та мінімальну пористість матеріалу. Установлено, що наявність наночастинок карбіду кремнію суттєво підвищує твердість, умовну границю текучості і границю міцності при збереженні початкової пластичності алюмінієвої матриці

Effect of Dilution of Propofol on Pain at Site of Injection: Comparison Between 1% vs. 0.33% Formulation

Objective: To study the effect of propofol dilution on pain at injection site with formulations of 1% and 0.33%. Methodology: A randomized controlled trial was conducted for 24 months at the Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Islamabad. A total of 100 patients were included in the study. Patients were divided into two equal groups: group C received 1% propofol while patients of group D received 0.33% formulation diluted with distilled water. Patients received propofol at the start of anesthesia before any premedication. A 5ml volume was injected over a period of 5s in an 18G cannula over dorsum of hands. Behaviourial pain scale was used and descriptive data analysis was done. Results: Then mean age of patients was 37.36±14.77 with 46 males and 56 females. Pain at the injection site was experienced in 20 (40%) patients of group C whereas 16 (32%) patients experienced pain in group D. There was no association of pain with a strength of propofol solution (p value 0.405). Conclusion: Strength of propofol solution has no association of pain at the injection site and dilution has no better effect in terms of pain scor

A new displacement-based approach to calculate stress intensity factors with the boundary element method

The analysis of cracked brittle mechanical components considering linear elastic fracture mechanics is usually reduced to the evaluation of stress intensity factors (SIFs). The SIF calculation can be carried out experimentally, theoretically or numerically. Each methodology has its own advantages but the use of numerical methods has be-come very popular. Several schemes for numerical SIF calculations have been developed, the J-integral method being one of the most widely used because of its energy-like formulation. Additionally, some variations of the J-integral method, such as displacement-based methods, are also becoming popular due to their simplicity. In this work, a simple displacement-based scheme is proposed to calculate SIFs, and its performance is compared with contour integrals. These schemes are all implemented with the Boundary Element Method (BEM) in order to exploit its advantages in crack growth modelling. Some simple examples are solved with the BEM and the calculated SIF values are compared against available solutions, showing good agreement between the different schemes

Fairness Testing: Testing Software for Discrimination

This paper defines software fairness and discrimination and develops a testing-based method for measuring if and how much software discriminates, focusing on causality in discriminatory behavior. Evidence of software discrimination has been found in modern software systems that recommend criminal sentences, grant access to financial products, and determine who is allowed to participate in promotions. Our approach, Themis, generates efficient test suites to measure discrimination. Given a schema describing valid system inputs, Themis generates discrimination tests automatically and does not require an oracle. We evaluate Themis on 20 software systems, 12 of which come from prior work with explicit focus on avoiding discrimination. We find that (1) Themis is effective at discovering software discrimination, (2) state-of-the-art techniques for removing discrimination from algorithms fail in many situations, at times discriminating against as much as 98% of an input subdomain, (3) Themis optimizations are effective at producing efficient test suites for measuring discrimination, and (4) Themis is more efficient on systems that exhibit more discrimination. We thus demonstrate that fairness testing is a critical aspect of the software development cycle in domains with possible discrimination and provide initial tools for measuring software discrimination.Comment: Sainyam Galhotra, Yuriy Brun, and Alexandra Meliou. 2017. Fairness Testing: Testing Software for Discrimination. In Proceedings of 2017 11th Joint Meeting of the European Software Engineering Conference and the ACM SIGSOFT Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering (ESEC/FSE), Paderborn, Germany, September 4-8, 2017 (ESEC/FSE'17). https://doi.org/10.1145/3106237.3106277, ESEC/FSE, 201

Environmental and behavioural interventions for reducing physical activity limitation and preventing falls in older people with visual impairment

