Innate Aptitude Research Articles

Virtual Biostats Day: An Interactive Online Biostatistics Outreach Program Directed at High School Students in Groups Historically Underrepresented in STEM Careers

Persistent underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic Statistics degree holders relative to the U.S. population occurs at all levels in post-secondary education, contributing to the underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic Bio/Statisticians. Attempting to address this inequity before the undergraduate level, Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK)’s Bridge to Biostats committee was established with the mission to increase awareness of and interest in the field of Biostatistics among high school students in groups underrepresented in STEM fields. We describe in this article an outreach program targeted to underrepresented students in New York City with innate aptitude and interest in STEM subjects, but minimal exposure to Statistics. Virtual Biostats Day is a 1–1/4 hr online exposure program that incorporates interactive elements exploring statistical concepts alongside clear descriptions of the field of Biostatistics and the roles and responsibilities of a Biostatistician. Students are also introduced to professional Biostatisticians who describe their journeys from high school to where they are today. This combination of didactic and active learning has engaged students, even in the online environment. We relate our experience in implementing and presenting our program to students and provide a complete toolkit for other Bio/Statistics departments or organizations interested in engaging in similar outreach work. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.

The Right Face of Food

The article questions the relationship between the face and food. The face is, theoretically speaking, an affordance that one recognizes in the environment when it presents itself as endowed with meaning; this explains the origin, in anthropological, evolutionary, and cognitive terms, of folkloric traditions that assign a face to food, a correct direction to its handling, or that even associate its shape and fiber with entire cosmologies, as in the case of macrobiotic gastronomy. Ultimately, what drives humans to assign a face to food and to normalize the human approach to it is the intrinsic semiotic nature of the species, and thus the innate aptitude to transform every asymmetry into a difference that is a harbinger of meaning and axiologies.

Programmed differently? Testing for gender differences in Python programming style and quality on GitHub

Abstract The underrepresentation of women in open-source software is frequently attributed to women’s lack of innate aptitude compared to men: natural gender differences in technical ability (Trinkenreich et al., 2021). Approaching code as a form of communication, I conduct a novel empirical study of gender differences in Python programming on GitHub. Based on 1,728 open-source projects, I ask if there is a gender difference in the quality and style of Python code measured in adherence to PEP-8 guidelines. I found significant gender differences in structure and how Python files are organized. While there is gendered variation in programming style, there is no evidence of gender difference in code quality. Using a Random Forest model, I show that the gender of a programmer can be predicted from the style of their Python code. The study concludes that gender differences in Python code are a matter of style, not quality.

270 The Innate Aptitude's Effect on the Surgical Task Performance

Abstract Aim Surgery is a craft profession requiring individuals with specific innate aptitudes for manipulative skills, visuospatial and psychomotor abilities. The selection process of surgical trainees excludes aptitude testing for the psychomotor and manual manipulative skills of candidates for required abilities. We scrutinize the effect of innate aptitudes in surgery and its skill-training by systematically reviewing its significance on the surgical task performance. Method A systematic review was performed by PRISMA guidelines. A search on PubMed/Medline for English language articles was performed from January 2001 to January 2021. Search terms were ‘aptitude for surgery’, ‘innate aptitude and surgical skills’, ‘manipulative abilities and surgery’ and ‘psychomotor skills and surgery’. The quality of quantitatively researched citations was assessed by MERSQI scores. Results The results yielded 1142 studies and 21 met the inclusion criteria and 6 high-quality citations rejected our 3-null hypothesis, and all medical students cannot reach proficiency in skills necessary for a career in surgery. Playing video games and/or musical instruments do not promote surgery skill; yet a valid test with predictive value for novices aspiring for a surgical career is helpful. MERSQI mean score was 11.07 (SD= .98; range 9.25 to 12.75). Conclusions Visuospatial aptitude, rate of skill acquisition and quality of surgical performance predicted baseline surgical ability. Additionally, visuospatial aptitude along with psychomotor skills and perceptual talent, furthered laparoscopic simulator performance. The selection process for candidates suitable for a career in surgery requests a simulated surgical environment, where the candidates’ skills also in forms of non-technical aptitudes are assessable.

