Stable individual differences in strategies within, but not between, visual search tasks

A striking range of individual differences has recently been reported in three different visual search tasks. These differences in performance can be attributed to strategy, that is, the efficiency with which participants control their search to complete the task quickly and accurately. Here we ask if an individual's strategy and performance in one search task is correlated with how they perform in the other two. We tested 64 observers in the three tasks mentioned above over two sessions. Even though the test-retest reliability of the tasks is high, an observer's performance and strategy in one task did not reliably predict their behaviour in the other two. These results suggest search strategies are stable over time, but context-specific. To understand visual search we therefore need to account not only for differences between individuals, but also how individuals interact with the search task and context. These context-specific but stable individual differences in strategy can account for a substantial proportion of variability in search performance

Previous attentional set can induce an attentional blink with task-irrelevant initial targets

Identification of a second target is often impaired by the requirement to process a prior target in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP). This is termed the attentional blink. Even when the first target is task-irrelevant an attentional blink may occur providing this first target shares similar features with the second target (contingent capture). An RSVP experiment was undertaken to assess whether this first target can still cause an attentional blink when it did not require a response and did not share any features with the following target. The results revealed that such task-irrelevant targets can induce an attentional blink providing that they were task-relevant on a previous block of trials. This suggests that irrelevant focal stimuli can distract attention on the basis of a previous attentional set

Clinical benefit of glasdegib plus low-dose cytarabine in patients with de novo and secondary acute myeloid leukemia: long-term analysis of a phase II randomized trial

This analysis from the phase II BRIGHT AML 1003 trial reports the long-term efficacy and safety of glasdegib + low-dose cytarabine (LDAC) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia ineligible for intensive chemotherapy. The multicenter, open-label study randomized (2:1) patients to receive glasdegib + LDAC (de novo, n = 38; secondary acute myeloid leukemia, n = 40) or LDAC alone (de novo, n = 18; secondary acute myeloid leukemia, n = 20). At the time of analysis, 90% of patients had died, with the longest follow-up since randomization 36 months. The combination of glasdegib and LDAC conferred superior overall survival (OS) versus LDAC alone; hazard ratio (HR) 0.495; (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.325–0.752); p = 0.0004; median OS was 8.3 versus 4.3 months. Improvement in OS was consistent across cytogenetic risk groups. In a post-hoc subgroup analysis, a survival trend with glasdegib + LDAC was observed in patients with de novo acute myeloid leukemia (HR 0.720; 95% CI 0.395– 1.312; p = 0.14; median OS 6.6 vs 4.3 months) and secondary acute myeloid leukemia (HR 0.287; 95% CI 0.151–0.548; p < 0.0001; median OS 9.1 vs 4.1 months). The incidence of adverse events in the glasdegib + LDAC arm decreased after 90 days’ therapy: 83.7% versus 98.7% during the first 90 days. Glasdegib + LDAC versus LDAC alone continued to demonstrate superior OS in patients with acute myeloid leukemia; the clinical benefit with glasdegib + LDAC was particularly prominent in patients with secondary acute myeloid leukemia. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01546038

Metal site doping in the narrow-gap semiconductor FeGa₃

The effects and feasibility of metal site doping of the tetragonal diamagnetic insulator FeGa₃ by Fe/Co, Fe/Mn and Co/Ni substitution were investigated by X-ray, electron probe microanalysis, electrical resistivity, specific heat and magnetic susceptibility measurements. Substitution of Fe by Co in FeGa₃ does not change its structure type and preserves the structure of the binary parent compound (FeGa₃), whereas the solubility of Mn in the FeGa₃ structure type is limited to 3 at.% and a finite solubility of Ni in CoGa₃ is not detected.Методами рентгенівського, мікрорентгеноспектрального аналізу, дослідження електроопору, питомої теплоємності і магнетної сприйнятливості вивчено можливість та вплив легування Fe/Co, Fe/Mn і Co/Ni у положеннях атомів металу в тетрагональній структурі діамагнетного ізолятора FeGa₃. Заміщення атомів Fe на Co у сполуці FeGa₃ не змінює її кристалічну структуру. Розчинність Mn у FeGa₃ не перевищує 3 at.%, а розчинність Ni у CoGa₃ не виявлено.Методами рентгеновского, микрорентгеноспектрального анализа, исследования электросопротивления, удельной теплоемкости и магнитной восприимчивости исследована возможность и влияние легирования Fe/Co, Fe/Mn и Co/Ni в положениях атомов металла в тетрагональной структуре диамагнитного изолятора FeGa₃. Замещение атомов Fe на Co в соединении FeGa₃ не изменяет ее кристаллическую структуру. Растворимость Mn в FeGa₃ не превышает 3 at.%, а растворимость Ni в CoGa₃ не выявлено

Highly integrated multi-material fibers for soft robotics

Soft robots are envisioned as the next generation of safe biomedical devices in minimally invasive procedures. Yet, the difficulty of processing soft materials currently limits the size, aspect-ratio, manufacturing throughput, as well as, the design complexity and hence capabilities of soft robots. Multi-material thermal drawing is introduced as a material and processing platform to create soft robotic fibers imparted with multiple actuations and sensing modalities. Several thermoplastic and elastomeric material options for the fibers are presented, which all exhibit the rheological processing attributes for thermal drawing but varying mechanical properties, resulting in adaptable actuation performance. Moreover, numerous different fiber designs with intricate internal architectures, outer diameters of 700 µm, aspect ratios of 103, and a fabrication at a scale of 10s of meters of length are demonstrated. A modular tendon-driven mechanism enables 3-dimensional (3D) motion, and embedded optical guides, electrical wires, and microfluidic channels give rise to multifunctionality. The fibers can perceive and autonomously adapt to their environments, as well as, probe electrical properties, and deliver fluids and mechanical tools to spatially distributed targets