The representation of spatial mental models in long-term memory

This thesis is concerned with how people understand and remember spatial information derived from verbal descriptions. The thesis distinguishes between three different ways of representing spatial information in working memory. The first way is to represent the surface form of the source from which the spatial information is derived (the language of a description). The second is to represent the structure of the situation derived from that source (a spatial mental model). The third is to represent the perceptual characteristics of the situation from a particular perspective (a visual image). Considerable evidence exists that people construct and manipulate spatial mental models in working memory. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the claim that mental models are represented in long-term memory. An outline of the spatial mental modeling processes required to understand a simple spatial description is proposed. It is proposed that spatial mental modeling is comprised of three processing stages. Firstly, comprehension processes are required to access the linguistic meaning of information presented in spatial description. Secondly, construction processes are required to build up a representation of the spatial structure of the situation derived from the language of the description. Thirdly, consultation processes are required to monitor construction and to access information from the spatial mental model. Nine experiments are reported which investigate evidence for and against the view that people remember the construction and consultation of a spatial mental model. In the final chapter this evidence is reviewed and a 'sketch' of a processing theory of memory for spatial descriptions is proposed. It is argued that memory for a spatial mental model is a product of the interaction between construction and consultation processes over a period of time rather than a simple 'copy' of a completed working memory spatial mental model

Understanding the Impact of Technology: Learner and School Level Factors

The first part of this report focuses on the factors impacting on learner performance in national tests at primary and secondary level. This was the central research question of this research. The second section focuses on teacher and learner perceptions of their own responses to learning and the learning environment. This was centred on, but not confined to, their school. The institutional structures record the level of development of the schools sampled here and investigate the use of two key technologies – interactive whiteboards and learning platform

Impact 2007: Personalising Learning with Technology

The Impact 2007: Personalising Learning with Technology project was commissioned by the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta). This report presents the findings from Impact 2007: Phases One and Two. The findings are based on both quantitative and qualitative data collected from the 67 Impact 2007 schools. All of the schools contributed to the teacher and pupil online surveys. This provided 450 teacher and more than 1,300 primary and 2,000 secondary pupil questionnaire responses being available for analysis. In addition, senior managers and ICT co-ordinators were interviewed from 30 schools and 24 case study schools provided illuminative data from observations and researcher/teacher discussions. Quantitative analyses of the data included the use of cluster and factor analysis, analysis of variance and regression, and also multilevel modelling in orde

Size and emotion or depth and emotion? Evidence, using Matryoshka (Russian) dolls, of children using physical depth as a proxy for emotional charge

Background: The size and emotion effect is the tendency for children to draw people and other objects with a positive emotional charge larger than those with a negative or neutral charge. Here we explored the novel idea that drawing size might be acting as a proxy for depth (proximity).Methods: Forty-two children (aged 3-11 years) chose, from 2 sets of Matryoshka (Russian) dolls, a doll to represent a person with positive, negative or neutral charge, which they placed in front of themselves on a sheet of A3 paper. Results: We found that the children used proximity and doll size, to indicate emotional charge. Conclusions: These findings are consistent with the notion that in drawings, children are using size as a proxy for physical closeness (proximity), as they attempt with varying success to put positive charged items closer to, or negative and neutral charge items further away from, themselves

Measuring the Moment-to-Moment Variability of Tinnitus: The TrackYourTinnitus Smart Phone App

Tinnitus, the phantom perception of sound without a corresponding external sound, is a frequent disorder which causes significant morbidity. So far there is no treatment available that reliably reduces the tinnitus perception. The research is hampered by the large heterogeneity of tinnitus and the fact that the tinnitus perception fluctuates over time. It is therefore necessary to develop tools for measuring fluctuations of tinnitus perception over time and for analyzing data on single subject basis. However, this type of longitudinal measurement is difficult to perform using the traditional research methods such as paper-and-pencil questionnaires or clinical interviews. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) represents a research concept that allows the assessment of subjective measurements under real-life conditions using portable electronic devices and thereby enables the researcher to collect longitudinal data under real-life conditions and high cost efficiency. Here we present a new method for recording the longitudinal development of tinnitus perception using a modern smartphone application available for iOS and Android devices with no costs for the users. The TrackYourTinnitus (TYT) app is available and maintained since April 2014. A number of 857 volunteers with an average age of 44.1 years participated in the data collection between April 2014 and February 2016. The mean tinnitus distress at the initial measurement was rated on average 13.9 points on the Mini-Tinnitus Questionnaire (Mini-TQ; max. 24 points). Importantly, we could demonstrate that the regular use of the TYT app has no significant negative influence on the perception of the tinnitus loudness nor on the tinnitus distress. The TYT app can therefore be proposed as a safe instrument for the longitudinal assessment of tinnitus perception in the everyday life of the patient

