Low vision impairs implicit sensorimotor adaptation in response to small errors, but not large errors

Successful goal-directed actions require constant fine-tuning in response to errors introduced by changes in the body and environment. This implicit adaptive process has been assumed to operate in a statistically optimal fashion, reducing its sensitivity to errors when sensory uncertainty is high. However, recent work has shown that visual uncertainty attenuates implicit adaptation for small errors, but not large errors, a result that is at odds with an optimal integration hypothesis. This error size interaction has motivated a new hypothesis that sensory uncertainty impacts the distribution of the perceived error locations but not the system's sensitivity to errors. To examine these competing hypotheses, previous studies have experimentally manipulated uncertainty. But it is unknown which hypothesis best describes motor adaptation to sensory uncertainty experienced during daily life. To address this question, we recruited individuals with low vision due to diverse clinical conditions impacting visual uncertainty and matched controls. The groups were tested on visuomotor tasks designed to isolate implicit adaptation and maintain tight control over the error size. In two experiments, low vision was associated with attenuated implicit adaptation only for small errors, but not for large errors. Taken together with prior work in which visual uncertainty was experimentally manipulated, these results support the notion that increasing sensory uncertainty increases the likelihood that errors are mis-localized but does not affect error sensitivity, offering a novel account for the motor learning deficits seen in low vision.

Proposal for a Pivot-Based Vehicle Trajectory Clustering Method

Given the large volume of georeferenced information generated and stored by many types of devices, the study and improvement of techniques capable of operating with these data is an area of great interest. The analysis of vehicular trajectories with the aim of forming clusters and identifying emerging patterns is very useful for characterizing and analyzing transportation flows in cities. This paper presents a new trajectory clustering method capable of identifying clusters of vehicular sub-trajectories in various sectors of a city. The proposed method is based on the use of an auxiliary structure to determine the correct location of the centroid of each group or set of sub-trajectories along the adaptive process. The proposed method was applied on three real databases, as well as being compared with other relevant methods, achieving satisfactory results and showing good cluster quality according to the Silhouette index.

‘Pandemic drawings’: Are we still teaching conceptual drawing?

In this paper we analyse the impact of the COVID-19 measures on teaching the conceptual drawing course at the Architecture and Urbanism Faculty of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (FAU/UFRJ). The remote model of teaching followed from July 2020 determined many changes in our methodology, these being essentially practical rather than theoretical. This adaptive process resulted in what we called ‘pandemic drawings’, proved to be a useful tool for expanding drawing skills and confined senses. The outcomes were surprisingly positive and pointed out that these ‘pandemic drawings’ could become a hybrid model of drawing in the following post-pandemic years.

Accelerated decline of genome heterogeneity in the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus

In the brief time since the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic, and despite its proofreading mechanism, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has accumulated a significant amount of genetic variability through recombination and mutation events. To test evolutionary trends that could inform us on the adaptive process of the virus to its human host, we summarize all this variability in the Sequence Compositional Complexity (SCC), a measure of genome heterogeneity that captures the mutational and recombinational changes accumulated by a nucleotide sequence along time. Despite the brief time elapsed, we detected many differences in the number and length of compositional domains, as well as in their nucleotide frequencies, in more than 12,000 high-quality coronavirus genomes from across the globe. These differences in SCC are phylogenetically structured, as revealed by significant phylogenetic signal. Phylogenetic ridge regression shows that SCC followed a generalized decreasing trend along the ongoing process of pathogen evolution. In contrast, SCC evolutionary rate increased with time, showing that it accelerates toward the present. In addition, a low rate set of genomes was detected in all the genome groups, suggesting the existence of a stepwise distribution of rates, a strong indication of selection in favor of different dominant strains. Coronavirus variants reveal an exacerbation of this trend: non-significant SCC regression, low phylogenetic signal and, concomitantly, a threefold increase in the evolutionary rate. Altogether, these results show an accelerated decline of genome heterogeneity along with the SARS CoV 2 pandemic expansion, a process that might be related to viral adaptation to the human host, perhaps paralleling the transformation of the current pandemic to epidemic.

