The Eyes Never Lie: The Use of Eyetracking Data in HCI Research

Recent technology developments have made eye-tracking systems more affordable and less cumbersome. Many members of the HCI community will therefore consider employing this method in usability research and assessment. This paper, provides an overview of the eye movement data that can be collected, what is involved in analysing them, and what it can add to current HCI research and usability assessment practice. We argue that, whilst much work is required to develop the use of eyetracking as a practitioner’s method, it can provide valuable objective data about the impact of visual design on human performance. To illustrate this point, some preliminary results of a study into web page usage are reported. The results are examined with regard to explaining task performance, user physiology as well as in the assessment of the difficulties and the potential behind eye-tracking

Involvement of patients or their representatives in quality management functions in EU hospitals:implementation and impact on patient-centred care strategies

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to describe the involvement of patients or their representatives in quality management (QM) functions and to assess associations between levels of involvement and the implementation of patient-centred care strategies. DESIGN: A cross-sectional, multilevel STUDY DESIGN: that surveyed quality managers and department heads and data from an organizational audit. SETTING: Randomly selected hospitals (n = 74) from seven European countries (The Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Turkey). PARTICIPANTS: Hospital quality managers (n = 74) and heads of clinical departments (n = 262) in charge of four patient pathways (acute myocardial infarction, stroke, hip fracture and deliveries) participated in the data collection between May 2011 and February 2012. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Four items reflecting essential patient-centred care strategies based on an on-site hospital visit: (1) formal survey seeking views of patients and carers, (2) written policies on patients' rights, (3) patient information literature including guidelines and (4) fact sheets for post-discharge care. The main predictors were patient involvement in QM at the (i) hospital level and (ii) pathway level. RESULTS: Current levels of involving patients and their representatives in QM functions in European hospitals are low at hospital level (mean score 1.6 on a scale of 0 to 5, SD 0.7), but even lower at departmental level (mean 0.6, SD 0.7). We did not detect associations between levels of involving patients and their representatives in QM functions and the implementation of patient-centred care strategies; however, the smallest hospitals were more likely to have implemented patient-centred care strategies. CONCLUSIONS: There is insufficient evidence that involving patients and their representatives in QM leads to establishing or implementing strategies and procedures that facilitate patient-centred care; however, lack of evidence should not be interpreted as evidence of no effect

Heart Fields: Spatial Polarity and Temporal Dynamics

In chick and mouse, heart fields undergo dynamic morphological spatiotemporal changes during heart tube formation. Here, the dynamic change in spatial polarity of such fields is discussed and a new perspective on the heart fields is proposed. The heart progenitor cells delaminate through the primitive streak and migrate in a semicircular trajectory craniolaterally forming the bilateral heart fields as part of the splanchnic mesoderm. They switch their polarity from anteroposterior to mediolateral. The anterior intestinal portal posterior descent inverts the newly formed heart field mediolateral polarity into lateromedial by 125° bending. The heart fields revert back to their original anteroposterior polarity and fuse at the midline forming a semi heart tube by completing their half circle movement. Several names and roles were assigned to different portions of the heart fields: posterior versus anterior, first versus second, and primary versus secondary heart field. The posterior and anterior heart fields define basically physical fields that form the inflow–outflow axis of the heart tube. The first and second heart fields are, in contrast, temporal fields of differentiating cardiomyocytes expressing myosin light chain 2a and undifferentiated and proliferating precardiac mesoderm expressing Isl1 gene, respectively. The two markers present a complementary pattern and are expressed transiently in all myocardial lineages. Thus, Isl1 is not restricted to a portion of the heart field or one of the two heart lineages as has been often assumed. Anat Rec, 297:175–182, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102627/1/ar22831.pd

Phylogenetic relationships within Chamaecrista sect. Xerocalyx (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae) inferred from the cpDNA trnE-trnT intergenic spacer and nrDNA ITS sequences

Chamaecrista belongs to subtribe Cassiinae (Caesalpinioideae), and it comprises over 330 species, divided into six sections. The section Xerocalyx has been subjected to a profound taxonomic shuffling over the years. Therefore, we conducted a phylogenetic analysis using a cpDNA trnE-trnT intergenic spacer and nrDNA ITS/5.8S sequences from Cassiinae taxa, in an attempt to elucidate the relationships within this section from Chamaecrista. The tree topology was congruent between the two data sets studied in which the monophyly of the genus Chamaecrista was strongly supported. Our analyses reinforce that new sectional boundaries must be defined in the Chamaecrista genus, especially the inclusion of sections Caliciopsis and Xerocalyx in sect. Chamaecrista, considered here paraphyletic. The section Xerocalyx was strongly supported as monophyletic; however, the current data did not show C. ramosa (microphyllous) and C. desvauxii (macrophyllous) and their respective varieties in distinct clades, suggesting that speciation events are still ongoing in these specimens

Widespread anti-sense transcription in apple is correlated with siRNA production and indicates a large potential for transcriptional and/or post-transcriptional control

