604 research outputs found
Perception and prediction of simple object interactions
For humans, it is useful to be able to visually detect an object's physical properties. One potentially important source of information is the way the object moves and interacts with other objects in the environment. Here, we use computer simulations of a virtual ball bouncing on a horizontal plane to study the correspondence between our ability to estimate the ball's elasticity and to predict its future path. Three experiments were conducted to address (1) perception of the ball's elasticity, (2) interaction with the ball, and (3) prediction of its trajectory. The results suggest that different strategies and information sources are used for passive perception versus actively predicting future behavior
Moving in unison after perceptual interruption
Humans interact in groups through various perception and action channels. The continuity of interaction despite a transient loss of perceptual contact often exists and contributes to goal achievement. Here, we study the dynamics of this continuity, in two experiments involving groups of participants (N= 7) synchronizing their movements in space and in time. We show that behavioural unison can be maintained after perceptual contact has been lost, for about 7s. Agent similarity and spatial configuration in the group modulated synchronization performance, differently so when perceptual interaction was present or when it was memorized. Modelling these data through a network of oscillators enabled us to clarify the double origin of this memory effect, of individual and social nature. These results shed new light into why humans continue to move in unison after perceptual interruption, and are consequential for a wide variety of applications at work, in art and in sport
Record RF performance of standard 90 nm CMOS technology
We have optimized 3 key RF devices realized in standard logic 90 nm CMOS technology and report a record performance in terms of n-MOS maximum oscillation frequency f/sub max/ (280 GHz), varactor tuning range and varactor and inductor quality factor
Influence of facial feedback and mind perception during a cooperative human-robot task in schizophrenia
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer Nature via the DOI in this record.Rapid progress in the area of humanoid robots offers tremendous possibilities for investigating
and improving social competences in people with social deficits, but remains yet unexplored in
schizophrenia. In this study, we examined the influence of social feedbacks elicited by a
humanoid robot on motor coordination during a human-robot interaction. Twenty-two
schizophrenia patients and twenty-two matched healthy controls underwent a collaborative
motor synchrony task with the iCub humanoid robot. Results revealed that positive social
feedback had a facilitatory effect on motor coordination in the control participants compared
to non-social positive feedback. This facilitatory effect was not present in schizophrenia
patients, whose social-motor coordination was similarly impaired in social and non-social
feedback conditions. Furthermore, patients’ cognitive flexibility impairment and antipsychotic
dosing were negatively correlated with patients’ ability to synchronize hand movements with
iCub. Overall, our findings reveal that patients have marked difficulties to exploit facial social
cues elicited by a humanoid robot to modulate their motor coordination during human-robot
interaction, partly accounted for by cognitive deficits and medication. This study opens new
perspectives for comprehension of social deficits in this mental disorder.This experiment was supported by a grant from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Program (FP7 ICT 2011 Call 9) under grant agreement n FP7-ICT-600610 ALTEREGO
Performance of highly sensitive cardiac troponin T assay to detect ischaemia at PET-CT in low-risk patients with acute coronary syndrome: a prospective observational study.
Highly sensitive troponin T (hs-TnT) assay has improved clinical decision-making for patients admitted with chest pain. However, this assay's performance in detecting myocardial ischaemia in a lowrisk population has been poorly documented.
To assess hs-TnT assay's performance to detect myocardial ischaemia at positron emission tomography/CT (PET-CT) in low-risk patients admitted with chest pain.
Patients admitted for chest pain with a nonconclusive ECG and negative standard cardiac troponin T results at admission and after 6 hours were prospectively enrolled. Their hs-TnT samples were at T0, T2 and T6. Physicians were blinded to hs-TnT results. All patients underwent a PET-CT at rest and during adenosine-induced stress. All patients with a positive PET-CT result underwent a coronary angiography.
