No strings attached: Force and vibrotactile feedback in a virtual guitar simulation

The poster describes a multisensory simulation of plucking guitar strings in virtual reality and a user study evaluating the simulation. Auditory feedback is generated by a physics-based simulation of guitar strings, and haptic feedback is provided by a combination of high fidelity vibrotactile actuators and a Phantom Omni. The study compared four conditions: no haptic feedback, vibrotactile feedback, force feedback, and a combination of force and vibrotactile feedback. The results indicate that the combination of vibrotactile and force feedback elicits the most realistic experience, and during this condition, participants were less likely to inadvertently hit strings. Notably, no significant differences were found between the conditions involving either vibrotactile or force feedback

Metacognitive therapy versus cognitive-behavioural therapy in adults with generalised anxiety disorder

BackgroundCognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) is the treatment of choice for generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), yielding significant improvements in approximately 50% of patients. There is significant room for improvement in the outcomes of treatment, especially in recovery.AimsWe aimed to compare metacognitive therapy (MCT) with the gold standard treatment, CBT, in patients with GAD (clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT00426426).MethodA total of 246 patients with long-term GAD were assessed and 81 were randomised into three conditions: CBT (n = 28), MCT (n = 32) and a wait-list control (n = 21). Assessments were made at pre-treatment, post-treatment and at 2 year follow-up.ResultsBoth CBT and MCT were effective treatments, but MCT was more effective (mean difference 9.762, 95% CI 2.679–16.845, P = 0.004) and led to significantly higher recovery rates (65% v. 38%). These differences were maintained at 2 year follow-up.ConclusionsMCT seems to produce recovery rates that exceed those of CBT. These results demonstrate that the effects of treatment cannot be attributed to non-specific therapy factors.Declaration of interestA.W. wrote the treatment protocol in MCT and several books on CBT and MCT, and receives royalties from these. T.D.B. wrote the protocol in CBT and has published several articles and chapters on CBT and receives royalties from these. All other authors declare no competing interests

Robot rights? Towards a social-relational justification of moral consideration \ud

Should we grant rights to artificially intelligent robots? Most current and near-future robots do not meet the hard criteria set by deontological and utilitarian theory. Virtue ethics can avoid this problem with its indirect approach. However, both direct and indirect arguments for moral consideration rest on ontological features of entities, an approach which incurs several problems. In response to these difficulties, this paper taps into a different conceptual resource in order to be able to grant some degree of moral consideration to some intelligent social robots: it sketches a novel argument for moral consideration based on social relations. It is shown that to further develop this argument we need to revise our existing ontological and social-political frameworks. It is suggested that we need a social ecology, which may be developed by engaging with Western ecology and Eastern worldviews. Although this relational turn raises many difficult issues and requires more work, this paper provides a rough outline of an alternative approach to moral consideration that can assist us in shaping our relations to intelligent robots and, by extension, to all artificial and biological entities that appear to us as more than instruments for our human purpose

Non-pharmacological interventions for adults with autism: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials

To determine the effects of non-pharmacological randomised controlled trials in adults with autism, a systematic review was conducted across five electronic databases. A total of 3865 abstracts were retrieved, of which 41 articles met all inclusion criteria: randomised controlled trial; non-pharmacological intervention; adults with autism; and English publication. Twenty included studies had strong methodological quality ratings. No meta-analysis could be performed due to heterogeneity between studies. Articles reported on interventions for (1) social functioning and language skills, (2) vocational rehabilitation outcomes, (3) cognitive skills training, and (4) independent living skills. Social functioning was the most studied intervention. PEERS for young adults and Project SEARCH plus ASD support interventions had the strongest evidence. Emerging evidence suggests non-pharmacological interventions could be effective.Otorhinolaryngolog

Enhancing the Understanding of Clinically Meaningful Results: A Clinical Research Perspective

Published research often address aspects related to “statistical significance” but fail to address the clinical and practical importance and meaning of results. Our main objectives in this article are to investigate the merit of common measures of Effect Size in statistical research and to highlight the importance of the simple Relative Risk ratio. In this article we present data where we consider two widely utilized effect size measures (Cohen's d and Pearson's r) in relations to relative risk. We conclude that probability analyses of risk surpass the most commonly used statistical approach used in clinical trials today and should thus be the preferred compared to the misuse and misunderstanding of reporting for instance p-values alone.publishedVersio

Metacognitive Therapy Applications in Social Anxiety Disorder: An Exploratory Study of the Individual and Combined Effects of the Attention Training Technique and Situational Attentional Refocusing

Individuals with Social Anxiety Disorder have difficulty disengaging from self-processing in social situations. Metacognitive therapy interventions for enhancing attentional control were administered to a convenience sample of 24 with a Social Anxiety Disorder diagnosis. Using a cross-over design, 11 participants were given four weekly sessions of Attention Training Technique (ATT), followed by four weekly sessions of Situational Attentional Refocusing (SAR). For the other 13 participants the two treatment components were given in the reverse order. All participants made significant reductions on interview rated and self-reported measures of social and general levels of anxiety by the end of the first intervention (either ATT or SAR). Following completion of the second treatment components, further reductions were observed and 46% (n = 11) of the total sample no longer met DSM-IV criteria for Social Anxiety Disorder diagnosis. Two large order effects were found favoring patients receiving SAR interventions first. Overall these brief techniques aimed at increasing attentional flexibility were associated with large and clinically significant changes in Social Anxiety Disorder symptoms. </jats:p

