Famous Faces Demand Attention Due to Reduced Inhibitory Processing

People have particular difficulty ignoring distractors that depict faces. This phenomenon has been attributed to the high level of biological significance that faces carry. The current study aimed to elucidate the mechanism by which faces gain processing priority. We used a focused attention paradigm that tracks the influence of a distractor over time and provides a measure of inhibitory processing. Upright famous faces served as test stimuli and inverted versions of the faces as well as upright non-face objects served as control stimuli. The results revealed that although all of the stimuli elicited similar levels of distraction, only inverted distractor faces and non-face objects elicited inhibitory effects. The lack of inhibitory effects for upright famous faces provides novel evidence that reduced inhibitory processing underlies the mandatory nature of face processing

Definition of whole person care in general practice in the English language literature: A systematic review

Objectives: The importance of ‘whole person’ or ‘holistic’ care is widely recognised, particularly with an increasing prevalence of chronic multimorbidity internationally. This approach to care is a defining feature of general practice. However, its precise meaning remains ambiguous. We aimed to determine how the term ‘whole person’ care is understood by general practitioners (GPs), and whether it is synonymous with ‘[w]holistic’ and ‘biopsychosocial’ care. Design: Systematic literature review. Methods: MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Proquest Dissertations and Theses, Science. gov (Health and Medicine database), Google Scholar and included studies’ reference lists were searched with an unlimited date range. Systematic or literature reviews, original research, theoretical articles or books/book chapters; specific to general practice; relevant to the research question; and published in English were included. Included literature was critically appraised, and data were extracted and analysed using thematic synthesis. Results: Fifty publications were included from 4297 non-duplicate records retrieved. Six themes were identified: a multidimensional, integrated approach; the importance of the therapeutic relationship; acknowledging doctors’ humanity; recognising patients’ individual personhood; viewing health as more than absence of disease; and employing a range of treatment modalities. Whole person, biopsychosocial and holistic terminology were often used interchangeably, but were not synonymous. Conclusions: Whole person, holistic and biopsychosocial terminology are primarily characterised by a multidimensional approach to care and incorporate additional elements described above. Whole person care probably represents the closest representation of the basis for general practice. Health systems aiming to provide whole person care need to address the challenge of integrating the care of other health professionals, and maintaining the patient–doctor relationship central to the themes identified. Further research is required to clarify the representativeness of the findings, and the relative importance GPs’ assign to each theme. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42017058824

A Longitudinal Examination of Father Involvement and its Effects on the Social, Emotional and Economic Outcomes of Adult Offspring

The current study aimed to examine how early childhood intervention moderates the effect of father involvement on the long term social, emotional and economic outcomes of participants in the Abecedarian Project. Treatment was expected to buffer against the negative effect of low father involvement. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the interaction between Abecedarian treatment status and father involvement (through childhood and adolescence), and their effect on five outcome measures of participants at age 30: adaptive functioning, problem behaviors, education attainment, job prestige and income-to-needs ratio. The results indicated that the interaction between early childhood intervention and father involvement did not predict any of the social, emotion or economic outcomes of participants. No relationships were observed between treatment status, father involvement and any of the outcomes measures. Continued research is needed to determine whether early childhood intervention may provide additional social supports for children and families experiencing limited father involvement

Mobile phone games: understanding the user experience

Mobile gaming is viewed by the mobile communication industry as one of the ‘killer applications’ for future mobile services. Fuelled by the success of games such as Nokia’s Snake and the continuing popularity of online and console gaming, the drive is to develop ever more sophisticated and engaging gaming experiences for mobile users. However the current mobile gaming experience in terms of graphics, interaction mode and content more closely resembles that presented by personal computer games of 20 years ago than anything evoked by today’s console based offerings. Despite such limitations the appeal of mobile games continues to grow. Market research conducted by Nokia estimates that 85% of people with the game ‘Space Impact’ on their phones have tried it out and 45% play it everyday (Robens, 2001). Mobile gaming research has predominantly focused on the “mobility of gaming” (Kuivakari 2001). Such research seeks to exploit the entertainment potential of ubiquitous technologies and augmented reality, making both the proximity of others and the mobile environment itself part of the gaming experience. (See for example Bjork et al (2001), Brunnberg (2002). The research reported here aims to provide insight into what motivates people to play existing mobile phone games, despite their limitations, and seeks to identify elements of the current mobile gaming experience that should be preserved within future games. The continuing convergence of computer, consumer and communications technologies within mobile devices is raising many unknowns about how users will perceive these devices and therefore how best to design appropriate form structures and user interfaces (Sacher and Loudon 2002). This research examines the existing convergence of game playing and telephony within the mobile phone and provides early indications of how people may approach future converged devices

Mobile phone games: understanding the user experience

Mobile gaming is viewed by the mobile communication industry as one of the ‘killer applications’ for future mobile services. Fuelled by the success of games such as Nokia’s Snake and the continuing popularity of online and console gaming, the drive is to develop ever more sophisticated and engaging gaming experiences for mobile users. However the current mobile gaming experience in terms of graphics, interaction mode and content more closely resembles that presented by personal computer games of 20 years ago than anything evoked by today’s console based offerings. Despite such limitations the appeal of mobile games continues to grow. Market research conducted by Nokia estimates that 85% of people with the game ‘Space Impact’ on their phones have tried it out and 45% play it everyday (Robens, 2001). Mobile gaming research has predominantly focused on the “mobility of gaming” (Kuivakari 2001). Such research seeks to exploit the entertainment potential of ubiquitous technologies and augmented reality, making both the proximity of others and the mobile environment itself part of the gaming experience. (See for example Bjork et al (2001), Brunnberg (2002). The research reported here aims to provide insight into what motivates people to play existing mobile phone games, despite their limitations, and seeks to identify elements of the current mobile gaming experience that should be preserved within future games. The continuing convergence of computer, consumer and communications technologies within mobile devices is raising many unknowns about how users will perceive these devices and therefore how best to design appropriate form structures and user interfaces (Sacher and Loudon 2002). This research examines the existing convergence of game playing and telephony within the mobile phone and provides early indications of how people may approach future converged devices

