Dynamics of eye-hand coordination are flexibly preserved in eye-cursor coordination during an online, digital, object interaction task

Do patterns of eye-hand coordination observed during real-world object interactions apply to digital, screen-based object interactions? We adapted a real-world object interaction task (physically transferring cups in sequence about a tabletop) into a two-dimensional screen-based task (dragging-and-dropping circles in sequence with a cursor). We collected gaze (with webcam eye-tracking) and cursor position data from 51 fully-remote, crowd-sourced participants who performed the task on their own computer. We applied real-world time-series data segmentation strategies to resolve the self-paced movement sequence into phases of object interaction and rigorously cleaned the webcam eye-tracking data. In this preliminary investigation, we found that: 1) real-world eye-hand coordination patterns persist and adapt in this digital context, and 2) remote, online, cursor-tracking and webcam eye-tracking are useful tools for capturing visuomotor behaviours during this ecologically-valid human-computer interaction task. We discuss how these findings might inform design principles and further investigations into natural behaviours that persist in digital environments

Evaluating lineup fairness: Variations across methods and measures

Triers of fact sometimes consider lineup fairness when determining the suggestiveness of an identification procedure. Likewise, researchers often consider lineup fairness when comparing results across studies. Despite their importance, lineup fairness measures have received scant empirical attention and researchers inconsistently conduct and report mock-witness tasks and lineup fairness measures. We conducted a large-scale, online experiment (N = 1010) to examine how lineup fairness measures varied with mock-witness task methodologies as well as to explore the validity and reliability of the measures. In comparison to descriptions compiled from multiple witnesses, when individual descriptions were presented in the mock-witness task, lineup fairness measures indicated a higher number of plausible lineup members but more bias towards the suspect. Target-absent lineups were consistently estimated to be fairer than target-present lineups-which is problematic because it suggests that lineups containing innocent suspects are less likely to be challenged in court than lineups containing guilty suspects. Correlations within lineup size measures and within some lineup bias measures indicated convergent validity and the correlations across the lineup size and lineup bias measures demonstrated discriminant validity. The reliability of lineup fairness measures across different descriptions was low and reliability across different sets of mock witnesses was moderate to high, depending on the measure. Researchers reporting lineup fairness measures should specify the type of description presented, the amount of detail in the description, and whether the mock witnesses viewed target-present and/or -absent lineups.div_PaS41pub4364pub

Impact of disguise on identification decisions and confidence with simultaneous and sequential lineups

Jamal Mansour - ORCID: 0000-0001-7162-8493 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7162-8493This article is a corrected version of a previous version that was retracted, “Impact of Disguise on Identification Decisions and Confidence With Simultaneous and Sequential Lineups” by Jamal K. Mansour, Jennifer L. Beaudry, Michelle I. Bertrand, Natalie Kalmet, Elisabeth I. Melsom, & Roderick C. L. Lindsay (Law and Human Behavior, 2012, Vol. 36, No. 6, 513–526. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0093937). Retraction notice: (https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000435)Objective: Prior research indicates disguise negatively affects lineup identifications but the mechanisms by which disguise works have not been explored and different disguises have not been compared. We investigated how two different types of disguise, four levels of varying degrees of coverage, and lineup type influence eyewitnesses' identification decisions, accuracy, and confidence. Hypotheses: We predicted that identification accuracy would decrease as the disguise covered more of a perpetrator's face. We also predicted that type of disguise–stocking mask versus sunglasses and/or toque (i.e., knitted hat)–would influence identifications, but we had conflicting predictions about which disguise would impair their performance more. Method: In two experiments (Ns = 87 and 91) we manipulated degree of coverage by two different types of disguise: a stocking mask or sunglasses and toque. Participants viewed mock-crime videos followed by simultaneous or sequential lineups. Results and Conclusions: Disguise and lineup type did not interact. In support of the view that disguise prevents encoding, identification accuracy generally decreased with degree of disguise. For the stocking disguise, however, full and 2/3 coverage led to approximately the same rate of correct identifications—which suggests that disrupting encoding of specific features may be as detrimental as disrupting a whole face. Accuracy was most affected by sunglasses and we discuss the role meta-cognitions may have played. Lineup selections decreased more slowly than accuracy as coverage by disguise increased, indicating witnesses are insensitive to the effect of encoding conditions on accuracy.This research was supported in part by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to Roderick C. L. Lindsay (Grant 410-09-2674).https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb000042744pubpub

