Physical Geography [9th grade]

This unit is designed to give 9th grade World Geography students a foundational understanding of physical geography, then have the students apply that knowledge to explore the essential questions: “How does the physical world shape societies?” and “In what ways does the physical geography of a region limit or enhance a society?”. Students will investigate physical features, extreme weather, the four spheres, climate zones, and climate regions to understand the diversity of the earth’s geography. This unit will culminate in students creating their own society based on the assignment of random physical features, latitude, and extreme weather. For this summative assessment, students must apply their knowledge to evaluate their imagined society’s relationship to the landscape they inhabit

The effects of tags on the evolution of honest signaling

In the study described here we examine the importance of social tags in the emergence and maintenance of signaling, using the Sir Philip Sydney Game. We use tags in the calcu-lation of inclusive fitness for members in a finite population, and analyze their evolution under different population distri-butions. We support the claim that inclusive fitness theory may not be sufficient to explain the evolution of cooperation. While cooperativity through honest signaling is sometimes achieved with tag-based relatedness, we suggest that the im-portance of tag-based mechanisms may not simply be due to their role in kin selection

Gene Regulatory Network Evolution Through Augmenting Topologies

International audienceArtificial gene regulatory networks (GRNs) are biologically inspired dynamical systems used to control various kinds of agents, from the cells in developmental models to embodied robot swarms. Most recent work uses a genetic algorithm (GA) or an evolution strategy in order to optimize the network for a specific task. However, the empirical performances of these algorithms are unsatisfactory. This paper presents an algorithm that primarily exploits a network distance metric, which allows genetic similarity to be used for speciation and variation of GRNs. This algorithm, inspired by the successful neuroevolution of augmenting topologies algorithm's use in evolving neural networks and compositional pattern-producing networks, is based on a specific initialization method, a crossover operator based on gene alignment, and speciation based upon GRN structures. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this new algorithm by comparing our approach both to a standard GA and to evolutionary programming on four different experiments from three distinct problem domains, where the proposed algorithm excels on all experiments

Decision making within missing person incidents

Every year the police receive around a quarter of a million reports of missing people in England and Wales alone. Missing Incidents are not only traumatic and potentially dangerous for those involved, but are also likely to contribute to overall public spending; both with respect to the resources required for Missing Person searches, but also due to the increased likelihood of the breakdown of familial care following difficult to manage behaviours. Effective responses to these incidents are imperative, but there is little understanding of how missing person incidents unfold from the perspective of carers and parents. The thesis draws together several disparate research areas, alongside original research, which helps to elucidate how those responsible for a person with care and support needs search, navigate and make decisions under stress and lays a framework of understanding for future research. The work described in this thesis takes a three stage approach; description, prediction and intervention, in order to develop a systematic understanding of how missing incidents unfold, how decision-making within missing incidents can be predicated, and ultimately how technology could be used to address the problem. An initial interview study describes how missing incidents unfold and identifies the important decisions made by carers and search and rescue volunteers. Using this understanding, a vignette study was conducted which led to the development of a predictive model of behaviour during missing person search and the identification of factors which influence decision-making under these conditions. Effective communication is a crucial requirement for carers conducting Missing Person searches; both for material assistance and emotional support. Based on these findings, the final study of this thesis tested a novel prototype technology using an experimental design in a naturally occurring environment. Several evidence-based recommendations were produced as a result of this work which are intended to inform the design of new technologies for supporting missing person searches and may be of use to technology developers, policy-makers, care providers and other stakeholders

Feel the Noise: Mid-Air Ultrasound Haptics as a Novel Human-Vehicle Interaction Paradigm

