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Dog "aggression" in the veterinary practice is commonplace. Therefore, student knowledge and education about dog behaviour and the ability to interpret "aggressive" behaviour is important from a human injury prevention and dog welfare perspective. The study aimed to compare first-year veterinary students' perceived safest proximity to both an "aggressive" and non-reactive simulated dog, both before and after a teaching intervention about canine behaviour and a handling practical. It also examined student confidence and their ability to identify "aggressive" behaviours. Forty first year veterinary students took part in two surveys. Each survey included two videos: one of a simulated dog displaying "aggressive" behaviour, based on the 'Canine Ladder of Aggression'; and another displaying non-reactive (passive behaviours without reaction to the participants) behaviours. Each video depicted the slow and consistent approach towards the virtual dog within a virtual indoor environment, and participants were asked to press stop if or when they would stop approaching the dog. In the "aggressive" scenario, there was a reduction in the approach-stop time from survey 1 (median = 17.8 s) to survey 2 (median = 15.2 s) in the intervention group (p = 0.018) but not in the control group (p = 0.147). Regarding confidence, there was a significant increase in the self-reported confidence rating relating to a participant's ability to interpret canine behaviour in both the control (p = 0.011) and intervention (p = 0.003). In conclusion, these results indicate that students using approach-stop videos stayed further away from an "aggressive" virtual dog model if they had undertaken a canine behaviour educational intervention. This novel approach has the potential for further use in teaching and assessment of student knowledge and behaviour which may otherwise be difficult to demonstrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Background: Hemianopia is a complete or partial blindness in the visual fields of both eyes, commonly caused by cerebral infarction. It has been hypothesized that systematic audio-visual (AV) stimulation of the blind hemifield can improve accuracy and search times, probably due to the stimulation of bimodal representations in the superior colliculus (SC), an important multisensory structure involved in both the initiation and execution of saccades.Methods: A narrative synthesis of the findings is presented to highlight how AV rehabilitation impacts on patients with hemianopia including visual oculomotor function, functional ability in activities of daily living, hemianopic dyslexia, visual scanning and searching tasks, maintaining of functional ability post training and the effect on brain multisensory integration by using neuroimaging.Results: Sixteen studies were included (fourteen articles (188 participants) and two literature reviews). Results were grouped into AV training of hemianopia in adults and in children and then further grouped according to the AV task type: tasks measuring the training effects by comparing visual stimulation training to audio-visual training, localization abilities in homonymous hemianopia (HH) and AV integration in patients with HH.Conclusion: Systematic AV training may improve the processing of visual information by recruiting subcortical pathways, and because most of the patients with visual cortex damage have an intact SC, it might be useful to use the bimodal AV training to activate retinotectal functions. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms supporting the reported positive effects are not currently understood. Systematic functional and/or structural imaging studies may help in understanding the underlying mechanism and inform the design of optimal training paradigms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

In today’s internal combustion engines assisted ignition is predominantly achieved by conventional spark ignition. The spark ignition starts with the breakdown phase after which complex flow dynamics govern the energy deposition into the gas. The condition of the activated plasma kernel resulting from spark breakdown, among others, is important for the development of the flame kernel to a self-sustained flame. A simple thermodynamic model is formulated based on insight gained from available detailed plasma simulations and experiments. Under the assumption that the problem is cylinder symmetrical and that the breakdown energy is supplied quasi-instantaneously as a line source, the extent of the hot plasma kernel and the time for pressure equalization with the surrounding can be given by exploiting the properties of radially expanding blast waves. The so-defined control volume is treated as an open system, and a simple energy balance leads to a relation for the mean kernel temperature. The plasma volumes and mean temperatures predicted by this simple model are shown to correspond well with published results in the open literature based on full plasma simulations of the spark discharge available for pressures ranging from 1 to 8 bar. The model allows drawing some conclusions about the requirements for experimental methods, such as calorimetry, frequently used to characterize the efficacy of the spark discharge produced by ignition systems and the influence of pressure and breakdown energy on kernel volume and temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Copyright of Der Junge Zahnarzt is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) more...

