Hypnotic Tactile Anesthesia: Psychophysical and Signal-Detection Analyses.

Two experiments that studied the effects of hypnotic suggestions on tactile sensitivity are reported. Experiment 1 found that suggestions for anesthesia, as measured by both traditional psychophysical methods and signal-detection procedures, were linearly related to hypnotizability. Experiment 2 employed the same methodologies in an application of the real-simulator paradigm to examine the effects of suggestions for both anesthesia and hyperesthesia. Significant effects of hypnotic suggestion on both sensitivity and bias were found in the anesthesia condition but not for the hyperesthesia condition. A new bias parameter, C', indicated that much of the bias found in the initial analyses was artifactual, a function of changes in sensitivity across conditions. There were no behavioral differences between reals and simulators in any of the conditions, though analyses of postexperimental interviews suggested the 2 groups had very different phenomenal experiences

Orientation and experience in the perception of form: A study with the arizona whale-kangaroo

When subjects are presented with the Arizona whale-kangaroo, an ambiguous figure, perception of the whale is more common than perception of the kangaroo. However, this difference is smaller in Australian than American subjects. Perception of the kangaroo is more orientation dependent than perception of the whale, which is perceived at all orientations of the stimulus. Together with the difference between subject populations, this effect reveals an influence of past experience on the perception of this new ambiguous figure. Perception of the whale versus the kangaroo differs in both reconstrual of parts and realignment of the object-centered reference frame. Observers report reference frame reconstruals before reference frame reversals, shedding light on the organization of object memory

Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients Discharged Directly Home From the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Introduction: Patients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) typically transfer to an acute care floor prior to discharge (ACD). Various circumstances, including rapid clinical improvement, technology dependence, or capacity constraints, may lead to discharge directly to home from a PICU (DDH). This practice has been studied in adult intensive care units, but research is lacking for PICU patients. Methods: We aimed to describe characteristics and outcomes of patients requiring PICU admission who experienced DDH versus ACD. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients ≤18 years old admitted to our academic, tertiary care PICU between 1/1/15 and 12/31/20. Patients who died or were transferred to another facility were excluded. Baseline characteristics (including home ventilator dependence) and markers of illness severity, specifically the need for vasoactive infusion or new mechanical ventilation, were compared between groups. Admission diagnoses were categorized using the Pediatric Clinical Classification System (PECCS). Our primary outcome was hospital readmission within 30 days. Results: Of 4042 PICU admissions during the study period, 768 (19%) were DDH. Baseline demographic characteristics were similar, although DDH patients were more likely to have a tracheostomy (30% vs 5%, P < .01) and require a home ventilator at discharge (24% vs 1%, P < .01). DDH was associated with being less likely to have required a vasoactive infusion (7% vs 11%, P < .01), shorter median length of stay (LOS) (2.1 days vs 5.9 days, P < .01) and increased rate of readmission within 30 days of discharge (17% vs 14%, P < .05). However, repeat analysis after removing ventilator-dependent patients at discharge (n = 202) showed no difference in rates of readmission (14% vs 14%, P = .88). Conclusions: Direct discharge home from the PICU is a common practice. DDH and ACD groups had similar 30-day readmission rate when patient admissions with home ventilator dependence were excluded

The ABCD of usability testing

We introduce a methodology for tracking and auditing feedback, errors and suggestions for software packages. This short paper describes how we innovate on the evaluation mechanism, introducing an (Antecedent, Barrier, Consequence and Development) ABCD form, embedded within an eParticipation platform to enable end users to easily report on any usability issues. This methodology will be utilised to improve the STEP cloud eParticipation platform (part of the current STEP Horizon2020 project http://step4youth.eu. The platform is currently being piloted in real life contexts, with the participation of public authorities that are integrating the eParticipation platform into their regular decision-making practices. The project is involving young people, through engagement and motivation strategies and giving them a voice in Environmental decision making at the local level. The pilot evaluation aims to demonstrate how open engagement needs to be embedded within public sector processes and the usability methodology reported here will help to identify the key barriers for wide scale deployment of the platform

False claims about false memory research

Pezdek and Lam [Pezdek, K. & Lam, S. (2007). What research paradigms have cognitive psychologists used to study “False memory,” and what are the implications of these choices? Consciousness and Cognition] claim that the majority of research into false memories has been misguided. Specifically, they charge that false memory scientists have been (1) misusing the term “false memory,” (2) relying on the wrong methodologies to study false memories, and (3) misapplying false memory research to real world situations. We review each of these claims and highlight the problems with them. We conclude that several types of false memory research have advanced our knowledge of autobiographical and recovered memories, and that future research will continue to make significant contributions to how we understand memory and memory errors

Posterior Beta and Anterior Gamma Oscillations Predict Cognitive Insight

Pioneering neuroimaging studies on insight have revealed neural correlates of the emotional “Aha!” component of the insight process, but neural substrates of the cognitive component, such as problem restructuring (a key to transformative reasoning), remain a mystery. Here, multivariate electroencephalogram signals were recorded from human participants while they solved verbal puzzles that could create a small-scale experience of cognitive insight. Individuals responded as soon as they reached a solution and provided a rating of subjective insight. For unsolved puzzles, hints were provided after 60 to 90 sec. Spatio-temporal signatures of brain oscillations were analyzed using Morlet wavelet transform followed by exploratory parallel-factor analysis. A consistent reduction in beta power (15–25 Hz) was found over the parieto-occipital and centro-temporal electrode regions on all four conditions—(a) correct (vs. incorrect) solutions, (b) solutions without (vs. with) external hint, (c) successful (vs. unsuccessful) utilization of the external hint, and d) self-reported high (vs. low) insight. Gamma band (30–70 Hz) power was increased in right fronto-central and frontal electrode regions for conditions (a) and (c). The effects occurred several (up to 8) seconds before the behavioral response. Our findings indicate that insight is represented by distinct spectral, spatial, and temporal patterns of neural activity related to presolution cognitive processes that are intrinsic to the problem itself but not exclusively to one's subjective assessment of insight

Prevalence of Salmonella spp in the feces on farm and ceca at slaughter for a cohort of finishing pigs

To help producers decide whether they should withdraw feed prior to slaughter. we designed a study that examined the effect of feed withdrawal on the proportion of gastrointestinal tract lacerations. prevalence of Salmonella spp. in cecal contents at slaughter, prevalence and severity of gastric ulcers, and meat quality as measured by ultimate pH. color, and water holding capacity. Finally, we analyzed the economic impact of the treatments. This report focuses on the prevalence of Salmonella spp. in feces on the farm and cecal contents at slaughter

Weak Localization Effect in Superconductors by Radiation Damage

Large reductions of the superconducting transition temperature $T_{c}$ and the accompanying loss of the thermal electrical resistivity (electron-phonon interaction) due to radiation damage have been observed for several A15 compounds, Chevrel phase and Ternary superconductors, and $\rm{NbSe_{2}}$ in the high fluence regime. We examine these behaviors based on the recent theory of weak localization effect in superconductors. We find a good fitting to the experimental data. In particular, weak localization correction to the phonon-mediated interaction is derived from the density correlation function. It is shown that weak localization has a strong influence on both the phonon-mediated interaction and the electron-phonon interaction, which leads to the universal correlation of $T_{c}$ and resistance ratio.Comment: 16 pages plus 3 figures, revtex, 76 references, For more information, Plesse see http://www.fen.bilkent.edu.tr/~yjki