Boids On Wheels A Proof of Concept Study of the Boid as a Vehicle

The following project is a proof of concept study exploring the feasibility of simulating traffic as a multi-agent system, with the individual vehicle being implemented as a boid as defined by C. Reynolds in 1987. Furthermore, the simulator is to serve as a tool for urban planning. This thesis first explores the growth in using computers to simulate traffic since the 1940s, along with a brief review of the work done on Reynolds’ boids. This is followed by a discussion of tool selection and the reasons behind it. Secondly the thesis discusses the different steering behaviours developed for a boid vehicle,as well as their implementation. This is followed by a description of the preliminary evaluations carried out and the problems encountered. Finally the thesis concludes with some ideas for further research and the conclusion that within the scope of this project, implementing the boid as a vehicle was found to be feasible, and ripe for further wor

Enhancing Social Connectedness in Anxiety and Depression Through Amplification of Positivity: Preliminary Treatment Outcomes and Process of Change.

BackgroundAnxiety and depressive disorders are often characterized by perceived social disconnection, yet evidence-based treatments produce only modest improvements in this domain. The well-established link between positive affect (PA) and social connectedness suggests that directly targeting PA in treatment may be valuable.MethodA secondary analysis of a waitlist-controlled trial (N=29) was conducted to evaluate treatment response and process of change in social connectedness within a 10-session positive activity intervention protocol-Amplification of Positivity (AMP)-designed to increase PA in individuals seeking treatment for anxiety or depression (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02330627). Perceived social connectedness and PA/negative affect (NA) were assessed throughout treatment. Time-lagged multilevel mediation models examined the process of change in affect and connectedness throughout treatment.ResultsThe AMP group displayed significantly larger improvements in social connectedness from pre- to post-treatment compared to waitlist; improvements were maintained through 6-month follow-up. Within the AMP group, increases in PA and decreases in NA both uniquely predicted subsequent increases in connectedness throughout treatment. However, experiencing heightened NA throughout treatment attenuated the effect of changes in PA on connectedness. Improvements in connectedness predicted subsequent increases in PA, but not changes in NA.ConclusionsThese preliminary findings suggest that positive activity interventions may be valuable for enhancing social connectedness in individuals with clinically impairing anxiety or depression, possibly through both increasing positive emotions and decreasing negative emotions

Clinical profile of enteric fever: a prospective study of fifty enteric fever patients

Background: The protean manifestations of enteric fever make this disease a true diagnostic challenge. Untreated, typhoid fever is a grueling illness that may progress to delirium, obtundation, intestinal hemorrhage, bowel perforation, and death within 1 month of onset. Survivors may be left with long-term or permanent neuropsychiatric complications. This is a prospective study of fifty confirmed enteric fever adult patients done in Kasturba Hospital Mumbai.Methods: Fifty enteric fever patients with clinical and laboratory diagnosis were included in the study. They were admitted in wards with the aim of documenting the epidemiological pattern, clinical picture, therapeutic response and complications of Salmonella. Their history and detailed physical examination were recorded and tests including antibiotic sensitivity and resistance were done.Results: In the study incidence of fever 100%, chills 26%, vomiting 44%, diarrhea 28%, abdominal pain 64%, headache 26%, and signs as splenomegaly 36%, hepatomegaly 42%, rose spots 6%, relative bradycardia 34% were reported. Anemia, leukocytosis and leukopenia and elevated liver enzymes were found in 42.9%, 10%, 21% and 45% respectively. Incidence of Salmonella Typhi, Salmonella Paratyphi was 80% and 20% respectively. There was no mortality in the study.Conclusion: Clinical presentation, signs and symptoms of Typhoid fever patients are varying. For the confirmatory diagnosis in addition to a high index of suspicion, Widal test and blood culture are required. For the proper treatment of Typhoid fever in view of emergence of resistant strains of S. Typhi antibiotic sensitivity and resistance test should be done whenever facilities available.