EP-19 The innate aptitude's effect on the surgical task performance

Abstract Aims Surgery is a craft profession requiring individuals with specific innate aptitudes for manipulative skills, visuospatial and psychomotor abilities. The selection process of surgical trainees excludes aptitude testing for the psychomotor and manual manipulative skills of candidates for required abilities. We scrutinize the effect of innate aptitudes in surgery and its skill-training by systematically reviewing its significance on the surgical task performance. Methods A systematic review was performed by PRISMA guidelines. A search on PubMed/Medline for English language articles was performed from January 2001 to January 2021. Search terms were ‘aptitude for surgery’, ‘innate aptitude and surgical skills’, ‘manipulative abilities and surgery’ and ‘psychomotor skills and surgery’. The quality of quantitatively researched citations was assessed by MERSQI scores. Results The results yielded 1142 studies and 21 met the inclusion criteria and 6 high-quality citations rejected our 3 null hypothesis and all medical students cannot reach proficiency in skills necessary for a career in surgery. Playing video games and/or musical instruments do not promote surgery skill; yet, a valid test with predictive value for novices aspiring for a surgical career is helpful. MERSQI mean score was 11.07 (SD= .98; range 9.25 to 12.75). Conclusion Visuospatial aptitude, rate of skill acquisition and quality of surgical performance predicted baseline surgical ability. Additionally, visuospatial aptitude along with psychomotor skills and perceptual talent, furthered laparoscopic simulator performance. The selection process for candidates suitable for a career in surgery requests a simulated surgical environment, where the candidates’ skills also in forms of non-technical aptitudes are assessable.

Evaluation of empathy among undergraduate nursing students: a three-year longitudinal study.

Background and aim: An empathic approach is considered fundamental in order to ensure the identification of patient needs and to provide the appropriate care, although the studies on the development of empathic attitude during nursing course reported conflicting results. Different empathic tendencies have been observed in the two genders: many studies showed greater empathy in females. Methods: To assess empathy level of students enrolled in the academic year 2015/16 at an Italian University nursing course, the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES) was administered at the start of Year 1 (n=118), at the mid-point of Year 2 (n=99) and at the end of Year 3 (n=67). Data were statistically analyzed. Results: Cronbach’s values were satisfactory (0.87 at Year 1, 0.89 at Year 2, 0.79 at Year 3), confirming the good internal reliability of BEES. The nursing students obtained a total BEES mean ± SD score of 37.0 ± 19.5 at Year 1, 33.5 ± 22.6 at Year 2 and 35.4 ± 16 at Year 3, without any statistically significant difference among the three years. The BEES mean scores reported by males were lower in comparison with females during the three years of the course, although, at the end of the third year, males showed a significant increase at the “Emotional spread responsiveness” dimension of the scale. Conclusions: The study suggests that empathy can be maintained at good levels during the nursing education especially if nursing teaching and internship are focused on this topic, acting up the innate aptitude of each student. (www.actabiomedica.it)

Distribution of innate psychomotor skills recognized as important for surgical specialization in unconditioned medical undergraduates.

There is an increasing interest for a test assessing objectively the innate aptitude for surgery as a craft specialty to complement the current selection process of surgical residents. The aim of this study was to quantify the size of individuals with high, average, and low level of innate psychomotor skills among medical students. A volunteer sample of 155 medical students, without prior experience with surgical simulator, executed five tasks at a virtual simulator for robot-assisted surgery. They had to reach proficiency twice consecutively in each before moving to the next one. A weighting based on time and number of attempts needed to reach proficiency was assigned to each task. Nine students (5.8%) out of 155 significantly outperformed all the others on median (i.q.r.) weighted time [44.7 (42.2-47.3) min vs. 98.5 (70.8-131.8) min, p < 0.001], and number of attempts to reach proficiency [14 (12-15) vs. 23 (19-32.75), p < 0.001). Seventeen students (11.0%) scored significantly much worse than the rest on median weighted time [202.2 (182.5-221.0) min vs. 84.3 (65.7-114.4) min, p < 0.001], and number of attempts [42 (40-48) vs. 22 (17.25-28), p < 0.001]. Low correlation between simulator scores and extracurricular activities, like videogames and musical instruments, was found. The test successfully identified two groups straddling the large cohort with average innate aptitude for psychomotor skills: (i) innately gifted and (ii) with scarce level. Hence, exercises on a virtual simulator are a valid test of innate manual dexterity and can be considered to complement the selection process for a surgical training program, primarily to identify individuals with low innate aptitude for surgery and advise them to consider specialization in other (non-craft) medical specialties.