Examining how lineup practices of Canadian and U.S. police officers adhere to their national best practice recommendations

Canadian (N = 117) and U.S. (N = 167) police officers completed a survey about their lineup construction and administration practices. We compared their responses to national policy recommendations in both countries, which had five similar and four different recommendations. We expected that if officers' lineup procedures corresponded with policy recommendations, the countries would have similar procedures when recommendations were similar, but different procedures in line with their respective policies when recommendations were different. We generally found the predicted pattern of results. Findings were especially striking when the policies differed. Some procedures were largely in line with policy recommendations (e.g., double-blind testing), others corresponded to some extent (e.g., sequential lineups), and others were largely not followed (e.g., providing instruction that it is as important to exonerate the innocent as it is to convict the guilty). We cautiously interpret these findings as demonstrating that policy has some influence on procedures. However, even though our hypotheses were generally supported, there was considerable variation in procedures that did not correspond with policy recommendations. Our findings illustrate the importance of assessing user reactions to policy recommendations and examining barriers to policy implementation.http://themanitobalawjournal.com/div_PaSpub5199pu

Auditory Physiology

Contains reports on one research projects split into ten sections.National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 P01 NS13126)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 RO1 NS18682)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 RO1 NS20322)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 RO1 NS20269)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 PO1 NS23734)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 T32 NS07047)Symbion, Inc

Signal Transmission in the Auditory System

Contains table of contents for Section 3 and reports on nine research projects.National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 P01 NS13126)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 P01 NS23734)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 R01 NS18682)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 RO1 NS25995)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 R01 NS20269)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 R01 NS20322)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 T32 NS07047)Johnson and Johnson Foundatio

Prognostic value of non-invasive scores based on liver stiffness measurement, spleen diameter and platelets in HIV-infected patients

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: People living with HIV (PLWH) are at high risk for advanced chronic liver disease and related adverse outcomes. We aimed to validate the prognostic value of non-invasive scores based on liver stiffness measurement (LSM) and on markers of portal hypertension (PH), namely platelets and spleen diameter, in PLWH. METHODS: We combined data from eight international cohorts of PLWH with available non-invasive scores, including LSM and the composite biomarkers liver stiffness-spleen size-to-platelet ratio score (LSPS), LSM-to-Platelet ratio (LPR) and PH risk score. Incidence and predictors of all-cause mortality, any liver-related event and classical hepatic decompensation were determined by survival analysis, controlling for competing risks for the latter two. Non-invasive scores were assessed and compared using area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC). RESULTS: We included 1695 PLWH (66.8% coinfected with hepatitis C virus). During a median follow-up of 4.7 (interquartile range 2.8-7.7) years, the incidence rates of any liver-related event, all-cause mortality and hepatic decompensation were 13.7 per 1000 persons-year (PY) (95% confidence interval [CI], 11.4-16.3), 13.8 per 1000 PY (95% CI, 11.6-16.4) and 9.9 per 1000 PY (95% CI, 8.1-12.2), respectively. The AUROC of LSM was similar to that of the composite biomarkers, ranging between 0.83 and 0.86 for any liver-related event, 0.79-0.85 for all-cause mortality and 0.87-0.88 for classical hepatic decompensation. All individual non-invasive scores remained independent predictors of clinical outcomes in multivariable analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Non-invasive scores based on LSM, spleen diameter and platelets predict clinical outcomes in PLWH. Composite biomarkers do not achieve higher prognostic performance compared to LSM alone

