Gaze Behaviour during Space Perception and Spatial Decision Making

A series of four experiments investigating gaze behavior and decision making in the context of wayfinding is reported. Participants were presented with screen-shots of choice points taken in large virtual environments. Each screen-shot depicted alternative path options. In Experiment 1, participants had to decide between them in order to find an object hidden in the environment. In Experiment 2, participants were first informed about which path option to take as if following a guided route. Subsequently they were presented with the same images in random order and had to indicate which path option they chose during initial exposure. In Experiment 1, we demonstrate (1) that participants have a tendency to choose the path option that featured the longer line of sight, and (2) a robust gaze bias towards the eventually chosen path option. In Experiment 2, systematic differences in gaze behavior towards the alternative path options between encoding and decoding were observed. Based on data from Experiments 1 & 2 and two control experiments ensuring that fixation patterns were specific to the spatial tasks, we develop a tentative model of gaze behavior during wayfinding decision making suggesting that particular attention was paid to image areas depicting changes in the local geometry of the environments such as corners, openings, and occlusions. Together, the results suggest that gaze during a wayfinding tasks is directed toward, and can be predicted by, a subset of environmental features and that gaze bias effects are a general phenomenon of visual decision making

Reclaiming human machine nature

Extending and modifying his domain of life by artifact production is one of the main characteristics of humankind. From the first hominid, who used a wood stick or a stone for extending his upper limbs and augmenting his gesture strength, to current systems engineers who used technologies for augmenting human cognition, perception and action, extending human body capabilities remains a big issue. From more than fifty years cybernetics, computer and cognitive sciences have imposed only one reductionist model of human machine systems: cognitive systems. Inspired by philosophy, behaviorist psychology and the information treatment metaphor, the cognitive system paradigm requires a function view and a functional analysis in human systems design process. According that design approach, human have been reduced to his metaphysical and functional properties in a new dualism. Human body requirements have been left to physical ergonomics or "physiology". With multidisciplinary convergence, the issues of "human-machine" systems and "human artifacts" evolve. The loss of biological and social boundaries between human organisms and interactive and informational physical artifact questions the current engineering methods and ergonomic design of cognitive systems. New developpment of human machine systems for intensive care, human space activities or bio-engineering sytems requires grounding human systems design on a renewed epistemological framework for future human systems model and evidence based "bio-engineering". In that context, reclaiming human factors, augmented human and human machine nature is a necessityComment: Published in HCI International 2014, Heraklion : Greece (2014

Coupling of Ca2+ and Substrate Binding in the Outer Membrane Transporter BtuB

Aprovat per la Gerència del Consorci el 22-12-201

Response Features Determining Spike Times

Interpreting messages encoded in single neuronal responses requires knowing which features of the responses carry information. That the number of spikes is an important part of the code has long been obvious. In recent years, it has been shown that modulation of the firing rate with about 25 ms precision carries information that is not available from the total number of spikes across the whole response. It has been proposed that patterns of exactly timed (1 ms precision) spikes, such as repeating triplets or quadruplets, might carry information that is not available from knowing about spike count and rate modulation. A model using the spike count distribution, the low pass filtered PSTH (bandwidth below 30 Hz), and, to a small degree, the interspike interval distribution predicts the numbers and types of exactly-timed triplets and quadruplets that are indistinguishable from those found in the data. From this it can be concluded that the coarse (<30 Hz) sequential correlation structure over time gives rise to the exactly timed patterns present in the recorded spike trains. Because the coarse temporal structure predicts the fine temporal structure, the information carried by the fine temporal structure must be completely redundant with that carried by the coarse structure. Thus, the existence of precisely timed spike patterns carrying stimulus-related information does not imply control of spike timing at precise time scales

Cancer incidence and stage at diagnosis among people with psychotic disorders: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Research regarding the incidence of cancer among people with psychotic disorders relative to the general population is equivocal, although the evidence suggests that they have more advanced stage cancer at diagnosis. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the incidence and stage at diagnosis of cancer among people with, relative to those without, psychotic disorders. We searched the MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases. Articles were included if they reported the incidence and/or stage at diagnosis of cancer in people with psychotic disorders. Random effects meta-analyses were used to determine risk of cancer and odds of advanced stage cancer at diagnosis in people with psychosis, relative to those without psychotic disorders. A total of 40 articles were included in the review, of which, 31 were included in the meta-analyses. The pooled age-adjusted risk ratio for all cancers in people with psychotic disorders was 1.08 (95% CI: 1.01-1.15), relative to those without psychotic disorders, with significant heterogeneity by cancer site. People with psychotic disorders had a higher incidence of breast, oesophageal, colorectal, testicular, uterine, and cervical cancer, and a lower incidence of skin, prostate, and thyroid cancer. People with psychotic disorders also had 22% higher (95% CI: 2-46%) odds of metastases at diagnosis, compared to those without psychotic disorders. Our systematic review found a significant difference in overall cancer incidence among people diagnosed with psychotic disorders and people with psychotic disorders were more likely to present with advanced stage cancer at diagnosis. This finding may reflect a need for improved access to and uptake of cancer screening for patients diagnosed with psychotic disorders

