A highly-configurable session designer for VR nursing training.

Virtual Reality (VR) has proven to be a valuable tool for medical and nursing education. VR simulators are available at any time and from anywhere, and can be used with or without faculty supervision, which results in a significant optimization of time, space, and resources. In this paper we present a highly-configurable session designer for VR-based nursing education following the Standards for QUality Improvement Reporting Excellence: SQUIRE 2.

Improving the forensic genetic workflow for countries with small geographical areas: What are the options and how cost effective are they?

Forensic services worldwide often encounter considerable challenges relating to funding and infrastructure. Smaller jurisdictions or areas where forensic resources are scarce are faced with complicated choices in how they approach criminal casework, with a number of options available. Often these involve trade-offs between cost, time and data quality.

The role of white matter variability in TMS neuromodulatory effects.

Background: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a widely used tool to explore the causal role of focal brain regions in cognitive processing. TMS effects over attentional processes are consistent and replicable, while at the same time subjected to individual variability. This individual variability needs to be understood to better comprehend TMS effects, and most importantly, its clinical applications.

Streams of conscious visual experience.

Consciousness, a cornerstone of human cognition, is believed to arise from complex neural interactions. Traditional views have focused on localized fronto-parietal networks or broader inter-regional dynamics. In our study, we leverage advanced fMRI techniques, including the novel Functionnectome framework, to unravel the intricate relationship between brain circuits and functional activity shaping visual consciousness.

Integrating brain function and structure in the study of the human attentional networks: a functionnectome study.

Attention is a heterogeneous function theoretically divided into different systems. While functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has extensively characterized their functioning, the role of white matter in cognitive function has gained recent interest due to diffusion-weighted imaging advancements. However, most evidence relies on correlations between white matter properties and behavioral or cognitive measures.

Application of catalytic ozonation using Y zeolite in the elimination of pharmaceuticals in effluents from municipal wastewater treatment plants.

Catalytic ozonation using faujasite-type Y zeolite with two different SiO/AlO molar ratios (60 and 12) was evaluated for the first time in the removal of 25 pharmaceutical compounds (PhCs) present in real effluents from two municipal wastewater treatment plants both located in the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Additionally, control experiments including adsorption and direct ozonation, were conducted to better understand the fundamental aspects of the different individual systems in wastewater samples. Commercial zeolites were used in sodium form (NaY).

No support for a causal role of primary motor cortex in construing meaning from language: An rTMS study.

Embodied cognition theories predict a functional involvement of sensorimotor processes in language understanding. In a preregistered experiment, we tested this idea by investigating whether interfering with primary motor cortex (M1) activation can change how people construe meaning from action language. Participants were presented with sentences describing actions (e.

The role of brain oscillations in feature integration.

Our sensory system is able to build a unified perception of the world, which although rich, is limited and inaccurate. Sometimes, features from different objects are erroneously combined. At the neural level, the role of the parietal cortex in feature integration is well-known.

Neural basis of social attention: common and distinct mechanisms for social and nonsocial orienting stimuli.

Social and nonsocial directional stimuli (such as gaze and arrows, respectively) share their ability to trigger attentional processes, although the issue of whether social stimuli generate other additional (and unique) attentional effects is still under debate. In this study, we used the spatial interference paradigm to explore, using functional magnetic resonance imaging, shared and dissociable brain activations produced by gaze and arrows. Results showed a common set of regions (right parieto-temporo-occipital) similarly involved in conflict resolution for gaze and arrows stimuli, which showed stronger co-activation for incongruent than congruent trials.

Attention to space and time: Independent or interactive systems? A narrative review.

While there is ample evidence for the ability to selectively attend to where in space and when in time a relevant event might occur, it remains poorly understood whether spatial and temporal attention operate independently or interactively to optimize behavior. To elucidate this important issue, we provide a narrative review of the literature investigating the relationship between the two. The studies were organized based on the attentional manipulation employed (endogenous vs.

A transcranial magnetic stimulation study on the role of the left intraparietal sulcus in temporal orienting of attention.

Adaptive behavior requires the ability to orient attention to the moment in time at which a relevant event is likely to occur. Temporal orienting of attention has been consistently associated with activation of the left intraparietal sulcus (IPS) in prior fMRI studies. However, a direct test of its causal involvement in temporal orienting is still lacking.

Impaired attention mechanisms in confabulating patients: A VLSM and DWI study.

Attention is one of the most studied cognitive functions in brain-damaged populations or neurological syndromes, as its malfunction can be related to deficits in other higher cognitive functions. In the present study, we aimed at delimiting the attention deficits of a sample of brain-injured patients presenting confabulations by assessing their performance on alertness, spatial orienting, and executive control tasks. Confabulating patients, who present false memories or beliefs without intention to deceive, usually show memory deficits and/or executive dysfunction.

