Picture Presentation Research Articles

Ergodic Tendencies in Sub-Systems Coupled to Finite Reservoirs—Classical and Quantal

Whereas ergodic theories relate to limiting cases of infinite thermal reservoirs and infinitely long times, some ergodicity tendencies may appear also for finite reservoirs and time durations. These tendencies are here explored and found to exist, but only for extremely long times and very soft ergodic criteria. “Weak ergodicity breaking” is obviated by a judicious time-weighting, as found in a previous work [Found. Phys. (2015) 45: 673–690]. The treatment is based on an N-oscillator (classical) and an N-spin (quantal) model. The showing of ergodicity is facilitated by pictorial presentations.

Designing health risk assessment report for wellness clinic patients

Abstract Introduction With the emergence of electronic medical records and patient portals, patients are increasingly able to access their health records, including laboratory reports. However, laboratory reports are usually written for clinicians rather than patients, who may not understand much of the information in the report. While several professional guidelines define the technical content of test reports, there are very few guidelines on a patient-friendly presentation of such laboratory reports. The complexity of lab test reports poses a major challenge to patient understanding that warrants the development of a report more appropriate for them. Methodology User feedback was obtained on the Lab Report / medical summaries of a tertiary level hospital based on a pre-tested questionnaire Health Risk Assessment Report was prepared with a view to address patient barriers Functionality enhancements were arrived at for estimating work effort by business analyst of the Customer Relationship Management team. Results Patients' health literacy, awareness of inherited diseases, e-health literacy and risk perception were found to be impacting the interpretation of lab results. Based on the user feedback (88% opting for graphical and pictorial presentation), 13 functionality enhancements have been arrived at and submitted to the Customer Relationship Management team for initiating a change management report taking into consideration the training load and cost implications. Conclusions Patient friendly systems (CRM) enhance the understanding on the criticality of their health conditions, impacting health seeking behavior. Effective CRMs help hospitals in providing cost effective health care to the community. The enhancements, however, have to be in adherence to the EHR standards of the country. Key messages Effective CRMs help hospitals in providing cost effective health care to the community. Patient friendly systems (CRM) enhance the understanding on the criticality of their health conditions, impacting health seeking behavior.

A preregistered multi-lab replication of Maier et al. (2014, Exp. 4) testing retroactive avoidance.

The term "retroactive avoidance" refers to a special class of effects of future stimulus presentations on past behavioral responses. Specifically, it refers to the anticipatory avoidance of aversive stimuli that were unpredictable through random selection after the response. This phenomenon is supposed to challenge the common view of the arrow of time and the direction of causality. Preliminary evidence of "retroactive avoidance" has been published in mainstream psychological journals and started a heated debate about the robustness and the true existence of this effect. A series of seven experiments published in 2014 in the Journal of Consciousness Studies (Maier et al., 2014) tested the influence of randomly drawn future negative picture presentations on avoidance responses based on key presses preceding them. The final study in that series used a sophisticated quantum-based random stimulus selection procedure and implemented the most severe test of retroactive avoidance within this series. Evidence for the effect, though significant, was meager and anecdotal, Bayes factor (BF10) = 2. The research presented here represents an attempt to exactly replicate the original effect with a high-power (N = 2004) preregistered multi-lab study. The results indicate that the data favored the null effect (i.e., absence of retroactive avoidance) with a BF01 = 4.38. Given the empirical strengths of the study, namely its preregistration, multi-lab approach, high power, and Bayesian analysis used, this failed replication questions the validity and robustness of the original findings. Not reaching a decisive level of Bayesian evidence and not including skeptical researchers may be considered limitations of this study. Exploratory analyses of the change in evidence for the effect across time, performed on a post-hoc basis, revealed several potentially interesting anomalies in the data that might guide future research in this area.