"Which-path information" and partial polarization in single-photon interference experiments

It is shown that the degree of polarization of light, generated by superposition in a single-photon interference experiment, may depend on the indistinguishability of the photon-paths.Comment: 9 page

Cashing in on spinners: Revenue estimates of wild Dolphin-Swim tourism in the Hawaiian Islands

Wild dolphin-swim tourism has grown in specific locations where Hawaiian spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) have known resting habitat. The increased growth in dolphin-swim businesses has created an industry in Hawaii that earns an estimated $102 million (USD) annually in 2013. Semi-structured interviews with business owners, market research, and boat-based observations provide a platform for estimating revenue generated from dolphin tourism in two popular locations, Waianae, Oahu and Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Island. A revenue analysis of dolphin-swim tourism is presented using a peak season and utilization rate model. These predictions offer an accountability exercise based on a series of assumptions regarding wild dolphin-swim demand and an annual estimate of the number of viewing participants and revenue earned. The results show that dolphin viewing companies are making a larger profit than dolphin-swim businesses by approximately$19 million (USD) per year, however, both avenues are generating large earnings. Sizable differences between businesses in Kona and Waianae are discussed. The average lifetime revenue generated by a dolphin in 2013 is estimated at $3,364,316 (USD) for Waianae and$1,608,882 (USD) for Kona, and is presented as a first step in scenario analysis for policy makers looking to implement management in the bays where tourism occurs. This study offers the first revenue estimates of spinner dolphin tourism in Hawaii, which can provide context for further discussion on the impact and economic role of the dolphin-swim industry in the state

Prevalence of iron deficiency in 62,685 women of seven race/ethnicity groups: The HEIRS Study.

BackgroundFew cross-sectional studies report iron deficiency (ID) prevalence in women of different race/ethnicity and ages in US or Canada.Materials and methodsWe evaluated screening observations on women who participated between 2001-2003 in a cross-sectional, primary care-based sample of adults ages ≥25 y whose observations were complete: race/ethnicity; age; transferrin saturation; serum ferritin; and HFE p.C282Y and p.H63D alleles. We defined ID using a stringent criterion: combined transferrin saturation &lt;10% and serum ferritin &lt;33.7 pmol/L (&lt;15 μg/L). We compared ID prevalence in women of different race/ethnicity subgrouped by age and determined associations of p.C282Y and p.H63D to ID overall, and to ID in women ages 25-44 y with or without self-reported pregnancy.ResultsThese 62,685 women included 27,079 whites, 17,272 blacks, 8,566 Hispanics, 7,615 Asians, 449 Pacific Islanders, 441 Native Americans, and 1,263 participants of other race/ethnicity. Proportions of women with ID were higher in Hispanics and blacks than whites and Asians. Prevalence of ID was significantly greater in women ages 25-54 y of all race/ethnicity groups than women ages ≥55 y of corresponding race/ethnicity. In women ages ≥55 y, ID prevalence did not differ significantly across race/ethnicity. p.C282Y and p.H63D prevalence did not differ significantly in women with or without ID, regardless of race/ethnicity, age subgroup, or pregnancy.ConclusionsID prevalence was greater in Hispanic and black than white and Asian women ages 25-54 y. p.C282Y and p.H63D prevalence did not differ significantly in women with or without ID, regardless of race/ethnicity, age subgroup, or pregnancy

Defining Coercive Control in Law: Problems and Possibilities

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 introduced a legal definition of domestic abuse into law for the first time in England and Wales. Coercive control is itemised as one item in a list of offending behaviours, alongside other bullet points such as ‘physical or sexual abuse’ and ‘violent or threatening behaviour’. This chapter presents an exploration of how coercive control is used by men to entrap women, drawing on data from interviews and focus groups with survivors and their closest advisors, and on early reports of the controlling or coercive behaviour offending coming before the Court of Appeal. It concludes that the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 definition represents a fundamental misunderstanding of coercive control. All of the offending behaviours listed by the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 need to be understood as part of the domination strategy that is coercive control. In other words, it is not one of five bullet points, but rather a framework that brings meaning to all of the bullet points. Without this paradigm shift the ability of police and prosecutors to keep vulnerable women safe is severely compromised