Functional characterization of correct and incorrect feature integration.

Our sensory system constantly receives information from the environment and our own body. Despite our impression to the contrary, we remain largely unaware of this information and often cannot report it correctly. Although perceptual processing does not require conscious effort on the part of the observer, it is often complex, giving rise to errors such as incorrect integration of features (illusory conjunctions).

Attention does not always help: The role of expectancy, divided, and spatial attention on illusory conjunctions.

Humans have the subjective impression of a rich perceptual experience, but this perception is riddled with errors that might be produced by top-down expectancies or failures in feature integration. The role of attention in feature integration is still unclear. Some studies support the importance of attention in feature integration, whereas others suggest that feature integration does not require attention.

Explicit vs. implicit spatial processing in arrow vs. eye-gaze spatial congruency effects.

Arrows and gaze stimuli lead to opposite spatial congruency effects. While standard congruency effects are observed for arrows (faster responses for congruent conditions), responses are faster when eye-gaze stimuli are presented on the opposite side of the gazed-at location (incongruent trials), leading to a reversed congruency effect (RCE). Here, we explored the effects of implicit vs.

Colorimetric Detection of Sepsis-Derived Hyperdegranulation with Plasmonic Nanosensors.

Hyperdegranulation of neutrophilic granulocytes is a common finding in sepsis that directly contributes to the heightened immune response leading to organ dysfunction. Currently, cell degranulation is detected by flow cytometry, which requires large infrastructure that is not always available at the point of care. Here, we propose a plasmonic assay for detecting the degranulation status of septic cells colorimetrically.

Kinetics of combined hydrothermal pretreatment and anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic biomass (pepper plant and eggplant).

A large quantity of lignocellulosic biomass is generated annually across the world which leads to environmental pollution and requires valorization. This study investigated the effect of hydrothermal pretreatment on the anaerobic digestion and co-digestion of the residual pepper plant and eggplant with a focus on kinetics. Two thermal hydrolysis rates were observed, with the optimal conditions for the hydrothermal pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass being 120°C for 40 min.

Experimental and CFD evaluation of ozone efficacy against coronavirus and enteric virus contamination on public transport surfaces.

The limited information about the routes of the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 within the ongoing pandemic scenario mobilized the administration, industry and academy to develop sanitation and disinfection systems for public and private spaces. Ozone has been proposed as an effective disinfection method against enveloped and non-enveloped viruses, including viruses with similar morphology to SARS-CoV-2. Due to this efficacy, numerous gaseous and aqueous phase ozone applications have emerged potentially to inhibit virus persistence in aerosols, surfaces, and water.

Piezo1 and BK channels in human atrial fibroblasts: Interplay and remodelling in atrial fibrillation.

Aims: Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is an arrhythmia of increasing prevalence in the aging populations of developed countries. One of the important indicators of AF is sustained atrial dilatation, highlighting the importance of mechanical overload in the pathophysiology of AF. The mechanisms by which atrial cells, including fibroblasts, sense and react to changing mechanical forces, are not fully elucidated.

Fronto-parietal networks underlie the interaction between executive control and conscious perception: Evidence from TMS and DWI.

The executive control network is involved in novel situations or those in which prepotent responses need to be overridden. Previous studies have demonstrated that when control is exerted, conscious perception is impaired, and this effect is related to the functional connectivity of fronto-parietal regions. In the present study, we explored the causal involvement of one of the nodes of this fronto-parietal network (the right Supplementary Motor Area, SMA) in the interaction between executive control and conscious perception.

Wastewater nutrient recovery using twin-layer microalgae technology for biofertilizer production.

This study evaluates the feasibility of advanced biofilm microalgae cultivation in a twin layer (TL) system for nutrient removal (N and P) as the tertiary treatment in small wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) located in sensitive areas. Furthermore, the potential valorisation of microalgae biomass as a component of bio-based fertilizers is assessed. Scenedesmus sp.

Sustainable Production of Hydrogen by Steam Reforming of Ethanol Using Cobalt Supported on Nanoporous Zeolitic Material.

Cobalt catalysts supported on Y zeolite and mesoporized Y zeolite (Y-mod) have been studied in steam reforming of ethanol (SRE). Specifically, the effect of the mesoporosity and the acidity of the y zeolite as a support has been explored. Mesoporous were generated on Y zeolite by treatment with NH4F and the acidity was neutralized by Na incorporation.

Visual attention in realistic driving situations: Attentional capture and hazard prediction.

In real life, many objects catch our attention involuntarily or exogenously. Exogenous attention occurs fast and its effects are short-lived. In the laboratory, when attentional orientation is studied, both valid and invalid attentional signals are used: the valid ones direct the attention to a location where something relevant is going to appear.