Sustained attention training reduces spatial bias in Parkinson’s disease: a pilot case series

Individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) commonly demonstrate lateralized spatial biases, which affect daily functioning. Those with PD with initial motor symptoms on the left body side (LPD) have reduced leftward attention, whereas PD with initial motor symptoms on the right side (RPD) may display reduced rightward attention. We investigated whether a sustained attention training program could help reduce these spatial biases. Four non-demented individuals with PD (2 LPD, 2 RPD) performed a visual search task before and after 1 month of computer training. Before training, all participants showed a significant spatial bias and after training, all participants’ spatial bias was eliminated.Published versio

D-1A nose fairing separation fitting load test

Structural testing of the D-1A Centaur nose fairing was completed to determine the loads imposed during flight on the latch bolts of the fairing separation system. This testing was conducted to supplement and/or verify the analytic techniques used in calculating bolt loads for the D-1A, and to gain insight into the general structural behavior of separation latch systems. It was shown that the assumed bolt load magnification due to prying action of the latch fittings on the bolt does occur, but is strongly dependent on fairing shell stiffness

Interferometer using RF switching matrix

Radio frequency switching technique for single receiver and data processing channel to be used for phase movement measurement is discussed. Components of interferometer radio frequency unit, X-band receiver, and interferometer data processing unit are illustrated. Elimination of major measurement error source is described

Geocaching to Review for Assessment

Students will use a GPS device either individually or in groups to search for answers to an assessment’s review questions. Students will become familiar with the technology aspects of GPS but also prepare for whatever assessment (Quiz, Test, Unit Exam) that a teacher chooses

Ukrainian refugees and the politics of assimilation in Poland

This thesis explores the Polish government’s narrative around migrants and refugees and how Ukrainians are characterized as separate from non-European refugees. Through an examination of Polish prime ministerial and presidential speeches, I explore how demography has occupied an increasing place in the rhetoric of politicians and how Ukrainian immigrants and refugees are characterized as capable of stemming a “demographic crisis” of declining population by assimilating into Polish society and becoming Polish. In the second section, through fieldwork and interviews at a church in Wałbrzych, Poland, I delve into how Ukrainians who intend not to return to Ukraine conceptualize Poland and how their views of Poland both build up and negotiate Poland’s “Europeanness” and what it means to be European.Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studie

Therapeutic indices for transchest defibrillator shocks: Effective, damaging, and lethal electrical doses

Although prospective studies of defibrillator shock overdose cannot be performed in man, the therapeutic indices of various defibrillating current waveforms can be measured in animals. We determined the ratios TD50/ED50 and LD50/ ED50 (where TD50 = median toxic or damageinducing dose, ED50 = median effective or defibrillating dose, and LD50 = median lethal dose) as measures of the therapeutic index for damped sine wave defibrillator shocks in dogs. Death of an animal and/or any degree of cardiac damage found by gross or microscopic examination were defined as harmful effects of shock, analogous to drug toxicity. In terms of peak current, the ED50, TD50, and LD50 were 1.1, 5.8, and 24 amperes/ kg; the therapeutic indices were TD50/ED50 = 5 for morphologic damage and LD50/ED50 = 22 for death. In terms of delivered energy the ED50, TD50, and LD50 were 1.5, 30, and 470 joules/kg; the therapeutic indices were TD50/ED50 = 20 for damage and LD50/ED50 = 320 for death. These data indicate a reasonable margin of safety for damped sine wave defibrillator shocks in dogs, and are consistent with reported incidences of suspected shockinduced damage in humans

Visual hemispatial neglect, re-assessed

Increased computer use in clinical settings offers an opportunity to develop new neuropsychological tests that exploit the control computers have over stimulus dimensions and timing. However, before adopting new tools, empirical validation is necessary. In the current study, our aims were twofold: to describe a computerized adaptive procedure with broad potential for neuropsychological investigations, and to demonstrate its implementation in testing for visual hemispatial neglect. Visual search results from adaptive psychophysical procedures are reported from 12 healthy individuals and 23 individuals with unilateral brain injury. Healthy individuals reveal spatially symmetric performance on adaptive search measures. In patients, psychophysical outcomes (as well as those from standard paper-and-pencil search tasks) reveal visual hemispatial neglect. Consistent with previous empirical studies of hemispatial neglect, lateralized impairments in adaptive conjunction search are greater than in adaptive feature search tasks. Furthermore, those with right hemisphere damage show greater lateralized deficits in conjunction search than do those with left hemisphere damage. We argue that adaptive tests, which automatically adjust to each individual's performance level, are efficient methods for both clinical evaluations and neuropsychological investigations and have the potential to detect subtle deficits even in chronic stages, when flagrant clinical signs have frequently resolved

The Politics of Memory Nationalism in Contemporary Poland

Since 2017, Communist monuments in Poland have been disappearing from across the country. Behind their removal is the policy of the Polish Law and Justice administration carried out by the Institute of National Memory (IPN), a highly centralized organization with extensive power over memory politics. This thesis argues that Poland’s government engages in the politics of eternity, a term from scholar Timothy Snyder’s book, The Road to Unfreedom, by using memory policy to portray Poland as at the center of a cycle of victimhood. The IPN supports this narrative through the production of educational and popular culture media that problematically compare Poland’s experience of World War II to the Communist era. A case study of two monuments, the Monument to the Revolutionary Act in Rzeszów, Poland and the Monument to the Soldiers of the Soviet Army in Warsaw, Poland delves into the differences in adaptability surrounding controversial historical monuments. Questions raised by the Polish monument controversy have broader application to monument controversies worldwide