Behavioural, neuroimaging and lesion studies show that face processing has a special role in human perception. The purpose of this EEG study was to explore whether auditory information influences visual face perception. We employed a 2 × 2 factorial design and presented subjects with visual stimuli that could be cartoon faces or scrambled faces where size changes of one of the components, the mouth in the face condition, was either congruent or incongruent with the amplitude modulation of a simultaneously presented auditory signal. Our data show a significant main effect for signal congruence at an ERP peak around 135 ms and a significant main effect of face configuration at around 200 ms. The timing and scalp topology of both effects corresponds well to previously reported data on the integration of non-redundant audio-visual stimuli and face-selective processing. Our analysis did not show any significant statistical interactions. This double disassociation suggests that the early component, at 135 ms, is sensitive to auditory-visual congruency but not to facial configuration and that the later component is sensitive to facial configuration but not to AV congruency. We conclude that facial configurational processing is not influenced by the congruence of simultaneous auditory signals and is independent from featural processing where we see evidence for multisensory integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

It is well known that the detection thresholds for stationary auditory and visual signals are lower if the signals are presented bimodally rather than unimodally, provided the signals coincide in time and space. Recent work on auditory–visual motion detection suggests that the facilitation seen for stationary signals is not seen for motion signals. We investigate the conditions under which motion perception also benefits from the integration of auditory and visual signals. We show that the integration of cross-modal local motion signals that are matched in position and speed is consistent with thresholds predicted by a neural summation model. If the signals are presented in different hemi-fields, move in different directions, or both, then behavioural thresholds are predicted by a probability-summation model. We conclude that cross-modal signals have to be co-localised and co-incident for effective motion integration. We also argue that facilitation is only seen if the signals contain all localisation cues that would be produced by physical objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

In patients scheduled for the resection of perisylvian brain tumours, knowledge of the cortical topography of language functions is crucial in order to avoid neurological deficits. We investigated the applicability of statistical parametric mapping (SPM) without stereotactic normalisation for individual preoperative language function brain mapping using positron emission tomography (PET). Seven right-handed adult patients with left-sided brain tumours (six frontal and one temporal) underwent 12 oxygen-15 labelled water PET scans during overt verb generation and rest. Individual activation maps were calculated for P<0.005 and P<0.001 without anatomical normalisation and overlaid onto the individuals' magnetic resonance images for preoperative planning. Activations corresponding to Broca's and Wernicke's areas were found in five and six cases, respectively, for P<0.005 and in three and six cases, respectively, for P<0.001. One patient with a glioma located in the classical Broca's area without aphasic symptoms presented an activation of the adjacent inferior frontal cortex and of a right-sided area homologous to Broca's area. Four additional patients with left frontal tumours also presented activations of the right-sided Broca's homologue; two of these showed aphasic symptoms and two only a weak or no activation of Broca's area. Other frequently observed activations included bilaterally the superior temporal gyri, prefrontal cortices, anterior insulae, motor areas and the cerebellum. The middle and inferior temporal gyri were activated predominantly on the left. An SPM group analysis (P<0.05, corrected) in patients with left frontal tumours confirmed the activation pattern shown by the individual analyses. We conclude that SPM analyses without stereotactic normalisation offer a promising alternative for analysing individual preoperative language function brain mapping studies. The observed right frontal activations agree with proposed reorganisation processes, but they may also reflect an unspecific recruitment of the right-sided Broca's homologue in the effort to perform the task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The purpose of this ongoing prospective long-term study was to evaluate the clinical performance of Ormocer restorative material in combination with a self-conditioning adhesive. Five operators at five clinics placed 356 restorations (48 class I, 150 class II, 63 class III, 32 class IV, and 63 class V) in 117 patients aged 17 to 65 years. All fillings were placed with cotton roll isolation and clear matrix bands for class III and IV restorations, and metal matrix bands and an incremental placement technique were used for class II restorations. In follow-up examinations after 6 and 12 months, modified Ryge criteria were recorded on all restorations. With 33 randomly selected class I and II restorations, measurements of occlusal wear (via 3D laser scanner) and qualitative and quantitative marginal analysis (via scanning electron microscope) were performed using a replica technique. After placing the fillings, patients reported postoperative hypersensitivity corresponding to B scores in 19 cases and to C scores in four cases. At 12-month recall, 328 restorations were available for evaluation. Losses in the five cavity classes (I, II, III, IV, V) numbered 0, 2, 0, 1, and 6, respectively. The percentages of retained restorations for clinical parameters in four categories (Alpha, Beta, Charlie, Delta) were: 94.7, 5, 0.3, and 0 (marginal integrity), 81.2, 18.8, 0, and 0 (marginal discoloration), 75.2, 24.8, 0, and 0 (anatomic form), and 95, 4.7, 0.3, and 0 (fracture), respectively. Marginal analysis showed 48.7% "continuous margin" initially and 17.7% at 12 months (difference statistically significant, P=0.05). The occlusal wear at 12 months was 10.0 µm (SD 11.6) for premolars and 22.0 µm (SD 24.1) for molars. Over the 12-month observation period, the Ormocer restorative was clinically effective in combination with a self-conditioning adhesive, and concern persists related to the marginal quality and retention of class V restorations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Copyright of Journal of Public Health (09431853) is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) more...