Using citizen science reports to define the equatorial extent of auroral visibility

An aurora may often be viewed hundreds of kilometers equatorward of the auroral oval owing to its altitude. As such, the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) Aurora Forecast product provides a “view line” to demonstrate the equatorial extent of auroral visibility, assuming that it is sufficiently bright and high in altitude. The view line in the SWPC product is based upon the latitude of the brightest aurora, for each hemisphere, as specified by the real-time oval variation, assessment, tracking, intensity, and online nowcasting (OVATION) Prime (2010) aurora precipitation model. In this study, we utilize nearly 500 citizen science auroral reports to compare with the view line provided by an updated SWPC aurora forecast product using auroral precipitation data from OVATION Prime (2013). The citizen science observations were recorded during March and April 2015 using the Aurorasaurus platform and cover one large geomagnetic storm and several smaller events. We find that this updated SWPC view line is conservative in its estimate and that the aurora is often viewable further equatorward than is indicated by the forecast. By using the citizen reports to modify the scaling parameters used to link the OVATION Prime (2013) model to the view line, we produce a new view line estimate that more accurately represents the equatorial extent of visible aurora. An OVATION Prime (2013) energy flux-based equatorial boundary view line is also developed and is found to provide the best overall agreement with the citizen science reports, with an accuracy of 91%

A real-time hybrid aurora alert system:combining citizen science reports with an auroral oval model

Accurately predicting when, and from where, an aurora will be visible is particularly difficult, yet it is a service much desired by the general public. Several aurora alert services exist that attempt to provide such predictions but are, generally, based upon fairly coarse estimates of auroral activity (e.g. Kp or Dst). Additionally, these services are not able to account for a potential observer's local conditions (such as cloud cover or level of darkness). Aurorasaurus, however, combines data from the well-used, solar wind driven, OVATION Prime auroral oval model with real-time observational data provided by a global network of citizen scientists. This system is designed to provide more accurate and localized alerts for auroral visibility than currently available. Early results are promising and show that over 100,000 auroral visibility alerts have been issued, including nearly 200 highly localized alerts, to over 2,000 users located right across the globe

Educators' attitudes to philosophies of music education

This study used Q methodology to measure the extent to which individuals with five educational roles (student teacher, elementary music teacher, principal, high school music teacher, and music consultant) held five proposed philosophies of music education (hedonic, utilitarian, aesthetic cognitivism, aesthetic formalist, and praxial). Twenty-seven sUbjects participated in the Q study. These subjects were a convenience sample based on their educational role, accessibility, and willingness to participate. Participants completed a background sheet which indicated their background in music, and their responsibility for teaching music. The sUbjects in this Q study rank-ordered a set of 60 Q sort items (each item representing a proposed philosophical position) twice: Sort P to reflect current practice, and Sort I to reflect the ideal situation. The results of the sorting procedures were recorded by the participant on the response page which organized the rankings according to an approximated normal distribution as required by Q methodology. The analysis of the data suggested that the comparison across philosophical positions was significant and that the results of the interaction between philosophical position and educational role were significant, although educational role alone was not significant. Post-hoc analysis of the data was used to determine the significant differences between the levels of the, independent variables used in the model: philosophical position, educational role, and music background. A model of the association of the five philosophical positions was presented and discussed in relation to the Q study results. Further research could refine the Q sort items to better reflect each philosophical position

Determining the accuracy of crowdsourced tweet verification for auroral research

The Aurorasaurus citizen science project harnesses volunteer crowdsourcing to identify sightings of an aurora (or the "northern/southern lights") posted by citizen scientists on Twitter. Previous studies have demonstrated that aurora sightings can be mined from Twitter but with the caveat that there is a high level of accompanying non-sighting tweets, especially during periods of low auroral activity. Aurorasaurus attempts to mitigate this, and thus increase the quality of its Twitter sighting data, by utilizing volunteers to sift through a pre-filtered list of geo-located tweets to verify real-time aurora sightings. In this study, the current implementation of this crowdsourced verification system, including the process of geo-locating tweets, is described and its accuracy (which, overall, is found to be 68.4%) is determined. The findings suggest that citizen science volunteers are able to accurately filter out unrelated, spam-like, Twitter data but struggle when filtering out somewhat related, yet undesired, data. The citizen scientists particularly struggle with determining the real-time nature of the sightings and care must therefore be taken when relying on crowdsourced identification

Scotland Registry for Ankylosing Spondylitis (SIRAS) – Protocol

Funding SIRAS was funded by unrestricted grants from Pfizer and AbbVie. The project was reviewed by both companies, during the award process, for Scientific merit, to ensure that the design did not compromise patient safety, and to assess the global regulatory implications and any impact on regulatory strategy.Publisher PD

Design of a randomized superiority trial of a brief couple treatment for PTSD.

