Spatial Dichotomies: Research into the Development of 3D Representation

Abstract Matthew McGuire, for the Masters of Science degree in Professional Media & Media Management, presented on Friday, November 14th 2014, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Spatial Dichotomies: Research into the Development of 3D Representation Chair of Committee: Robert Spahr This research paper covers how 3D technology influences different industries over time. Key points within the research find that over time humans consistently gravitate toward increasing their ability to recreate depth, texture and image. Industry leaders in education, film, medical, television, and the Web will find literature and discussion of how to adjust their modes of production and manufacturing in the future. Each of these industries will be reviewed throughout the report. The data in the report identifies 3D technology in two sections: object and screen-based technology. Each chapter contains social and financial elements that assist and react to new technology in the market. Additionally, to help show the effects on the different industries there are trends and time lines to show how individual industries develop. In each industry, there are multiple ways that 3D technology can be effective and ineffective. The research goes over transitions in early media to compare to transitions in modern mediums of art and science. After covering a short history on the transformation that society has had with the image, the paper covers public demand for new virtual settings in education and entertainment. Image-based research indicates that users will on average continuously desire more depth and interactivity in content

Effect of water, sanitation, and hygiene on the prevention of trachoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Trachoma is the world's leading cause of infectious blindness. The World Health Organization (WHO) has endorsed the SAFE strategy in order to eliminate blindness due to trachoma by 2020 through "surgery," "antibiotics," "facial cleanliness," and "environmental improvement." While the S and A components have been widely implemented, evidence and specific targets are lacking for the F and E components, of which water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are critical elements. Data on the impact of WASH on trachoma are needed to support policy and program recommendations. Our objective was to systematically review the literature and conduct meta-analyses where possible to report the effects of WASH conditions on trachoma and identify research gaps. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, ISI Web of Knowledge, MedCarib, Lilacs, REPIDISCA, DESASTRES, and African Index Medicus databases through October 27, 2013 with no restrictions on language or year of publication. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they reported a measure of the effect of WASH on trachoma, either active disease indicated by observed signs of trachomatous inflammation or Chlamydia trachomatis infection diagnosed using PCR. We identified 86 studies that reported a measure of the effect of WASH on trachoma. To evaluate study quality, we developed a set of criteria derived from the GRADE methodology. Publication bias was assessed using funnel plots. If three or more studies reported measures of effect for a comparable WASH exposure and trachoma outcome, we conducted a random-effects meta-analysis. We conducted 15 meta-analyses for specific exposure-outcome pairs. Access to sanitation was associated with lower trachoma as measured by the presence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular or trachomatous inflammation-intense (TF/TI) (odds ratio [OR] 0.85, 95% CI 0.75-0.95) and C. trachomatis infection (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.55-0.78). Having a clean face was significantly associated with reduced odds of TF/TI (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.32-0.52), as were facial cleanliness indicators lack of ocular discharge (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.23-0.61) and lack of nasal discharge (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.52-0.72). Facial cleanliness indicators were also associated with reduced odds of C. trachomatis infection: lack of ocular discharge (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.31-0.49) and lack of nasal discharge (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.37-0.76). Other hygiene factors found to be significantly associated with reduced TF/TI included face washing at least once daily (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.57-0.96), face washing at least twice daily (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.80-0.90), soap use (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.59-0.93), towel use (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.53-0.78), and daily bathing practices (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.53-0.99). Living within 1 km of a water source was not found to be significantly associated with TF/TI or C. trachomatis infection, and the use of sanitation facilities was not found to be significantly associated with TF/TI. CONCLUSIONS: We found strong evidence to support F and E components of the SAFE strategy. Though limitations included moderate to high heterogenity, low study quality, and the lack of standard definitions, these findings support the importance of WASH in trachoma elimination strategies and the need for the development of standardized approaches to measuring WASH in trachoma control programs

The Effects of Traditional versus Ability-Based Physical Training on the Health and Fitness of Custody Assistant Recruits

