Vection in depth during treadmill walking

Vection has typically been induced in stationary observers (ie conditions providing visual-only information about self-motion). Two recent studies have examined vection during active treadmill walking--one reported that treadmill walking in the same direction as the visually simulated self-motion impaired vection (Onimaru et al, 2010 Journal of Vision 10(7):860), the other reported that it enhanced vection (Seno et al, 2011 Perception 40 747-750; Seno et al, 2011 Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics 73 1467-1476). Our study expands on these earlier investigations of vection during observer active movement. In experiment 1 we presented radially expanding optic flow and compared the vection produced in stationary observers with that produced during walking forward on a treadmill at a 'matched' speed. Experiment 2 compared the vection induced by forward treadmill walking while viewing expanding or contracting optic flow with that induced by viewing playbacks of these same displays while stationary. In both experiments subjects' tracked head movements were either incorporated into the self-motion displays (as simulated viewpoint jitter) or simply ignored. We found that treadmill walking always reduced vection (compared with stationary viewing conditions) and that simulated viewpoint jitter always increased vection (compared with constant velocity displays). These findings suggest that while consistent visual-vestibular information about self-acceleration increases vection, biomechanical self-motion information reduces this experience (irrespective of whether it is consistent or not with the visual input)

ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DISPENSING CHANNEL AND CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISORDER EXACERBATIONS AMONG MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES

Elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease may be at increased risk of exacerbation due to physical and cognitive deficits that make proper inhaled medication adherence more difficult despite consistent medication access. This retrospective study utilized administrative medical and pharmacy claims data to examine the likelihood of having a COPD exacerbation requiring acute medical care by means of an emergency room visit or hospitalization in elderly patients receiving maintenance COPD medications from mail order and retail pharmacies. It was hypothesized that mail order patients would be more likely to experience exacerbations despite differences in medication access when compared to retail patients. The primary outcome of interest was exacerbation frequency expressed as the incidence density rate, and the secondary outcome was the proportion of days covered (PDC). The incidence rate ratio for acute exacerbations was not significantly different for mail order and retail groups, indicating patients using mail-order pharmacies were not significantly more likely to experience an exacerbation requiring acute medical care. Despite insignificant differences in incidence rates, mail order patients had significantly higher adherence rates

Factors Affecting Graduates’ Employability of Business-Related Programs: A Tracer Study

The goal of the study was to ascertain the job history and status of Jose Rizal Memorial State University graduates, in particular those who completed the bachelor's degree programs in tourism and hotel and restaurant management between 2012 and 2016. The design of this tracer study utilized a descriptive quantitative methodology. To collect pertinent study data, a modified, standardized questionnaire and interviewing methods were employed as the instrument. Only 109 graduates out of a total of 241 responded to the survey via email and social networking sites. In order to determine the respondent's profile and mean for the degree of usefulness and relevance of the work-related values and abilities and curriculum-related elements, a frequency count and percentage computation were used. According to the survey, honesty and love of God are "Very Much Helpful" in the tourism industry, along with work-related qualities. Communication abilities were identified as being "Very Much Connected" to the job requirements for both tourism and the management of hotels and restaurants. With the exception of Natural Science, Culinary Arts and Services, and Accounting for HRM, practically all of the variables had significant relevance from elements relating to the curriculum. It is advised that the curriculum be modified to reflect changes in the new educational system and to accommodate the shifting needs of business. To increase the number of graduates, teachers should also improve or change their teaching methods to better meet the needs and requirements of the different types of students they are teaching. &nbsp

Effective Weather Messaging: Applying the Bad News Response Model to Hurricane Warnings

Sweeny and Shepperd (2007, 2009) proposed the Bad News Response Model (BNRM), outlining three effective responses (i.e., Watchful Waiting, Active Change, Acceptance) as a function of the perceived controllability, likelihood, and severity of bad news. In the current study, we have adapted the BNRM, previously used in health-related scenarios, to explore the relationship between message content and responses in the context of hurricane warnings. Participants viewed hurricane warnings manipulated by severity (Category 1 vs. Category 5) and the inclusion of call-to-action statements (CTAs). The present study attempted to evaluate the effects of severity and controllability on participants’ engagement in desirable response types. We found that individuals chose Active Change more frequently when the severity was high. However, the situational factors did not significantly affect preferences for Watchful Waiting and Acceptance. The lack of significant severity and controllability effects were likely due, in part, to our small sample size, which severely underpowered the study. Also, individuals may have misinterpreted the intended manipulations. Thus, further research is necessary to provide more insight into the communication of weather, encourage appropriate preparations for approaching storms, and inform potential policy changes for weather reporting

Parenting and Adolescents’ Psychological Adjustment: Longitudinal Moderation by Adolescents’ Genetic Sensitivity

We examined whether adolescents’ genetic sensitivity, measured by a polygenic index score, moderated the longitudinal associations between parenting and adolescents’ psychological adjustment. The sample included 323 mothers, fathers, and adolescents (177 female, 146 male; Time 1 [T1] average age = 12.61 years, SD = 0.54 years; Time 2 [T2] average age = 13.59 years, SD = 0.59 years). Parents’ warmth and hostility were rated by trained, independent observers using videotapes of family discussions. Adolescents reported their symptoms of anxiety, depressed mood, and hostility at T1 and T2. The results from autoregressive linear regression models showed that adolescents’ genetic sensitivity moderated associations between observations of both mothers’ and fathers’ T1 parenting and adolescents’ T2 composite maladjustment, depression, anxiety, and hostility. Compared to adolescents with low genetic sensitivity, adolescents with high genetic sensitivity had worse adjustment outcomes when parenting was low on warmth and high on hostility. When parenting was characterized by high warmth and low hostility, adolescents with high genetic sensitivity had better adjustment outcomes than their counterparts with low genetic sensitivity. The results support the differential susceptibility model and highlight the complex ways that genes and environment interact to influence development