A coupled Temperley–Lieb algebra for the superintegrable chiral Potts chain

The Hamiltonian of the N-state superintegrable chiral Potts (SICP) model is written in terms of a coupled algebra defined by N − 1 types of Temperley–Lieb generators. This generalises a previous result for N = 3 obtained by Fjelstad and Månsson (2012 J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 45 155208). A pictorial representation of a related coupled algebra is given for the N = 3 case which involves a generalisation of the pictorial presentation of the Temperley–Lieb algebra to include a pole around which loops can become entangled. For the two known representations of this algebra, the N = 3 SICP chain and the staggered spin-1/2 XX chain, closed (contractible) loops have weight and weight 2, respectively. For both representations closed (non-contractible) loops around the pole have weight zero. The pictorial representation provides a graphical interpretation of the algebraic relations. A key ingredient in the resolution of diagrams is a crossing relation for loops encircling a pole which involves the parameter ρ = e 2πi/3 for the SICP chain and ρ = 1 for the staggered XX chain. These ρ values are derived assuming the Kauffman bracket skein relation.

Prioritization of dimensions of visual merchandising for apparel retailers using FAHP

PurposeVisual merchandising has a direct impact on shopping experience, making it pertinent for the retailers to ensure that their store environment has an effective design. This study blends fuzzy numbers and Analytical Hierarchy Process to create a fuzzy evaluation model prioritizing the relative weights of visual merchandising dimensions of online fashion apparel store. This study will help the fashion retailers in creating more engaging and informative online stores leading to subsequent increase in online retail sales.Design/methodology/approachVisual merchandising dimensions and sub dimensions used by retailers for online stores were identified through review of literature and discussion with experts. Twenty experts were interviewed and their responses captured. The responses were analyzed using Fuzzy AHP technique resulting in prioritizing the dimensions according to the weight. For testing the stability of the results, sensitivity analysis was conducted.FindingsFour key dimensions and sixteen sub dimensions were extracted. Weights were calculated using FAHP. “Pictorial Presentation” has the highest weight followed closely by “Product Information” dimension. Amongst the sub-dimensions “Number of Product Images” scored highest followed by “Product Presentation mode”. “Alterable Background” scored the least weight.Originality/valuePrevious studies have identified Online Visual Merchandising dimensions and have also studied the impact of some of these dimensions on consumer buying behavior, but the relative significance has not been determined yet. This study fills the gap.

Broadband Seismic Isolation of Periodic Ladder Frame Structure

Abstract Ladder frame structures are used as models for multistorey buildings. These periodic structures exhibit alternating propagating and attenuating frequency bands. Of the six different wave modes of propagation, two modes strongly attenuate at all frequencies. The other four modes have nonoverlapping stop band characteristics. Thus, it is challenging to isolate such structures when subjected to broadband, multimodal base excitation. In this study, we seek to synthesize a periodic ladder frame structure that has attenuation characteristics over the maximal range of frequencies for all the modes of wave propagation. We synthesize a unit cell of the periodic structure, which comprises two distinct regions having different inertial, stiffness, and geometric properties. The eigenvalues of the transfer matrix of the unit cell determines the attenuating or the nonattenuating characteristics of the structure. A novel pictorial presentation in the form of eigenvalue map is developed. This is used to synthesize the optimal unit cell. Also, design guidelines for suitable selection of the design parameters are presented. It is shown that a large finite periodic structure comprising a unit cell synthesized using the present approach has significantly better isolation characteristics in comparison to the homogeneous or any other arbitrarily chosen periodic structure.

Functional MRI in Depression—Multivariate Analysis of Emotional Task

The field of translational neuroscience suffers from an extremely low replication levels compared to other life science fields. The objective of the present study was to test the hypothesis that multivariate analysis of a classical emotional pictures paradigm would produce meaningful brain signatures with some power to discriminate depressed patients from healthy subjects. Participants in the study were eighteen medicated depressed patients and eighteen sex and age matched healthy controls. Functional MRI paradigm with a visual presentation of emotional pictures (positive, negative and neutral) from the International Affective Pictures System was used. The multivariate linear method (MLM) was used to derive the specific brain signatures on an individual and on a group level. The predictive power of the brain signatures is tested by use of linear discriminant analysis. Following the individual and group MLM, the three brain patterns that summarized all the individual variabilities of the individual brain patterns were produced. The discriminant analysis yielded accuracy levels for the three brain signatures ranging from 67 to 98%. The present study demonstrated that the multivariate linear method resulted in meaningful brain signatures with significant potential for distinction between healthy and depressed subjects. Such findings will fuel the emerging paradigm shift from more conventional statistical analysis to the probably more appropriate for the field of functional neuroimaging machine learning techniques.

