Impacts of the pandemic:smartphone adoption and usage during the isolation in Finland and Japan

Abstract. At the beginning of the year 2020, the whole world was in shock after experiencing a global pandemic, COVID-19. In many countries the circumstance led to isolation, people had to stay home and rely on technology in their normal activities. The digitalized world helps in that situation since using and adopting new technology has become natural for most of people globally. This study examines how the COVID-19 has impacted the lives of young adults, having the focus on smartphone usage and adoption during the pandemic time. The previous research on the topic is still quite tenuous and contradictory, so this study reinforces the understanding of the theme. In the empirical research Finnish and Japanese university students are being interviewed and the data is analysed taking existing literature into account. The objective is to determine the possible changes in smartphone adoption and usage during the isolation caused by the pandemic. Also, the cultural perspective is considered by focusing on Finnish and Japanese smartphone users. The aspect of technology adoption is not a new one being studied for many years. Adding also attitudinal and behavioural perspectives may lead to more complicated and expandable models that try to give a better understanding of why people choose to adopt or reject the technology. It’s not simple why people behave like they do when encountering technology, particularly in a special situation like during a COVID-19 pandemic. The results of this study show that both Finnish and Japanese university students have adopted smartphones well before the pandemic, so using them during the COVID-19 along with computers has not caused any major problems concerning the tasks that were traditionally performed without the devices. As the previous literature states, the importance of technology increased when the pandemic started to spread. However, the comparison of computers and smartphones turned out to be an important aspect when studying smartphone usage during the pandemic time. Many mobile applications had become less important since all the contacts were using computers because of remote work and studies. The pandemic situation had changed the platform of communication and other actions partly from the smartphone to the computer

Technical notes on the isolation of Neurospora nuclei

Isolation of Neurospora nucle

Prospective Childhood Risk Factors for Gang Involvement among North American Indigenous Adolescents

The purpose of the study was to examine prospective childhood risk factors for gang involvement across the course of adolescence among a large eight-year longitudinal sample of 646 Indigenous (i.e., American Indian and Canadian First Nations) youth residing on reservation/reserve land in the Midwest of the United States and Canada. Risk factors at the first wave of the study (ages 10–12) were used to predict gang involvement (i.e., gang membership and initiation) in subsequent waves (ages 11–18). A total of 6.7% of the participants reported gang membership and 9.1% reported gang initiation during the study. Risk factors were distributed across developmental domains (e.g., family, school, peer, and individual) with those in the early delinquency domain having the strongest and most consistent effects. Moreover, the results indicate that the cumulative number of risk factors in childhood increases the probability of subsequent gang involvement. Culturally relevant implications and prevention/intervention strategies are discussed

Introduction to the research topic: the role of physical fitness on cardiovascular responses to stress

[EN] This e-book is the culmination of countless hours of meticulous work by global scientists. We would like to thank the researchers for their great contributions to this hot topic. The combination of these studies reflects the importance of the topic amongst researchers and practitioners and the wide interest from numer- ous laboratories around the world. The contributions include a variety of formats including five original investigations, three review articles, one opinion article and a hypothesis and the- ory article. Notably, these contributions included both human and animal models that encompassed a range of techniques from molecular mechanisms to real life interventions thus reinforcing the translational approach for the understanding of cardiovascu- lar responses to stress

Prospective Childhood Risk Factors for Gang Involvement among North American Indigenous Adolescents

The purpose of the study was to examine prospective childhood risk factors for gang involvement across the course of adolescence among a large eight-year longitudinal sample of 646 Indigenous (i.e., American Indian and Canadian First Nations) youth residing on reservation/reserve land in the Midwest of the United States and Canada. Risk factors at the first wave of the study (ages 10–12) were used to predict gang involvement (i.e., gang membership and initiation) in subsequent waves (ages 11–18). A total of 6.7% of the participants reported gang membership and 9.1% reported gang initiation during the study. Risk factors were distributed across developmental domains (e.g., family, school, peer, and individual) with those in the early delinquency domain having the strongest and most consistent effects. Moreover, the results indicate that the cumulative number of risk factors in childhood increases the probability of subsequent gang involvement. Culturally relevant implications and prevention/intervention strategies are discussed

Environment simulator for studying automatic crop farming

Agricultural machines capable of utilizing variable rate application technology are tackling spatial variability in agricultural fields.  Agricultural field robots are the next step in technology, robots which are capable of utilizing sensor and actuating technologies without human contact and operate only areas of interest.  However, agricultural field robots are still under research.  Robots are just one part of the next generation of crop farming having more advanced tools to do the work which currently requires humans.  The next generation of crop farming, in the vision of the authors, is based on automation, which incorporates stationary and moving sensors systems, robots, model based decision making, automated operation planning which adapts to spatial variability according to the measurements as well as to weather conditions.  This article presents a top-down approach of automated crop farming using simulation, trying to cover all the component parts on a fully automated farm.  In the article, the developed simulation platform is presented as well as sample simulation results.  The environment simulator is based on crop growth models, weed growth models, soil models, spatial variation generation and weather statistics.  Models for the environment were found in literature and were tailored and tuned to fit the simulation purposes, to form a collection of models.  The collection of models was evaluated by using sensitivity analysis.  Furthermore, a full scale scenario was simulated over one season, incorporating 9000 spatial cells in five fields of a farm.   Keywords: robots, crop growth models, soil water models, decision making, operation plannin

Risk factors for equine intestinal parasite infections and reduced efficacy of pyrantel embonate against Parascaris sp.