The Manifestation of Principal Training: Preparing Assistant Principals for Assuming the Role of Building Leader

Today’s school principals are required to lead in a new environment marked by unprecedented responsibilities, challenges, and managerial opportunities requiring them to be trained to face these challenges. Although a great deal of literature exists on the specific issues that should be addressed or considered when trying to redesign or restructure a leadership program, there was little that explicitly addressed the assistant principal or how that position specifically could be used to help better prepare aspiring leaders for the role of principal. Therefore, the purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to provide a greater depth of knowledge and understanding of the factors that could influence an assistant principal’s ability to move into the principalship. A survey was conducted investigating what tasks assistant principals are assigned, what tasks assistant principals should be assigned, and the perceptions of assistant principals and principals regarding these tasks. The major findings of this study indicated that there was a significant statistical relationship between should engage tasks compared to regularly engage tasks in every measured domain. The findings from this study provide more insight into the tasks required to support these aspiring school leaders as they transition into the principalship

Neural control of inflammation

Pioneering research on neural control of inflammation has paved the way for new and exciting developments in the growing field of bioelectronic medicine. In the past couple of decades, pre-clinical research on the role of the vagus nerve in inflammation and immunity has brought electrical stimulation of select nerves into clinical trials for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases. Bioelectronic medicine continues to evolve and address challenges in optimizing interfaces and stimulation configurations for activation of specific neural circuits, and deciphering nerve signals that regulate inflammation and immunity with the goal of targeting specific nerve fibers for treatment of excessive inflammation. Ongoing basic, preclinical research strives to provide the insight necessary to develop therapeutic vagus nerve stimulation to mitigate inflammation in disease. Inflammation is normally a protective process that defends from microbial invasion and promotes healing, provided that it is adequately resolved in a timely manner. Dysregulation of resolving mechanisms can result in chronic inflammation and thus, a better understanding of the mechanisms that regulate inflammation is important for improving diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of chronic diseases. Discoveries over three decades show that the central and peripheral nervous systems along with the immune system work together to regulate inflammation. The vagus nerve bridges communication between the central and peripheral nervous systems and other tissues, regulates homeostasis, and serves an immunoregulatory function. Work delineating vagus nerve-mediated regulation of inflammation in experimental models of disease has led to important breakthroughs toward enabling treatment methods using electronic interfaces and devices that activate homeostatic reflexes that regulate the immune system. Considering the speed of action potentials and the anatomical specificity of neurons, activation of nerves that regulate immune cell function and activity, potentially provides an anatomically and temporally precise method to deliver therapeutic interventions in excessive inflammation. Clinical trials aimed at investigating neural control of chronic inflammatory responses in conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatoid arthritis have been launched and data is encouraging, however, not yet fully conclusive. Together, these studies show the potential that neural control of inflammation works as a strategy to control excessive inflammation. Accordingly, additional studies with improved design in terms of randomization and controls are needed to evaluate targeted neural stimulation for regulation of the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie regulation of inflammation and its resolution. The work in this thesis sets forth to understand neural control mechanisms of inflammation by establishing methods and technology to study mechanisms of neural regulation of excessive inflammation in experimental models. In Study I, we found that a minute-long electrical vagus nerve stimulation impacts the cytokine response to inflammatory stimuli for two days. Study II establishes an effective method for vagus nerve stimulation for studies of experimental inflammation. Study III provides evidence that the vagus nerve accelerates the active resolution phase of inflammation through a cholinergic mechanism that requires release of pro-resolving mediators. Because available methods for vagus nerve stimulation are not suitable for longterm experiments in mice, the understanding of mechanisms of vagus nerve regulation of inflammation in chronic diseases is yet incomplete. In Study IV, we developed technology that attempts to address this methodological shortcoming and enable studies of vagus nerve stimulation in genetic mouse models of chronic inflammatory diseases

Why Did so Many Poor-Performing Firms Come to Market in the Late 1990s?: Nasdaq Listing Standards and the Bubble

This paper examines the impact of Nasdaq Listing Standards on the composition of new listings in the late 1990s. The Nasdaq has two types of listing standards: one based on profitability and the second based explicitly or implicitly on market capitalization. Specifically, unprofitable firms are allowed to list if either their pro-forma net tangible assets, which include the anticipated proceeds from their IPO, exceeds $18 million or their market capitalization exceeds$75 million. We show that as the market bubble accelerated in the late 1990s, a vast majority of firms entered under a market capitalization based standard, and these firms became a substantial portion of the Nasdaq. Subsequently, these firms performed the poorest both in terms of financial performance, stock return performance as well as involuntary delistings, while firms that listed under the profitability standard performed much better. In addition, firms that entered under market capitalization standards also exhibited the greatest return volatility. These results illustrate the importance of a profitability standard and the danger of a market capitalization based standard (explicit or implicit) in a market that is in, what ex-post turns out to be, a bubble