Developing a virtual reality environment for educational and therapeutic application to investigate psychological reactivity to bullying

Understanding how bullying victimisation influences cognitive and emotional processes may help to direct early intervention to prevent the development of psychopathology. In a convenience sample of 67 female adolescents, we assessed the potential of a newly developed classroom-set bullying experience in virtual reality (VR) to evoke psychological reactions. Two VR experiences were co-developed with young people, one neutral and one hostile (bullying). Participants were matched and assigned to a condition based on measures of anxiety, depression, paranoia, and previous bullying, before experiencing either the neutral or hostile scenario. Before and after the VR session, participants completed measures of negative affect and levels of distress. All participants remained immersed for the whole duration, which supports the acceptability of using these VR experiences with more vulnerable participants. Those experiencing the hostile version reported greater negative affect post-immersion compared to those experiencing the neutral version (p = .018; d = 0.61). Although non-significant, a similar outcome was found regarding distress (p = .071; d = 0.37). Whilst we did not find a significant relationship between pre-existing internalisation on negative affect and distress, our sample was limited by containing adolescents with relatively low levels of previous bullying experience. Yet we still found evidence that the VR scenario evoked bullying-related psychological reactions. Further testing with a more representative groups of adolescents, especially those with more experience of bullying, would be advised. The VR scenario could potentially be used in educational and therapeutic settings to enhance empathy towards victimised children or enhance resilience following victimisation

Correction: Creating genetic reports that are understood by nonspecialists: a case study

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper

A two-dimensional Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for crowded field source detection: ROSAT sources in NGC 6397

We present a two-dimensional version of the classical one-dimensional Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test, extending an earlier idea due to Peacock (1983) and an implementation proposed by Fasano & Franceschini (1987). The two-dimensional K-S test is used to optimise the goodness of fit in an iterative source-detection scheme for astronomical images. The method is applied to a ROSAT/HRI x-ray image of the post core-collapse globular cluster NGC 6397 to determine the most probable source distribution in the cluster core. Comparisons to other widely-used source detection methods, and to a Chandra image of the same field, show that our iteration scheme is superior in measuring statistics-limited sources in severely crowded fields.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, 6 tables. Accepted by MNRA

The case for assessable in-class team-based learning

In-class assessable team-based learning aims to motivate students to do pre-class reading and participate inclass via team quizzes. Pre-class preparation allows teachers to address learning gaps using individual quizzes, while team quizzes promote peer interaction and active learning. The pilot project replicated Michaelsen’s approach with the aim of improving learning in diverse student cohorts with minimal impact on staff time. The aim of the research was to report the replication of this approach in the Australian context and the impact on both students and staff. Academics with diverse classes wishing to explore this innovative approach to in-class team-based learning should find this research helpful

Does employees’ subjective well-being affect workplace performance?

This paper uses linked employer-employee data to investigate the relationship between employees’ subjective well-being and workplace performance in Britain. The analyses show a clear, positive and statistically-significant relationship between the average level of job satisfaction at the workplace and workplace performance. The relationship is present in both cross-sectional and panel analyses and is robust to various estimation methods and model specifications. In contrast, we find no association between levels of job-related affect and workplace performance. Ours is the first study of its kind for Britain to use nationally-representative data and it provides novel findings regarding the importance of worker job satisfaction in explaining workplace performance. The findings suggest that there is a prima facie case for employers to maintain and raise levels of job satisfaction among their employees. They also indicate that initiatives to raise aggregate job satisfaction should feature in policy discussions around how to improve levels of productivity and growth

Network analysis of canine brain morphometry links tumour risk to oestrogen deficiency and accelerated brain ageing.

Structural 'brain age' is a valuable but complex biomarker for several brain disorders. The dog is an unrivalled comparator for neurological disease modeling, however canine brain morphometric diversity creates computational and statistical challenges. Using a data-driven approach, we explored complex interactions between patient metadata, brain morphometry, and neurological disease. Twenty-four morphometric parameters measured from 286 canine brain magnetic resonance imaging scans were combined with clinical parameters to generate 9,438 data points. Network analysis was used to cluster patients according to their brain morphometry profiles. An 'aged-brain' profile, defined by a small brain width and volume combined with ventriculomegaly, was revealed in the Boxer breed. Key features of this profile were paralleled in neutered female dogs which, relative to un-neutered females, had an 11-fold greater risk of developing brain tumours. Boxer dog and geriatric dog groups were both enriched for brain tumour diagnoses, despite a lack of geriatric Boxers within the cohort. Our findings suggest that advanced brain ageing enhances brain tumour risk in dogs and may be influenced by oestrogen deficiency-a risk factor for dementia and brain tumours in humans. Morphometric features of brain ageing in dogs, like humans, might better predict neurological disease risk than patient chronological age

How dо pesticides get into honey?

Honey is nature’s sweetest gift. But did you know that honey may contain pesticides? Farmers use pesticides to kill pests that harm their crops. But pesticides also hurt honey bees and other beneficial insects. Furthermore, when bees collect nectar from flowers which received pesticide treatments, these chemicals make their way into the honey. In the past, scientists found neonicotinoids (a class of pesticides) in about half of the honey samples collected in the United Kingdom. Since 2014, the European Union banned neonicotinoids in flowering crops that bees visit. We wanted to know how effective this policy was. Does UK honey still contain neonicotinoids? Here, we collected and tested honey samples from beekeepers across the UK. We found that about a fifth of all honey contained neonicotinoids. These chemicals are not at dangerous levels for human health but may harm the bees in the long run

Enhancing Relaxed Performance: Evaluating an Autism Arts Festival

‘Relaxed performances’ allow spectators to enjoy a non-judgmental environment in the theatre, where they can talk or move around, along with other adjustments to make them more accessible to a range of audiences including those on the autistic spectrum. Typical accommodations include reduced intensity of lighting and sound, provision of visual stories to familiarise spectators with the venue and production, and trained staff available to assist visitors. This paper will evaluate the Autism Arts Festival, an attempt to develop the idea of a relaxed performance further to create an entirely autism-friendly festival in Canterbury, UK. We developed a suite of features to make the festival more accessible, and whilst audience response indicates that no single one was used by all audience members, the suite as a whole was nevertheless effective at increasing the accessibility of the festival. Moreover, discussions with the performers indicate that the festival, as an ‘autistic space’, was conducive of both a sense of community solidarity and engagement with the politics of neurodiversity

Jumping to the wrong conclusions? An investigation of the mechanisms of reasoning errors in delusions

Understanding how people with delusions arrive at false conclusions is central to the refinement of cognitive behavioural interventions. Making hasty decisions based on limited data ('jumping to conclusions', JTC) is one potential causal mechanism, but reasoning errors may also result from other processes. In this study, we investigated the correlates of reasoning errors under differing task conditions in 204 participants with schizophrenia spectrum psychosis who completed three probabilistic reasoning tasks. Psychotic symptoms, affect, and IQ were also evaluated. We found that hasty decision makers were more likely to draw false conclusions, but only 37% of their reasoning errors were consistent with the limited data they had gathered. The remainder directly contradicted all the presented evidence. Reasoning errors showed task-dependent associations with IQ affect, and psychotic symptoms. We conclude that limited data-gathering contributes to false conclusions but is not the only mechanism involved. Delusions may also be maintained by a tendency to disregard evidence. Low IQ and emotional biases may contribute to reasoning errors in more complex situations. Cognitive strategies to reduce reasoning errors should therefore extend beyond encouragement to gather more data, and incorporate interventions focused directly on these difficulties