Boids On Wheels A Proof of Concept Study of the Boid as a Vehicle

The following project is a proof of concept study exploring the feasibility of simulating traffic as a multi-agent system, with the individual vehicle being implemented as a boid as defined by C. Reynolds in 1987. Furthermore, the simulator is to serve as a tool for urban planning. This thesis first explores the growth in using computers to simulate traffic since the 1940s, along with a brief review of the work done on Reynolds’ boids. This is followed by a discussion of tool selection and the reasons behind it. Secondly the thesis discusses the different steering behaviours developed for a boid vehicle,as well as their implementation. This is followed by a description of the preliminary evaluations carried out and the problems encountered. Finally the thesis concludes with some ideas for further research and the conclusion that within the scope of this project, implementing the boid as a vehicle was found to be feasible, and ripe for further wor

Lost and Found : Unusual location of a urinary tract calculus

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Study of incidence and risk factors of urinary tract infection in catheterised patients admitted at tertiary care

Background: Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) are the most common nosocomial infection and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence and risk factors of urinary tract infection in catheterised patients in a tertiary care hospital.Methods: Total of 200 patients above 16 years in whom an indwelling Foley‘s catheter inserted were taken in the study. A urine specimen was obtained aseptically and culture done on nutrient agar, sheep blood agar and MacConkey agar plates. After incubation of 24 hours, colony count done for organisms showing growth and colony count ≥105 was taken significant.Results: The incidence of CAUTI in the present study was 31%. Higher incidence of CAUTI (56.46%) was found in female sex as compared to males (43.54%). Incidence of CAUTI was found higher in first weeks (54.83%). Incidence among diabetes patients is found more (63.33%). Most common isolate found was E. coli (38.71%) among all uropathogens. Uropathogens isolated from CAUTI are more resistant to antimicrobials.Conclusions: It is must to implement following strategy for reducing the risk of infection due to indwelling catheters: 1. reducing the duration of catheterization 2. Use antibacterial substance coated catheter 3. Strict infection control measures

How online advertising competes with user-generated content in TripAdvisor. A neuroscientific approach.

The previous literature has almost ignored the interaction of user-generated content (UGC) and advertising content embedded in social media platforms. Visual attention is an important factor for tourist services in analyzing the value of online ads inserted close to UGC. Drawing on cognitive load theory, congruence research and dual processing models, the purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of online advertising on social media. A first study based on eye-tracking and EEG analysis was conducted to assess if there was a difference in visual attention and engagement when an ad was embedded in TripAdvisor content. Our findings showed that synergies between social media content and advertising content positively affect users’ visual attention. A second study, using an online survey, was carried out to assess the impact of congruent/incongruent ads on ad recall (2a) and, using eye-tracking, on visual attention (2b). Appropriate managerial implications are provided

Consumer behavior in electronic and virtual commerce: merging behavioural and neurophysiological perspectives