From early markers to neuro-developmental mechanisms of autism

A fast growing field, the study of infants at risk because of having an older sibling with autism (i.e. infant sibs) aims to identify the earliest signs of this disorder, which would allow for earlier diagnosis and intervention. More importantly, we argue, these studies offer the opportunity to validate existing neuro-developmental models of autism against experimental evidence. Although autism is mainly seen as a disorder of social interaction and communication, emerging early markers do not exclusively reflect impairments of the “social brain”. Evidence for atypical development of sensory and attentional systems highlight the need to move away from localized deficits to models suggesting brain-wide involvement in autism pathology. We discuss the implications infant sibs findings have for future work into the biology of autism and the development of interventions

Proteolysis of Human Thrombin Generates Novel Host Defense Peptides

The coagulation system is characterized by the sequential and highly localized activation of a series of serine proteases, culminating in the conversion of fibrinogen into fibrin, and formation of a fibrin clot. Here we show that C-terminal peptides of thrombin, a key enzyme in the coagulation cascade, constitute a novel class of host defense peptides, released upon proteolysis of thrombin in vitro, and detected in human wounds in vivo. Under physiological conditions, these peptides exert antimicrobial effects against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, mediated by membrane lysis, as well as immunomodulatory functions, by inhibiting macrophage responses to bacterial lipopolysaccharide. In mice, they are protective against P. aeruginosa sepsis, as well as lipopolysaccharide-induced shock. Moreover, the thrombin-derived peptides exhibit helical structures upon binding to lipopolysaccharide and can also permeabilize liposomes, features typical of “classical” helical antimicrobial peptides. These findings provide a novel link between the coagulation system and host-defense peptides, two fundamental biological systems activated in response to injury and microbial invasion

Rhyolitic tephra horizons in northwestern Europe and Iceland from the AD 700s-800s: a potential alternative for dating first human impact

The distribution and geochemistry of four rhyolitic tephra horizons from Iceland dated to the ad 700s–800s is assessed. These include the rhyolitic phase of the Landnám tephra (ad 870s), the ad 860 layer, a previously unrecorded tephra called the GA4–85 layer (c. ad 700–800) and the Tjïrnuvík tephra (c. ad 800s). The ad 860 and GA4–85 layers were first found in peat bogs in north Ireland. They are here correlated with equivalent horizons on Iceland which were found below the Landnám tephra (c. ad 870s). This time period is considered important in the North Atlantic region, because it coincides with a phase of human settlement in Iceland and the Faroe Islands. The establishment of a detailed tephrochronology may provide a tool for exact dating of sediment successions and sediments associated with archaeological excavations. Caution must be taken especially on Iceland where the Landnám tephra is often used for dating archaeological sites. This investigation show that several rhyolitic tephra horizons occur close in time to the Landnám tephra, and that mistakes can be made if detailed geochemical analyses are not carried out, especially in areas which are distal to the source of the Landnám tephra (the Veidivötn and Torfajökull volcanic systems, southern Iceland)

End-Tagging of Ultra-Short Antimicrobial Peptides by W/F Stretches to Facilitate Bacterial Killing

BACKGROUND: Due to increasing resistance development among bacteria, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), are receiving increased attention. Ideally, AMP should display high bactericidal potency, but low toxicity against (human) eukaryotic cells. Additionally, short and proteolytically stable AMPs are desired to maximize bioavailability and therapeutic versatility. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A facile approach is demonstrated for reaching high potency of ultra-short antimicrobal peptides through end-tagging with W and F stretches. Focusing on a peptide derived from kininogen, KNKGKKNGKH (KNK10) and truncations thereof, end-tagging resulted in enhanced bactericidal effect against Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus. Through end-tagging, potency and salt resistance could be maintained down to 4-7 amino acids in the hydrophilic template peptide. Although tagging resulted in increased eukaryotic cell permeabilization at low ionic strength, the latter was insignificant at physiological ionic strength and in the presence of serum. Quantitatively, the most potent peptides investigated displayed bactericidal effects comparable to, or in excess of, that of the benchmark antimicrobial peptide LL-37. The higher bactericidal potency of the tagged peptides correlated to a higher degree of binding to bacteria, and resulting bacterial wall rupture. Analogously, tagging enhanced peptide-induced rupture of liposomes, particularly anionic ones. Additionally, end-tagging facilitated binding to bacterial lipopolysaccharide, both effects probably contributing to the selectivity displayed by these peptides between bacteria and eukaryotic cells. Importantly, W-tagging resulted in peptides with maintained stability against proteolytic degradation by human leukocyte elastase, as well as staphylococcal aureolysin and V8 proteinase. The biological relevance of these findings was demonstrated ex vivo for pig skin infected by S. aureus and E. coli. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: End-tagging by hydrophobic amino acid stretches may be employed to enhance bactericidal potency also of ultra-short AMPs at maintained limited toxicity. The approach is of general applicability, and facilitates straightforward synthesis of hydrophobically modified AMPs without the need for post-peptide synthesis modifications