Gastrointestinal parasites, Parascaris sp. and strongyles, are common in young horses worldwide and control of these parasites is challenged by increasing anthelmintic resistance. Our aim was to identify risk factors for these infections as well as to assess the efficacy of fenbendazole (dose 7.5 mg/kg) and pyrantel embonate (dose 19 mg/kg) against Parascaris sp. We also evaluated association between owner observed symptoms and patent infections with these parasites. Fecal samples were collected from 367 young horses in Finland and a questionnaire study was conducted. Fecal egg counts were performed by Mini-FLOTAC (R) method. Univariable logistic regression models using patent infection status (Yes/No), separately for Parascaris sp. and strongyle infections as an outcome were run initially to screen potential risk factors collected by the questionnaire. After the initial screening, multiple logistic regression models were constructed and run to account for correlated data structure, risk factors and potential confounders simultaneously. Two significant risk factors for a patent Parascaris sp. infection were found: breeding farm size (p = 0.028) and frequency of horse movements (p = 0.010). Horses originating from large breeding farms were more likely (OR = 2.47, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.10-5.51) to shed Parascaris sp. eggs upon relocation to training stables compared to horses originating from small breeding farms. Horses living in farms with frequent horse movements to other premises had higher odds (OR = 3.56, 95% CI: 1.35-9.39) of a patent Parascaris sp. infection compared to farms with less frequent horse movements. Risk factors for patent strongyle infection included age (p <0.001) and season (p = 0.017). Horses were less likely (OR = 0.27, 95% CI: 0.10-0.66) to shed strongylid eggs during the spring compared to the winter. Horses excreting over 200 ascarid eggs per gram were included in the anthelmintic efficacy trial. A mean FECR less than 90% was interpreted as presence of anthelmintic resistance. The mean FECR was 98.5% (95% CI: 95.8-100) and 68.0% (95% CI: 52.7-83.3) in the fenbendazole (n = 31) and pyrantel (n = 26) treatment groups, respectively. In conclusion, we identified two new risk factors for patent Parascaris sp. infection; breeding farm size and frequency of horse movements. Reduced efficacy of pyrantel against Parascaris sp. was observed for the second time in Europe. A relatively high Parascaris sp. prevalence in yearlings (34%) and two-year-olds (20%) was observed, which has not been reported earlier. An association between symptoms and a patent Parascaris sp. infection was observed in foals.Peer reviewe

Effects of bright light treatment on psychomotor speed in athletes

Purpose: A recent study suggests that transcranial brain targeted light treatment via ear canals may have physiological effects on brain function studied by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques in humans. We tested the hypothesis that bright light treatment could improve psychomotor speed in professional ice hockey players. Methods: Psychomotor speed tests with audio and visual warning signals were administered to a Finnish National Ice Hockey League team before and after 24 days of transcranial bright light or sham treatment. The treatments were given during seasonal darkness in the Oulu region (latitude 65 degrees north) when the strain on the players was also very high (10 matches during 24 days). A daily 12-min dose of bright light or sham (n = 11 for both) treatment was given every morning between 8–12 am at home with a transcranial bright light device. Mean reaction time and motor time were analyzed separately for both psychomotor tests. Analysis of variance for repeated measures adjusted for age was performed. Results: Time x group interaction for motor time with a visual warning signal was p = 0.024 after adjustment for age. In Bonferroni post-hoc analysis, motor time with a visual warning signal decreased in the bright light treatment group from 127 ± 43 to 94 ± 26 ms (p = 0.024) but did not change significantly in the sham group 121 ± 23 vs. 110 ± 32 ms (p = 0.308). Reaction time with a visual signal did not change in either group. Reaction or motor time with an audio warning signal did not change in either the treatment or sham group. Conclusion: Psychomotor speed, particularly motor time with a visual warning signal, improves after transcranial bright light treatment in professional ice-hockey players during the competition season in the dark time of the year

A design for neural network model of continuous reading

Cognition and learning are exceedingly modeled as an associative activity of connectionist neural networks. However, only a few such models exist for continuous reading, which involves the delicate coordination of word recognition and eye movements. Moreover, these models are limited to only orthographic level of word processing with predetermined lexicons. Here, we present a conceptual design of a developmentally plausible neural network model of reading designed to simulate word learning, parafoveal preview activation of words, their later foveal word recognition including phonological decoding, and forward saccade length as a control mechanism for intake of new textual information. We will discuss the theoretical advancements of the design and avenues for future developments

A dynamic adjustment model of saccade lengths in reading for word-spaced orthographies: evidence from simulations and invisible boundary experiments

Contemporary models of eye movement control in reading assume a discrete target word selection process preceding saccade length computation, while the selection itself is assumed to be driven by word identification processes. However, a potentially more parsimonious, dynamic adjustment view allows both next word length and its content (e.g. orthographic) to modulate saccade length in a continuous manner. Based on a recently proposed center-based saccade length account (a new regression model of forward saccade length is introduced and validated in a simulation study. Further, additional simulations and gaze-contingent invisible boundary experiments were used to study the cognitive mechanisms underlying skipping. Overall, the results support the plausibility of dynamic adjustment of saccade length in word-spaced orthographies. In the future, the present regression formula-based computational model will allow a straightforward implementation of influences of current and next word content (visual, orthographic, or contextual) on saccade length computation