Role of clinical forensic medicine unit in quality and standardization of medico-legal reports

IntroductionIncomplete and inaccurate medico-legal report (MLR) often slow down the court trials and lead to incorrect judgments. Identification of such mistakes and shortcomings in the report can help in preventing litigations against doctors, unbiased court judgments, and injustice. Clinical Forensic Medicine Unit (CFMU) deals with all medico-legal cases (MLC) brought to the institution. It prepares MLR's, collect evidence, and supervises medicolegal issues of the institute. Material & methodPre-CFMU included 50 poisoning and 50 non-poisoning reports, selected randomly among 504 cases. Post-CFMU also included 50 poisoning and 50 non-poisoning reports, which were chosen randomly among total 588 cases. ResultComparing the pre and post CFMU non-poisoning reports, the following parameters were statistically significant; date and time of examination, address of the patient, details of accompanied police, details of attendant, identification marks, history of incidence, consent, description, dimension, location and age of injuries, pictorial presentation, general condition of the patient on arrival, and final opinion. Comparing the pre and post CFMU poisoning reports, statistically significant results were obtained for the following parameters; address of the patient, identification marks, history of incidence, consent, general condition of the patient on arrival, details of evidence collected, preservative used, seal status, and final opinion. ConclusionThe present study concludes that the errors were significantly reduced in medico-legal reports prepared by forensic experts. It is, therefore, necessary to employ forensic experts at every healthcare facility not only to prevent lawsuits but also to strengthen the judiciary. Additionally, we recommend regular training of non-forensic professionals to acquaint them with medico-legal work.

Critical Evaluation of Drug Advertisements in a Medical College in Lalitpur, Nepal.

PurposeThe information provided in drug advertisements (DAs) often do not follow the recommended criteria and may promote irrational prescribing behaviors. Recently Health Action International (HAI) formulated detailed criteria to evaluate DAs which further develop and expand on the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. This study was done to evaluate DAs using both criteria.MethodsThe study was carried out from October 2019 to January 2020 in the Department of Pharmacology of KIST Medical College, Lalitpur, Nepal. A structured proforma was used to collect data.ResultsAltogether 100 DAs were analyzed. Maximum (85%) were having pictorial presentations. Majority (89%) were found to have authentic information and 3% were found to have exaggerated information. All DAs mentioned generic name, brand name, active drug per dosage form and approved therapeutic uses. Only 4% of DAs mentioned about the adverse effects that can be caused by the use of these medicines. The DAs evaluated as per the HAI criteria for pictures and images showed that people portrayed did not seem to be Nepalese. Females and males were portrayed differently with females being laypersons and males being healthcare professionals. Nineteen DAs contained 33 references to scientific literature. Thirty references contained adequate citation information to be identified and were retrievable. Retrieved references were of high methodological quality and from peer-reviewed journals. There was only one graph in the DAs and it contained the number needed to treat (NNT) information. The graph was not having statistical calculations and was not obscured by other visual material.ConclusionUsing both HAI and WHO criteria for assessing the DAs was the strength of this study. None of the DAs fulfilled all the criteria. Additionally, lack of any information on harm in the large majority of DAs, and very limited backing of claims with references was also seen.