Forty-eight patients were included. Six had ischaemia at PET-CT. All of them had ≥1 significant stenosis at coronary angiography. Areas under the curve (95% CI) for predicting significant ischaemia at PET-CT using hs-TnT were 0.764 (0.515 to 1.000) at T0, 0.812(0.616 to 1.000) at T2 and 0.813(0.638 to 0.989) at T6. The receiver operating characteristicbased optimal cut-off value for hs-TnT at T0, T2 and T6 needed to exclude significant ischaemia at PET-CT was <4 ng/L. Using this value, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of hs-TnT to predict significant ischaemia were 83%/38%/16%/94% at T0, 100%/40%/19%/100% at T2 and 100%/43%/20%/100% at T6, respectively.
Our findings suggest that in low-risk patients, using the hs-TnT assay with a cut-off value of 4 ng/L demonstrates excellent negative predictive value to exclude myocardial ischaemia detection at PET-CT, at the expense of weak specificity and positive predictive value.
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01374607
Being Grateful for My Stupid Little Life : Why We Need Movies
More and more I’m convinced the current cultural paradigm leaves us too thin. The practical and objective approach to reality doesn’t attend to the complexity and mystery of the created world; it doesn’t attend to the complexity and mystery of our humanity.
Posting about how movies help make sense of our experiences from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.
http://inallthings.org/being-grateful-for-my-stupid-little-life-why-we-need-movies
Comparative study of the extracellular proteome of Sulfolobus species reveals limited secretion
Although a large number of potentially secreted proteins can be predicted on the basis of genomic distribution of signal sequence-bearing proteins, protein secretion in Archaea has barely been studied. A proteomic inventory and comparison of the growth medium proteins in three hyperthermoacidophiles, i.e., Sulfolobus solfataricus, S. acidocaldarius and S. tokodaii, indicates that only few proteins are freely secreted into the growth medium and that the majority originates from cell envelope bound forms. In S. acidocaldarius both cell-associated and secreted α-amylase activities are detected. Inactivation of the amyA gene resulted in a complete loss of activity, suggesting that the same protein is responsible for the a-amylase activity at both locations. It is concluded that protein secretion in Sulfolobus is a limited process, and it is suggested that the S-layer may act as a barrier for the free diffusion of folded proteins into the medium
Long-term survival in patients undergoing cardiac resynchronization therapy: the importance of performing atrio-ventricular junction ablation in patients with permanent atrial fibrillation
AIMS: To investigate the effects of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) on survival in heart failure (HF) patients with permanent atrial fibrillation (AF) and the role of atrio-ventricular junction (AVJ) ablation in these patients.
METHODS AND RESULTS: Data from 1285 consecutive patients implanted with CRT devices are presented: 1042 patients were in sinus rhythm (SR) and 243 (19%) in AF. Rate control in AF was achieved by either ablating the AVJ in 118 patients (AVJ-abl) or prescribing negative chronotropic drugs (AF-Drugs). Compared with SR, patients with AF were significantly older, more likely to be non-ischaemic, with higher ejection fraction, shorter QRS duration, and less often received ICD back-up. During a median follow-up of 34 months, 170/1042 patients in SR and 39/243 in AF died (mortality: 8.4 and 8.9 per 100 person-year, respectively). Adjusted hazard ratios were similar for all-cause and cardiac mortality [0.9 (0.57-1.42), P = 0.64 and 1.00 (0.60-1.66) P = 0.99, respectively]. Among AF patients, only 11/118 AVJ-abl patients died vs. 28/125 AF-Drugs patients (mortality: 4.3 and 15.2 per 100 person-year, respectively, P < 0.001). Adjusted hazard ratios of AVJ-abl vs. AF-Drugs was 0.26 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.09-0.73, P = 0.010] for all-cause mortality, 0.31 (95% CI 0.10-0.99, P = 0.048) for cardiac mortality, and 0.15 (95% CI 0.03-0.70, P = 0.016) for HF mortality.
CONCLUSION: Patients with HF and AF treated with CRT have similar mortality compared with patients in SR. In AF, AVJ ablation in addition to CRT significantly improves overall survival compared with CRT alone, primarily by reducing HF death
- …