Landscapes as Narrative Commentary in Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West

This study argues that in Blood Meridian (1985) McCarthy creates landscape scenes that function as narrative commentary on the Glanton gang’s Indian-fighting, on America’s pursuit of Manifest Destiny, and on humanity’s innate aptitude for violence. The article surveys the biographical evidence for McCarthy’s interest in the visual arts, then inventories the language of art in Blood Meridian and explores the novel’s allusions to specific artworks. It culminates in readings of several scenes in which the narrator interprets the landscape before him in moments of sober contemplation. Each of these scenes bears a title reminiscent of painted landscapes, such as “Under the Animas peaks” or “Night scene with moon, blossoms, judge.” Each comprises a static composition that slows the violent action and also functions as a prose poem, rich in allusiveness. Evoking in the reader the perceptual and interpretive modes of a pensive viewer of a painted landscape, these scenes invite us to apply techniques drawn from art criticism to comprehend them as the narrator’s sober meditations on the Glanton gang’s violent enterprise.

Measuring Language Mindsets and Modeling Their Relations With Goal Orientations and Emotional and Behavioral Responses in Failure Situations

Some people ascribe successful language learning to an innate aptitude that cannot be further developed, at least after a certain young age (i.e., an entity mindset), while other people believe that language learning ability can be improved (i.e., an incremental mindset). The purpose of this research is to (a) introduce the Language Mindsets Inventory (LMI), and (b) test the mindsets–goals–responses model, which maintains that learners’ mindsets predict the goals that they set for language learning, and that these goals in turn affect how they respond to difficult academic and communication episodes. Correlational and factor analyses provided evidence of the LMI's valid and reliable use in research with university‐level language students. Path analyses showed that regardless of their competence level, greater endorsement of an incremental mindset was associated with the goal of learning more about the language, and this learning goal in turn predicted greater mastery and less helpless responses in failure situations. Greater endorsement of an entity mindset predicted the goal of demonstrating competence (i.e., performance approach goals) when students believed that they had stronger language skills. The use of the LMI in future research and the importance of supporting incremental mindsets for language education are discussed.

Native American Whalemen and the World: Indigenous Encounters and the Contingency of Race. By Nancy Shoemaker.

Native American Whalemen and the World: Indigenous Encounters and the Contingency of Race. By Nancy Shoemaker. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2015. xii + 303 pp. Illustrations, maps, tables, appendices, notes, bibliography, index. $34.95.) It is surprising to learn that during the nineteenth century—an era obsessed with racial classification—the U.S. Customs Service did not classify seamen on the basis of race. Native American seamen, not considered citizens at home, received all the protections of citizenship abroad. Further, in an industry that privileged rank and merit over race (also surprising in the 1800s), Native American whalemen, despite being stereotyped as having racial characteristics that suited them to harpooning (“hunting instinct, naturally keen eyesight, and an innate aptitude for killing”), often advanced into officer positions (p. 38). In Native American Whalemen and the World , Nancy Shoemaker brilliantly shows us how “the lived experience of race is full of exceptions, contradictions, and … darnold{at}columbiabasin.edu

Vapeurs d'argent: Jean-Philippe Toussaint et l'expérience de la modernité

The notion of “creative destruction” that Marx introduced in the Communist Manifesto (and many economists and sociologists have used since) runs through Jean-Philippe Toussaint's tetralogy Marie Madeleine Marguerite de Montalte (2002–2013). According to Marshall Berman in All that is Solid Melts into Air, this notion defines the experience of modernity, which is central to Toussaint's novels. Thus, the tetralogy's protagonist, Marie–a stylist, visual artist, and savy business woman–is at the crossroads between contemporary art and money. Yet, all her creations are permeated with ideas of emptiness and dissolution. Through her, Toussaint may well redefine Baudelaire's notion of paradoxical modern beauty. In contradiction to her successful participation in the capitalist economy, however, Marie's most important characteristic is her innate aptitude to immerse herself in the elements, her “oceanic disposition.” In reminding us of the “cosmic dimension of existence” and of duration, Toussaint proposes a dynamic principle that runs counter to creative destruction.

