Precise display time measurement in JavaScript for web-based experiments

Conducting research via the internet is a formidable and ever-increasingly popular option for behavioral scientists. However, it is widely acknowledged that web-browsers are not optimized for research: In particular, the timing of display changes (e.g., a stimulus appearing on the screen), still leaves room for improvement. So far, the typically recommended best (or least worst) timing method has been a single requestAnimationFrame (RAF) JavaScript function call within which one would give the display command and obtain the time of that display change. In our Study 1, we assessed two alternatives: Calling the RAF twice consecutively, or calling the RAF during a continually ongoing independent loop of recursive RAF calls. While the former has shown little or no improvement as compared to single RAF calls, with the latter we significantly and substantially improved overall precision, and achieved practically faultless precision in most practical cases. In Study 2, we reassessed this “RAF loop” timing method with images in combination with three different display methods: We found that the precision remained high when using either visibility or opacity changes – while drawing on a canvas element consistently led to comparatively lower precision. We recommend the “RAF loop” display timing method for improved precision in future studies, and visibility or opacity changes when using image stimuli. We have also shared, in public repositories, the easy-to-use code for this method, exactly as employed in our studies.

Effectiveness of Different Modalities of Lip Repositioning Surgery for Management of Patients Complaining of Excessive Gingival Display: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Purpose. This study is aimed at synthesizing the available evidence regarding effectiveness of various modalities (combinations of LRS tasks) and comparison between each two modalities in terms of gingival display reduction, success rate, stability of the results, patient’s satisfaction, and postoperative morbidity. Materials and Methods. The electronic databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science Cochrane Library, Google Scholar databases, ClinicalTrials.gov, and WHO International Clinical Trial Registry Platform were searched up to 27th June 2020 regarding lip repositioning surgery. The modalities were defined as the combinations of the following tasks: frenectomy (yes/no), flap thickness (full/partial), and myotomy (yes/no). Meta-analyses were performed on gingival display change from baseline to months 3, 6, and 12 in each modalities using Stata (v.16). Results. 38 studies (including three clinical trials, two quasiexperimental studies, seven case series, and 26 case reports) met the criteria for final inclusion. The mean gingival display reduced from baseline to 6 months ( WMD = − 2.90 , 95% CI: -4.85 to -0.95) in the patients undergoing the “frenectomy + full-thickness flap + myotomy” modality. This parameter decreased from baseline to 6 and 12 months, respectively ( WMD = − 2.68 , 95% CI: -3.49 to -1.86; WMD = − 2.52 , 95% CI: -4.40 to -0.64), in patients undergoing the “frenectomy + partial-thickness flap + without myotomy” modality. In patients who undergone the “without frenectomy + partial-thickness flap + without myotomy” modality, gingival display reduced from baseline to 6 months ( WMD = − 3.22 , 95% CI: -5.61 to -0.84). Almost 83% of patients with modality 1 had satisfaction. Conclusions. Gingival display within the 6 months after LRS could be reduced with all modalities. Descriptively, the greatest reduction was observed in patients with the modality not including the frenulum.

Research on document digitization processing technology

The digitalization of document information is the development direction of the digitalization of document information management, which involves various technologies such as digitalization technology, picture and text editing, storage format, etc. Through the PDF document loading display, change the page replacement storage, the technical page jump to achieve the PDF document programming control.

Missed Critical Value Callbacks Due to Middleware Flaws

A provider notified the laboratory of a missed sodium critical value notification on a patient; during further investigation, it was noted that the laboratory had missed a second sodium critical value notification several hours later on the same patient. The two missed critical callbacks occurred on different shifts with different technologists, pointing to a systematic issue. A thorough investigation was undertaken involving review of critical callback procedures, staff interviews, and retrospective data review to determine the etiology. It was confirmed that the middleware, Siemens Centralink, had captured and displayed the critical values for review. The Centralink display highlights rows with critical results in red for easy visual identification by the laboratory technologist, and a numerical code of “8” appears in the Normal Severity (NS) column as an additional cue. Upon discussion with involved laboratory staff, a supervisor noted that sodium consistently appears in the top row of the Siemens Centralink result screen when held for review. Our Siemens Centralink display was noted to have a blue bar that by default appears in the top row and was noted to obscure the red highlight and NS Flag that provides a visual cue to staff that it is a critical value. Therefore, we hypothesized that the sodium critical values were missed due to being obscured by the default blue bar, and hypothesized that they could be preferentially affected relative to other analytes due to sodium’s default position in the top row when displayed. To investigate further, we pulled retrospective critical value callback data from our university hospitals for 2018. Our overall critical callback failure rates were ~2.0%. When broken down by individual analyte, we found that 7.2% of sodium critical values were not called back to providers, whereas only 1.0% of potassium critical values were missed. Additionally, critical callback failure rates for hemoglobin were 0.1%; our hematology analyzer has a hard stop for all critical values, whereas the chemistry analyzer does not. In conclusion, we discovered that the default display on our Siemens Centralink middleware screen places a blue bar in the top row that obscures the visual cues associated with a critical value. Because sodium results are placed in the top row on the display screen, missed sodium critical callbacks occurred seven times more often than missed potassium callbacks. To remedy the issue, a blank row has been added to the display as the top row so that no clinical data are obscured by the default blue bar. Additionally, the very low critical callback failure rate on the hematology analyzer points to a need for a hard stop on the chemistry analyzer. We will prospectively monitor critical callback data for sodium to determine whether the display change improves sodium callback rates.

