How does face processing occur to facilitate face perception?

Face perception is a critical and valued ability that humans have that allows us to be able to understand faces. Studies have shown that the uniqueness of face processing is due to the special nature of faces, a bias formed in infancy, which causes them to be processed dissimilarly to objects. Three main processes are responsible for this difference: first-order relational, second-order relational, and holistic processing. Specialised regions in the human brain have been studied to attempt to understand where and how the different processes occur, called the Fusiform Face Area, the Occipital Face Area, and the posterior Superior Temporal Sulcus Face Area. This has been made difficult as gender and hemisphere role specialisation has been found, possibly affecting processing across these regions. Models by Bruce and Young, and Haxby, are useful in visualising the process to aid in understanding the distinct pathways and the interlinked processes of face perception. The investigation should inform the readers on the basic processes behind face perception and provide an understanding of the need for further research in the field

The Use and Effectiveness of an Online Diagnostic Support System for Blood Film Interpretation: Comparative Observational Study

Background The recognition and interpretation of abnormal blood cell morphology is often the first step in diagnosing underlying serious systemic illness or leukemia. Supporting the staff who interpret blood film morphology is therefore essential for a safe laboratory service. This paper describes an open-access, web-based decision support tool, developed by the authors to support morphological diagnosis, arising from earlier studies identifying mechanisms of error in blood film reporting. The effectiveness of this intervention was assessed using the unique resource offered by the online digital morphology Continuing Professional Development scheme (DM scheme) offered by the UK National External Quality Assessment Service for Haematology, with more than 3000 registered users. This allowed the effectiveness of decision support to be tested within a defined user group, each of whom viewed and interpreted the morphology of identical digital blood films. Objective The primary objective of the study was to test the effectiveness of the decision support system in supporting users to identify and interpret abnormal morphological features. The secondary objective was to determine the pattern and frequency of use of the system for different case types, and to determine how users perceived the support in terms of their confidence in decision-making. Methods This was a comparative study of identical blood films evaluated either with or without decision support. Selected earlier cases from the DM scheme were rereleased as new cases but with decision support made available; this allowed a comparison of data sets for identical cases with or without decision support. To address the primary objectives, the study used quantitative evaluation and statistical comparisons of the identification and interpretation of morphological features between the two different case releases. To address the secondary objective, the use of decision support was assessed using web analytical tools, while a questionnaire was used to assess user perceptions of the system. Results Cases evaluated with the aid of decision support had significantly improved accuracy of identification for relevant morphological features (mean improvement 9.8%) and the interpretation of those features (mean improvement 11%). The improvement was particularly significant for cases with higher complexity or for rarer diagnoses. Analysis of website usage demonstrated a high frequency of access for web pages relevant to each case (mean 9298 for each case, range 2661-24,276). Users reported that the decision support website increased their confidence for feature identification (4.8/5) and interpretation (4.3/5), both within the context of training (4.6/5) and also in their wider laboratory practice (4.4/5). Conclusions The findings of this study demonstrate that directed online decision support for blood morphology evaluation improves accuracy and confidence in the context of educational evaluation of digital films, with effectiveness potentially extending to wider laboratory use. </jats:sec

Divergent clonal evolution of blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia from a shared TET2-mutated origin

From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2020-11-25, rev-recd 2021-02-15, accepted 2021-03-11, registration 2021-03-12, pub-electronic 2021-04-08, online 2021-04-08, pub-print 2021-11Publication status: PublishedFunder: Oglesby Charitable TrustFunder: Pickering family donationFunder: Blood Cancer UK Clinician Scientist Fellowship (15030) Oglesby Charitable Trus

The MOBIOS+: A FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) database for Mindanao's terrestrial biodiversity

Due to its complex geological history and the emergence of various biogeographic regions, the Philippines boasts an extraordinary array of flora and fauna. This unique combination has contributed to the country’s exceptional density of terrestrial species, making it amongst the highest in the world. Mindanao, in the southern part of the Philippines, is the second largest group of islands and supports high levels of endemism and proportion of threatened species. However, consolidated biodiversity records and information remain unavailable for the region. The primary goal of the Mindanao Open Biodiversity Information (MOBIOS+) database is to address these substantial data deficiencies by compiling contemporary biodiversity information from the 21st century. This initiative seeks to enhance our comprehension of biodiversity trends in Mindanao over temporal and spatial dimensions, while also creating an openly-accessible database. The database we present here is the first of its kind and currently the most comprehensive attempt to establish the largest consolidated database for Mindanao biodiversity, based on publicly available literature. With its vast collection of biodiversity data, this database will prove to be a valuable resource for advancing biodiversity research and analysis. It will further facilitate the identification of species and areas that require immediate conservation prioritisation and action, addressing the urgent challenges posed by our rapidly changing planet.The MOBIOS+ database is the first attempt to create a massive FAIR database aiming to collate biodiversity records from published literature in the Mindanao faunal region, south of the Philippines. The database currently includes 12,813 georeferenced specimen occurrences representing 1,907 unique taxa across 10 animal classes inhabiting the terrestrial and freshwater environments of Mindanao faunal region. We made all georeferenced specimen occurrences available in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) platform

Evaluation of appendicitis risk prediction models in adults with suspected appendicitis

Background Appendicitis is the most common general surgical emergency worldwide, but its diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to determine whether existing risk prediction models can reliably identify patients presenting to hospital in the UK with acute right iliac fossa (RIF) pain who are at low risk of appendicitis. Methods A systematic search was completed to identify all existing appendicitis risk prediction models. Models were validated using UK data from an international prospective cohort study that captured consecutive patients aged 16–45 years presenting to hospital with acute RIF in March to June 2017. The main outcome was best achievable model specificity (proportion of patients who did not have appendicitis correctly classified as low risk) whilst maintaining a failure rate below 5 per cent (proportion of patients identified as low risk who actually had appendicitis). Results Some 5345 patients across 154 UK hospitals were identified, of which two‐thirds (3613 of 5345, 67·6 per cent) were women. Women were more than twice as likely to undergo surgery with removal of a histologically normal appendix (272 of 964, 28·2 per cent) than men (120 of 993, 12·1 per cent) (relative risk 2·33, 95 per cent c.i. 1·92 to 2·84; P < 0·001). Of 15 validated risk prediction models, the Adult Appendicitis Score performed best (cut‐off score 8 or less, specificity 63·1 per cent, failure rate 3·7 per cent). The Appendicitis Inflammatory Response Score performed best for men (cut‐off score 2 or less, specificity 24·7 per cent, failure rate 2·4 per cent). Conclusion Women in the UK had a disproportionate risk of admission without surgical intervention and had high rates of normal appendicectomy. Risk prediction models to support shared decision‐making by identifying adults in the UK at low risk of appendicitis were identified

Analysis of the differential responsiveness of CD34 enriched mononuclear cells from normal bone marrow, and chronic granulocytic leukaemia peripheral blood, to the myeloinhibitory molecule macrophage inflammatory protein-la (LD78)

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN023140 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo