Comparing Map Learning between Touchscreen-Based Visual and Haptic Displays: A Behavioral Evaluation with Blind and Sighted Users

The ubiquity of multimodal smart devices affords new opportunities for eyes-free applications for conveying graphical information to both sighted and visually impaired users. Using previously established haptic design guidelines for generic rendering of graphical content on touchscreen interfaces, the current study evaluates the learning and mental representation of digital maps, representing a key real-world translational eyes-free application. Two experiments involving 12 blind participants and 16 sighted participants compared cognitive map development and test performance on a range of spatio-behavioral tasks across three information-matched learning-mode conditions: (1) our prototype vibro-audio map (VAM), (2) traditional hardcopy-tactile maps, and (3) visual maps. Results demonstrated that when perceptual parameters of the stimuli were matched between modalities during haptic and visual map learning, test performance was highly similar (functionally equivalent) between the learning modes and participant groups. These results suggest equivalent cognitive map formation between both blind and sighted users and between maps learned from different sensory inputs, providing compelling evidence supporting the development of amodal spatial representations in the brain. The practical implications of these results include empirical evidence supporting a growing interest in the efficacy of multisensory interfaces as a primary interaction style for people both with and without vision. Findings challenge the long-held assumption that blind people exhibit deficits on global spatial tasks compared to their sighted peers, with results also providing empirical support for the methodological use of sighted participants in studies pertaining to technologies primarily aimed at supporting blind users.

Mapping the visual world to the human brain

The visual maps measured non-invasively in the brain of human and non-human primates reliably reflect the underlying neuronal responses recorded with invasive electrodes.

‘Team ethnography visual maps’: Methods for identifying the ethnographic object in multiple sites of fieldwork

Team ethnography is becoming more popular in research. However, there is currently limited understanding of how multiple ethnographers working together actually share their experiences of conducting team ethnography. There is also an associated lack of explanation regarding how evidence and conclusions are drawn from such collective endeavour. This article attempts to address this absence of detail regarding the practice and conduct of team ethnography. In the following account, the authors present details of the design, development and application of ‘team ethnography visual maps’ and the collaborative reflexivity that took place within ‘team ethnography data sessions’ that were each embedded within a mixed methods study of frontline services located in six different National Health Service Trusts throughout England (UK). After a presentation of the ethnographic methods and analyses that occurred as part of team ethnography, they are then discussed in terms of their applied and academic value from a methodological perspective.

Dimensional reduction of phenotypes from 53,000 mouse models reveals a diverse landscape of gene function

Animal models have long been used to study gene function and the impact of genetic mutations on phenotype. Through the research efforts of thousands of research groups, systematic curation of published literature, and high-throughput phenotyping screens, the collective body of knowledge for the mouse now covers the majority of protein-coding genes. We here collected data for over 53,000 mouse models with mutations in over 15,000 genomic markers and characterized by more than 254,000 annotations using more than 9,000 distinct ontology terms. We investigated dimensional reduction and embedding techniques as means to facilitate access to this diverse and high-dimensional information. Our analyses provide the first visual maps of the landscape of mouse phenotypic diversity. We also summarize some of the difficulties in producing and interpreting embeddings of sparse phenotypic data. In particular, we show that data preprocessing, filtering, and encoding have as much impact on the final embeddings as the process of dimensional reduction. Nonetheless, techniques developed in the context of dimensional reduction create opportunities for explorative analysis of this large pool of public data, including for searching for mouse models suited to study human diseases.

Voices of Underrepresented Stakeholders: Parental Evaluation on 5th Grade ELT Curricula

The opinions of parents as a school-based stakeholders on ELT curricula have been neglected by not only authorities but also the related literature. Except from their consent or demands’ being a prerequisite for the application of intensive curriculum for 5th graders, parents do not have a role for the development or application of English language curricula in Turkish education system. The present study is an attempt to hearken to their voices about the English language curricula implemented for 5th graders in Turkish middle schools. To this end, a cross-sectional survey study was designed and 116 parents of 5th graders were reached through ‘Parental Questionnaire on ELT Curriculum.’ The data were analyzed through Nvivo 12 and the results were supported with visual maps and direct quotations. The findings indicated that with high expectations from the curricula, the parents supported learning English based on the factors of providing long-term benefits and keeping up the new world order. Sharing their opinions on teaching material, content, class hours, assignments, and activities, participants gave suggestions on cognitive, affective, and practical aspects to improve the applications.