Focussed ultrasound can be used to create the sensation of touch in mid-air. Combined with gestures, this can provide haptic feedback to guide users, thereby overcoming the lack of agency associated with pure gestural interfaces, and reducing the need for vision – it is therefore particularly apropos of the driving domain. In a counter-balanced 2×2 driving simulator study, a traditional in-vehicle touchscreen was compared with a virtual mid-air gestural interface, both with and without ultrasound haptics. Forty-eight experienced drivers (28 male, 20 female) undertook representative in-vehicle tasks – discrete target selections and continuous slider-bar manipulations – whilst driving. Results show that haptifying gestures with ultrasound was particularly effective in reducing visual demand (number of long glances and mean off-road glance time), and increasing performance (shortest interaction times, highest number of correct responses and least ‘overshoots’) associated with continuous tasks. In contrast, for discrete, target-selections, the touchscreen enabled the highest accuracy and quickest responses, particularly when combined with haptic feedback to guide interactions, although this also increased visual demand. Subjectively, the gesture interfaces invited higher ratings of arousal compared to the more familiar touch-surface technology, and participants indicated the lowest levels of workload (highest performance, lowest frustration) associated with the gesture-haptics interface. In addition, gestures were preferred by participants for continuous tasks. The study shows practical utility and clear potential for the use of haptified gestures in the automotive domain

Effects of Modification of Pain Protocol on Incidence of Post Operative Nausea and Vomiting.

BackgroundA Perioperative Surgical Home (PSH) care model applies a standardized multidisciplinary approach to patient care using evidence-based medicine to modify and improve protocols. Analysis of patient outcome measures, such as postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), allows for refinement of existing protocols to improve patient care. We aim to compare the incidence of PONV in patients who underwent primary total joint arthroplasty before and after modification of our PSH pain protocol.MethodsAll total joint replacement PSH (TJR-PSH) patients who underwent primary THA (n=149) or TKA (n=212) in the study period were included. The modified protocol added a single dose of intravenous (IV) ketorolac given in the operating room and oxycodone immediate release orally instead of IV Hydromorphone in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU). The outcomes were (1) incidence of PONV and (2) average pain score in the PACU. We also examined the effect of primary anesthetic (spinal vs. GA) on these outcomes. The groups were compared using chi-square tests of proportions.ResultsThe incidence of post-operative nausea in the PACU decreased significantly with the modified protocol (27.4% vs. 38.1%, p=0.0442). There was no difference in PONV based on choice of anesthetic or procedure. Average PACU pain scores did not differ significantly between the two protocols.ConclusionSimple modifications to TJR-PSH multimodal pain management protocol, with decrease in IV narcotic use, resulted in a lower incidence of postoperative nausea, without compromising average PACU pain scores. This report demonstrates the need for continuous monitoring of PSH pathways and implementation of revisions as needed

PyZebrascope: An Open-Source Platform for Brain-Wide Neural Activity Imaging in Zebrafish

Understanding how neurons interact across the brain to control animal behaviors is one of the central goals in neuroscience. Recent developments in fluorescent microscopy and genetically-encoded calcium indicators led to the establishment of whole-brain imaging methods in zebrafish, which record neural activity across a brain-wide volume with single-cell resolution. Pioneering studies of whole-brain imaging used custom light-sheet microscopes, and their operation relied on commercially developed and maintained software not available globally. Hence it has been challenging to disseminate and develop the technology in the research community. Here, we present PyZebrascope, an open-source Python platform designed for neural activity imaging in zebrafish using light-sheet microscopy. PyZebrascope has intuitive user interfaces and supports essential features for whole-brain imaging, such as two orthogonal excitation beams and eye damage prevention. Its camera module can handle image data throughput of up to 800 MB/s from camera acquisition to file writing while maintaining stable CPU and memory usage. Its modular architecture allows the inclusion of advanced algorithms for microscope control and image processing. As a proof of concept, we implemented a novel automatic algorithm for maximizing the image resolution in the brain by precisely aligning the excitation beams to the image focal plane. PyZebrascope enables whole-brain neural activity imaging in fish behaving in a virtual reality environment. Thus, PyZebrascope will help disseminate and develop light-sheet microscopy techniques in the neuroscience community and advance our understanding of whole-brain neural dynamics during animal behaviors.Peer Reviewe