Anniversary Paper: Evolution of ultrasound physics and the role of medical physicists and the AAPM and its journal in that evolution

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134810/1/mp2048.pd

Overcoming Barriers in Fitness Equipment for Persons with Physical Disabilities

Americans today are generally inactive, and the incidence of physical inactivity is even higher among those with disabilities. Many advances have been made in recreational sports facilities; however, insufficient information regarding equipment selection or equipment design remains, and thus may limit the active participation of the physically disabled at most colleges/universities. The purpose of this study was to determine guidelines for identifying types of equipment, accommodations, and funding sources available to provide those with physical disabilities an adequate and equal means of improving their fitness level. Facilities chosen to participate in this study are registered college/university recreation centers with the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA). The survey targeted those members designated as offering services for individuals with disabilities. An electronic survey was sent to the directors of 151 designated facilities through a listserv provided by NIRSA. Thirty-five submittals (23% response rate) were received, and only 31 could be used in the study. Follow-up contact was made to any facility that voluntarily provided the researchers with their contact information. Descriptive analysis was used in the data analysis process, and any information provided through open-ended questions was tallied manually, categorized, reported, and discussed according to the question. Wheelchair users and individuals with spinal cord injuries were the most common disabilities found in wellness/recreation centers surveyed. There did not seem to be an established rule or guideline for a recommended amount of space allotted for each student when establishing the facility size, of which UND ranked 9/12 in cardiovascular/aerobic square footage among selected schools of similar enrollment size. In addition, there was also no relationship found between wellness/recreation facilities operating budget and equipment budget. Three facilities also indicated they received grants or funding from such sources as the Christopher Reeves Paralysis Foundation. Integrated exercise areas and accessible equipment were provided by many surveyed facilities. Most facilities of similar enrollment size to UND also reported a larger percentage of accessible free weight equipment and selectorized weight equipment compared to cardiovascular equipment. By following the guidelines established by the Americans with Disabilities Act regarding structural involvement and floor design, individuals with physical disabilities will have equal opportunities to access pieces of equipment and move freely within the building. In addition, researching equipment, seeking out funding sources, properly training staff, as well as hiring a diverse work force that has experience working with individuals with disabilities, will provide an equal opportunity for everyone to benefit from a healthier lifestyle

Investigating the effect of sensory concurrency on learning haptic spatiotemporal signals

A new generation of multimodal interfaces and interactions is emerging. Drawing on the principles of Sensory Substitution and Augmentation Devices (SSADs), these new interfaces offer the potential for rich, immersive human-computer interactions, but are difficult to design well, and take time to master, creating significant barriers towards wider adoption. Following a review of the literature surrounding existing SSADs, their metrics for success and their growing influence on interface design in Human Computer Interaction, we present a medium term (4-day) study comparing the effectiveness of various combinations of visual and haptic feedback (sensory concurrencies) in preparing users to perform a virtual maze navigation task using haptic feedback alone. Participants navigated 12 mazes in each of 3 separate sessions under a specific combination of visual and haptic feedback, before performing the same task using the haptic feedback alone. Visual sensory deprivation was shown to be inferior to visual & haptic concurrency in enabling haptic signal comprehension, while a new hybridized condition combining reduced visual feedback with the haptic signal was shown to be superior. Potential explanations for the effectiveness of the hybrid mechanism are explored, and the scope and implications of its generalization to new sensory interfaces is presented.PostprintPeer reviewe

Genetic Risk for Alzheimer\u27s Disease Alters the Five-Year Trajectory of Semantic Memory Activation in Cognitively Intact Elders

Healthy aging is associated with cognitive declines typically accompanied by increased task-related brain activity in comparison to younger counterparts. The Scaffolding Theory of Aging and Cognition (STAC) (Park and Reuter-Lorenz, 2009; Reuter-Lorenz and Park, 2014) posits that compensatory brain processes are responsible for maintaining normal cognitive performance in older adults, despite accumulation of aging-related neural damage. Cross-sectional studies indicate that cognitively intact elders at genetic risk for Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) demonstrate patterns of increased brain activity compared to low risk elders, suggesting that compensation represents an early response to AD-associated pathology. Whether this compensatory response persists or declines with the onset of cognitive impairment can only be addressed using a longitudinal design. The current prospective, 5-year longitudinal study examined brain activation in APOE ε4 carriers (N = 24) and non-carriers (N = 21). All participants, ages 65–85 and cognitively intact at study entry, underwent task-activated fMRI, structural MRI, and neuropsychological assessments at baseline, 18, and 57 months. fMRI activation was measured in response to a semantic memory task requiring participants to discriminate famous from non-famous names. Results indicated that the trajectory of change in brain activation while performing this semantic memory task differed between APOE ε4 carriers and non-carriers. The APOE ε4 group exhibited greater activation than the Low Risk group at baseline, but they subsequently showed a progressive decline in activation during the follow-up periods with corresponding emergence of episodic memory loss and hippocampal atrophy. In contrast, the non-carriers demonstrated a gradual increase in activation over the 5-year period. Our results are consistent with the STAC model by demonstrating that compensation varies with the severity of underlying neural damage and can be exhausted with the onset of cognitive symptoms and increased structural brain pathology. Our fMRI results could not be attributed to changes in task performance, group differences in cerebral perfusion, or regional cortical atrophy

The tegumental allergen-like proteins of Schistosoma mansoni: A biochemical study of SmTAL4-TAL13.