BACKGROUND: Impairment of vision is associated with a decrease in activities of daily living. Avoidance of physical activity in older adults with visual impairment can lead to functional decline and is an important risk factor for falls. The rate of falls and fractures is higher in older people with visual impairment than in age‐matched visually normal older people. Possible interventions to reduce activity restriction and prevent falls include environmental and behavioral interventions. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of environmental and behavioral interventions in reducing physical activity limitation, preventing falls and improving quality of life amongst visually impaired older people. SEARCH METHODS: We searched CENTRAL (including the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Trials Register) (Issue 2, 2020), Ovid MEDLINE, Embase and eight other databases to 4 February 2020, with no language restrictions. SELECTION CRITERIA: Eligible studies were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi‐randomized controlled trials (Q‐RCTs) that compared environmental interventions, behavioral interventions or both, versus control (usual care or no intervention); or that compared different types of environmental or behavioral interventions. Eligible study populations were older people (aged 60 and over) with irreversible visual impairment, living in their own homes or in residential settings. To be eligible for inclusion, studies must have included a measure of physical activity or falls, the two primary outcomes of interest. Secondary outcomes included fear of falling, and quality of life. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We used standard Cochrane methods. We assessed the certainty of the evidence using the GRADE approach. MAIN RESULTS: We included six RCTs (686 participants) conducted in five countries (Australia, Hungary, New Zealand, UK, US) with follow‐up periods ranging from two to 12 months. Participants in these trials included older adults (mean age 80 years) and were mostly female (69%), with visual impairments of varying severity and underlying causes. Participants mostly lived in their homes and were physically independent. We classified all trials as having high risk of bias for masking of participants, and three trials as having high or unclear risk of bias for all other domains. The included trials evaluated various intervention strategies (e.g. an exercise program versus home safety modifications). Heterogeneity of study characteristics, including interventions and outcomes, (e.g. different fall measures), precluded any meta‐analysis. Two trials compared the home safety modification by occupational therapists versus social/home visits. One trial (28 participants) reported physical activity at six months and showed no evidence of a difference in mean estimates between groups (step counts: mean difference (MD) = 321, 95% confidence interval (CI) ‐1981 to 2623; average walking time (minutes): MD 1.70, 95% CI ‐24.03 to 27.43; telephone questionnaire for self‐reported physical activity: MD ‐3.68 scores, 95% CI ‐20.6 to 13.24; low‐certainty of evidence for each outcome). Two trials reported the proportion of participants who fell at six months (risk ratio (RR) 0.76, 95% CI 0.38 to 1.51; 28 participants) and 12 months (RR 0.59, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.80, 196 participants) with low‐certainty of evidence for each outcome. One trial (28 participants) reported fear of falling at six months, using the Short Falls Efficacy Scale‐International, and found no evidence of a difference in mean estimates between groups (MD 2.55 scores, 95% CI ‐0.51 to 5.61; low‐certainty of evidence). This trial also reported quality of life at six months using 12‐Item Short Form Health Survey, and showed no evidence of a difference in mean estimates between groups (MD ‐3.14 scores, 95% CI ‐10.86 to 4.58; low‐certainty of evidence). Five trials compared a behavioral intervention (exercise) versus usual activity or social/home visits. One trial (59 participants) assessed self‐reported physical activity at six months and showed no evidence of a difference between groups (MD 9.10 scores, 95% CI ‐13.85 to 32.5; low‐certainty of evidence). Three trials investigated different fall measures at six or 12 months, and found no evidence of a difference in effect estimates (RRs for proportion of fallers ranged from 0.54 (95% CI 0.29 to 1.01; 41 participants); to 0.93 (95% CI 0.61 to 1.39; 120 participants); low‐certainty of evidence for each outcome). Three trials assessed the fear of falling using Short Falls Efficacy Scale‐International or the Illinois Fear of Falling Measure from two to 12 months, and found no evidence of a difference in mean estimates between groups (the estimates ranged from ‐0.88 score (95% CI ‐2.72 to 0.96, 114 participants) to 1.00 score (95% CI ‐0.13 to 2.13; 59 participants); low‐certainty of evidence). One trial (59 participants) assessed the European Quality of Life scale at six months (MD ‐0.15 score, 95% CI ‐0.29 to ‐0.01), and found no evidence of a clinical difference between groups (low‐certainty of evidence). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There is no evidence of effect for most of the environmental or behavioral interventions studied for reducing physical activity limitation and preventing falls in visually impaired older people. The certainty of evidence is generally low due to poor methodological quality and heterogeneous outcome measurements. Researchers should form a consensus to adopt standard ways of measuring physical activity and falls reliably in older people with visual impairments. Fall prevention trials should plan to use objectively measured or self‐reported physical activity as outcome measures of reduced activity limitation. Future research should evaluate the acceptability and applicability of interventions, and use validated questionnaires to assess the adherence to rehabilitative strategies and performance during activities of daily living

T-cell production of matrix metalloproteinases and inhibition of parasite clearance by TIMP-1 during chronic Toxoplasma infection in the brain

Chronic infection with the intracellular protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii leads to tissue remodelling in the brain and a continuous requirement for peripheral leucocyte migration within the CNS (central nervous system). In the present study, we investigate the role of MMPs (matrix metalloproteinases) and their inhibitors in T-cell migration into the infected brain. Increased expression of two key molecules, MMP-8 and MMP-10, along with their inhibitor, TIMP-1 (tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1), was observed in the CNS following infection. Analysis of infiltrating lymphocytes demonstrated MMP-8 and -10 production by CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells. In addition, infiltrating T-cells and CNS resident astrocytes increased their expression of TIMP-1 following infection. TIMP-1-deficient mice had a decrease in perivascular accumulation of lymphocyte populations, yet an increase in the proportion of CD4+ T-cells that had trafficked into the CNS. This was accompanied by a reduction in parasite burden in the brain. Taken together, these findings demonstrate a role for MMPs and TIMP-1 in the trafficking of lymphocytes into the CNS during chronic infection in the brain