The Perception of Globally Coherent Motion

How do human observers perceive a coherent pattern of motion from a disparate set of local motion measures? Our research has examined how ambiguous motion signals along straight contours are spatially integrated to obtain a globally coherent perception of motion. Observers viewed displays containing a large number of apertures, with each aperture containing one or more contours whose orientations and velocities could be independently specified. The total pattern of the contour trajectories across the individual apertures was manipulated to produce globally coherent motions, such as rotations, expansions, or translations. For displays containing only straight contours extending to the circumferences of the apertures, observers' reports of global motion direction were biased whenever the sampling of contour orientations was asymmetric relative to the direction of motion. Performance was improved by the presence of identifiable features, such as line ends or crossings, whose trajectories could be tracked over time. The reports of our observers were consistent with a pooling process involving a vector average of measures of the component of velocity normal to contour orientation, rather than with the predictions of the intersection-of-constraints analysis in velocity space.Air Force Office of Scientific Research (90-0175, 89-0016); National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, Air Force Office of Scientific Research (BNS-8908426

Pilot study of the influence of self-coding on empathy within an introductory motivational interviewing training

Background: Motivational interviewing (MI) is a framework for addressing behavior change that is often used by healthcare professionals. Expression of empathy during MI is associated with positive client outcomes, while absence of empathy may produce iatrogenic effects. Although training in MI is linked to increased therapeutic empathy in learners, no research has investigated individual training components' contribution to this increase. The objective of this study was to test whether a self-coding MI exercise using smartphones completed at hour 6 of an 8-h MI training was superior in engendering empathy to training as usual (watching an MI expert perform in a video clip for the same duration at the same point in the training). Methods: This was a pilot study at two sites using randomization and control groups with 1:1 allocation. Allocation was achieved via computerized assignment (site 1, United Kingdom) or facedown playing card distribution (site 2, United States). Participants were 58 students attending a university class at one of two universities, of which an 8-h segment was dedicated to a standardized MI training. Fifty-five students consented to participate and were randomized. The intervention was an MI self-coding exercise using smartphone recording and a standardized scoring sheet. Students were encouraged to reflect on areas of potential improvement based on their self-coding results. The main outcome measure was score on the Helpful Responses Questionnaire, a measure of therapeutic empathy, collected prior to and immediately following the 8-h training. Questionnaire coding was completed by 2 blinded external reviewers and assessed for interrater reliability, and students were assigned averaged empathy scores from 6 to 30. Analyses were conducted via repeated-measures ANOVA using the general linear model. Results: Fifty-five students were randomized, and 2 were subsequently excluded from analysis at site 2 due to incomplete questionnaires. The study itself was feasible, and overall therapeutic empathy increased significantly and substantially among students. However, the intervention was not superior to the control condition in this study. Conclusions: Replacing a single passive learning exercise with an active learning exercise in an MI training did not result in a substantive boost to therapeutic empathy. However, consistently with prior research, this study identified significant overall increases in empathy following introductory MI training. A much larger study examining the impact of selected exercises and approaches would likely be useful and informative

Nutrients in waters on the inner shelf between Cape Charles and Cape Hatteras

The distribution of nutrients in the shelf waters of the southern tip of the Middle Atlantic Bight was investigated. It is concluded that the outflow of freshwater from the Chesapeake Bay is a potential source of nutrients to the adjacent shelf waters. However, a quantitative estimation of its importance cannot yet be made because (1) there are other sources of nutrients to the study area and these sources cannot yet be quantified and (2) the concentrations of nutrients in the outflow from Chesapeake Bay exhibit significant short-term and long-term temporal variabilities

High voltage solar array study Final report

High voltage solar array stud

Censoring Distances Based on Labeled Cortical Distance Maps in Cortical Morphometry