An adaptive algorithm for fast and reliable online saccade detection

To investigate visual perception around the time of eye movements, vision scientists manipulate stimuli contingent upon the onset of a saccade. For these experimental paradigms, timing is especially crucial, as saccade offset imposes a deadline on the display change. Although efficient online saccade detection can greatly improve timing, most algorithms rely on spatial-boundary techniques or absolute-velocity thresholds, which both suffer from their respective weaknesses: late detections and false alarms. We propose an adaptive, velocity-based algorithm for online saccade detection that surpasses both standard techniques in speed and accuracy and allows the user to freely define detection criteria. Inspired by the Engbert-Kliegl-algorithm for microsaccade detection, our algorithm computes two-dimensional velocity thresholds from variance in preceding fixation samples, while compensating for noisy or missing data samples. An optional direction criterion limits detection to the instructed saccade direction, further increasing robustness. We validated the algorithm by simulating its performance on a large saccade dataset and found that high detection accuracy (false-alarm rates of <1%) could be achieved with detection latencies of only 3 milliseconds. High accuracy was maintained even under simulated high-noise conditions. To demonstrate that purely intra-saccadic presentations are technically feasible, we devised an experimental test, in which a Gabor patch drifted at saccadic peak velocities. While this stimulus was invisible when presented during fixation, observers reliably detected it during saccades. Photodiode measurements verified that – including all system delays – stimuli were physically displayed on average 20 ms after saccade onset. Thus, the proposed algorithm provides valuable tool for gaze-contingent paradigms.

Identification of differential gene expression patterns in human arteries from patients with chronic kidney disease

Uremia accelerates atherosclerosis, but little is known about affected pathways in human vasculature. This study aimed to identify differentially expressed arterial transcripts in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Global mRNA expression was estimated by microarray hybridization in iliac arteries ( n = 14) from renal transplant recipients and compared with renal arteries from healthy living kidney donors ( n = 19) in study 1. Study 2 compared nonatherosclerotic internal mammary arteries (IMA) from five patients with elevated plasma creatinine levels and age- and sex-matched controls with normal creatinine levels. Western blotting and immunohistochemistry for selected proteins were performed on a subset of study 1 samples. Fifteen gene transcripts were significantly different between the two groups in study 1 [fold changes (FC) > 1.05 and false discovery rates (FDR) < 0.005]. Most upregulated mRNAs associated with cellular signaling, apoptosis, TNFα/NF-κB signaling, smooth muscle contraction, and 10 other pathways were significantly affected. To focus attention on genes from genuine vascular cells, which dominate in IMA, concordant deregulated genes in studies 1 and 2 were examined and included 23 downregulated and eight upregulated transcripts (settings in study 1: FC > 1.05 and FDR < 0.05; study 2: FC > 1.2 and P < 0.2). Selected deregulated gene products were investigated at the protein level, and whereas HIF3α confirmed mRNA upregulation, vimentin showed upregulation in contrast to the mRNA results. We conclude that arteries from CKD patients display change in relatively few sets of genes. Many were related to differentiated vascular smooth muscle cell phenotype. These identified genes may contribute to understanding the development of arterial injury among patients with CKD.

Nonexplicit Change Detection in Complex Dynamic Settings

Objective: We employed a computer-controlled command-and-control (C2) simulation and recorded eye movements to examine the extent and nature of the inability to detect critical changes in dynamic displays when change detection is implicit (i.e., requires no explicit report) to the operator’s task. Background: Change blindness—the failure to notice significant changes to a visual scene—may have dire consequences on performance in C2 and surveillance operations. Method: Participants performed a radar-based risk-assessment task involving multiple subtasks. Although participants were not required to explicitly report critical changes to the operational display, change detection was critical in informing decision making. Participants’ eye movements were used as an index of visual attention across the display. Results: Nonfixated (i.e., unattended) changes were more likely to be missed than were fixated (i.e., attended) changes, supporting the idea that focused attention is necessary for conscious change detection. The finding of significant pupil dilation for changes undetected but fixated suggests that attended changes can nonetheless be missed because of a failure of attentional processes. Conclusion: Change blindness in complex dynamic displays takes the form of failures in establishing task-appropriate patterns of attentional allocation. Application: These findings have implications in the design of change-detection support tools for dynamic displays and work procedure in C2 and surveillance.