In the last two decades, pragmatic shifts in technology have assisted Business-to-Consumers retailers to seek novel avenues for expanding their businesses and excite consumers with newer shopping experiences. On one hand, due to the continuous technological developments retailers have leveraged the power of Web 2.0 to make a shift from traditional brick-and-motor to e-commerce retail stores and empowered consumers with user-generated contents (UGC). With the advent of Web 3.0, retailers are attempting to set up stores in a three-dimensional space of extended reality by using virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), or mixed reality (MR), thereby creating virtual world(s) for consumers to interact and share using Artificial Intelligence (AI). Evidently, this has resulted in a change of consumers’ patterns of shopping and has directly necessitated the need for researchers to develop apparatus to capture and understand the ever-evolving nature of consumer behavior. Parallelly, marketing research has taken huge strides to incorporate tools and techniques to observe consumers’ conscious and subconscious measurements. While conventional marketing techniques involved self-reports, focus group and panel data to understand explicitly stated observations, the advent of neurophysiological tools, such as Electroencephalography (EEG), Heart rate Variability (HRV) and Eye tracking (ET) has made it possible to record and quantify consumer’s unstated subconscious observations vis-à-vis marketing stimulus. These advancements exhibit future course of research as well as carries with itself newfound challenges such as identifying critical aspects of UGC that influences purchase behavior, triangulating neurophysiological data with explicit measurements, and dynamic consumption patterns in immersive marketplaces. Therefore, the development of this thesis partakes various domains– retailing, neuromarketing and virtual reality – only to contribute a fresh perspective on understanding consumer behavior and therefore, overcoming some of the challenges. The overarching aim of this thesis is to extend academic scholarship on consumer behavior through novel theoretical frameworks and methodological techniques. From conceptual perspective, the studies move on to examining purchases behavior in e-commerce to virtual commerce environments. In the e-commerce format, analyzing the attributes of product reviews on purchases decisions for different product categories broadened the classical cue-utilization framework (Chapter 2). In virtual reality format, critical differences in planned and unplanned purchase behavior while shopping in a virtual supermarket are stated (Chapter 4). From a methodological point-of-view, this thesis incorporates implicit (neuro physiological) measurements along with traditional explicit (self-report) measurements. Utilizing neuroscientific tools served two interconnected goals for this thesis – (a) updating classical marketing frameworks for today’s practitioners (Chapters 3 and 4); and (b) for evaluating the impact of marketing interventions (advertisement and retailing) on consumer purchase intentions (Chapter 4 and, in Appendix 1, 2 and 3). The usage of neuroscientific tools, in Chapter 3 and 4 (also in Appendix 1, 2 and 3) allowed for directly capturing real-time subconscious decision-making of consumers’ during the purchase stage of consumer journey. This allowed for updating the classical consumer behavior models (e.g., stimulus-organism-response) to include both explicit and implicit (like Cognitive load) measurements. Therefore, rather than relying on a single technique, this dissertation also contributes to the growing awareness of the benefits of triangulating data to understand consumer decision-making at a more fundamental level in varied contexts.En las últimas dos décadas, los cambios pragmáticos en la tecnología han ayudado a los minoristas Business-to-Consumers a buscar vías novedosas para expandir sus negocios y entusiasmar a los consumidores con nuevas experiencias de compra. Por un lado, debido a los continuos desarrollos tecnológicos, los minoristas han aprovechado el poder de la Web 2.0 para hacer un cambio de las tiendas físicas tradicionales a las tiendas minoristas de comercio electrónico y empoderaron a los consumidores con contenido generado por el usuario (UGC). Con la llegada de la Web 3.0, los minoristas intentan establecer tiendas en un espacio tridimensional de realidad extendida mediante el uso de realidad virtual (VR), realidad aumentada (AR) o realidad mixta (MR), creando así mundos virtuales para que los consumidores interactúen y compartan usando Inteligencia Artificial (AI). Evidentemente, esto ha resultado en un cambio de los patrones de compra de los consumidores y ha hecho necesario directamente que los investigadores desarrollen aparatos para capturar y comprender la naturaleza en constante evolución del comportamiento del consumidor. Paralelamente, la investigación de mercados ha dado grandes pasos para incorporar herramientas y técnicas para observar las mediciones conscientes y subconscientes de los consumidores. Si bien las técnicas de marketing convencionales incluían autoinformes, grupos focales y datos de panel para comprender las observaciones explícitamente establecidas, la llegada de herramientas neurofisiológicas, como la electroencefalografía (EEG), la variabilidad de la frecuencia cardíaca (HRV), el seguimiento ocular (ET), etc., es posible registrar y cuantificar las observaciones subconscientes no declaradas del consumidor frente a estímulos de marketing. Estos avances muestran el curso futuro de la investigación y conllevan nuevos desafíos, como la identificación de aspectos críticos de UGC que influyen en el comportamiento de compra, la triangulación de datos neurofisiológicos con mediciones explícitas y patrones de consumo dinámicos en mercados inmersivos. Por lo tanto, el desarrollo de esta tesis participa en varios dominios (venta minorista, neuromarketing y realidad virtual) para contribuir con una nueva perspectiva para comprender el comportamiento del consumidor y, por lo tanto, superar algunos de los desafíos. El objetivo general de esta tesis es ampliar los estudios académicos sobre el comportamiento del consumidor a través de marcos teóricos y técnicas metodológicas novedosos. Desde una perspectiva conceptual, los estudios pasan a examinar el comportamiento de compras en entornos de comercio electrónico y comercio virtual. En el formato de comercio electrónico, el análisis de los atributos de las reseñas de productos en las decisiones de compra para diferentes categorías de productos amplió el marco clásico de utilización de señales (Capítulo 2). En formato de realidad virtual, se establecen diferencias críticas en el comportamiento de compra planificada y no planificada al comprar en un supermercado virtual (Capítulo 4). Desde un punto de vista metodológico, esta tesis incorpora mediciones implícitas (neurofisiológicas) junto con mediciones tradicionales explícitas (autoinforme). La utilización de herramientas neurocientíficas sirvió para dos objetivos interconectados para esta tesis: (a) actualizar los marcos de marketing clásicos para los profesionales de hoy (Capítulos 3 y 4); y (b) para evaluar el impacto de las intervenciones de marketing (publicidad y venta minorista) en las intenciones de compra de los consumidores (Capítulo 4 y, en el Apéndice 1, 2 y 3). El uso de herramientas neurocientíficas, en los Capítulos 3 y 4 (también en los Apéndices 1, 2 y 3) permitió capturar directamente la toma de decisiones subconscientes en tiempo real de los consumidores durante la etapa de compra del recorrido del consumidor. Esto permitió actualizar los modelos clásicos de comportamiento del consumidor (por ejemplo, estímulo-organismo-respuesta) para incluir mediciones tanto explícitas como implícitas (como la carga cognitiva). Por lo tanto, en lugar de depender de una única técnica, esta disertación también contribuye a la creciente conciencia de los beneficios de triangular datos para comprender la toma de decisiones del consumidor a un nivel más fundamental en contextos variados

