Visual Attention in Stroke Patients Returning to Driving

The UK along with many European countries lacks a standardised test to objectively test visual attentional deficits in drivers of vehicles, particularly following stroke injury. Detecting motion components in the visual scene may be the first indication of an impending collision, however, this is often overlooked in current assessment procedures. The series of experiments presented here used a semi-immersive virtual reality paradigm and eye gaze monitoring technology, to identify deficits in peripheral processing and extend the concept of useful field of view (UFOV) (Ball et al. 1988; 1993). We used displays that tested peripheral attention with brief (90ms) episodes of relative motion, changing size, luminosity and colour. Participants were presented with different sets of stimuli on a large video screen at 10°, 20°, and 30° eccentricities and used a natural gaze response to look to the cued location. Gaze response was monitored using an ASL 504 eye movement tracking system, and the dependant measure was accuracy of saccade to the eccentric target. Six stroke participants (mean age = 61.16) were tested, and their results compared against previously gathered data for the same experiments from three healthy aging groups of drivers (Young: N=21, mean age = 25.29, Middle aged: N=20, mean age = 50.25, and Elderly: N=20, mean age = 70.50). The systematic decrease in performance with increasing age that was previously found for the healthy aging participants (p\u3c 0.001) was also found in the stroke group, who performed worse than the healthy aging groups in the same tasks (p\u3c 0.001). The results underpin our previous finding of deficits in processing basic components of visual control that go beyond current UFOV tests. These current results highlight the compounding effects of stroke injury on the ability of attention to be captured by motion components that may be the first and only indication of an impending collision event. We discuss the implications of treating stroke patients as though they belong to a homogenous group when assessing suitability to return to driving; our results indicate that they clearly do not. Younger stroke drivers made recoveries that placed their performance alongside that of their age-matched healthy controls, unlike older stroke patients who remained more impaired than their age-matched healthy controls. We conclude that assessment of visual attention as it relates to moving objects in a visually cluttered environment should be part of any assessment criteria for measuring fitness to drive in stroke patients making a return to driving

Percolative phase separation induced by nonuniformly distributed excess oxygens

The zero-field $^{139}$La and $^{55}$Mn nuclear magnetic resonances were studied in $\rm La_{0.8}Ca_{0.2}MnO_{3+\delta}$ with different oxygen stoichiometry $\delta$. The signal intensity, peak frequency and line broadening of the $^{139}$La NMR spectrum show that excess oxygens have a tendency to concentrate and establish local ferromagnetic ordering around themselves. These connect the previously existed ferromagnetic clusters embedded in the antiferromagnetic host, resulting in percolative conduction paths. This phase separation is not a charge segregation type, but a electroneutral type. The magnetoresistance peak at the temperature where percolative paths start to form provides a direct evidence that phase separation is one source of colossal magnetoresistance effect.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Measurement of the local Jahn-Teller distortion in LaMnO_3.006

The atomic pair distribution function (PDF) of stoichiometric LaMnO_3 has been measured. This has been fit with a structural model to extract the local Jahn-Teller distortion for an ideal Mn(3+)O_6 octahedron. These results are compared to Rietveld refinements of the same data which give the average structure. Since the local structure is being measured in the PDF there is no assumption of long-range orbital order and the real, local, Jahn-Teller distortion is measured directly. We find good agreement both with published crystallographic results and our own Rietveld refinements suggesting that in an accurately stoichiometric material there is long range orbital order as expected. The local Jahn-Teller distortion has 2 short, 2 medium and 2 long bonds.Comment: 5 pages, 3 postscript figures, minor change

Exchange coupling in CaMnO3_3 and LaMnO3_3: configuration interaction and the coupling mechanism

The equilibrium structure and exchange constants of CaMnO$_3$ and LaMnO$_3$ have been investigated using total energy unrestricted Hartree-Fock (UHF) and localised orbital configuration interaction (CI) calculations on the bulk compounds and Mn$_2$O$_{11}^{14-}$ and Mn$_2$O$_{11}^{16-}$ clusters. The predicted structure and exchange constants for CaMnO$_3$ are in reasonable agreement with estimates based on its N\'eel temperature. A series of calculations on LaMnO$_3$ in the cubic perovskite structure shows that a Hamiltonian with independent orbital ordering and exchange terms accounts for the total energies of cubic LaMnO$_3$ with various spin and orbital orderings. Computed exchange constants depend on orbital ordering. UHF calculations tend to underestimate exchange constants in LaMnO$_3$, but have the correct sign when compared with values obtained by neutron scattering; exchange constants obtained from CI calculations are in good agreement with neutron scattering data provided the Madelung potential of the cluster is appropriate. Cluster CI calculations reveal a strong dependence of exchange constants on Mn d e$_g$ orbital populations in both compounds. CI wave functions are analysed in order to determine which exchange processes are important in exchange coupling in CaMnO$_3$ and LaMnO$_3$.Comment: 25 pages and 9 postscript figure

Estimates of electronic interaction parameters for LaMMO3_3 compounds (MM=Ti-Ni) from ab-initio approaches

