303 research outputs found
Using Sound to Help Visually Impaired Children Play Independently
Play is important in the early development of young
children, as it encourages them to explore the world,
develop skills and learn to socialise with their peers.
Blind and visually impaired children face challenges that
can stop them becoming involved in play activities at
nursery and school, leading to dependence on adults
and reducing the benefit of playtime. We are exploring
the use of an audio bracelet for young children, which
uses sound to help them overcome these challenges
through better awareness of their surroundings. We
describe the design and prototyping of our system and
present scenarios which demonstrate its use
The ‘Galilean Style in Science’ and the Inconsistency of Linguistic Theorising
Chomsky’s principle of epistemological tolerance says that in theoretical linguistics contradictions between the data and the hypotheses may be temporarily tolerated in order to protect the explanatory power of the theory. The paper raises the following problem: What kinds of contradictions may be tolerated between the data and the hypotheses in theoretical linguistics? First a model of paraconsistent logic is introduced which differentiates between week and strong contradiction. As a second step, a case study is carried out which exemplifies that the principle of epistemological tolerance may be interpreted as the tolerance of week contradiction. The third step of the argumentation focuses on another case study which exemplifies that the principle of epistemological tolerance must not be interpreted as the tolerance of strong contradiction. The reason for the latter insight is the unreliability and the uncertainty of introspective data. From this finding the author draws the conclusion that it is the integration of different data types that may lead to the improvement of current theoretical linguistics and that the integration of different data types requires a novel methodology which, for the time being, is not available
The ‘Galilean Style in Science’ and the Inconsistency of Linguistic Theorising
Chomsky’s principle of epistemological tolerance says that in theoretical linguistics contradictions between the data and the hypotheses may be temporarily tolerated in order to protect the explanatory power of the theory. The paper raises the following problem: What kinds of contradictions may be tolerated between the data and the hypotheses in theoretical linguistics? First a model of paraconsistent logic is introduced which differentiates between week and strong contradiction. As a second step, a case study is carried out which exemplifies that the principle of epistemological tolerance may be interpreted as the tolerance of week contradiction. The third step of the argumentation focuses on another case study which exemplifies that the principle of epistemological tolerance must not be interpreted as the tolerance of strong contradiction. The reason for the latter insight is the unreliability and the uncertainty of introspective data. From this finding the author draws the conclusion that it is the integration of different data types that may lead to the improvement of current theoretical linguistics and that the integration of different data types requires a novel methodology which, for the time being, is not available
Zero-inflated regression models for radiation-induced chromosome aberration data: A comparative study
Within the field of cytogenetic biodosimetry, Poisson regression is the classical approach for modeling the number of chromosome aberrations as a function of radiation dose. However, it is common to find data that exhibit overdispersion. In practice, the assumption of equidispersion may be violated due to unobserved heterogeneity in the cell population, which will render the variance of observed aberration counts larger than their mean, and/or the frequency of zero counts greater than expected for the Poisson distribution. This phenomenon is observable for both full- and partial-body exposure, but more pronounced for the latter. In this work, different methodologies for analyzing cytogenetic chromosomal aberrations datasets are compared, with special focus on zero-inflated Poisson and zero-inflated negative binomial models. A score test for testing for zero inflation in Poisson regression models under the identity link is also developed
Cognitive and motivational monitoring during enriched sport activities in a sample of children living in Europe. The ESA program
Enriched Sport Activities (ESA) Program is an Evidence-based Practice Exercise Program cofounded
by the Erasmus + Programme of the European Union (Key action: Sport-579661-EPP-1-2016-2-IT-SPO-SCP).
It aims to enhance social inclusion, equal opportunities and psycho-physical wellbeing in children with
typical development and special needs. This aim will be pursued through two ways: (1) Children and
preadolescents’ participation in Enriched Sport Activities (ESA) Program; (2) Parents’ involvement and
education on cognitive, motivational and social benefits of Physical Activities (PA) in their children.