In Vitro Identification and Characterization of CD133pos Cancer Stem-Like Cells in Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma Cell Lines

Background: Recent publications suggest that neoplastic initiation and growth are dependent on a small subset of cells, termed cancer stem cells (CSCs). Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma (ATC) is a very aggressive solid tumor with poor prognosis, characterized by high dedifferentiation. The existence of CSCs might account for the heterogeneity of ATC lesions. CD133 has been identified as a stem cell marker for normal and cancerous tissues, although its biological function remains unknown. Methodology/Principal Findings: ATC cell lines ARO, KAT-4, KAT-18 and FRO were analyzed for CD133 expression. Flow cytometry showed CD133pos cells only in ARO and KAT-4 (6469% and 57612%, respectively). These data were confirmed by qRT-PCR and immunocytochemistry. ARO and KAT-4 were also positive for fetal marker oncofetal fibronectin and negative for thyrocyte-specific differentiating markers thyroglobulin, thyroperoxidase and sodium/iodide symporter. Sorted ARO/ CD133pos cells exhibited higher proliferation, self-renewal, colony-forming ability in comparison with ARO/CD133neg. Furthermore, ARO/CD133pos showed levels of thyroid transcription factor TTF-1 similar to the fetal thyroid cell line TAD-2, while the expression in ARO/CD133neg was negligible. The expression of the stem cell marker OCT-4 detected by RT-PCR and flow cytometry was markedly higher in ARO/CD133pos in comparison to ARO/CD133neg cells. The stem cell markers c- KIT and THY-1 were negative. Sensitivity to chemotherapy agents was investigated, showing remarkable resistance to chemotherapy-induced apoptosis in ARO/CD133pos when compared with ARO/CD133neg cells. Conclusions/Significance: We describe CD133pos cells in ATC cell lines. ARO/CD133pos cells exhibit stem cell-like features - such as high proliferation, self-renewal ability, expression of OCT-4 - and are characterized by higher resistance to chemotherapy. The simultaneous positivity for thyroid specific factor TTF-1 and onfFN suggest they might represent putative thyroid cancer stem-like cells. Our in vitro findings might provide new insights for novel therapeutic approaches

The Distressed Brain: A Group Blind Source Separation Analysis on Tinnitus

Background: Tinnitus, the perception of a sound without an external sound source, can lead to variable amounts of distress. Methodology: In a group of tinnitus patients with variable amounts of tinnitus related distress, as measured by the Tinnitus Questionnaire (TQ), an electroencephalography (EEG) is performed, evaluating the patients ’ resting state electrical brain activity. This resting state electrical activity is compared with a control group and between patients with low (N = 30) and high distress (N = 25). The groups are homogeneous for tinnitus type, tinnitus duration or tinnitus laterality. A group blind source separation (BSS) analysis is performed using a large normative sample (N = 84), generating seven normative components to which high and low tinnitus patients are compared. A correlation analysis of the obtained normative components ’ relative power and distress is performed. Furthermore, the functional connectivity as reflected by lagged phase synchronization is analyzed between the brain areas defined by the components. Finally, a group BSS analysis on the Tinnitus group as a whole is performed. Conclusions: Tinnitus can be characterized by at least four BSS components, two of which are posterior cingulate based, one based on the subgenual anterior cingulate and one based on the parahippocampus. Only the subgenual component correlates with distress. When performed on a normative sample, group BSS reveals that distress is characterized by two anterior cingulate based components. Spectral analysis of these components demonstrates that distress in tinnitus is relate