An Argument for Simplicity: Have Learning Systems Become Too Complicated?

COVID has made higher education institutions more reliant on remote learning platforms, but there is little standardization between institutions, and some of these systems may be unnecessarily complex. This article argues for asking not what such systems could do, but what educators and students need them to do

Shared Strategies for Behavioral Switching: Understanding How Locomotor Patterns are Turned on and Off

Animals frequently switch from one behavior to another, often to meet the demands of their changing environment or internal state. What factors control these behavioral switches and the selection of what to do or what not to do? To address these issues, we will focus on the locomotor behaviors of two distantly related “worms,” the medicinal leech Hirudo verbana (clade Lophotrochozoa) and the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (clade Ecdysozoa). Although the neural architecture and body morphology of these organisms are quite distinct, they appear to switch between different forms of locomotion by using similar strategies of decision-making. For example, information that distinguishes between liquid and more solid environments dictates whether an animal swims or crawls. In the leech, dopamine biases locomotor neural networks so that crawling is turned on and swimming is turned off. In C. elegans, dopamine may also promote crawling, a form of locomotion that has gained new attention

Optical coherence tomography of retinal and choroidal layers in patients with familial hypercholesterolaemia treated with lipoprotein apheresis

PURPOSE: Detect and quantify morpho-functional alterations of the retina and choroid in patients affected by familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) treated with lipoprotein apheresis (LA) using optic coherence tomography (OCT) and optic coherence tomography-angriography (OCTA). DESIGN: Observational study. SUBJECTS: To be diagnosed: A group of 20 patients (40 eyes) being clinically and genetically diagnosed as FH and under treatment (FH-Group)", for at least 2 years, was compared to a control group of 20 healthy subjects (40 eyes), with a normal lipid profile and no ocular disease (CT-Group). METHODS: Participants were studied with the slit lamp, binocular indirect fundoscopy, OCT and OCTA. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Best corrected visual acuity (BVCA), spherical equivalent (SE), intraocular pressure (IOP), central macular thickness (CMT), choroidal thickness (CHT), retinal nerve fiber layer in four quadrants (RNFL (Superior = Sup; Inferior = Inf; Nasal = Nas Temporal = Temp), and the mean value across the four quadrants (RNFL G), foveal avascular zone (FAZ) and vascular density (VD). RESULTS: FH subjects had smaller RNFL superiorly (108 ± 19,38 μm OD/111 ± 16,56 μm OS FH-Group vs 127 ± 7,42 μm OD/129 ± 14,64 μm OS CT-Group; P < 0,001 for both OD and OS) and inferiorly (108 ± 23,58 μm OD/115 ± 17,33 μm OS FH-Group vs 128 ± 18,15 μm OD/133 ± 17,38 μm OS CT-Group; P = 0,002 OD; P = 0,001 OS). G RNFL was consequently smaller (93 ± 12,94 μm OD/94 ± 10,49 μm OS FH-Group vs 101 ± 9,01 μm OD/101 ± 10,20 μm OS CT-Group; P = 0,03 OD; P = 0,02 OS). FH subjects had a larger FAZ (0,31 ± 0,08 mm2 OD/0,33 ± 0,10 mm2 in OS FH-Group vs 0,21 ± 0,05 mm2 OD/0,21 ± 0,07 mm2 OS CT-Group; P < 0,001 OD; P = 0,002 OS). CONCLUSIONS: Early signs of retinal vessel damage in FH patients can be detected and quantified with OCT and OCTA

Optical coherence tomography of retinal and choroidal layers in patients with familial hypercholesterolaemia treated with lipoprotein apheresis

Detect and quantify morpho-functional alterations of the retina and choroid in patients affected by familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) treated with lipoprotein apheresis (LA) using optic coherence tomography (OCT) and optic coherence tomography-angriography (OCTA).Observational study.To be diagnosed: A group of 20 patients (40 eyes) being clinically and genetically diagnosed as FH and under treatment (FH-Group)", for at least 2 years, was compared to a control group of 20 healthy subjects (40 eyes), with a normal lipid profile and no ocular disease (CT-Group).Participants were studied with the slit lamp, binocular indirect fundoscopy, OCT and OCTA.Best corrected visual acuity (BVCA), spherical equivalent (SE), intraocular pressure (IOP), central macular thickness (CMT), choroidal thickness (CHT), retinal nerve fiber layer in four quadrants (RNFL (Superior = Sup; Inferior = Inf; Nasal = Nas Temporal = Temp), and the mean value across the four quadrants (RNFL G), foveal avascular zone (FAZ) and vascular density (VD).FH subjects had smaller RNFL superiorly (108 ± 19,38 μm OD/111 ± 16,56 μm OS FH-Group vs 127 ± 7,42 μm OD/129 ± 14,64 μm OS CT-Group; P  0,001 for both OD and OS) and inferiorly (108 ± 23,58 μm OD/115 ± 17,33 μm OS FH-Group vs 128 ± 18,15 μm OD/133 ± 17,38 μm OS CT-Group; P = 0,002 OD; P = 0,001 OS). G RNFL was consequently smaller (93 ± 12,94 μm OD/94 ± 10,49 μm OS FH-Group vs 101 ± 9,01 μm OD/101 ± 10,20 μm OS CT-Group; P = 0,03 OD; P = 0,02 OS). FH subjects had a larger FAZ (0,31 ± 0,08 mmEarly signs of retinal vessel damage in FH patients can be detected and quantified with OCT and OCTA