Heart rate variability in marketing research: A systematic review and methodological perspectives

Heart rate variability is a promising physiological measurement that accesses psychophysiological variations in response to a marketing stimulus. While its application spans diverse fields, there is a limited understanding of the usability and interpretation of heart rate variability in marketing research. Therefore, this hybrid literature review provides an overview of the emerging use of heart rate variability in marketing research, along with essential methodological considerations. In this context, we blend marketing mix framework with stimulus-organism-response theory, segregating the use of heart rate variability in various marketing research contexts. We follow the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) framework to reflect on 33 records obtained from six databases. Our findings suggest that 42% of studies used heart rate variability to investigate promotion-related topics. Overall, heart rate variability is mostly used in combination with Galvanic skin response (48%). Further, 39% of studies used non-portable systems for data collection. Last, using the theory characteristics methodology (TCM) framework, we identified six research avenues: (1) affective, cognitive, and sensorial constructs; (2) personality, thinking style, and demographics; (3) product experience; (4) advertising and branding; (5) correlation with immersive technologies; and (6) triangulation with other neurophysiological tools

Cognitive load during planned and unplanned virtual shopping:Evidence from a neurophysiological perspective

Rapid adoption of virtual-reality-assisted retail applications is inadvertently reshaping consumer buying patterns, making it crucial for businesses to enhance their shopping experience. This new scenario challenges marketers with unique hurdles in both the commercialization of products and in managing information cues derived via VR retailing. Therefore, this study examined consumers’ impulsive behavior and unplanned purchases in a virtual retail store, using self-reports and electroencephalography. Borrowing assorted perspectives from retailing, virtual reality, and neuromarketing literature, we extended the stimulus-organism-response framework to evaluate how unplanned behavior evolves through conscious and unconscious measures. We found that consumers’ impulsiveness was significantly associated with their unplanned expenditure and the number of unplanned purchases. Using mediation analysis, we observed that flow experience during shopping partially mediated the relationship between the sense of presence and the desire to stay longer in a virtual shopping store. Desire to stay in the virtual store positively influenced store satisfaction, basket-size deviation, and budget deviation. Additionally, cognitive workload obtained via electroencephalogram revealed significant differences during both planned and unplanned purchases. These findings provide fresh opportunities for retailers to leverage the disruptive potential of immersive and interactive virtual technology to transform consumer shopping experiences