Recent research showed that high-level cognitive processes, such as inhibition, shifting, working
memory and planning, can be improved by aerobic exercise programs following both single bouts
of exercise and longer trainings from moderate to vigorous intensity [1]. Nevertheless, in the
developmental age, structured sport activities, such as martial arts, basketball, soccer, rowing and
dancing, act by delivering both physical and psychological benefits. The former involve physical
fitness such as cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and motor
skills such as coordination, whilst the latter concern enjoyment, self-confidence and self-esteem, a sense
of belonging and social support [2–4]. The effectiveness of PMA (Programma Motorio Arricchito),
a structured motor program on coordination and executive functioning in kindergarten children,
has been demonstrated [5]
Genetic Architecture of Plasma Adiponectin Overlaps With the Genetics of Metabolic Syndrome–Related Traits
OBJECTIVE - Adiponectin, a hormone secreted by adipose tissue, is of particular interest in metabolic syndrome, because it is inversely correlated with obesity and insulin sensitivity. However, it is not known to what extent the genetics of plasma adiponectin and the genetics of obesity and insulin sensitivity are interrelated. We aimed to evaluate the heritability of plasma adiponectin and its genetic correlation with the metabolic syndrome and metabolic syndrome-related traits and the association between these traits and 10 ADIPOQ single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - We made use of a family-based population, the Erasmus Rucphen Family study (1,258 women and 967 men). Heritability analysis was performed using a polygenic model. Genetic correlations were estimated using bivariate heritability analyses. Genetic association analysis was performed using a mixed model. RESULTS - Plasma adiponectin showed a heritability of 55.1%. Genetic correlations between plasma adiponectin HDL cholesterol and plasma insulin ranged from 15 to 24% but were not significant for fasting glucose, triglycerides, blood pressure, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and C-reactive protein. A significant association with plasma adiponectin was found for ADIPOQ variants rs17300539 and rs182052. A nominally significant association was found with plasma insulin and HOMA-IR and ADIPOQ variant rs17300539 after adjustment for plasma adiponectin. CONCLUSIONS - The significant genetic correlation between plasma adiponectin and HDL cholesterol and plasma insulin should be taken into account in the interpretation of genome-wide association studies. Association of ADIPOQ SNPs with plasma adiponectin was replicated, and we showed association between one ADIPOQ SNP and plasma insulin and HOMA-IR
Electromyographic Activity of Hand Muscles in a Motor Coordination Game: Effect of Incentive Scheme and Its Relation with Social Capital
Background.
A vast body of social and cognitive psychology studies in humans reports evidence that external rewards, typically monetary ones, undermine intrinsic motivation. These findings challenge the standard selfish-rationality assumption at the core of economic reasoning. In the present work we aimed at investigating whether the different modulation of a given monetary reward automatically and unconsciously affects effort and performance of participants involved in a game devoid of visual and verbal interaction and without any perspective-taking activity.
Methodology/Principal Findings
Twelve pairs of participants were submitted to a simple motor coordination game while recording the electromyographic activity of First Dorsal Interosseus (FDI), the muscle mainly involved in the task. EMG data show a clear effect of alternative rewards strategies on subjects' motor behavior. Moreover, participants' stock of relevant past social experiences, measured by a specifically designed questionnaire, was significantly correlated with EMG activity, showing that only low social capital subjects responded to monetary incentives consistently with a standard rationality prediction.
Conclusions/Significance
Our findings show that the effect of extrinsic motivations on performance may arise outside social contexts involving complex cognitive processes due to conscious perspective-taking activity. More importantly, the peculiar performance of low social capital individuals, in agreement with standard economic reasoning, adds to the knowledge of the circumstances that makes the crowding out/in of intrinsic motivation likely to occur. This may help in improving the prediction and accuracy of economic models and reconcile this puzzling effect of external incentives with economic theory
A full Bayesian hierarchical mixture model for the variance of gene differential expression
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In many laboratory-based high throughput microarray experiments, there are very few replicates of gene expression levels. Thus, estimates of gene variances are inaccurate. Visual inspection of graphical summaries of these data usually reveals that heteroscedasticity is present, and the standard approach to address this is to take a log<sub>2 </sub>transformation. In such circumstances, it is then common to assume that gene variability is constant when an analysis of these data is undertaken. However, this is perhaps too stringent an assumption. More careful inspection reveals that the simple log<sub>2 </sub>transformation does not remove the problem of heteroscedasticity. An alternative strategy is to assume independent gene-specific variances; although again this is problematic as variance estimates based on few replications are highly unstable. More meaningful and reliable comparisons of gene expression might be achieved, for different conditions or different tissue samples, where the test statistics are based on accurate estimates of gene variability; a crucial step in the identification of differentially expressed genes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We propose a Bayesian mixture model, which classifies genes according to similarity in their variance. The result is that genes in the same latent class share the similar variance, estimated from a larger number of replicates than purely those per gene, i.e. the total of all replicates of all genes in the same latent class. An example dataset, consisting of 9216 genes with four replicates per condition, resulted in four latent classes based on their similarity of the variance.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The mixture variance model provides a realistic and flexible estimate for the variance of gene expression data under limited replicates. We believe that in using the latent class variances, estimated from a larger number of genes in each derived latent group, the <it>p</it>-values obtained are more robust than either using a constant gene or gene-specific variance estimate.</p
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