Scientific and Medical Research on Dr. M.S. Reddy’s Multiple Mixed Strain Probiotic Therapy and its Influence on Assisting to Cure or Prevent the Nosocomial Infections, Synergistically Enhancing the Conventional Cancer Therapies, as an Adjuvant, and its Possible Potential to Prevent or Cure COVID-19 Novel Corona Virus Infection by Balancing the Intestinal Microbiota and Microbiome through Modulation of the Human Immune

The composition and the preparation of Dr. M.S. Reddy’s Multiple Mixed Strain Probiotics along with their growth end products such as immunomodulins, bacteriocins, bio-active peptides, and Nano inhibitory compounds has been presented in a pictorial form.  The methodology of carrying on community based clinical trials to prevent or cure nosocomial infections, and to cure cancer when such Multiple Mixed Strain Probiotics are used as adjuvants along with the standard cancer therapies is also presented with explicit details and easy to follow pictorial presentation. A thorough introduction, discussion, and conclusion were presented regarding the efficacy of Dr. M.S. Reddy’s Multiple Mixed Strain probiotic adjuvant cancer therapy to assist the standard cancer therapies including the immune checkpoint therapy etc. using pictorial presentation. A detailed scientific explanation has been given regarding how Multiple Mixed Strain probiotics and their growth end products can perform as cancer curing peptides, immune checkpoint inhibitors, undefined chemotherapeutic agents, gene therapeutic agents, targeted therapeutic agents, and hormonal therapeutic agents. In addition, solid scientific hypothesis has also been presented with regard to how Dr. M.S. Reddy’s Multiple Mixed Strain Probiotics can prevent or cure the deadly disease COVID-19 caused by Novo Coronavirus (SARS – CoV-2). Conclusive remarks include the absolute necessity of using Multiple Mixed Strain probiotic adjuvant cancer therapy as a universal base adjuvant therapy along with any chosen conventional cancer therapy, to effectively cure cancer with least side effects and relapse.  

The influence of attachment styles on autonomic correlates of perspective-taking

This study examined the effects of attachment styles on physiological responses during a perspective-taking task. Sixty-eight participants were selected according to attachment styles. Physiological responses were assessed using skin conductance responses (SCRs) in the three attachment groups (secure, insecure-anxious and insecure-avoidant) during the presentation of attachment-based pictures (distress, comfort or neutral) in two different perspective-taking conditions: self perspective-taking (i.e. imagine how you would feel in the given situation) or other perspective-taking (i.e. imagine how that person could feel in this situation). In the self perspective-taking condition, insecure-anxious individuals displayed higher SCRs than secure individuals for distress pictures. In the other perspective-taking condition, insecure-anxious individuals showed higher SCRs than secure individuals for comfort pictures. The results also showed a strong negative association between self-reported perspective-taking tendencies and SCRs in secure individuals. The findings suggest that perspective-taking plays an important role in the modulation of physiological responses in reaction to attachment-related pictures, which varies according to attachment styles.

Single unit and beta oscillatory activities in subthalamic nucleus are modulated during visual choice preference.

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease affecting the supply of dopamine to basal ganglia nuclei, leading to pathological beta band (13-35Hz) oscillations in the subthalamic nucleus (STN). STN and beta activity are recognized in motoric functions but their role in cognitive functions remains elusive. We examined single unit and beta local field potential (LFP) activity in the STN during a visual choice preference task in PD patients (n=12) undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery. Patients viewed 2 of 5 possible animal picture-pairs and were instructed to choose their favorite ("fav") picture by clicking the left or right mouse key. A block of trials consisted of 50-75 picture-pair presentations. Single unit histograms and LFP spectrograms were aligned to picture presentation and point of decision for pairs that included the fav and non-fav pictures, respectively. A total of 58 neurons from 26 blocks of trials were analyzed. Thirty of 58 neurons showed a selective change in spiking activity 0.20-0.65s to fav picture presentation, which preceded the shortest recorded reaction time (=0.7s), and 17/58 neurons showed no significant response in our task. Beta LFP significantly desynchronized in response to fav but not non-fav pictures in all trials, and in 14/26 blocks of trials, the desynchronization was followed by a "beta burst" and ramp-up to baseline activity. Neurons with choice preference responses were found throughout the dorsoventral extent of the STN. STN single units and beta activity are modulated during visual choice preference, and this suggests a role for STN beta activity in cognitive processing.

Attention for Speaking: Prestimulus Motor-cortical Alpha Power Predicts Picture Naming Latencies.

