The role of the ventral intraparietal area (VIP/pVIP) in parsing optic flow into visual motion caused by self-motion and visual motion produced by object-motion

Retinal image motion is a composite signal that contains information about two behaviourally significant factors: self-motion and the movement of environmental objects. It is thought that the brain separates the two relevant signals, and although multiple brain regions have been identified that respond selectively to the composite optic flow signal, which brain region(s) perform the parsing process remains unknown. Here, we present original evidence that the putative human ventral intraparietal area (pVIP), a region known to receive optic flow signals as well as independent self-motion signals from other sensory modalities, plays a critical role in the parsing process and acts to isolate object-motion. We localised pVIP using its multisensory response profile, and then tested its relative responses to simulated object-motion and self-motion stimuli; results indicated that responses were much stronger in pVIP to stimuli that specified object-motion. We report two further observations that will be significant for the future direction of research in this area; firstly, activation in pVIP was suppressed by distant stationary objects compared to the absence of objects or closer objects. Secondly, we describe several other brain regions that share with pVIP selectivity for visual object-motion over visual self-motion as well as a multisensory response

Measuring visual cortical oxygenation in diabetes using functional near-infrared spectroscopy

Aims: Diabetes mellitus affects about 6% of the world’s population, and the chronic complications of the disease may result in macro- and micro-vascular changes. The purpose of the current study was to shed light on visual cortical oxygenation in diabetic individuals. We then aimed to compare the haemodynamic response (HDR) to visual stimulation with glycaemic control, given the likelihood of diabetic individuals suffering from such macro- and micro-vascular insult. Methodology: Thirty participants took part in this explorative study, fifteen of whom had diabetes and fifteen of whom were non-diabetic controls. The HDR, measured as concentrations of oxyhaemoglobin [HbO] and deoxyhaemoglobin [HbR], to visual stimulation was recorded over the primary visual cortex (V1) using a dual-channel oximeter. The stimulus comprised a pattern-reversal checkerboard presented in a block design. Participants’ mean glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) level (±SD) was 7.2±0.6% in the diabetic group and 5.5±0.4% in the non-diabetic group. Raw haemodynamic data were normalised to baseline, and the last 15 s of data from each ‘stimulus on’ and ‘stimulus off’ condition were averaged over seven duty cycles for each participant. Results: There were statistically significant differences in ∆[HbO] and ∆[HbR] to visual stimulation between diabetic and non-diabetic groups (p<0.05). In the diabetic group, individuals with type 1 diabetes displayed an increased [HbO] (p<0.01) and decreased [HbR] (p<0.05) compared to their type 2 counterparts. There was also a linear relationship between both ∆[HbO] and ∆[HbR] as a function of HbA1c level (p<0.0005). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that fNIRS can be used as a quantitative measure of cortical oxygenation in diabetes. Diabetic individuals have a larger HDR to visual stimulation compared to non-diabetic individuals. This increase in ∆[HbO] and decrease in ∆[HbR] appears to be correlated with HbA1c level

Catalyzing Social Innovation: Leveraging Compassion and Open Strategy in Social Entrepreneurship

We implement an inductive, case study approach to explore the motivations and methods of five successful social entrepreneurs. Our findings show that founders noticed, felt, and responded to someone else’s pain, demonstrating compassion as the genesis of the business venture. Successful social innovation, however, was the result of the creation of an organization structured to include diverse stakeholder input and participation in the decision-making process. Thus, compassion motivates entrepreneurs to pursue broad gains as opposed to singular interests and enhances a willingness to incorporate others’ ideas through an open-strategy process. Our study suggests that interaction with stakeholders can impact the structure of the firm, the business model it employs, and intended and unintended business consequences

Strain identity of the ectomycorrhizal fungus Laccaria bicolor is more important than richness in regulating plant and fungal performance under nutrient rich conditions

This work was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/I014527/1).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Coinfection of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis and Streptococcus pneumoniae in multiple cutaneous lesions

Key learning points Cutaneous leishmaniasis is the most common clinical disease caused by all the Leishmania species that are pathogenic to humans. Other bacterial coinfections of Leishmania lesions have been described, but this is the first report of coinfection with Leishmania and S. pneumoniae. S. pneumoniae is also able to cause skin infections, for that reason the pneumococcal diagnosis could be underestimated in Leishmania lesions coinfected with bacterial pathogens, particularly in endemic areas. An accurate microbiological diagnosis of Leishmania coinfections is essential for a correct antimicrobial treatment of skin infections.. Pentavalent antimonials, such as meglumine antimoniate, are considered the first-line antimicrobial therapy for the treatment of leishmaniasis.Fil: Cortes, Paulo R.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Chiapello, Laura Silvina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Dib, David. Hospital Pediátrico del Niño Jesús; ArgentinaFil: Herrero, Mónica V.. Hospital Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Nuncira, Carmen T.. Hospital Pediátrico del Niño Jesús; ArgentinaFil: De Petris, Carlos. Hospital Pediátrico del Niño Jesús; ArgentinaFil: Echenique, Jose Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; Argentin

Measuring the Impact of Civic Engagement: Tracking Outcomes in Health, Education, and Economic Security

Describes the process of developing the Civic Engagement Measurement System to measure the impact of integrating civic engagement practices into human services programs in the areas of education, healthy living, and economic security. Includes the CEMS

Lentes intraoculares trifocales: revisión bibliográfica

El objetivo del presente estudio ha sido evaluar y analizar resultados tanto clínicos como teóricos para proporcionar un mayor entendimiento del funcionamiento de las lentes intraoculares (LIOs) trifocales. Para ello, se ha realizado una búsqueda bibliográfica, incluyendo tanto artículos de simulaciones en banco óptico como aquellos que muestran resultados clínicos. En la búsqueda se han encontrado artículos sobre tres LIOs trifocales: AT.LISA tri839MP (Carl Zeiss Meditec), FineVision (PhysIOL) y MIOL-Record (Repper-NN). En los estudios teóricos se ha demostrado que las LIOs trifocales presentan una mejora con respecto a las LIOs bifocales en cuanto a visión intermedia pero con una disminución en cuanto a calidad óptica en distancias lejanas y cercanas. Por el contrario, en cuanto a resultados clínicos, las LIOs trifocales proporcionan buenas agudezas visuales en visión lejana y agudezas visuales variables pero siempre aceptables en visión intermedia y cercana. En conclusión, LIOs trifocales ofrecen una opción a aquellos pacientes que necesitan trabajar en visión intermedia y buscan no tener que depender del uso de gafas tras cirugía de catarata

Noise Impacts from Professional Dog Grooming Forced-Air Dryers

This study was designed to measure the sound output of four commonly used brands of forced-air dryers used by dog groomers in the United States. Many dog groomers have questions about the effect of this exposure on their hearing, as well as on the hearing of the dogs that are being groomed. Readings taken from each dryer at 1 meter (the likely distance of the dryer from the groomer and the dog) showed average levels ranging from 105.5 to 108.3 dB SPL or 94.8 to 108.0 dBA. Using the 90 dBA criterion required by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, dog groomers/bathers are at risk if exposure to the lowest intensity dryer (94.8 dBA) exceeds 4 hours per day. If the more stringent 85 dBA criterion and 3 dB tradeoff is applied, less than one hour of exposure is permissible in an 8 hour day. Cautions are recommended for any persons exposed to noise from forced-air dryers