Physical Environmental Cues Research Articles

The Larval Plate Assay

The larval plate test has been used by researchers as a choice test to study the response of terrestrial larvae to various external cues. We describe here a laboratory exercise using third instar larvae of wild-type Drosophila to study the response toward multiple cues including olfactory as well as physical environmental cues such as light. The experiment can be easily carried out in an undergraduate lab and does not require any sophisticated instruments or equipment. The results of a series of experiments indicate the extent of response that each of the cue generates relative to the other. The highlight of the article however is the pre-lab discussion that can be done with students by putting forth various possible designs followed by discussion regarding the benefits and/or errors that could creep into the results obtained by using a particular design. Such a discussion would prove to be helpful in enhancing student understanding of experimental design, especially in designing experiments in animal behavior. The article also includes an extended theoretical problem set that can be used by facilitators in an undergraduate classroom activity.

Influences of Physical Environmental Cues on People With Dementia: A Scoping Review.

Physical environmental cues can provide important support to people with dementia (PwD). Compared to interventions involving construction, some cues can be achieved more easily, with less expense, and with fewer disruptions to PwD's daily lives. This review aims to examine existing empirical evidence about the impacts of cues on PwD's behaviors. We adopted the PRISMA scoping review approach and identified 32 articles. The results show visual cues have been frequently studied. The signage facilitates PwD's wayfinding. Concealed doors (e.g., concealing doorknobs) effectively prevent exit attempts. PwD also eat better with tableware of higher-contrasting colors or good lighting conditions. Clearer toilet signage results in better continence. Applying cues properly contributes to improving PwD's well-being and decreasing the burden for caregivers. However, knowledge gaps still exist in the impacts of other sensory cues (e.g., tactile, olfactory, and auditory), which require further research.

The use of context in machine learning for bioacoustics

Biological acoustic signals are often produced in context. Contextual information includes things such as timing between calls, conspecific or interspecies cues, and physical environmental cues such as sunrise or sunset. We show how some forms of contextual information can be used to improve the results of detection and classification tasks for biological acoustic signals. We examine how context can be used to improve labeled data, resulting in more-accurate classification results, as well as how learners can exploit context directly. We demonstrate these improvements via two bioacoustic detection/classification tasks. The first algorithm detects odontocete echolocation clicks. We used a decision support system that allowed analysts to label echolocation clicks using between call timing cues as well as other measurements and found that deep learners trained with these high quality data are able to detect clicks in adverse environments. The second algorithm applies contextual information surrounding North Atlantic right whale upcalls to improve precision and recall. [This work was supported by ONR Grant Nos. N00014-17-1-2867 and N00014-15-1-2299.]

Personal and situational predictors of everyday snacking: An application of temporal self-regulation theory.

This study aims at testing predictions derived from temporal self-regulation theory (TST) in relation to discretionary food choices (snacks). TST combines a motivational sphere of influence (cognitions and temporal valuations resulting in intentions) with a momentary sphere (encompassing social and physical environmental cues). This dual approach differs from current health behaviour theories, but can potentially improve our understanding of the interplay of personal and environmental factors in health behaviour self-regulation. A mixed event-based and time-based (Ecological Momentary Assessment) study in 61 adults aged between 18 and 64, with a BMI range between 18.34 and 39.78 (M=25.66, SD=4.82) over two weeks. Participants recorded their food and drink intake for two weeks in real time using electronic diaries. Participants also responded to non-consumption assessments at random intervals throughout each day. Momentary cues (individual, situational, and environmental factors) were assessed both during food logs and non-consumption assessments. Motivational factors, past behaviour, and trait self-regulation were assessed during baseline. Multilevel logistic regression analyses showed that across all snack types, environmental cues and negative affect were associated with an increased likelihood of snacking. Perceiving a cost of healthy eating to occur before eating was associated with an increased likelihood of snacking, whereas intentions and self-regulation were not. Discretionary food intake is largely guided by momentary cues, and motivational-level factors, such as intention and self-regulation, are less important in the initiation of discretionary food intake. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Overweight and obesity are a result of prolonged periods of energy imbalance between energy intake and expenditure (Hill & Peters, ). One of the key behavioural determinants of energy imbalances results from food intake, specifically from discretionary food choices (snacking). Temporal self-regulation theory (Hall & Fong, ) takes into account both deliberate and momentary influences on health behaviour, which is especially relevant to exploring the drivers of snacking. What does this study add? Offers new insight into the application of TST in explaining momentary eating behaviours. Snacking initiation is guided by momentary cues, not person-level factors. Dietary interventions should acknowledge the momentary cues that are associated with snacking.

Characterization of Phenotypic and Transcriptional Differences in Human Pluripotent Stem Cells under 2D and 3D Culture Conditions.

Human pluripotent stem cells hold great promise for applications in drug discovery and regenerative medicine. Microfluidic technology is a promising approach for creating artificial microenvironments; however, although a proper 3D microenvironment is required to achieve robust control of cellular phenotypes, most current microfluidic devices provide only 2D cell culture and do not allow tuning of physical and chemical environmental cues simultaneously. Here, the authors report a 3D cellular microenvironment plate (3D-CEP), which consists of a microfluidic device filled with thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-β-poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogel (HG), which enables systematic tuning of both chemical and physical environmental cues as well as in situ cell monitoring. The authors show that H9 human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and 253G1 human induced pluripotent stem cells in the HG/3D-CEP system maintain their pluripotent marker expression under HG/3D-CEP self-renewing conditions. Additionally, global gene expression analyses are used to elucidate small variations among different test environments. Interestingly, the authors find that treatment of H9 hESCs under HG/3D-CEP self-renewing conditions results in initiation of entry into the neural differentiation process by induction of PAX3 and OTX1 expression. The authors believe that this HG/3D-CEP system will serve as a versatile platform for developing targeted functional cell lines and facilitate advances in drug screening and regenerative medicine.

Filamentous growth of Candida albicans in response to physical environmental cues and its regulation by the unique CZF1 gene.

Hyphal growth in the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans is believed to contribute to the virulence of the organism by promoting penetration of fungal cells into host tissue. In this study, stimulation of hyphal growth by a feature of the physical environment was demonstrated. Specifically, growth of cells embedded within a matrix promoted the formation of hyphae. The CZF1 gene, encoding a putative transcription factor, was shown to be involved in the regulation of hyphal growth under certain conditions, including embedded conditions. Ectopic expression of CZF1 in embedded cells promoted the rapid formation of hyphae. Elimination of CZF1 and CPH1, encoding a homologue of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ste12p transcription factor, led to a pronounced defect in filamentous growth of embedded cells. Elimination of CZF1 alone led to a moderate defect in hyphal growth under some conditions, including embedded conditions. Hyphal morphogenesis in response to matrix embedding may occur in the opportunistic pathogen, C. albicans, to promote invasion of fungal cells into host tissue.

Physical environmental cues to reduce the problems of incontinence in Alzheimer's disease units

Research has indicated that behavioral strategies such as cuing orientation within an environment may help reduce incontinence among dementia patients. However, there are no empirical studies that explore the relationship between incontinence and environmental modifications. This study compares the effectiveness of four nomenclatures such as “toilet” and “restroom” on the wayfinding abilities of residents in the early, middle, and advanced stages of dementia in two specially designed units. Results indicate that a series of directional arrows on the floor with the nomenclature “toilet” produced the most instances of utilization of public toilets in both units.