There is a range of variability in the speed with which a single speaker will produce the same word from one instance to another. Individual differences studies have shown that the speed of production and the ability to maintain attention are related. This study investigated whether fluctuations in production latencies can be explained by spontaneous fluctuations in speakers' attention just prior to initiating speech planning. A relationship between individuals' incidental attentional state and response performance is well attested in visual perception, with lower prestimulus alpha power associated with faster manual responses. Alpha is thought to have an inhibitory function: Low alpha power suggests less inhibition of a specific brain region, whereas high alpha power suggests more inhibition. Does the same relationship hold for cognitively demanding tasks such as word production? In this study, participants named pictures while EEG was recorded, with alpha power taken to index an individual's momentary attentional state. Participants' level of alpha power just prior to picture presentation and just prior to speech onset predicted subsequent naming latencies. Specifically, higher alpha power in the motor system resulted in faster speech initiation. Our results suggest that one index of a lapse of attention during speaking is reduced inhibition of motor-cortical regions: Decreased motor-cortical alpha power indicates reduced inhibition of this area while early stages of production planning unfold, which leads to increased interference from motor-cortical signals and longer naming latencies. This study shows that the language production system is not impermeable to the influence of attention.

BİLGELİĞİN PORTRELERİ: AVRUPA RESMİNDE ANTİK YUNAN FİLOZOFLARI

The cultural heritage of Ancient Greece had left significant marks on the art of European painting. This admiration for the ancient culture can be seen starting from the Renaissance era which was inspired by the classical world and humanism. Baroque art in the 17th century and Neoclassical style of the 18th century also presented the traces of the ancient Greek civilization. Greek mythological figures and prominent people from the cultural life had been the subject of pictures. The focus of this study will be the portraits of the thinkers. The pictorial presentations of the life stories and anectodes of Ancient Greek philosophers such as Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Democritus, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Diogenes will be explored.

Approximate analytical solution of two‐dimensional space‐time fractional diffusion equation

This work presents an iterative scheme for the numerical solution of the space‐time fractional two‐dimensional advection–reaction–diffusion equation applying homotopy perturbation with Laplace transform using Caputo fractional‐order derivatives. The solution obtained is beneficial and significant to analyze the modeling of superdiffusive systems and subdiffusive system, anomalous diffusion, transport process in porous media. This iterative technique presents the combination of homotopy perturbation technique, and Laplace transforms with He's polynomials, which can further be applied to numerous linear/nonlinear two‐dimensional fractional models to computes the approximate analytical solution. In the present method, the nonlinearity can be tackle by He's polynomials. The salient features of the present scientific work are the pictorial presentations of the approximate numerical solution of the two‐dimensional fractional advection–reaction–diffusion equation for different particular cases of fractional order and showcasing of the damping effect of reaction terms on the nature of probability density function of the considered two‐dimensional nonlinear mathematical models for various situations.

Perceptual errors are related to shifts in generalization of conditioned responding.

Studies of perceptual generalization have recently demonstrated a close relationship between stimulus perception and conditioned responding, suggesting that incorrect stimulus perception might account for certain characteristics of generalization gradients. In this study, we investigated whether common phenomena, such as the area and peak shift in conditioned responding, relate to perceptual errors. After a differential conditioning procedure, in which one circle was paired with the presentation of an aversive picture whereas a different-sized circle was not, we combined a generalization test with a three-alternative forced-choice perceptual categorization task where participants had to indicate on every trial whether the presented circle was one of the two circles from the conditioning phase or a different one, after which US-expectancy ratings were collected. The typical peak and area shift were observed when conditioned responses were plotted on a physical dimension. However, when stimulus perception was incorporated generalization gradients diverged from the typical gradient. Both the area and peak shift largely disappeared when accounting for perceptual errors. These findings demonstrate the need to incorporate perceptual mechanisms in associative models.

