A Framework for Psychophysiological Classification within a Cultural Heritage Context Using Interest

This article presents a psychophysiological construct of interest as a knowledge emotion and illustrates the importance of interest detection in a cultural heritage context. The objective of this work is to measure and classify psychophysiological reactivity in response to cultural heritage material presented as visual and audio. We present a data processing and classification framework for the classification of interest. Two studies are reported, adopting a subject-dependent approach to classify psychophysiological signals using mobile physiological sensors and the support vector machine learning algorithm. The results show that it is possible to reliably infer a state of interest from cultural heritage material using psychophysiological feature data and a machine learning approach, informing future work for the development of a real-time physiological computing system for use within an adaptive cultural heritage experience designed to adapt the provision of information to sustain the interest of the visitor

Insights into the origin of metazoan filopodia and microvilli.

Filopodia are fine actin-based cellular projections used for both environmental sensing and cell motility, and they are essential organelles for metazoan cells. In this study, we reconstruct the origin of metazoan filopodia and microvilli. We first report on the evolutionary assembly of the filopodial molecular toolkit and show that homologs of many metazoan filopodial components, including fascin and myosin X, were already present in the unicellular or colonial progenitors of metazoans. Furthermore, we find that the actin crosslinking protein fascin localizes to filopodia-like structures and microvilli in the choanoflagellate Salpingoeca rosetta. In addition, homologs of filopodial genes in the holozoan Capsaspora owczarzaki are upregulated in filopodia-bearing cells relative to those that lack them. Therefore, our findings suggest that proteins essential for metazoan filopodia and microvilli are functionally conserved in unicellular and colonial holozoans and that the last common ancestor of metazoans bore a complex and specific filopodial machinery

Editorial : High Performance Cognition: Information-Processing in Complex Skills, Expert Performance, and Flow

Non peer reviewe

Applications and Issues for Physiological Computing Systems: An Introduction to the Special Issue

The prospect of connecting the brain and body to a technological device can elicit a broad range of responses from potential users. Early adopters are thrilled by the possibility of a device that can interface directly to the human nervous system. For the vast majority, interest is tempered by caution, as nascent varieties of physiological computing systems raise as many questions as answers about how we will interact with computers in the future

Can ‘English Premier League’ funding for PE and school sport achieve its aims?

There are a number of assertions being made for a £10 m investment by the English Premier League for primary school sport. For example, it is claimed that Physical Education plus school sport can improve cognitive functioning, concentration, behaviour, educational attainment and overall physical health. However, far from being sufficient in helping to achieve these benefits and sustain long-term activity participation, for some children, Physical Education and competitive sport may actually be counterproductive. In some instances, it may switch them off from activity altogether. Therefore, we need to understand more about which elements of this scheme work, who they work for and which circumstances they work in. Fundamentally, this will only be achieved through hard evidence and robust evaluation

Highly sensitive label-free antibody detection using a long period fibre grating sensor

An optical fibre long period grating (LPG) biosensor is appealing in the detection of biomolecules because of the high sensitivity, label-free and real-time measurement. The miniaturized size, ability of remote sensing and immunity to electromagnetic interference of the LPG biosensor provide various possibility of single-point sensing in situations such as point of care diagnostics and in vivo measurement. Two optical fibre LPG based biosensors are reported for detection of streptavidin (SV) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) respectively. The LPG is coated with a film containing three layers of Poly(allylamine hydrochloride)/gold coated silica nanoparticles via the layer-by-layer method. Biotin is covalently bonded to the surface of the gold shell by means of the formation of an amide bonds for detection of streptavidin. The concentration of SV in water for detection varied from 1.25 nM to 2.7 μM. The LPG sensor, operating close to the phase matching condition shows a high sensitivity of 3.88 (ng/mm2)−1 and a detection limit of 0.86 pg/mm2 for the detection of SV. The limit of detection is 22 times lower than previously demonstrated with this type of sensor. The developed IgM sensor has the same configuration of film but has anti-IgM embedded on the LPG instead of biotin, demonstrating versatility of the sensing platform. This was used for the detection of human IgM with concentrations from 15.6 μg/ml to 1 mg/ml. The LPG sensor exhibits a sensitivity of 11 nm (ng/mm2)−1 for the detection of IgM with a detection limit of 15 pg/mm2. The developed highly sensitive IgM sensor shows the potential application of clinical point of care for detection of lower concentration of IgM in vitro. The proposed biosensor exhibits high sensitivity and rapid detection of low concentrations biomolecules from the small size of SV to the large size of IgM

Evaluation of an adaptive game that uses EEG measures validated during the design process as inputs to a Biocybernetic Loop

Biocybernetic adaptation is a form of physiological computing whereby real-time data streaming from the brain and body is used by a negative control loop to adapt the user interface. This article describes the development of an adaptive game system that is designed to maximize player engagement by utilizing changes in real-time electroencephalography (EEG) to adjust the level of game demand. The research consists of four main stages: (1) the development of a conceptual framework upon which to model the interaction between person and system; (2) the validation of the psychophysiological inference underpinning the loop; (3) the construction of a working prototype; and (4) an evaluation of the adaptive game. Two studies are reported. The first demonstrates the sensitivity of EEG power in the (frontal) theta and (parietal) alpha bands to changing levels of game demand. These variables were then reformulated within the working biocybernetic control loop designed to maximize player engagement. The second study evaluated the performance of an adaptive game of Tetris with respect to system behavior and user experience. Important issues for the design and evaluation of closed-loop interfaces are discussed