Evaluating the use of lecture capture using a revealed preference approach

This article discusses the introduction of lecture capture technology on a large undergraduate module with diverse student cohorts. Literature has so far relied on surveying students to discover their use of the technology or attempted to quantify the impact of watching lecture recordings on assessment performance. Alternatively, the principal contribution of this article is an evaluation of the use of the recorded lectures using a revealed preference approach. Specifically we identify to what extent students watched lecture recordings, rather than simply claimed to watch them when asked to provide comments on the technology. Data indicates the number of distinct students who watched recordings, the frequency with which they watched recordings, the average length of viewings as well as the time of day when lectures were viewed. We monitored viewings over two academic years, identifying ‘spikes’ in the number of viewings in the days before tests, as well as regularities in the viewing patterns across the two years. We analyse the data to assess the extent to which students used the recordings, how and when they watched the recordings. We conclude that the students value lecture recordings, making more extensive use of the recordings than has been identified in the literature to date. Ultimately, lecture recordings are suggested to offer valuable support for students’ independent study

Analysis of Kink Reduction in SOI MOSFET Using Selective Back Oxide Structure

This paper presents a complete analysis of the kink effect in SOI MOSFET and proposes a method for eliminating kink effect observed in the current-voltage output characteristics of a partially depleted SOI MOSFET device. In this method, back oxide for the device is introduced at selected regions below the source and drain and not continuously as in an SOI device giving rise to what is termed a “SELBOX” structure. Selective back oxide structure with different gap lengths and thicknesses was studied. Results obtained through numerical simulations indicate that the proposed structure can significantly reduce the kink while still preserving major advantages offered by conventional SOI structure. Although the new structure is capable of eliminating kink, for narrow gaps the device may still exhibit some kink effect. A device model that explains the kink behavior of the structure for varying gap lengths is also developed

Quality work ethics and job satisfaction: An empirical analysis

Quality is very crucial to understand how well an employee is doing. Quality of work shows how much an employee value them. Thus, this study examines the impact of strong quality work ethics on job satisfaction among banking employees in Jordan. There has been growing evidence supporting the association between quality work ethics and job satisfaction of employees. However, it is not clear why such association exists. This paper argues that in order to provide a clear understanding and convincing explanation of this association there is a need to improve the theoretical and analytical framework. Quantitative method with survey questionnaire was administered to collect information on quality work ethics and job satisfaction from 89 employees working in Jordanian banks. The finding of the study revealed that quality work ethics are positively associated with job satisfaction. These findings imply that quality work ethics is one of the key attributes to increase employee's job satisfaction together with other organizational outcomes. Most importantly, it is crucial for the managers to be aware that increasing employee's job satisfaction can lead to increased organizational commitment, lower labor turnover and improve productivity

Neuroprotective Role of Hypothermia in Acute Spinal Cord Injury

Even nowadays, the question of whether hypothermia can genuinely be considered therapeutic care for patients with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) remains unanswered. Although the mechanisms of hypothermia action are yet to be fully explored, early hypothermia for patients suffering from acute SCI has already been implemented in clinical settings. This article discusses measures for inducing various forms of hypothermia and summarizes several hypotheses describing the likelihood of hypothermia mechanisms of action. We present our objective neuro-electrophysiological results and demonstrate that early hypothermia manifests neuroprotective effects mainly during the first- and second-month post-SCI, depending on the severity of the injury, time of intervening, duration, degree, and modality of inducing hypothermia. Nevertheless, eventually, its beneficial effects gradually but consistently diminish. In addition, we report potential complications and side effects for the administration of general hypothermia with a unique referment to the local hypothermia. We also provide evidence that instead of considering early hypothermia post-SCI a therapeutic approach, it is more a neuroprotective strategy in acute and sub-acute phases of SCI that mostly delay, but not entirely avoid, the natural history of the pathophysiological events. Indeed, the most crucial rationale for inducing early hypothermia is to halt these devastating inflammatory and apoptotic events as early and as much as possible. This, in turn, creates a larger time-window of opportunity for physicians to formulate and administer a well-designed personalized treatment for patients suffering from acute traumatic SCI

EEG and eye tracking demonstrate vigilance enhancement with challenge integration

10.3389/fnhum.2016.00273Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1027

Cognitive workload modulation through degraded visual stimuli: A single-trial EEG study

10.1088/1741-2560/12/4/046020Journal of Neural Engineering1244602

Highly Flexible Polyaniline-Based Implantable Electrode Materials for Neural Sensing/Stimulation Applications

Implantable bioelectrodes have the potential to advance neural sensing and muscle stimulation, mainly in patients with peripheral nerve injuries. They function as the transducer at the interface between the damaged nerve and the muscle which is controlled by that nerve. This work reports the fabrication and characterization of novel, low-cost, flexible bioelectrodes based on polyaniline (PANI) and supported with silicone polymer. The fabricated electrodes were evaluated for their electrical and mechanical characteristics. PANI was used as the main transducer component in this fabrication. The characterization methods included electrical conductivity, capacitive behavior, long-term electrical impedance, and mechanical evaluation. The results of the fabricated PANI-silicone-based samples displayed a bulk impedance of 0.6 kΩ with an impedance of 1.6 kΩ at the frequency of 1 kHz. Furthermore, the bioelectrodes showed a charge storage capacity range from 0.0730 to 4.3124 C/cm2. The samples were stable when subjected to cyclic voltammetry tests. The bioelectrodes revealed very flexible mechanical properties as observed from the value of Young’s modulus (in the order of MPa) which was less than that of skin. Hence, the PANI-based bioelectrodes reported herein showed promising electrochemical characteristics with high flexibility

Novel modeling of somatosensory evoked potentials for the assessment of spinal cord injury

Abstract Objective: Previous work has shown that differences in the somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) signals between a normal spinal pathway and spinal pathway affected by spinal cord injury (SCI) provide a means to study the degree of injury. This paper proposes a novel quantitative SCI assessment method using time-domain SEP signals. Methods: A pruned and unstructured fit between SEP signals from a normal spinal pathway and a spinal pathway affected by SCI is developed using methods inspired by recent results in sparse reconstruction theory. The coefficients from the resulting fit are used to develop a quantitative assessment of SCI that is tested on actual SEP signals collected from rodents that have been subjected to partial and complete spinal cord transection. Results: The proposed method provides a rich parametric measure that integrates SEP amplitude, time latency, and morphology, while exhibiting a high degree of correlation with existing subjective and quantitative SCI assessment methods. Conclusion: The proposed SCI encapsulates a model of the injury to quantify SCI. Significance: The proposed SCI quantification method may be used to complement existing SCI assessment methods

Assessment of spinal cord injury via sparse modeling of somatosensory evoked potential signals

Abstract The morphological differences between somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) signals from a normal spinal pathway and spinal pathway affected by spinal cord injury (SCI) provide an indication of the degree of SCI. A sparse representation of the fit between these signals is proposed in this paper as an SCI assessment method. The proposed method is tested on actual SEP signals collected from rodents that have been subjected to spinal transection. Results indicate that the proposed method provides a robust measure of the different degrees of SCI resulting from transection of the spinal cord