Schistosoma mansoni, like other trematodes, expresses a number of unusual calcium binding proteins which consist of an EF-hand domain joined to a dynein light chain-like (DLC-like) domain by a flexible linker. These proteins have been implicated in host immune responses and drug binding. Three members of this protein family from S. mansoni (SmTAL1, SmTAL2 and SmTAL3) have been well characterised biochemically. Here we characterise the remaining family members from this species (SmTAL4-13). All of these proteins form homodimers and all except SmTAL5 bind to calcium and manganese ions. SmTAL9, 10 and 11 also bind to magnesium ions. The antischistosomal drug, praziquantel interacts with SmTAL4, 5 and 8. Some family members also bind to calmodulin antagonists such as chlorpromazine and trifluoperazine. Molecular modelling suggests that all ten proteins adopt similar overall folds with the EF-hand and DLC-like domains folding discretely. Bioinformatics analyses suggest that the proteins may fall into two main categories: (i) those which bind calcium ions reversibly at the second EF-hand and may play a role in signalling (SmTAL1, 2, 8 31 and 12) and (ii) those which bind calcium ions at the first EF-hand and may play either signalling or structural roles (SmTAL7, 9, 10 and 13). The remaining proteins include those which do not bind calcium ions (SmTAL3 and 5) and three other proteins (SmTAL4, 6 and 11). The roles of these proteins are less clear, but they may also have structural roles

The Structure of Nuclear Star Clusters in Nearby Late-type Spiral Galaxies from Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 Imaging

We obtained Hubble Space Telescope/Wide Field Camera 3 imaging of a sample of ten of the nearest and brightest nuclear clusters residing in late-type spiral galaxies, in seven bands that span the near-ultraviolet to the near-infrared. Structural properties of the clusters were measured by fitting two-dimensional surface brightness profiles to the images using GALFIT. The clusters exhibit a wide range of structural properties. For six of the ten clusters in our sample, we find changes in the effective radius with wavelength, suggesting radially varying stellar populations. In four of the objects, the effective radius increases with wavelength, indicating the presence of a younger population which is more concentrated than the bulk of the stars in the cluster. However, we find a general decrease in effective radius with wavelength in two of the objects in our sample, which may indicate extended, circumnuclear star formation. We also find a general trend of increasing roundness of the clusters at longer wavelengths, as well as a correlation between the axis ratios of the NCs and their host galaxies. These observations indicate that blue disks aligned with the host galaxy plane are a common feature of nuclear clusters in late-type galaxies, but are difficult to detect in galaxies that are close to face-on. In color-color diagrams spanning the near-UV through the near-IR, most of the clusters lie far from single-burst evolutionary tracks, showing evidence for multi-age populations. Most of the clusters have integrated colors consistent with a mix of an old population (> 1 Gyr) and a young population (~100-300 Myr). The wide wavelength coverage of our data provides a sensitivity to populations with a mix of ages that would not be possible to achieve with imaging in optical bands only.Comment: Corrected a typo in author name and affiliation for MC and corrected a typo in the conclusio

Concert recording 2016-02-28

[Track 01]. Bagatellen. Elegie ; [Track 02]. Scherzo ; [Track 03]. Aria ; [Track 04]. Gigue / Erwin Dressel -- [Track 05]. Sonata. Allegro, ma non troppo ; [Track 06]. Sarabande ; Allegro / Wolfgang Jacobi -- [Track 07]. Flirtations. Sweet nothings ; [Track 08]. These soft shoes ; [Track 09]. Showtune / Michael Markowski -- [Track 10]. Sonata. Allegro ; [Track 11]. Andantino cantabile ; [Track 12]. Allegro vivace / Lawson Lunde

Senior Recital: Kerry Brunson, saxophone

This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Bachelor of Music in Performance Ms. Brunson studies saxophone with Sam Skelton.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1638/thumbnail.jp

Walkers—encoding multivariate data into human motion sequences

The human perceptual system is highly efficient and effective at processing visual information, even at a pre-conscious level. Data visualisation leverages these functions to extract meaning and patterns from data, reducing cognitive load. Yet, the design of visualisations that represent multivariate data is still a challenge — as the number of data attributes increases, so does the complexity of visualisations, with it, the complexity of analysis processes potential users are facing. Many algorithms exist that support dimension reduction, leading to simpler, yet less nuanced visualisations in 2D space. We propose a novel way of presenting complex multivariate data using dimensional reduction that leverages humans’ ability to quickly process and decipher even complex sequences and compositions of motions to extract social cues. By encoding data into biomechanical motion of abstract figurines—“walkers”— and then using Point Light Displays to convey their motion in isolation, our proposed technique for data visualisation results in subconscious dimensional reduction and pattern recognition, enabling a meaningful overview of complex multivariate data with little cognitive effort. In this workshop paper, we introduce walkers as a novel visualisation concept and describe how this idea could be integrated into potential immersive analytics application scenarios. We also discuss the research questions that the idea of encoding data into biomechanical motion raises in the context of immersive analytics.PostprintPeer reviewe