The Use of Functional Traits to Identify Grasses and Fodder Shrubs for Domestication to Suit a Changing Climate

There is uncertainty about future climatic predictions; however there is little doubt amongst experts that the future will be warmer. Climate change and the associated elevation in atmospheric CO2 level and temperatures will provide novel challenges and potential opportunities for cultivated plant species. Plant breeding and domestication can contributed to improvements in both yield and quality of grasses and fodder shrubs. A range of key functional traits is required to cope with this changing climate. The main challenges that are discussed are new pests and pathogens; changes in the pattern of nutrient supply and forage quality; challenge associated with a shorter growing season; drought tolerance and persistence. With the domestication of any species, consideration needs to be given in terms of duty of care (weediness, anti-nutritional/toxic to animals, regulations) and the on farm adoption of new selections. Two case studies have been included in the paper, one on native grasses and the other on native shrub, old man saltbush

We name the 26 Australian frogs at greatest risk of extinction by 2040 — and how to save them

Australia is home to more than 240 frog species, most of which occur nowhere else. Unfortunately, some frogs are beyond help, with four Australian species officially listed as extinct. This includes two remarkable species of gastric-brooding frog. To reproduce, gastric-brooding frogs swallowed their fertilised eggs, and later regurgitated tiny baby frogs. Their reproduction was unique in the animal kingdom, and now they are gone. Our new study published today, identified the 26 Australian frogs at greatest risk, the likelihood of their extinctions by 2040 and the steps needed to save them

Interrater reliability of directly-observed stepping and reclining in lower limb amputees in a laboratory setting

Introduction: Accurate measurement of physical behaviours in adults with lower limb absence is essential to report true patterns of physical behaviour and the effectiveness of interventions. Observation methods are often used for criterion-related validation. Establishing interrater reliability within direct observation methods is an important and necessary precursor to criterion-related validitystudies. Purpose: To assess the interrater reliability for quantifying steps and reclining time in simulated lifestyle activities in adults with unilateral lower limb absence. Methods: 15 adults completed three trials of a simulated set of lifestyle activities including kitchen work, sitting and lying and purposefulwalking. Trials were video recorded and subsequently analysed independently by three trained raters for three types of behavioural event (incidental stepping, purposeful stepping and reclining). Data were analysed using oneway intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and oneway repeated measures ANOVAand effect sizes (Cohen's d). Results: Reliability was high for the reliability of three raters (ICCs ranged from .98-1.00 for the three types of physical behaviours), and also when adjusted for a single rater (ICCsranged from .93-.99). Although there were significant (p < .05) mean differences among raters for incidental steps, total steps, and reclining time, these corresponded to small effect sizes (d = 0.08-0.29).Conclusions: Trained raters are able to consistently judge brief, incidental stepping and more prolonged stepping events as well as sitting and lying events performed by adults with unilateral lower limb absence in controlled laboratory simulations. Multiple raters are not needed in order to obtain reliable data. These data can be used to obtain a reliable record of physical behaviours for criterion-related validation of other measures such as accelerometers

Reliability and validity of the activPAL for measuring stepping and reclining in unilateral lower limb amputees

Introduction: Valid, reliable measurement of physical behaviours in adults with limb absence is essential to accurately describe physical behaviour patterns and intervention effects. Purpose: To assess parallel forms reliability and criterion-related validity of the activPAL for measuring steps and reclining time in simulated lifestyle activities in adults with unilateral lower limb absence. Methods: 15 adults completed three circuits of simulated kitchen work, sitting, lying and purposeful walking on level ground and stairs. Three trained raters independently analysed video recorded trials for incidental stepping, purposeful stepping and reclining. Simultaneous data were obtained from two activPAL monitors placed on the sound and prosthetic side. Data were analysed using oneway intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC; parallel forms reliability), and with Pearson correlations, oneway repeated ANOVAs, and Cohen's d (criterion-related validity). Results: Parallel forms reliability (prosthetic side vs. sound side) was poor for incidental steps (ICC = .05, d = 0.41) but acceptable for all other measures (ICC = .69-.98; d = 0.02-0.17). Correlations between direct observation and activPAL ranged from r = .65-.98 (activPAL on sound side) and from r = .30-.99 (activPAL on prosthetic side). Mean differences between observed measures and activPAL measures were generally large for all stepping variables (d = 0.56-4.22); observed mean scores were systematically higher than from the activPAL. Correlations were higher for reclining time (r = .98- .99), and differences were smaller (d = 0.25-0.28), although the pattern was similar (observed scores were higher). Conclusions: activPAL data from the sound side and prosthetic side are similar for adults with unilateral lower limb absence. Validity of the activPAL in this population seems poor in simulated lifestyle activities. These results may be at least partly due to the brief sampling period or the simulated activity protocol