A tremendous thing: friendship from the Iliad to the Internet

did you do all this for me? Wilbur asked. I don't deserve it. I've never done anything for you. “You have been my friend,” replied Charlotte. “That in itself is a tremendous thing.” —from Charlotte's Web by E. B. White Friendship encompasses a wide range of social bonds, from playground companionship and wartime camaraderie to modern marriages and Facebook links. For many, friendship is more meaningful than familial ties. And yet it is our least codified relationship, with no legal standing or bureaucratic definition. In A Tremendous Thing, Gregory Jusdanis explores the complex, sometimes contradictory nature of friendship, reclaiming its importance in both society and the humanities today. Ranging widely in his discussion, he looks at the art of friendship and friendship in art, finding a compelling link between our need for friends and our engagement with fiction. Both, he contends, necessitate the possibility of entering invented worlds, of reading the minds of others, and of learning to live with people. Investigating the ethics, aesthetics, and politics of friendship, Jusdanis draws from the earliest writings to the present, from the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Iliad to Charlotte's Web and “Brokeback Mountain,” as well as from philosophy, sociology, evolutionary biology, psychology, and political theory. He asks: What makes friends stay together? Why do we associate friendship with mourning? Does friendship contribute to the formation of political communities? Can friends desire each other? The history of friendship demonstrates that human beings are a mutually supportive species with an innate aptitude to envision and create ties with others. At a time when we are confronted by war, economic inequality, and climate change, Jusdanis suggests that we reclaim friendship to harness our capacity for cooperation and empathy.

G is for Genes: The Impact of Genetics on Education and Achievement.

When I received this, I pictured myself conducting a review of the technical—scientific aspects of a pedagogic manuscript that 'mentions' genetics in its contents. However, there are no words to describe my surprise while perusing the copy. 'G is for Genes' is a well-balanced interpretation of the biopsychosocial model. Its contents are well structured, consolidated, and, most of all, structured with a proper basis. When reading between the lines, you can grasp all the years of hard work the authors have conducted in their respective fields. I was delighted with their skills in presenting the structure of this topic in a persuasive fashion. 'G is for Genes' is a book that describes the importance of genotyping in the coming generations as the basis for education's individualization. This is evident by early-stage identification of the innate aptitude of the child, and by establishing standardized but flexible behaviors adapted to the individual needs to ultimately promote suitable stimuli for altering environmental factors. As a critic with a scientific/clinical view, the hard data management that sustains this new pedagogic trend proposed by the authors has left me with a good after-taste. The book clearly states and completely harmonizes the concept that health is today's world trend (at least for the viewpoint of my area of expertise): Individualization of treatment based on the kitchen recipe for each person—their genes. I want to emphasize the complete picture presented from the genetic perspective: specifically the intricate details surrounding SNP discovery, to the potential impact in and on macro economies. Even though the approach and basis of their thesis is strong and excellently structured, I sense a lack of fluency in the structured methodology required to form an educational model that can be implemented in ordinary schools. Taking into account the high cost of genotyping, it is unlikely to be embraced or used in developmental countries such as Mexico in the near future (it is prudent to note that 'Mexico' is mentioned in the book as a country that can benefit from this model). 'G is for Genes' is a futuristic and controversial book, with excellent background and painless presentation. 'Controversial', in my opinion, is the parting point for changes and improvement, and 'futuristic' is today's tomorrow. I conclude this review by stating that the book should be directed not only to teachers, pedagogues and scientists, but also to all parents, since this is an excellent tool to promote optimal development of our children based on their individual characteristics and not merely social statistics.

Biomanufacturing and self-propulsion dynamics of nanoscale bacteria-enabled autonomous delivery systems

Flagellated bacteria have superb self-propulsion capabilities and are able to effectively move through highly viscous fluid and semi-solid (porous) environments. This innate aptitude has been harvested for whole-cell actuation of bio-hybrid microrobotic systems with applications in directed transport and microassembly. In this work, we present the biomanufacturing of Nanoscale Bacteria-Enabled Autonomous Delivery Systems (NanoBEADS) by controlled self-assembly and investigate the role of nanoparticle load on the dynamics of their self-propulsion in aqueous environments. Each NanoBEADS agent is comprised of spherical polystyrene nanoparticles assembled onto the body of a flagellated Escherichia coli bacterium. We demonstrate that the NanoBEADS assembly configuration is strongly dependent upon the nanoparticles to bacteria ratio. Furthermore, we characterized the stochastic motion of the NanoBEADS as a function of the quantity and size of the nanoparticle load and computationally analyzed the effect of the nanoparticle load on the experienced drag force. We report that the average NanoBEADS swimming speed is reduced to 65% of the free-swimming bacteria speed (31 μm/s) at the highest possible load. NanoBEADS can be utilized as single agents or in a collaborative swarm in order to carry out specific tasks in a wide range of applications ranging from drug delivery to whole cell biosensing.

