Long Timescale fMRI Neuronal Adaptation Effects in Human Amblyopic Cortex

An investigation of long timescale (5 minutes) fMRI neuronal adaptation effects, based on retinotopic mapping and spatial frequency stimuli, is presented in this paper. A hierarchical linear model was developed to quantify the adaptation effects in the visual cortex. The analysis of data involved studying the retinotopic mapping and spatial frequency adaptation effects in the amblyopic cortex. Our results suggest that, firstly, there are many cortical regions, including V1, where neuronal adaptation effects are reduced in the cortex in response to amblyopic eye stimulation. Secondly, our results show the regional contribution is different, and it seems to start from V1 and spread to the extracortex regions. Thirdly, our results show that there is greater adaptation to broadband retinotopic mapping as opposed to narrowband spatial frequency stimulation of the amblyopic eye, and we find significant correlation between fMRI response and the magnitude of the adaptation effect, suggesting that the reduced adaptation may be a consequence of the reduced response to different stimuli reported for amblyopic eyes

A comparison of user testing and heuristic evaluation methods for identifying website usability problems

This study compared the effectiveness and efficiency of two usability testing methods, user testing and heuristic evaluation. Thirty two participants took part in the study, sixteen for each of the two methods. Four measures were used to compare their performance: number of problems identified, severity of problems, type of problems and time taken to find problems. It was found that heuristic evaluation found nearly 5 times more individual problems than user testing, so could be seen as more effective. However, user testing found on average slightly more severe problems and took less time to complete than heuristic evaluation. Heuristic evaluation had a faster problem identification rate (number of seconds per problem found), so could also be seen as more efficient. While each method had advantages in the test both methods are seen as complementary to each other in practice

Reader technique as a source of variability in determining malaria parasite density by microscopy

BACKGROUND: Accurate identification and quantification of malaria parasites are critical for measuring clinical trial outcomes. Positive and negative diagnosis is usually sufficient for the assessment of therapeutic outcome, but vaccine or prophylactic drug trials require measuring density of infection as a primary endpoint. Microscopy is the most established and widely-used technique for quantifying parasite densities in the blood. METHODS: Results obtained by 24–27 expert malaria microscopists, who had independently read 895 slides from 35 donors, were analysed to understand how reader technique contributes to discrepancy in measurements of parasite density over a wide range of densities. RESULTS: Among these 35 donations, standard deviations ranged from 30% to 250% of the mean parasite density and the percent discrepancy was inversely correlated with the mean parasite density. The number of white blood cells indexed and whether parasites were counted in the thick film or thin film were shown to significantly contribute to discrepancy amongst microscopists. CONCLUSION: Errors in microscopy measurements are not widely appreciated or addressed but have serious consequences for efficacy trials, including possibly abandoning promising vaccine candidates

Pengaruh Harga Terhadap Peningkatan Penjualan Produk Semen Tiga Roda Pada PT. Robcaga Beo Kabupaten Kepulauan Talaud

The development in business world these days is market by the competition between the business company is getting fierce. Especially in managing the company business unit. It is shown by the appearance of a company that offer a good quality product with a compete price on the market. To handle the fierce competition on the market then one from so many effort that the company do is by apply the strategic price. Which on the way of applying that strategi the company try to set a price that can be compete in the market so the increase sale of the product become maximum. With right price and controlled will result the domino effect to a company to build long term relationship with costumer so it can increase the sales volume. This research is a descriptive quantitative research by using the correlation approach and simple regression. To see relation between variable and to measure the impact to the variable itself. So the purpose of this research is to know how far the price effect and to the increase of PT. ROBCAGA in Talaud. According to the sesult of the research, can be shown as following: price has a correlation and significant determination effort to the increase sale of PT. ROBCAGA Talaud. According to the data analysis, coefficient value moment r = 0,685. That show there is a positive relation, and can be categorize as high and strong, also price coefficient determination to the increase sale is by 46,5% and 53,5% by the rest of it depends on the unknown factors that not been analyze in this research

Role of China in the Quest to Define and Control Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

China holds the key to solving many questions crucial to global control of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The disease appears to have originated in Guangdong Province, and the causative agent, SARS coronavirus, is likely to have originated from an animal host, perhaps sold in public markets. Epidemiologic findings, integral to defining an animal-human linkage, may then be confirmed by laboratory studies; once animal host(s) are confirmed, interventions may be needed to prevent further animal-to-human transmission. Community seroprevalence studies may help determine the basis for the decline in disease incidence in Guangdong Province after February 2002. China will also be able to contribute key data about how the causative agent is transmitted and how it is evolving, as well as identifying pivotal factors influencing disease outcome. There must be support for systematically addressing these fundamental questions in China and rapidly disseminating results

Mindfulness-based interventions in epilepsy: a systematic review

Mindfulness based interventions (MBIs) are increasingly used to help patients cope with physical and mental long-term conditions (LTCs). Epilepsy is associated with a range of mental and physical comorbidities that have a detrimental effect on quality of life (QOL), but it is not clear whether MBIs can help. We systematically reviewed the literature to determine the effectiveness of MBIs in people with epilepsy. Medline, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, CINAHL, Allied and Complimentary Medicine Database, and PsychInfo were searched in March 2016. These databases were searched using a combination of subject headings where available and keywords in the title and abstracts. We also searched the reference lists of related reviews. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration risk of bias tool. Three randomised controlled trials (RCTs) with a total of 231 participants were included. The interventions were tested in the USA (n = 171) and China (Hong Kong) (n = 60). Significant improvements were reported in depression symptoms, quality of life, anxiety, and depression knowledge and skills. Two of the included studies were assessed as being at unclear/high risk of bias - with randomisation and allocation procedures, as well as adverse events and reasons for drop-outs poorly reported. There was no reporting on intervention costs/benefits or how they affected health service utilisation. This systematic review found limited evidence for the effectiveness of MBIs in epilepsy, however preliminary evidence suggests it may lead to some improvement in anxiety, depression and quality of life. Further trials with larger sample sizes, active control groups and longer follow-ups are needed before the evidence for MBIs in epilepsy can be conclusively determined

Upper limits for undetected trace species in the stratosphere of Titan

In this paper we describe a first quantitative search for several molecules in Titan's stratosphere in Cassini CIRS infrared spectra. These are: ammonia (NH3), methanol (CH3OH), formaldehyde (H2CO), and acetonitrile (CH3CN), all of which are predicted by photochemical models but only the last of which observed, and not in the infrared. We find non-detections in all cases, but derive upper limits on the abundances from low-noise observations at 25{\deg}S and 75{\deg}N. Comparing these constraints to model predictions, we conclude that CIRS is highly unlikely to see NH3 or CH3OH emissions. However, CH3CN and H2CO are closer to CIRS detectability, and we suggest ways in which the sensitivity threshold may be lowered towards this goal.Comment: 11 pages plus 6 figure file