Selectively Interfering With Intrusive but Not Voluntary Memories of a Trauma Film: Accounting for the Role of Associative Memory.

Intrusive memories of a traumatic event can be reduced by a subsequent interference procedure, seemingly sparing voluntary memory for that event. This selective-interference effect has potential therapeutic benefits (e.g., for emotional disorders) and legal importance (e.g., for witness testimony). However, the measurements of intrusive memory and voluntary memory typically differ in the role of associations between a cue and the emotional memory "hotspots." To test this, we asked participants to watch a traumatic film followed by either an interference procedure (reminder plus Tetris) or control procedure (reminder only). Measurement of intrusions (using a laboratory task) and voluntary memory (recognition for film stills) were crossed with the presence or absence of associative cues. The reminder-plus-Tetris group exhibited fewer intrusions despite comparable recognition memory, replicating the results of prior studies. Note that this selective interference did not appear to depend on associative cues. This involuntary versus voluntary memory dissociation for emotional material further supports separate-trace memory theories and has applied advantages

Unconventional superconductivity in the nickel-chalcogenide superconductor, TlNi2_2Se2_2

We present the results of a study of the vortex lattice (VL) of the nickel chalcogenide superconductor TlNi2Se2, using small angle neutron scattering. This superconductor has the same crystal symmetry as the iron arsenide materials. Previous work points to it being a two-gap superconductor, with an unknown pairing mechanism. No structural transitions in the vortex lattice are seen in the phase diagram, arguing against d-wave gap symmetry. Empirical fits of the temperature-dependence of the form factor and penetration depth rule out a simple s-wave model, supporting the presence of nodes in the gap function. The variation of the VL opening angle with field is consistent with earlier reports of of multiple gaps

Total Hip Arthroplasty: COPD and its Effect on Postoperative Complications

Introduction The demand for Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA) has rapidly risen and continues to due to high success rates of this procedure and the growing aging population. Particularly in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), studies have indicated an increased risk of various postoperative complications across several surgery types. Despite the prevalence of COPD, very little has been investigated regarding postsurgical complications in patients with COPD following a THA. The aim of the current study is to utilize the NSQIP database and determine differences in short-term postoperative complications after undergoing THA, comparing patients with and without COPD. Methods In total, 74,814 patients were included in the analysis looking at how COPD contributes to the rates of postoperative complications in primary THA. Data was obtained from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Project Database years 2005-2014, with readmission/reoperation data beginning in 2011. THA cases were selected out of the database using current procedural terminology (CPT) code 27130. On univariate analysis, p-values were calculated using chi-square for categorical variables and one-way ANOVA for continuous variables. On multivariate analysis, logistic regression was used to control for preoperative comorbidities and calculate p-values. Results On multivariate analysis and after controlling for contributing comorbidities, having COPD was found to be an independent predictor of superficial surgical site infection (OR: 1.74), pneumonia (OR: 3.69), reintubation (OR: 2.65) failure to wean (OR: 3.45), urinary tract infection (OR: 1.46), needing a postoperative transfusion (OR: 1.19), and sepsis (OR: 1.97). COPD also independently predicted whether a patient would be discharged home or not (OR: 1.50). Discussion Although COPD has been linked to negative postoperative outcomes across several surgeries, few studies have examined postsurgical complications in patients with COPD following a THA. Our study found patients with COPD to have higher rates of superficial surgical site infection, pneumonia, reintubation, failure to wean, urinary tract infection, needing a postoperative transfusion, and sepsis. COPD also independently predicted whether a patient would be discharged home or not. Managing high-risk surgical patients requires a better understanding of possible complications a patient faces and enhancing perioperative conditions to improve outcomes. Given our study identified certain complications as independent risk factors for patients with COPD, surgeons and other healthcare providers can use this information to more accurately counsel patients and make perioperative adjustments accordingly

Insights from quantitative and mathematical modelling on the proposed 2030 goals for Yaws.

The World Health Organization is currently developing 2030 goals for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). In these, yaws has been targeted for eradication by 2030, with 50% of member states certified free of yaws transmission by 2023. Here we summarise the yaws modelling literature and discuss the proposed goal and strategy. The current Morges strategy involves rounds of Total Community Treatment (TCT), in which all members of the community are treated, and Total Targeted Treatment (TTT), treating active cases and their contacts. However, modelling and empirical work suggest that latent infections are often not found in the same household as active cases, reducing the utility of household-based contact tracing for a TTT strategy. Economic modelling has also discovered uncertainty in the cost of eradication, requiring further data to give greater information. We also note the need for improved active surveillance in previously endemic countries, in order to plan future intervention efforts and ensure global eradication

Multiple memory systems, multiple time points: how science can inform treatment to control the expression of unwanted emotional memories.