Shape differences are manifested in cortical structures due to neuropsychiatric disorders. Such differences can be measured by labeled cortical distance mapping (LCDM) which characterizes the morphometry of the laminar cortical mantle of cortical structures. LCDM data consist of signed distances of gray matter (GM) voxels with respect to GM/white matter (WM) surface. Volumes and descriptive measures (such as means and variances) for each subject and the pooled distances provide the morphometric differences between diagnostic groups, but they do not reveal all the morphometric information contained in LCDM distances. To extract more information from LCDM data, censoring of the distances is introduced. For censoring of LCDM distances, the range of LCDM distances is partitioned at a fixed increment size; and at each censoring step, and distances not exceeding the censoring distance are kept. Censored LCDM distances inherit the advantages of the pooled distances. Furthermore, the analysis of censored distances provides information about the location of morphometric differences which cannot be obtained from the pooled distances. However, at each step, the censored distances aggregate, which might confound the results. The influence of data aggregation is investigated with an extensive Monte Carlo simulation analysis and it is demonstrated that this influence is negligible. As an illustrative example, GM of ventral medial prefrontal cortices (VMPFCs) of subjects with major depressive disorder (MDD), subjects at high risk (HR) of MDD, and healthy control (Ctrl) subjects are used. A significant reduction in laminar thickness of the VMPFC and perhaps shrinkage in MDD and HR subjects is observed when compared to Ctrl subjects. The methodology is also applicable to LCDM-based morphometric measures of other cortical structures affected by disease.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figure

Clinical surveillance of thrombotic microangiopathies in Scotland, 2003-2005

The prevalence, incidence and outcomes of haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) and thrombotic thrombocytopaenic purpura (TTP) are not well established in adults or children from prospective studies. We sought to identify both outcomes and current management strategies using prospective, national surveillance of HUS and TTP, from 2003 to 2005 inclusive. We also investigated the links between these disorders and factors implicated in the aetiology of HUS and TTP including infections, chemotherapy, and immunosuppression. Most cases of HUS were caused by verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC), of which serotype O157 predominated, although other serotypes were identified. The list of predisposing factors for TTP was more varied although use of immunosuppressive agents and severe sepsis, were the most frequent precipitants. The study demonstrates that while differentiating between HUS and TTP is sometimes difficult, in most cases the two syndromes have quite different predisposing factors and clinical parameters, enabling clinical and epidemiological profiling for these disorders

Stress, Burnout, Job Satisfaction, and Intent to Leave Among Collegiate Forensic Educators

The purpose of this study is to explore how burnout, stress, and job satisfaction impact coaches‘ intention to leave forensics. Some 111 collegiate forensics educators completed a survey examining workplace stress, burnout, job satisfaction, and perceived intent to leave forensics. Coaches who had thought about leaving forensics reported being more emotionally exhausted than coaches who had not thought about leaving. Female coaches also reported more stress than male coaches. Although many educators feel stressed, burned out, and have thought about leaving, they were still satisfied with their jobs as educators. The article concludes with a discussion of the findings and implications of the research

Forensics as a Correlate of Graduate School Success

Forensics is an extremely popular extracurricular activity in the communication discipline and often provides competitors with skills required for success in graduate school. This exploratory study examines the relationships between forensics competition and success in graduate school. Through a survey of 169 graduate students, we compare graduate students with a forensics background (n = 35) and those without a forensics background (n = 134). The study generates several important findings. First, graduate students who competed in forensics report higher levels success in graduate school and are more likely to present conference papers and publish in academic journals. Second, the level of participation and level of success in forensics plays a major role in determining graduate student success. Students who participated more in forensics and reported higher levels of success in forensics reported even higher levels of success in graduate school and participation in conferences and publications than their counterparts without a forensics background. The implications of this study as well as how this study can be used by faculty and coaches to help forensics students transition to graduate school are discussed

A Little Help from My Friends: A Relational Health Communication Competence Approach to Social Support for Forensic Educators

The purpose of this study was to examine factors that impact forensic educators’ perceived social support, including communication competence, job stress, and job burnout. Communicatively competent educators reported higher levels of administrative and family support than forensic educators who did not report high levels of communication competence. Educators who reported high levels of stress and burnout report lower levels of support from supervisors, coworkers, and family compared to educators who reported low levels of stress and burnout. Female coaches reported lower levels of support from supervisors, coworkers, and families, compared to male coaches. Educators with a large coaching staff reported high levels of coworker support; educators with small or no coaching staff did not report high levels of coworker support. These findings offer insight into the support networks of forensic educators and the impact of these networks on stress and burnout