Characterizing the transcriptome of eukaryotic organisms is essential for studying gene regulation and its impact on phenotype. The realization that anti-sense (AS) and noncoding RNA transcription is pervasive in many genomes has emphasized our limited understanding of gene transcription and post-transcriptional regulation. Numerous mechanisms including convergent transcription, anti-correlated expression of sense and AS transcripts, and RNAi remain ill-defined.Here, we have combined microarray analysis and high-throughput sequencing of small RNAs (sRNAs) to unravel the complexity of transcriptional and potential post-transcriptional regulation in eight organs of apple (Malus × domestica). The percentage of AS transcript expression is higher than that identified in annual plants such as rice and Arabidopsis thaliana. Furthermore, we show that a majority of AS transcripts are transcribed beyond 3′UTR regions, and may cover a significant portion of the predicted sense transcripts. Finally we demonstrate at a genome-wide scale that anti-sense transcript expression is correlated with the presence of both short (21–23 nt) and long (> 30 nt) siRNAs, and that the sRNA coverage depth varies with the level of AS transcript expression. Our study provides a new insight on the functional role of anti-sense transcripts at the genome-wide level, and a new basis for the understanding of sRNA biogenesis in plants

Rightward hemispheric asymmetries in auditory language cortex in children with autistic disorder: an MRI investigation

Purpose: determine if language disorder in children with autistic disorder (AD) corresponds to abnormalities in hemispheric asymmetries in auditory language cortex. Methods: MRI morphometric study in children with AD (n = 50) to assess hemispheric asymmetries in auditory language cortex. A key region of interest was the planum temporale (PT), which is larger in the left hemisphere in most healthy individuals. Results: (i) Heschl’s gyrus and planum polare showed typical hemisphere asymmetry patterns; (ii) posterior Superior Temporal Gyrus (pSTG) showed significant rightward asymmetry; and (iii) PT showed a trend for rightward asymmetry that was significant when constrained to right-handed boys (n = 30). For right-handed boys, symmetry indices for pSTG were significantly positively correlated with those for PT. PT asymmetry was age dependent, with greater rightward asymmetry with age. Conclusions: results provide evidence for rightward asymmetry in auditory association areas (pSTG and PT) known to subserve language processing. Cumulatively, our data provide evidence for a differing maturational path for PT for lower functioning children with AD, with both pre- and post-natal experience likely playing a role in PT asymmetry

Single-Cell Expression Profiling Reveals a Dynamic State of Cardiac Precursor Cells in the Early Mouse Embryo

In the early vertebrate embryo, cardiac progenitor/precursor cells (CPs) give rise to cardiac structures. Better understanding their biological character is critical to understand the heart development and to apply CPs for the clinical arena. However, our knowledge remains incomplete. With the use of single-cell expression profiling, we have now revealed rapid and dynamic changes in gene expression profiles of the embryonic CPs during the early phase after their segregation from the cardiac mesoderm. Progressively, the nascent mesodermal gene Mesp1 terminated, and Nkx2-5+/Tbx5+ population rapidly replaced the Tbx5low+ population as the expression of the cardiac genes Tbx5 and Nkx2-5 increased. At the Early Headfold stage, Tbx5-expressing CPs gradually showed a unique molecular signature with signs of cardiomyocyte differentiation. Lineage-tracing revealed a developmentally distinct characteristic of this population. They underwent progressive differentiation only towards the cardiomyocyte lineage corresponding to the first heart field rather than being maintained as a progenitor pool. More importantly, Tbx5 likely plays an important role in a transcriptional network to regulate the distinct character of the FHF via a positive feedback loop to activate the robust expression of Tbx5 in CPs. These data expands our knowledge on the behavior of CPs during the early phase of cardiac development, subsequently providing a platform for further study

Catalytic Transformations of Alkynes via Ruthenium Vinylidene and Allenylidene Intermediates

NOTICE: This is the peer reviewed version of the following book chapter: Varela J. A., González-Rodríguez C., Saá C. (2014). Catalytic Transformations of Alkynes via Ruthenium Vinylidene and Allenylidene Intermediates. In: Dixneuf P., Bruneau C. (eds) Ruthenium in Catalysis. Topics in Organometallic Chemistry, vol 48, pp. 237-287. Springer, Cham. [doi: 10.1007/3418_2014_81]. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Springer Verlag Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.Vinylidenes are high-energy tautomers of terminal alkynes and they can be stabilized by coordination with transition metals. The resulting metal-vinylidene species have interesting chemical properties that make their reactivity different to that of the free and metal π-coordinated alkynes: the carbon α to the metal is electrophilic whereas the β carbon is nucleophilic. Ruthenium is one of the most commonly used transition metals to stabilize vinylidenes and the resulting species can undergo a range of useful transformations. The most remarkable transformations are the regioselective anti-Markovnikov addition of different nucleophiles to catalytic ruthenium vinylidenes and the participation of the π system of catalytic ruthenium vinylidenes in pericyclic reactions. Ruthenium vinylidenes have also been employed as precatalysts in ring closing metathesis (RCM) or ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). Allenylidenes could be considered as divalent radicals derived from allenes. In a similar way to vinylidenes, allenylidenes can be stabilized by coordination with transition metals and again ruthenium is one of the most widely used metals. Metalallenylidene complexes can be easily obtained from terminal propargylic alcohols by dehydration of the initially formed metal-hydroxyvinylidenes, in which the reactivity of these metal complexes is based on the electrophilic nature of Cα and Cγ, while Cβ is nucleophilic. Catalytic processes based on nucleophilic additions and pericyclic reactions involving the π system of ruthenium allenylidenes afford interesting new structures with high selectivity and atom economy