Memories that have strong emotions associated with them are particularly resilient to forgetting. This is not necessarily problematic, however some aspects of memory can be. In particular, the involuntary expression of those memories, e.g. intrusive memories after trauma, are core to certain psychological disorders. Since the beginning of this century, research using animal models shows that it is possible to change the underlying memory, for example by interfering with its consolidation or reconsolidation. While the idea of targeting maladaptive memories is promising for the treatment of stress and anxiety disorders, a direct application of the procedures used in non-human animals to humans in clinical settings is not straightforward. In translational research, more attention needs to be paid to specifying what aspect of memory (i) can be modified and (ii) should be modified. This requires a clear conceptualization of what aspect of memory is being targeted, and how different memory expressions may map onto clinical symptoms. Furthermore, memory processes are dynamic, so procedural details concerning timing are crucial when implementing a treatment and when assessing its effectiveness. To target emotional memory in its full complexity, including its malleability, science cannot rely on a single method, species or paradigm. Rather, a constructive dialogue is needed between multiple levels of research, all the way 'from mice to mental health'.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Of mice and mental health: facilitating dialogue between basic and clinical neuroscientists'.We are grateful to the Royal Society for their support of the costs of attending this meeting ‘Of mice and mental health: facilitating dialogue between basic and clinical neuroscientists' convened by Amy L. Milton and Emily A. Holmes. R.M.V. is supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 705641 (SUAI/023/RG92025). A.L.-Z. was supported by a Cambridge International Scholarship awarded by the Cambridge Commonwealth, European and International Trust. R.N.H. is supported by the UK Medical Research Council Programme (SUAI/010/ RG91365). E.A.H. receives support from the Karolinska Institutet and the Lupina Foundation. Funding to pay the Open Access publication charges for this article was provided by the UK Medical Research Council (SUAI/013/ RG91365)

Does gender matter? A cross-national investigation of primary class-room discipline.

© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis GroupFewer than 15% of primary school teachers in both Germany and the UK are male. With the on-going international debate about educational performance highlighting the widening gender achievement gap between girl and boy pupils, the demand for more male teachers has become prevalent in educational discourse. Concerns have frequently been raised about the underachievement of boys, with claims that the lack of male ‘role models’ in schools has an adverse effect on boys’ academic motivation and engagement. Although previous research has examined ‘teaching’ as institutional talk, men’s linguistic behaviour in the classroom remains largely ignored, especially in regard to enacting discipline. Using empirical spoken data collected from four primary school classrooms in both the UK and in Germany, this paper examines the linguistic discipline strategies of eight male and eight female teachers using Interactional Sociolinguistics to address the question, does teacher gender matter?Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

UC-246 Spudify

Spotify’s yearly wrapped report is extremely popular amongst its users. Unfortunately users must wait a year from every report to view statistics about their listening habits. Our app will allow users to generate reports displaying their top songs and artists whenever they want. Additionally, our app will allow users to generate recommendations for new music based on their favorite songs/artists. Users will also be able to generate advanced recommendations by inputting custom artists/genres/songs and customizing a variety of parameters such as the recommended song’s tempo, loudness, and danceability. Our app will give Spotify users the freedom to view statistics regarding their listening habits whenever they want. Additionally, users will never run out of new music to listen to due to the custom song recommendation feature of our app

iScore: Visual Analytics for Interpreting How Language Models Automatically Score Summaries

The recent explosion in popularity of large language models (LLMs) has inspired learning engineers to incorporate them into adaptive educational tools that automatically score summary writing. Understanding and evaluating LLMs is vital before deploying them in critical learning environments, yet their unprecedented size and expanding number of parameters inhibits transparency and impedes trust when they underperform. Through a collaborative user-centered design process with several learning engineers building and deploying summary scoring LLMs, we characterized fundamental design challenges and goals around interpreting their models, including aggregating large text inputs, tracking score provenance, and scaling LLM interpretability methods. To address their concerns, we developed iScore, an interactive visual analytics tool for learning engineers to upload, score, and compare multiple summaries simultaneously. Tightly integrated views allow users to iteratively revise the language in summaries, track changes in the resulting LLM scores, and visualize model weights at multiple levels of abstraction. To validate our approach, we deployed iScore with three learning engineers over the course of a month. We present a case study where interacting with iScore led a learning engineer to improve their LLM's score accuracy by three percentage points. Finally, we conducted qualitative interviews with the learning engineers that revealed how iScore enabled them to understand, evaluate, and build trust in their LLMs during deployment.Comment: Accepted to IUI 2024. 16 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. For a demo video, see https://youtu.be/EYJX-_fQPf0 . For a live demo, visit https://adamcoscia.com/papers/iscore/demo/ . The source code is available at https://github.com/AdamCoscia/iScor