International Journal of Exercise Science 15(3): 1641-1660, 2022. This study investigated traditional training (TT) versus ability-based training (ABT) in custody assistant recruits. Retrospective analysis was conducted on two recruit classes who completed an 8-week academy. The TT group (18 males, 13 females) followed a physical training model where recruits completed the same exercises with the same intensity; the ABT group (17 males, 12 females) had exercises tailored towards their ability. Pre- and post-academy, recruits were assessed in: body mass; body fat percentage (BF%); resting heart rate (RHR); blood pressure (BP); waist circumference (WC); waist-to-hip ratio (WHR); grip strength; push-ups; sit-ups; YMCA step test recovery HR; 201-m run; and 2.4-km run. Independent samples t-tests evaluated between-class pre-test differences, with significance set at p ≤ 0.05. Paired samples t-tests (p ≤ 0.05) detected within-group training changes. Change scores were calculated for each variable; independent samples t-tests (p ≤ 0.05) compared change scores between groups. The TT group had lower BF%, BP, and WC; and were superior in sit-ups and the 2.4-km run before training. After academy, the TT recruits improved WHR, grip strength, recovery HR, 201-m run, and 2.4-km run, but increased diastolic BP. The ABT recruits decreased BF%, RHR, and WC, and improved push-ups, sit-ups, recovery HR, 201-m run, and the 2.4-km run. ABT recruits had greater positive changes in BF%, RHR, diastolic BP, and sit-ups. TT and ABT recruits generally experienced favorable fitness changes; the degree of positive change tended to be greater for ABT recruits for select tests. Coupled with the diastolic BP increase for TT recruits, this may provide evidence for ABT

Serial Examination of an Inducible and Reversible Dilated Cardiomyopathy in Individual Adult Drosophila

Recent work has demonstrated that Drosophila can be used as a model of dilated cardiomyopathy, defined as an enlarged cardiac chamber at end-diastole when the heart is fully relaxed and having an impaired systolic function when the heart is fully contracted. Gene mutations that cause cardiac dysfunction in adult Drosophila can result from abnormalities in cardiac development or alterations in post-developmental heart function. To clarify the contribution of transgene expression to post-developmental cardiac abnormalities, we applied strategies to examine the temporal and spacial effects of transgene expression on cardiac function. We engineered transgenic Drosophila based on the well-characterized temperature-sensitive Gal80 protein in the context of the bipartite Gal4/UAS transgenic expression system in Drosophila employing the cardiac specific driver, tinCΔ4-Gal4. Then, we developed a strategy using optical coherence tomography to serially measure cardiac function in the individual flies over time course of several days. As a proof of concept we examined the effects of the expression of a human mutant delta-sarcoglycan associated with familial heart failure and observed a reversible, post-developmental dilated cardiomyopathy in Drosophila. Our results show that the unique imaging strategy based on the non-destructive, non-invasive properties of optical coherence tomography can be applied to serially examine cardiac function in individual adult flies. Furthermore, the induction and reversal of cardiac transgene expression can be investigated in adult flies thereby providing insight into the post-developmental effects of transgene expression

Prefrontal GABA levels, hippocampal resting perfusion and the risk of psychosis

This article was originally published under NPG’s License to Publish, but has now been made available under a [CC BY 4.0] license. The PDF and HTML versions of the paper have been modified accordingly.</p

Developing alkaline titanate surfaces for medical applications

Improving the surface of medical implants by plasma spraying of a hydroxyapatite coating can be of critical importance to their longevity and the patient’s convalescence. However, residual stresses, cracking, undesired crystallisation and delamination of the coating compromise the implants lifetime. A promising alternative surface application is an alkali-chemical treatment to generate bioactive surfaces, such as sodium and calcium titanate and their derivatives. Such surfaces obviate the need for high temperatures and resulting micro-crack formation and potentially improve the bioactive and bone integration properties through their nanoporous structures. Also, metallic ions such as silver, gallium and copper can be substituted into the titanate structure with the potential to reduce or eliminate the infections. This review examines the formation and mechanisms of bioactive/antibacterial alkaline titanate surfaces, their successes and limitations, and explores the future development of implant interfaces via multifunctional titanate surfaces on Ti-based alloys and on alternative substrate materials

Integrated metastate functional connectivity networks predict change in symptom severity in clinical high risk for psychosis

The ability to identify biomarkers of psychosis risk is essential in defining effective preventive measures to potentially circumvent the transition to psychosis. Using samples of people at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR) and Healthy controls (HC) who were administered a task fMRI paradigm, we used a framework for labelling time windows of fMRI scans as ‘integrated’ FC networks to provide a granular representation of functional connectivity (FC). Periods of integration were defined using the ‘cartographic profile’ of time windows and k‐means clustering, and sub‐network discovery was carried out using Network Based Statistics (NBS). There were no network differences between CHR and HC groups. Within the CHR group, using integrated FC networks, we identified a sub‐network negatively associated with longitudinal changes in the severity of psychotic symptoms. This sub‐network comprised brain areas implicated in bottom‐up sensory processing and in integration with motor control, suggesting it may be related to the demands of the fMRI task. These data suggest that extracting integrated FC networks may be useful in the investigation of biomarkers of psychosis risk