Possible Hypothetical Mode of Action of ECT (Electroconvulsive Therapy) Based on DNA Dipole Character and Epigenetics

The human genome consists of roughly 23000 genes which cannot explain the enormous diversity of proteins or behavior. A second epigenetic code warrants adaptive variation of gene expression. The rationale of this variation are transfer reactions such as methylation, acetylation or phosphorylation of DNA or histones including reverse reactions which are supposed to be altered by electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). The method has been successfully used since the 1930ies but the underlying molecular mechanism of action has not been elucidated yet. The paper discusses the theoretical involvement of epigenetic gene expression as an adaptive process to explain biochemical changes after ECT administration.

A Review of Zoom interactive performance, 'Helping Hands': process, distress, success and who was helped.

Intervention for Russell Anderson’s work-in-progress Interactive Zoom theatre performance conducted on 6th August 2021 at 1:00 pm (U.K time), for a PhD thesis at Oxford Brooke's University was called 'Helping Hands'. Exploration and involvement of socio-digital options in Zoom theatre performativity, invokes questioning the adaptive process, distress and success as well as whom are we helping by being involved? Are we helping the company hosting the Zoom application, digital-theatre experimenters, the characters in the play, real people with similar socio-political problems as depicted in the play, ourselves or Russell Anderson? My personal experience and observations, beginning from receiving the digital mail invitation and background information of the performance, until the discussion about the work, in the end will be narrated with critical observations on each character's role and background, audio-visual spectrum, additional software and applications used, spect-actorship and employment of the break-out room feature of the Zoom application. The referenced theatre genres and probable methodologies employed in structuring the performance will be discussed by referring to Sir Andersons personal notes on the matter. The emotions and doubts, particularly that of whom I was helping, during the performance will be addressed in terms of the nature of the interactive, hyperdrama’s structure and the overall effect that it influenced. Its outcome will be critically compared with observations made by other scholarly reviewers on other Zoom adaptive performances, namely, Karen by The Transit Ensemble, Newspaper Theatre workshop by Seattle Rep, The Belle’s Stratagem by Red Bull Theatre, Time Machine by Creation Theatre and A Midsummer Night’s Dream by CtrlAlt_Repeat, while addressing Interaction, communication, mediatization and liveness in digital theatre.

ARCHITECTURAL ASPECTS OF THE SOCIAL ADAPTATION OF THE CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS

This article identifies an in-depth analysis of the concept of "social adaptation" of children with special psychological needs, in particular, describes the importance of the architectural factor as key in creating a favorable social environment, helps to ensure effective social adaptation. The method of terminological analysis was used to analyze the concept of "social adaptation" and the definition of possible components; The process of social adaptation is considered in the context of three related categories - society, medicine, architecture – which affect the effectiveness of the process and form its key components. Architecture as a means of influencing the adaptive process is too underestimated, although it is the architectural space and environment that unite all functional processes. Social adaptation is a complex and multifaceted process, which depends not only on the skill and experience of specialists, the peculiarities of children's perception, but also on the nature of the environment in which this process takes place. The space formed by architectural means can both promote effective adaptation of children with special needs in the conditions of the social environment, and brake it owing to design imperfections and inconsistencies. The study conducted in the article confirms the importance of analyzing the architectural aspect of social adaptation and its impact on relevant processes, will further help to create a basis for social integration of children with special needs in society.

Exploration of implementation practices of Montessori education in mainland China

This descriptive research work highlights the implementation practices of Montessori education in mainland China and the concerns over Montessori education’s localization in mainland China. Localization can be understood as the adaptive process Montessori education undergoes in order to fit within Chinese culture. Two hundred and ten in-service Montessori teachers and administrators in China were surveyed to discover information concerning implementation practices in the following areas: mixed-aged classrooms, whether classrooms were co-teaching, student-to-teacher ratios, and morning and afternoon work cycles. The study found that the majority of classrooms were mixed-aged, reflecting high-fidelity Montessori practices. However, it also found that classrooms are co-teaching, have lower student–teacher ratios, and shortened work cycles, reflecting a departure from high-fidelity Montessori implementation. While localization should be considered to safeguard Montessori education’s sustainability, Chinese Montessori educators should also reflect on these findings as high implementation fidelity has been linked to better student outcomes.