Motivated action: Pupil diameter during active coping

Pupil diameter is dynamically modulated by a number of factors, including emotion, motor activity, and attention. Here, pupil modulation was examined as it varies with locus of control during aversive processing. Participants could control aversive exposure either by escape (terminating the event) or avoidance (blocking the event entirely), or they had no control. Highly anxious (n = 19), moderately anxious (n = 23), and less anxious (n = 23) participants saw cues that signaled whether a fast button press would terminate, prevent, or not affect subsequent presentation of an aversive picture. Pupil diameter was measured throughout the cuing interval. Pupil diameter was larger when preparing to escape or avoid compared to anticipating uncontrollable exposure. All participants, regardless of reported anxiety, showed increased pupil diameter in coping, relative to uncontrollable, contexts. Results support hypotheses that pupil diameter reflects action preparation and that differences in trait anxiety do not modulate this aspect of coping behavior in healthy subjects.

A numerical study of the nonlinear fractional mathematical model of tumor cells in presence of chemotherapeutic treatment

Cancer belongs to the class of diseases which is symbolized by out of control cells growth. These cells affect DNAs and damage them. There exist many treatments available in medical science as radiation therapy, targeted therapy, surgery, palliative care and chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is one of the most popular treatments which depends on the type, location and grade of cancer. In this paper, we are working on modeling and prediction of the effect of chemotherapy on cancer cells using a fractional differential equation by using the differential operator in Caputo’s sense. The presented model depicts the interaction between tumor, normal and immune cells in a tumor by using a system of four coupled fractional partial differential equations (PDEs). For this system, initial conditions of tumor cells and dimensions are taken in such a way that tumor is spread out enough in size and can be detected easily with the clinical machines. An operational matrix method with Genocchi polynomials is applied to study this system of fractional PDEs (FPDEs). An operational matrix for fractional differentiation is derived. Applying the collocation method and using this matrix, the nonlinear system is reduced to a system of algebraic equations, which can be solved using Newton iteration method. The salient features of this paper are the pictorial presentations of the numerical solution of the concerned equation for different particular cases to show the effect of fractional exponent on diffusive nature of immune cells, tumor cells, normal cells and chemotherapeutic drug and depict the interaction among immune cells, normal cells and tumor cells in a tumor site.

The effect of time pressure and semantic relatedness in spoken word production: A topographic ERP study

Speaking involves information-universal and information-specific systems, and it remains unknown about the influence of two systems in spoken word production. We manipulated time pressure (with and without) as an information-universal factor and the semantic relatedness between target names and distractor words (semantically related and unrelated) as an information-specific factor in the picture-word interference (PWI) task, while electrophysiological signals were measured concurrently. Naming latencies showed a significant semantic interference effect in the condition without time pressure but none in the condition with time pressure. Spatio-temporal segmentation analysis indicated that time pressure only prolonged the duration of Map 4 ranging from about 250–350 ms post picture presentation, and meanwhile shortened the duration of Map 5 starting around 350–520 ms. Within the framework of serial models, the two time periods were presumably associated with lexical selection and phonological encoding in spoken word production. Cluster-based permutation analysis revealed that semantic relatedness modulated ERPs around 320−360 ms after picture onset in the condition without time pressure, while 530−570 ms in the condition with time pressure. Our findings reveal that time pressure prolongs lexical selection and shortens phonological encoding. Furthermore, time pressure dynamically modulates whether semantically related distractors exceed a competition threshold to interfere with target word selection.

‘The myth that children can be anything they want’: gender construction in Pakistani children literature

ABSTRACTChildren’s books transfer social values which are imperative in determining their social identities. Children’s literature is, therefore, a powerful medium for constructing ideologies. This study focuses on how gender is constructed in Pakistani children’s literature using one of the oldest and most popular Urdu-language children’s magazine, titled Taleem-o-Tarbiyat. A total of thirty-six magazines were selected for the years 2006–2007 and 2011–2012. Quantitative content analysis was undertaken to expose character and pictorial presentations of male and female figures in the magazine. Frequency of the occurrence of male and female characters under various categories which included assigned professions; major roles; supporting roles; front page pictorials and in-story pictorials, was determined. The research findings indicate a strong presence of gender bias against females in both character and pictorial representations and this bias has persisted over time. Although, there was some improvement in the depiction of females in illustrations and in-story characters at the end of sample period, this change has not really affected the overall stereotypical representation of females as they are still lacking in occupying professions as well as, major and supporting roles.