Interpersonal difficulties are common among veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and are associated with poorer treatment response. Treatment outcomes for PTSD, including relationship functioning, improve when partners are included and engaged in the therapy process. Cognitive-behavioral conjoint therapy for PTSD (CBCT) is a manualized 15-session intervention designed for couples in which one partner has PTSD. CBCT was developed specifically to treat PTSD, engage a partner in treatment, and improve interpersonal functioning. However, recent research suggests that an abbreviated CBCT protocol may lead to sufficient gains in PTSD and relationship functioning, and yield lower dropout rates. Likewise, many veterans report a preference for receiving psychological treatments through clinical videoteleconferencing (CVT) rather than traditional face-to-face modalities that require travel to VA clinics. This manuscript describes the development and implementation of a novel randomized controlled trial (RCT) that examines the efficacy of an abbreviated 8-session version of CBCT ("brief CBCT," or B-CBCT), and compares the efficacy of this intervention delivered via CVT to traditional in-person platforms. Veterans and their partners were randomized to receive B-CBCT in a traditional Veterans Affairs office-based setting (B-CBCT-Office), CBCT through CVT with the veteran and partner at home (B-CBCT-Home), or an in office-delivered, couple-based psychoeducation control condition (PTSD Family Education). This study is the first RCT designed to investigate the delivery of B-CBCT specifically to veterans with PTSD and their partners, as well as to examine the delivery of B-CBCT over a CVT modality; findings could increase access to care to veterans with PTSD and their partners

Robots with Display Screens: A Robot with a More Humanlike Face Display Is Perceived To Have More Mind and a Better Personality

It is important for robot designers to know how to make robots that interact effectively with humans. One key dimension is robot appearance and in particular how humanlike the robot should be. Uncanny Valley theory suggests that robots look uncanny when their appearance approaches, but is not absolutely, human. An underlying mechanism may be that appearance affects users’ perceptions of the robot’s personality and mind. This study aimed to investigate how robot facial appearance affected perceptions of the robot’s mind, personality and eeriness. A repeated measures experiment was conducted. 30 participants (14 females and 16 males, mean age 22.5 years) interacted with a Peoplebot healthcare robot under three conditions in a randomized order: the robot had either a humanlike face, silver face, or no-face on its display screen. Each time, the robot assisted the participant to take his/her blood pressure. Participants rated the robot’s mind, personality, and eeriness in each condition. The robot with the humanlike face display was most preferred, rated as having most mind, being most humanlike, alive, sociable and amiable. The robot with the silver face display was least preferred, rated most eerie, moderate in mind, humanlikeness and amiability. The robot with the no-face display was rated least sociable and amiable. There was no difference in blood pressure readings between the robots with different face displays. Higher ratings of eeriness were related to impressions of the robot with the humanlike face display being less amiable, less sociable and less trustworthy. These results suggest that the more humanlike a healthcare robot’s face display is, the more people attribute mind and positive personality characteristics to it. Eeriness was related to negative impressions of the robot’s personality. Designers should be aware that the face on a robot’s display screen can affect both the perceived mind and personality of the robot

Inactivation of the Huntington's Disease Gene (Hdh) Impairs Anterior Streak Formation and Early Patterning of the Mouse Embryo

Background: Huntingtin, the HD gene encoded protein mutated by polyglutamine expansion in Huntington's disease, is required in extraembryonic tissues for proper gastrulation, implicating its activities in nutrition or patterning of the developing embryo. To test these possibilities, we have used whole mount in situ hybridization to examine embryonic patterning and morphogenesis in homozygous Hdhex4/5 huntingtin deficient embryos. Results: In the absence of huntingtin, expression of nutritive genes appears normal but E7.0–7.5 embryos exhibit a unique combination of patterning defects. Notable are a shortened primitive streak, absence of a proper node and diminished production of anterior streak derivatives. Reduced Wnt3a, Tbx6 and Dll1 expression signify decreased paraxial mesoderm and reduced Otx2 expression and lack of headfolds denote a failure of head development. In addition, genes initially broadly expressed are not properly restricted to the posterior, as evidenced by the ectopic expression of Nodal, Fgf8 and Gsc in the epiblast and T (Brachyury) and Evx1 in proximal mesoderm derivatives. Despite impaired posterior restriction and anterior streak deficits, overall anterior/posterior polarity is established. A single primitive streak forms and marker expression shows that the anterior epiblast and anterior visceral endoderm (AVE) are specified. Conclusion: Huntingtin is essential in the early patterning of the embryo for formation of the anterior region of the primitive streak, and for down-regulation of a subset of dynamic growth and transcription factor genes. These findings provide fundamental starting points for identifying the novel cellular and molecular activities of huntingtin in the extraembryonic tissues that govern normal anterior streak development. This knowledge may prove to be important for understanding the mechanism by which the dominant polyglutamine expansion in huntingtin determines the loss of neurons in Huntington's disease