Prognostic value of non-invasive scores based on liver stiffness measurement, spleen diameter and platelets in HIV-infected patients.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS People living with HIV (PLWH) are at high risk for advanced chronic liver disease and related adverse outcomes. We aimed to validate the prognostic value of non-invasive scores based on liver stiffness measurement (LSM) and on markers of portal hypertension (PH), namely platelets and spleen diameter, in PLWH. METHODS We combined data from eight international cohorts of PLWH with available non-invasive scores, including LSM and the composite biomarkers liver stiffness-spleen size-to-platelet ratio score (LSPS), LSM-to-Platelet ratio (LPR) and PH risk score. Incidence and predictors of all-cause mortality, any liver-related event and classical hepatic decompensation were determined by survival analysis, controlling for competing risks for the latter two. Non-invasive scores were assessed and compared using area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC). RESULTS We included 1695 PLWH (66.8% coinfected with hepatitis C virus). During a median follow-up of 4.7 (interquartile range 2.8-7.7) years, the incidence rates of any liver-related event, all-cause mortality and hepatic decompensation were 13.7 per 1000 persons-year (PY) (95% confidence interval [CI], 11.4-16.3), 13.8 per 1000 PY (95% CI, 11.6-16.4) and 9.9 per 1000 PY (95% CI, 8.1-12.2), respectively. The AUROC of LSM was similar to that of the composite biomarkers, ranging between 0.83 and 0.86 for any liver-related event, 0.79-0.85 for all-cause mortality and 0.87-0.88 for classical hepatic decompensation. All individual non-invasive scores remained independent predictors of clinical outcomes in multivariable analysis. CONCLUSIONS Non-invasive scores based on LSM, spleen diameter and platelets predict clinical outcomes in PLWH. Composite biomarkers do not achieve higher prognostic performance compared to LSM alone

A Small Peptide Modeled after the NRAGE Repeat Domain Inhibits XIAP-TAB1-TAK1 Signaling for NF-κB Activation and Apoptosis in P19 Cells

In normal growth and development, apoptosis is necessary to shape the central nervous system and to eliminate excess neurons which are not required for innervation. In some diseases, however, apoptosis can be either overactive as in some neurodegenerative disorders or severely attenuated as in the spread of certain cancers. Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) transmit signals for regulating cell growth, differentiation, and apoptosis. Responding to BMP receptors stimulated from BMP ligands, neurotrophin receptor-mediated MAGE homolog (NRAGE) binds and functions with the XIAP-TAK1-TAB1 complex to activate p38MAPK and induces apoptosis in cortical neural progenitors. NRAGE contains a unique repeat domain that is only found in human, mouse, and rat homologs that we theorize is pivotal in its BMP MAPK role. Previously, we showed that deletion of the repeat domain inhibits apoptosis, p38MAPK phosphorylation, and caspase-3 cleavage in P19 neural progenitor cells. We also showed that the XIAP-TAB1-TAK1 complex is dependent on NRAGE for IKK-α/β phosphorylation and NF-κB activation. XIAP is a major inhibitor of caspases, the main executioners of apoptosis. Although it has been shown previously that NRAGE binds to the RING domain of XIAP, it has not been determined which NRAGE domain binds to XIAP. Here, we used fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) to determine that there is a strong likelihood of a direct interaction between NRAGE and XIAP occurring at NRAGE's unique repeat domain which we also attribute to be the domain responsible for downstream signaling of NF-κB and activating IKK subunits. From these results, we designed a small peptide modeled after the NRAGE repeat domain which we have determined inhibits NF-κB activation and apoptosis in P19 cells. These intriguing results illustrate that the paradigm of the NRAGE repeat domain may hold promising therapeutic strategies in developing pharmaceutical solutions for combating harmful diseases involving excessive downstream BMP signaling, including apoptosis