Interpreting sensory and cognitive signals in the cortical reading network

Receptive field properties measured in the reading portion of the ventral occipital-temporal (VOT) cortex are task- and stimulus-dependent. To understand these effects, we analyzed responses in visual field-maps (V1-3, hV4, VO1) whose signals are likely inputs to the VOT. Within these maps, each voxel contains neurons that are responsive to specific regions of the visual field; these regions can be quantified using the moving bar paradigm and population receptive field (pRF) analysis. We measured pRFs using several types of contrast patterns within the bar (English words, Hebrew words, checkers, and false fonts). Word and false-font stimuli produce estimates that are as much as 3-4 deg closer to the fovea than checker stimuli in all visual field maps, becoming very pronounced in V3, hV4 and VO-1. The responses in the visual field maps suggest that the pRF shifts depend mostly on the visual characteristics of the stimulus, and may be explained by sensory signal models and their known neural circuitry. Responses in the VOT reading regions do not follow the same pattern as the visual maps. The pRF centers are confined to the central five degrees, and the responses to false-fonts differ from the responses to words. To understand these VOT signals, we suggest it is necessary to extend the sensory pRF model to include an explicit cognitive signal that distinguishes words from false-fonts.

Voices of Underrepresented Stakeholders: Parental Evaluation on 5th Grade ELT Curricula

The opinions of parents as a school-based stakeholders on ELT curricula have been neglected by not only authorities but also the related literature. Except from their consent or demands’ being a prerequisite for the application of intensive curriculum for 5th graders, parents do not have a role for the development or application of English language curricula in Turkish education system. The present study is an attempt to hearken to their voices about the English language curricula implemented for 5th graders in Turkish middle schools. To this end, a cross-sectional survey study was designed and 116 parents of 5th graders were reached through ‘Parental Questionnaire on ELT Curriculum.’ The data were analyzed through Nvivo 12 and the results were supported with visual maps and direct quotations. The findings indicated that with high expectations from the curricula, the parents supported learning English based on the factors of providing long-term benefits and keeping up the new world order. Sharing their opinions on teaching material, content, class hours, assignments, and activities, participants gave suggestions on cognitive, affective, and practical aspects to improve the applications.

Uncertainty modulates visual maps during non-instrumental information demand

Animals are intrinsically motivated to resolve uncertainty and predict future events. This motivation is encoded in cortical and subcortical structures, but a key open question is how it generates concrete policies for attending to informative stimuli. We examined this question using neural recordings in the monkey lateral intraparietal area (LIP), a visual area implicated in attention and gaze, during non-instrumental information demand. We show that the uncertainty that was resolved by a visual cue enhanced visuo-spatial responses of LIP cells independently of reward probability. This enhancement was independent of immediate saccade plans but correlated with the sensitivity to uncertainty in eye movement behavior on longer time scales (across sessions/days). The findings suggest that topographic visual maps receive motivational signals of uncertainty, which enhance the priority of informative stimuli and the likelihood that animals will orient to the stimuli to reduce uncertainty.

A Reinforcement Meta-Learning Framework of Executive Function and Information Demand

Gathering information is crucial for maximizing fitness, but requires diverting resources from searching directly for primary rewards to actively exploring the environment. Optimal decision-making thus maximizes information while reducing effort costs, but little is known about the neural implementation of these tradeoffs. We present a Reinforcement Meta-Learning (RML) computational mechanism that solves the trade-offs between the value and costs of gathering information. We implement the RML in a biologically plausible architecture that links catecholaminergic neuromodulators, the medial prefrontal cortex and topographically organized visual maps and show that it accounts for neural and behavioral findings on information demand motivated by instrumental incentives and intrinsic utility. Moreover, the utility function used by the RML, encoded by dopamine, is an approximation of free-energy. Thus, the RML presents a biologically plausible mechanism through which coordinated motivational, executive and sensory systems generate visual information gathering policies that minimize free energy.

Global trends and prospects about inflammasomes in stroke: a bibliometric analysis

Background Sterile inflammation is a key pathological process in stroke. Inflammasome activation has been implicated in various inflammatory diseases, including ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke. Hence, targeting inflammasomes is a promising approach for the treatment of stroke. Methods We applied bibliometric methods and techniques. The Web of Science Core Collection was searched for studies indexed from database inception to November 26, 2020. We generated various visual maps to display publications, authors, sources, countries, and keywords. Results Our literature search yielded 427 publications related to inflammasomes involved in stroke, most of which consisted of original research articles and reviews. In particular, we found that there was a substantial increase in the number of relevant publications in 2018. Furthermore, most of the publications with the highest citation rates were published in 2014. Relatively, the field about inflammasomes in stroke developed rapidly in 2014 and 2018. Many institutions contributed to these publications, including those from China, the United States, and worldwide. We found that NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) was the most studied, followed by NLRP1, NLRP2, and NLRC4 among the inflammasomes associated with stroke. Analysis of keywords suggested that the most studied mechanisms involved dysregulation of extracellular pH, efflux of Ca2+ ions, dysfunction of K+/Na+ ATPases, mitochondrial dysfunction, and damage to mitochondrial DNA. Conclusions Given the potential diagnostic and therapeutic implications, the specific mechanisms of inflammasomes contributing to stroke warrant further investigation. We used bibliometric methods to objectively present the global trend of inflammasomes in stroke, and to provide important information for relevant researchers.