151 research outputs found

    Author Correction: A Model of the Cosmos in the ancient Greek Antikythera Mechanism (Scientific Reports, (2021), 11, 1, (5821), 10.1038/s41598-021-84310-w)

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    Correction to: Scientific Reports https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84310-w, published online 12 March 202

    Sensitivity to social agency in autistic adults

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    The presence of other people, whether real or implied, can have a profound impact on our behaviour. However, it is argued that autistic individuals show decreased interest in social phenomena, which leads to an absence of these effects. In this study, the agency of a cue was manipulated such that the cue was either described as representing a computer program or the eye movements of another participant. Both neurotypical and autistic participants demonstrated a social facilitation effect and were significantly more accurate on a prediction task when they believed the cue represented another participant. This demonstrates that whilst autistic adults may show difficulties in interpreting social behaviour this does not necessarily arise from a lack of sensitivity to social agency

    An interprofessional training course in crises and human factors for perioperative teams

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    A fixed version of a journal article has been made available by Taylor & Francis, a publisher by formally and exclusively declaring the article ‘published' @ https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13561820.2016.1185096Herbert Frederick Day Awar

    Real-world experience of secukinumab treatment for ankylosing spondylitis at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Bath

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    We reviewed our experience of treating ankylosing spondylitis patients with the IL-17 inhibitor secukinumab at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Bath. A total of 76 patients were included, of whom secukinumab was the first-line biologic drug used in 24, second line in 23, and third line in 29 patients, respectively. Only 5 patients discontinued the drug due to side effects before their first outpatient review, including 1 new case of inflammatory bowel disease. Significant improvements were seen in all disease outcome measures in patients receiving secukinumab as their first-line biologic agent, with a trend to improved mean BASDAI and BASFI even in patients receiving it as a second- or third-line biologic agent. This real-world analysis adds to the evidence recommending secukinumab as a largely safe and effective treatment for ankylosing spondylitis

    What Affects Social Attention? Social Presence, Eye Contact and Autistic Traits

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    Social understanding is facilitated by effectively attending to other people and the subtle social cues they generate. In order to more fully appreciate the nature of social attention and what drives people to attend to social aspects of the world, one must investigate the factors that influence social attention. This is especially important when attempting to create models of disordered social attention, e.g. a model of social attention in autism. Here we analysed participants' viewing behaviour during one-to-one social interactions with an experimenter. Interactions were conducted either live or via video (social presence manipulation). The participant was asked and then required to answer questions. Experimenter eye-contact was either direct or averted. Additionally, the influence of participant self-reported autistic traits was also investigated. We found that regardless of whether the interaction was conducted live or via a video, participants frequently looked at the experimenter's face, and they did this more often when being asked a question than when answering. Critical differences in social attention between the live and video interactions were also observed. Modifications of experimenter eye contact influenced participants' eye movements in the live interaction only; and increased autistic traits were associated with less looking at the experimenter for video interactions only. We conclude that analysing patterns of eye-movements in response to strictly controlled video stimuli and natural real-world stimuli furthers the field's understanding of the factors that influence social attention

    Improved X-ray computed tomography reconstruction of the largest fragment of the Antikythera Mechanism, an ancient Greek astronomical calculator

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    The Antikythera Mechanism is an extraordinarily complex ancient Greek astronomical calculating device whose mode of operation is now relatively well understood particularly since imaging studies in 2005 revealed gears and inscriptions which were previously illegible. Unfortunately, the highest resolution X-ray computed tomography image of the largest fragment had some errors which meant that the reconstructed images were not as clear as had been expected. Here, the original X-ray data have been reanalysed and reconstructed. The new X-ray computed tomography images have improved contrast and resolution, leading to better clarity and legibility. The improvement in image quality is characterised and some examples of writing on the Mechanism which can now be read with increased confidence are given

    Will opposites attract? Similarities and differences in students' perceptions of the stereotype profiles of other health and social care professional groups

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    The extent to which health and social care (HSC) students hold stereotypical views of other HSC professional groups is of great potential importance to team working in health care. This paper explores students' perceptions of different HSC professional groups at the beginning of their university programmes. Findings are presented from an analysis of baseline data collected as part of the New Generation Project longitudinal cohort study which is assessing the impact of interprofessional education over time on a range of variables including stereotyping. Questionnaires were administered to a cohort of over 1200 students from 10 different HSC professional groups entering their first year of university. Stereotypes were measured using a tool adapted from Barnes et al. (2000) designed to elicit stereotype ratings on a range of nine characteristics. The findings confirm that students arrive at university with an established and consistent set of stereotypes about other health and social care professional groups. Stereotypical profiles were compiled for each professional group indicating the distinctive characteristics of the groups as well as the similarities and differences between groups. Midwives, social workers and nurses were rated most highly on interpersonal skills and on being a team player whilst doctors were rated most highly on academic ability. Doctors, midwives and social workers were perceived as having the strongest leadership role, whilst doctors were also rated most highly on decision making. All professions were rated highly on confidence and professional competence and, with the exception of social workers, on practical skills. A comparison of profiles for each professional group reveals that, for example, pharmacists and doctors were perceived as having very similar characteristics as were social workers, midwives and nurses. However, the profiles of nurses and doctors were perceived to be very different. The implications of these similarities and differences are discussed in terms of their potential impact on interprofessional interactions, role boundaries and team working

    Enhanced Reactivity of Lithium and Copper at High Pressure

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    High pressure can profoundly affect the electronic structure and reactivity, creating compounds between elements that do not react at ambient conditions. Lithium is known to react with gold and silver; however, no copper compounds are known to date. By compressing mixtures of the elements in diamond-anvil cells, compounds of lithium and copper have been synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction for the first time. Pressures as low as 1 GPa lead to the formation of a complex layered phase LiCu, displaying two-dimensional kagomé lattice layers of Cu atoms. With increasing pressure, the layered Cu–Cu bonding is replaced by linear chains of Cu atoms in the high-pressure phase Li2_2Cu. Here we show the powerful effects of even modest pressures on the reactivity of lithium, leading to structures of remarkable complexity and low-dimensional transition metal bonding

    Speaking and Listening with the Eyes: Gaze Signaling during Dyadic Interactions

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    Cognitive scientists have long been interested in the role that eye gaze plays in social interactions. Previous research suggests that gaze acts as a signaling mechanism and can be used to control turn-taking behaviour. However, early research on this topic employed methods of analysis that aggregated gaze information across an entire trial (or trials), which masks any temporal dynamics that may exist in social interactions. More recently, attempts have been made to understand the temporal characteristics of social gaze but little research has been conducted in a natural setting with two interacting participants. The present study combines a temporally sensitive analysis technique with modern eye tracking technology to 1) validate the overall results from earlier aggregated analyses and 2) provide insight into the specific moment-to-moment temporal characteristics of turn-taking behaviour in a natural setting. Dyads played two social guessing games (20 Questions and Heads Up) while their eyes were tracked. Our general results are in line with past aggregated data, and using cross-correlational analysis on the specific gaze and speech signals of both participants we found that 1) speakers end their turn with direct gaze at the listener and 2) the listener in turn begins to speak with averted gaze. Convergent with theoretical models of social interaction, our data suggest that eye gaze can be used to signal both the end and the beginning of a speaking turn during a social interaction. The present study offers insight into the temporal dynamics of live dyadic interactions and also provides a new method of analysis for eye gaze data when temporal relationships are of interest
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