Analytic and heuristic processing in the development of statistical reasoning in children

grantor: University of TorontoA reasoning task that pitted analytic processing against heuristic processing was utilized to examine the development of statistical reasoning abilities in students from grades 5, 6, and 8. Performance on the task was compared with age, cognitive capacity, and thinking dispositions to determine if any of these three factors were correlated with reasoning ability. Multiple regression analyses were used to determine if any of the three factors predicted unique variance in statistical reasoning. The results showed that cognitive capacity and the "need for cognition" thinking disposition were unique predictors of statistical reasoning performance. However, no relationship with age was found.M.A

Analytic and heuristic processing in the development of statistical reasoning in children

grantor: University of TorontoA reasoning task that pitted analytic processing against heuristic processing was utilized to examine the development of statistical reasoning abilities in students from grades 5, 6, and 8. Performance on the task was compared with age, cognitive capacity, and thinking dispositions to determine if any of these three factors were correlated with reasoning ability. Multiple regression analyses were used to determine if any of the three factors predicted unique variance in statistical reasoning. The results showed that cognitive capacity and the "need for cognition" thinking disposition were unique predictors of statistical reasoning performance. However, no relationship with age was found.M.A

Dataset associated with "Design of a Split Ring Resonator Integrated with On-Chip Terahertz Waveguides for Colon Cancer Detection"

The results on 'Design of a Split Ring Resonator Integrated with On-Chip Terahertz Waveguides for Colon Cancer Detection

Promoting the use of recycled plastics:a taxing issue

Plastics have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. From food packaging to advanced medical applications, life in the 21st century would not be the same without them. The exponential increase in the production and use of plastics does, however, have significant negative environmental impacts that range from emissions and other pollution associated with the production of plastic, through to the impacts of improper disposal and direct leakage on the environment. The plastic packaging tax (PPT) was introduced in the UK in 2022, with the aim of providing a clear incentive for businesses to enhance a circular plastics economy by using recycled materials in production processes, as well as to motivate businesses to consider climate impact at every stage of the product lifecycle. This paper exposes some of challenges associated with the application of the PPT while proposing several policy options as to how to best address these challenges

Brain imaging of acupuncture: comparing superficial with deep needling

The difference between superficial and deep needling at acupuncture points has yet to be mapped with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Using a 3 T MRI, echo planar imaging data were acquired for 17 right-handed healthy volunteer participants. Two fMRI scans of acupuncture needling were taken in random order in a block design, one for superficial and one for deep needling on the right hand at the acupuncture point LI-4 (Hegu), with the participant blind to the order. For both scans needle stimulation was used. Brain image analysis tools were used to explore within-group and between-group differences in the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) responses. The study demonstrated marked similarities in BOLD signal responses between superficial and deep needling, with no significant differences in either activations (increases in BOLD signal) or deactivations (decreases in BOLD signal) above the voxel Z score of 2.3 with corrected cluster significance of P = 0.05. For both types of needling, deactivations predominatid over activations. These fMRI data suggest that acupuncture needle stimulation at two different depths of needling, superficial and deep, do not elicit significantly different BOLD responses. This data is consistent with the equivalent therapeutic outcomes that are claimed by proponents of Japanese and Chinese styles of acupuncture that utilise superficial and deep needling, respectively

Oscillatory neuronal dynamics associated with manual acupuncture: a magnetoencephalography study using beamforming analysis

Magnetoencephalography(MEG) enables non-invasive recording of neuronal activity, with reconstruction methods providing estimates of underlying brain source locations and oscillatory dynamics from externally recorded neuromagetic fields. The aim of our study was to use MEG to determine the effect of manual acupuncture on neuronal oscillatory dynamics. A major problem in MEG investigations of manual acupuncture is the absence of onset times for each needle manipulation. Given that beam forming (spatialfiltering) analysisis not dependent upon stimulus-driven responses being phase locked to stimulus onset, we postulated that beamforming could reveal source locations and induced changes in neuronal activity during manual acupuncture. In a beamformer analysis, a two-minute period of manual acupuncture needle manipulation delivered to the ipsilateral right LI-4(Hegu) acupoint was contrasted with a two-minute baseline period. We considered oscillatory power changes in the theta(4–8Hz), alpha(8–13Hz), beta(13–30Hz), and gamma(30–100Hz) frequency bands. We found significant decreases in beta band power in the contralateral primary somatosensory cortexand superior frontal gyrus(SFG).In the ipsilateral cerebral hemisphere, we found significant power decreases in beta and gamma frequency bands in only the SFG. No significant power modulations were found in theta and alpha bands. Our results indicate that beam forming is a useful analytical tool to reconstruct underlying neuronal activity associated with manual acupuncture. Our main finding was of beta power decreases in primary somatosensory cortex and SFG, which opens up a line of future investigation regarding whether this contributes toward an underlying mechanism of acupuncture

Oscillatory neuronal dynamics associated with manual acupuncture: a magnetoencephalography study using beamforming analysis

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) enables non-invasive recording of neuronal activity, with reconstruction methods providing estimates of underlying brain source locations and oscillatory dynamics from externally recorded neuromagnetic fields. The aim of our study was to use MEG to determine the effect of manual acupuncture on neuronal oscillatory dynamics. A major problem in MEG investigations of manual acupuncture is the absence of onset times for each needle manipulation. Given that beamforming (spatial filtering) analysis is not dependent upon stimulus-driven responses being phase-locked to stimulus onset, we postulated that beamforming could reveal source locations and induced changes in neuronal activity during manual acupuncture. In a beamformer analysis, a two-minute period of manual acupuncture needle manipulation delivered to the ipsilateral right LI-4 (Hegu) acupoint was contrasted with a two-minute baseline period. We considered oscillatory power changes in the theta (4-8Hz), alpha (8-13Hz), beta (13-30Hz) and gamma (30-100Hz) frequency bands. We found significant decreases in beta band power in the contralateral primary somatosensory cortex and superior frontal gyrus. In the ipsilateral cerebral hemisphere, we found significant power decreases in beta and gamma frequency bands in only the superior frontal gyrus. No significant power modulations were found in theta and alpha bands. Our results indicate that beamforming is a useful analytical tool to reconstruct underlying neuronal activity associated with manual acupuncture. Our main finding was of beta power decreases in primary somatosensory cortex and superior frontal gyrus, which opens up a line of future investigation regarding whether this contributes towards an underlying mechanism of acupuncture