Nose Heat: Exploring Stress-induced Nasal Thermal Variability through Mobile Thermal Imaging

Automatically monitoring and quantifying stress-induced thermal dynamic information in real-world settings is an extremely important but challenging problem. In this paper, we explore whether we can use mobile thermal imaging to measure the rich physiological cues of mental stress that can be deduced from a person's nose temperature. To answer this question we build i) a framework for monitoring nasal thermal variable patterns continuously and ii) a novel set of thermal variability metrics to capture a richness of the dynamic information. We evaluated our approach in a series of studies including laboratory-based psychosocial stress-induction tasks and real-world factory settings. We demonstrate our approach has the potential for assessing stress responses beyond controlled laboratory settings

Expressive haptics for enhanced usability of mobile interfaces in situations of impairments

Designing for situational awareness could lead to better solutions for disabled people, likewise, exploring the needs of disabled people could lead to innovations that can address situational impairments. This in turn can create non-stigmatising assistive technology for disabled people from which eventually everyone could benefit. In this paper, we investigate the potential for advanced haptics to compliment the graphical user interface of mobile devices, thereby enhancing user experiences of all people in some situations (e.g. sunlight interfering with interaction) and visually impaired people. We explore technical solutions to this problem space and demonstrate our justification for a focus on the creation of kinaesthetic force feedback. We propose initial design concepts and studies, with a view to co-create delightful and expressive haptic interactions with potential users motivated by scenarios of situational and permanent impairments.Comment: Presented at the CHI'19 Workshop: Addressing the Challenges of Situationally-Induced Impairments and Disabilities in Mobile Interaction, 2019 (arXiv:1904.05382

Awareness, interest, and preferences of primary care providers in using point-of-care cancer screening technology

Well-developed point-of-care (POC) cancer screening tools have the potential to provide better cancer care to patients in both developed and developing countries. However, new medical technology will not be adopted by medical providers unless it addresses a population’s existing needs and end-users’ preferences. The goals of our study were to assess primary care providers’ level of awareness, interest, and preferences in using POC cancer screening technology in their practice and to provide guidelines to biomedical engineers for future POC technology development. A total of 350 primary care providers completed a one-time self-administered online survey, which took approximately 10 minutes to complete. A $50 Amazon gift card was given as an honorarium for the first 100 respondents to encourage participation. The description of POC cancer screening technology was provided in the beginning of the survey to ensure all participants had a basic understanding of what constitutes POC technology. More than half of the participants (57%) stated that they heard of the term “POC technology” for the first time when they took the survey. However, almost all of the participants (97%) stated they were either “very interested” (68%) or “somewhat interested” (29%) in using POC cancer screening technology in their practice. Demographic characteristics such as the length of being in the practice of medicine, the percentage of patients on Medicaid, and the average number of patients per day were not shown to be associated with the level of interest in using POC. These data show that there is a great interest in POC cancer screening technology utilization among this population of primary care providers and vast room for future investigations to further understand the interest and preferences in using POC cancer technology in practice. Ensuring that the benefits of new technology outweigh the costs will maximize the likelihood it will be used by medical providers and patients

Explaining Cost Efficiency of Scottish Farms: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis

In this paper the cost efficiency of Scottish farms is determined, variables that explain the relative cost efficiency by farm type are identified and implications discussed. A cost efficiency approach was selected as it can deal with farms producing multiple outputs (in contrast to production frontiers), and second because it can accommodate output constraints imposed by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). To estimate the stochastic cost frontier, a generalised multi-product translog cost function was estimated for five farm types: dairy, cereals and general cropping, cattle and sheep, specialist sheep and mixed farms. Eight farm outputs and four inputs were considered. The data for the estimation were drawn from the Farm Accounts Scheme (FAS) survey for the period 1997-2004, which allowed the construction of an unbalanced panel dataset for 358 farms. Cost efficiency was measured as a fixed effect term and this was used to construct an indicator of relative cost efficiency by farm type. Further analysis, to explain the efficiency results, indicated the presence of important farm size and regional effects. However, other variables used in the analysis, whilst statistically significant, did not produce a consistent effect across the different farm types.Stochastic cost frontier analysis, cost efficiency, Scottish farms, Common Agricultural Policy., Productivity Analysis, Farm Management,

Efficiency of Scottish Farms: A Stochastic Cost Frontier Analysis

In this paper the relative cost efficiency of Scottish farms is determined, and variables that explain this efficiency by farm type are identified and implications discussed. A panel dataset from the Farm Accounts Scheme (FAS) survey for the period 1997-2004 was used for the estimation. A cost efficiency indicator was measured using a fixed effect panel data regression. Further analysis, to explain the efficiency results, indicated the presence of important farm size and regional effects. However, other variables, whilst statistically significant, did not produce a consistent effect across the different farm types.Stochastic cost frontier analysis, cost efficiency, Scottish farms, Common Agricultural Policy, Farm Management, Q12,

Readaptation of the Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex Relieves the Mal De Debarquement Syndrome

The Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS), a continuous feeling of swaying, rocking and/or bobbing, generally follows travel on the sea. The associated symptoms cause considerable distress. The underlying neural mechanisms are unknown, and to date there have been no effective treatments for this condition. Results in monkeys and humans suggested that MdDS was caused by maladaptation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) to roll of the head during rotation. We studied twenty-four subjects with persistent MdDS (3 males, 21 females; 19.1 ± 33 months). Physical findings included body oscillation at 0.2Hz, oscillating vertical nystagmus when the head was rolled from side-to-side in darkness, and unilateral rotation during the Fukuda stepping test. We posited that the maladapted rocking and the physical symptoms could be diminished or extinguished by readapting the VOR. Subjects were treated by rolling the head from side-to-side while watching a rotating full-field visual stimulus. Seventeen of the twenty-four subjects had a complete or substantial recovery on average for approximately one year. Six were initially better, but the symptoms recurred. One subject did not respond to treatment. Thus, readaptation of the VOR has led to a cure or substantial improvement in 70% of the subjects with MdDS. We conclude that the adaptive processes associated with roll-while-rotating are responsible for producing MdDS, and that the symptoms can be reduced or resolved by readapting the VOR

Effects of informative and confirmatory feedback on brain activation during negative feedback processing

The current study compared the effects of informative and confirmatory feedback on brain activation during negative feedback processing. For confirmatory feedback trials, participants were informed that they had failed the task, whereas informative feedback trials presented task relevant information along with the notification of their failure. Fourteen male undergraduates performed a series of spatial-perceptual tasks and received feedback while their brain activity was recorded. During confirmatory feedback trials, greater activations in the amygdala, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and the thalamus (including the habenular) were observed in response to incorrect responses. These results suggest that confirmatory feedback induces negative emotional reactions to failure. In contrast, informative feedback trials elicited greater activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) when participants experienced failure. Further psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis revealed a negative coupling between the DLPFC and the amygdala during informative feedback relative to confirmatory feedback trials. These findings suggest that providing task-relevant information could facilitate implicit down-regulation of negative emotions following failure

Indonesia’s “Fresh Meat”: LGBTQ Activism Amid Political Homophobia and Transphobia

In 2016, Indonesia—the fourth most populous country in the world—received international attention for what the Human Rights Watch calls an LGBTQ “Crisis” (2016). Sparked by high ranking officials publicly declaring homophobic and transphobic sentiments, a wave of intolerance, fear, and hate disseminated throughout the country. Gender and sexual minorities became “fresh meat” for political players—government officials, military leaders, religious figures, and other social agents competed to take a stand against an “impeding” LGBTQ threat. These dialogues catalyzed into action as zealous anti-LGBTQ campaigns staked violence and discrimination against gender and sexual minorities across Indonesia. The “Crisis of 2016” cannot be understood as a resentful reaction to a movement ostentatiously claiming space. Homophobia and transphobia have long been slowly encroaching on the larger hetero- and cisnormative society, especially through private and localized manners (Boellstorff, 2004). Dwelling in this environment, the “threatening” LGBTQ movement has struggled to gain basic groundings, and thus hardly qualifies as a challenger to state power in its societal influence. 2016, then, may be understood as a political gambit to strategically frame a vulnerable, and thus, marketable, minority rights movement. In this political ploy to name the LGBTQ community as enemy, how has the movement changed or moved as a result? To explore the relationship between political homophobia and transphobia and the LGBTQ movement, I pursued a one-month-long field study, conducting interviews with LGBTQ leaders in the city of Yogyakarta, on the island of Java, Indonesia. From these interviews, it seems as though 2016 presented challenges for individual activists, increasingly divided the LGBTQ community, but brought the movement closer to other social justice movements. In this report, I present these findings from this very limited and exploratory study, in hopes of providing an introductory understanding of the effects of state-initiated LGBTQ intolerance. In the future, I hope further studies are done to better know the nuanced effects of the “Crisis of 2016.

Establishing a core outcome set for peritoneal dialysis : report of the SONG-PD (standardized outcomes in nephrology-peritoneal dialysis) consensus workshop

Outcomes reported in randomized controlled trials in peritoneal dialysis (PD) are diverse, are measured inconsistently, and may not be important to patients, families, and clinicians. The Standardized Outcomes in Nephrology-Peritoneal Dialysis (SONG-PD) initiative aims to establish a core outcome set for trials in PD based on the shared priorities of all stakeholders. We convened an international SONG-PD stakeholder consensus workshop in May 2018 in Vancouver, Canada. Nineteen patients/caregivers and 51 health professionals attended. Participants discussed core outcome domains and implementation in trials in PD. Four themes relating to the formation of core outcome domains were identified: life participation as a main goal of PD, impact of fatigue, empowerment for preparation and planning, and separation of contributing factors from core factors. Considerations for implementation were identified: standardizing patient-reported outcomes, requiring a validated and feasible measure, simplicity of binary outcomes, responsiveness to interventions, and using positive terminology. All stakeholders supported inclusion of PD-related infection, cardiovascular disease, mortality, technique survival, and life participation as the core outcome domains for PD