Distribution of innate ability for surgery amongst medical students assessed by an advanced virtual reality surgical simulator

Surgery is a craft profession requiring individuals with specific, well-documented innate aptitude for manipulative skills. Yet in most countries, the current selection process of surgical trainees does not include aptitude testing for the psychomotor and manipulative skills of candidates. A total of 125 participants (121 medical students and four expert surgeons) performed all 26 exercises of the da Vinci Skills Simulator, with six exercises being identified as metrics of aptitude for manipulative and psychomotor skills. The expert surgeons were enrolled as the control group to validate the performance of the most talented students. Eight students (6.6%) significantly outperformed the remaining 113, obtaining a median value of the sum of weighted overall score on the six selected exercises of 52.7% versus 21.0% (p < 0.001). In contrast, 14 students (11.6%) performed significantly worse and well below the performance of the other 107, with a median value of overall score of 8.7% versus 24.1 (p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between expert surgeons (control group) and the eight talented students (62.1% vs. 52.7%, respectively; p = 0.368). No significant correlation between exposure to video games and overall score (ρ = 0.330) was observed. In terms of innate aptitude for manipulative and psychomotor abilities, the present investigation has documented two subpopulations that fall outside the norm for the group of medical students recruited for the study: (i) a small group (6.6%) with a high level and (ii) a larger cohort (11.6%) with low level (significantly below the norm) innate aptitude for surgery. Exposure to video game experience did not appear to influence performances on the da Vinci Skills Simulator.

Comportamentos de amamentação e mamada em bubalinos, suas relações com período de lactação, idade e sexo dos bezerros

Objetivou-se neste trabalho investigar a frequência e a duração dos tipos de amamentações durante o período de lactação em fêmeas bubalinas e os tipos de mamadas em relação à idade e ao sexo dos bezerros. Trinta e cinco fêmeas e seus bezerros foram observados durante três dias consecutivos a cada mês, ao longo de nove meses. A amamentação foi caracterizada como: amamentação filial isolada (AFI), amamentação filial coletiva (AFC) e amamentação não-filial (ANF). As mamadas executadas pelos bezerros foram caracterizadas como: mamada filial isolada (MFI), mamada filial coletiva na própria mãe (MFC 1), mamada filial coletiva em outra fêmea (MCF2) e mamada não-filial (MNF). Os dados foram analisados pela análise de variância, e as médias foram comparadas pelo teste Tukey, considerando P &lt; 0,05. A AFI apresentou frequência e duração maiores do que os outros tipos de amamentações (P &lt; 0,05), sendo predominante em quase todo o período de lactação. A frequência da MFI foi alta, principalmente no primeiro mês. A duração foi maior quando comparada aos outros tipos de mamadas até o quinto mês (P &lt; 0,05). Em relação ao sexo dos bezerros não foram encontradas diferenças significativas (P &gt; 0,05) para as médias da frequência e a duração dos tipos de mamadas. Os resultados mostram que as fêmeas bubalinas têm maior aptidão inata para a AFI em relação aos outros tipos de amamentações, predominando durante quase todo o período de lactação. Os bezerros bubalinos são mais dependentes da MFI durante os primeiros cinco meses de idade, e o sexo dos bezerros não influenciou nos tipos de mamadas.

Holding the centre among the scatter-brained

Plenty of reaction to the Commentary from transgendered scientist Ben A. Barres in Nature of 13 July. He debunked the claim that differences in innate aptitude, rather than discrimination, were behind the failure of many women to advance in scientific careers. There's more reaction in Correspondence this week. Add your views to the news blog on http://tinyurl.com/kacrg .

Bias was built into research from the beginning

Plenty of reaction to the Commentary from transgendered scientist Ben A. Barres in Nature of 13 July. He debunked the claim that differences in innate aptitude, rather than discrimination, were behind the failure of many women to advance in scientific careers. There's more reaction in Correspondence this week. Add your views to the news blog on http://tinyurl.com/kacrg .

Let's encourage gentler, more reflective scientists

Plenty of reaction to the Commentary from transgendered scientist Ben A. Barres in Nature of 13 July. He debunked the claim that differences in innate aptitude, rather than discrimination, were behind the failure of many women to advance in scientific careers. There's more reaction in Correspondence this week. Add your views to the news blog on http://tinyurl.com/kacrg .

The gender debate: science promises an honest investigation of the world

Plenty of reaction to the Commentary from transgendered scientist Ben A. Barres in Nature of 13 July. He debunked the claim that differences in innate aptitude, rather than discrimination, were behind the failure of many women to advance in scientific careers. There's more reaction in Correspondence this week. Add your views to the news blog on http://tinyurl.com/kacrg .