We have analyzed the ab-initio local density approximation band structure calculations for the family of perovskite oxides, La$M$O$_3$ with $M$=Ti-Ni within a parametrized nearest neighbor tight-binding model and extracted various interaction strengths. We study the systematics in these interaction parameters across the transition metal series and discuss the relevance of these in a many-body description of these oxides. The results obtained here compare well with estimates of these parameters obtained via analysis of electron spectroscopic results in conjunction with the Anderson impurity model. The dependence of the hopping interaction strength, t, is found to be approximately $r^{-3}$.Comment: 18 pages; 1 tex file+9 postscript files (appeared in Phys Rev B Oct 15,1996

Metrics of salbutamol use as predictors of future adverse outcomes in asthma

Background Beta-agonist overuse is associated with adverse outcomes in asthma, however, the relationships between different metrics of salbutamol use and future risk are uncertain. Objective To investigate the relationship between metrics of salbutamol use and adverse outcome. Methods In a 24-week randomized controlled trial of 303 asthma patients at risk of severe exacerbations which compared the efficacy and safety of combination budesonide/formoterol inhaler according to a single inhaler regimen (SMART) with a fixed-dose regimen with salbutamol as reliever (‘Standard’), actual medication use was measured by electronic monitoring (Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry Number ACTRN12610000515099). A nested cohort study explored the relationship between metrics of baseline salbutamol use over 2 weeks and future severe asthma exacerbations, poor asthma control (ACQ-5 ≥ 1.5) or ‘extreme’ salbutamol overuse (> 32 salbutamol actuations/24-h period). Results Higher mean daily salbutamol use (per two actuations/day) [Odds ratio (OR) (95% CI) 1.24 (1.06–1.46)], higher days of salbutamol use (per 2 days in 2 weeks) [OR 1.15 (1.00–1.31)] and higher maximal 24-h use (per two actuations/day) [OR 1.09 (1.02–1.16)] were associated with future severe exacerbations. Higher mean daily salbutamol use was associated with future poor asthma control [OR 1.13 (1.02–1.26)]. Higher mean daily salbutamol use [OR 2.73 (1.84–4.07)], number of days of use [OR 1.46 (1.24–1.71)], and maximal daily use [OR 1.57 (1.31–1.89)] were associated with an increased risk of future extreme salbutamol overuse. Conclusion and Clinical Relevance Electronically recorded frequency of current salbutamol use is a strong predictor of risk of future adverse outcomes in asthma, with average daily use performing the best. These findings provide new information for clinicians considering metrics of salbutamol as predictors of future adverse outcomes in asthma

Randomised controlled trial of topical kanuka honey for the treatment of rosacea

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of topical 90% medical-grade kanuka honey and 10% glycerine (Honevo) as a treatment for rosacea. DESIGN: Randomised controlled trial with blinded assessment of primary outcome variable. SETTING: Outpatient primary healthcare population from 5 New Zealand sites. PARTICIPANTS: 138 adults aged ≥16, with a diagnosis of rosacea, and a baseline blinded Investigator Global Assessment of Rosacea Severity Score (IGA-RSS) of ≥2. 69 participants were randomised to each treatment arm. 1 participant was excluded from the Honevo group, and 7 and 15 participants withdrew from the Honevo and control groups, respectively. INTERVENTIONS: Participants were randomly allocated 1:1 to Honevo or control cream (Cetomacrogol), applied twice daily for 8 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome measure was the proportion of participants who had a ≥2 improvement in the 7-point IGA-RSS at week 8 compared to baseline. Secondary outcomes included change in IGA-RSS and subject-rated visual analogue score of change in severity (VAS-CS) on a 100 mm scale (0 mm 'much worse', 100 mm 'much improved') at weeks 2 and 8. RESULTS: 24/68 (34.3%) in the Honevo group and 12/69 (17.4%) in the control group had a ≥2 improvement in IGA-RSS at week 8 compared to baseline (relative risk 2.03; 95% CI 1.11 to 3.72, p=0.020). The change in IGA-RSS for Honevo compared to control at week 2 minus baseline was -1 (Hodges-Lehman estimate, 95% CI -1 to 0, p=0.03), and at week 8 minus baseline was -1 (Hodges-Lehman estimate, 95% CI -1 to 0, p=0.005). The VAS-CS at week 2 was 9.1 (95% CI 3.5 to 14.7), p=0.002, and at week 8 was 12.3 (95% CI 5.7 to 18.9)¸ p<0.001 for Honevo compared to control. CONCLUSIONS: Honevo is an effective treatment for rosacea. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: This trial was registered in the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12614000004662

Minimizing the Dangers of Air Pollution Using Alternative Facts: A Science Museum Case Study

A science museum exhibition about human health contains an exhibit that minimizes health impacts of air pollution. Relevant details, such as the full range of health risks; fossil fuel combustion; air quality statutes (and the local electrical utility’s violations of these statues), are omitted, while end users of electricity are blamed. The exhibit accomplishes this, not through outright falsification, but through selected “alternative facts” that change the focus and imply misleading alternate explanations. Using two classical rhetorical concepts (the practical syllogism and the enthymeme) allows for the surfacing of missing evidence and unstated directives underlying multimodal rhetoric. By stating multimedia arguments syllogistically, a technique is proposed for revealing hidden political sub-texts from beneath a putatively disinterested presentation of facts. The piece should be of interest to researchers, message designers and policy makers interested in the rhetoric of science, ecology, health and museums

The relationship between quality defects and the thermal performance of buildings

publisher: Elsevier articletitle: The relationship between quality defects and the thermal performance of buildings journaltitle: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.08.029 content_type: article copyright: © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved