Publications by authors named "Mike Richardson"

Measuring attention and engagement is essential for understanding a wide range of psychological phenomena. Advances in technology have made it possible to measure real-time attention to naturalistic stimuli, providing ecologically valid insight into temporal dynamics. We developed a research protocol called Trace, which records anonymous facial landmarks, expressions, and patterns of movement associated with engagement in screen-based media.

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  • During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare education shifted from face-to-face to online formats, prompting research on their effectiveness.
  • A study compared a dementia-specific learning activity delivered to Doctor of Physical Therapy students either in person or online, with 171 participants split into two groups.
  • Results showed that both delivery methods led to significant learning improvements, and there was no significant difference in effectiveness between the face-to-face and online versions, suggesting both methods are valuable for education.
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We sought to understand how the perception of personal space is influenced by different levels of social density, spatial density, and type of window-view in South Korean and United Kingdom workplaces. We employed virtual reality to simulate shared and single occupancy offices. We obtained personal space estimations using a virtual disc around the participant which could be extended and retracted, inside the simulation, to indicate perceived amount of personal space, and compared this measure to questionnaire-based estimations.

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Healthcare practitioners (HCP) have expressed inadequate preparation in providing care to patients living with a dementia. Research suggests experiential learning activities (ELAs) can improve HCP knowledge and comfort toward this population. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a short-duration (2-hour) dementia ELA on Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students' knowledge and comfort toward individuals living with a dementia.

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The tongue is an incredibly complex sensory organ, yet little is known about its tactile capacities compared to the hands. In particular, the tongue receives almost no visual input during development and so may be calibrated differently compared to other tactile senses for spatial tasks. Using a cueing task, via an electro-tactile display, we examined how a tactile cue (to the tongue) or an auditory cue can affect the orientation of attention to electro-tactile targets presented to one of four regions on the tongue.

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The traditional Total Contact Cast (TCC) is considered the gold standard for treating plantar diabetic ulcers. A number of prefabricated TCC kits have been introduced, which offer a user-friendly casting process for health care providers. Our objective was to evaluate pressure reduction and gait characteristics after application of a TCC kit (TCC-EZ) and traditional TCC.

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  • Two proposals have been put forward to allow DNA sequences to be used as types for naming certain fungi, which could fundamentally alter the definition of nomenclatural types and lead to various issues in scientific reproducibility and nomenclatural instability.
  • The authors argue against these proposals, suggesting that they would not effectively address the challenges of naming taxa based solely on DNA and propose instead that formulas for naming candidate taxa could be a better solution without changing existing nomenclature rules.
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Introduction And Aims: Indigenous people seeking residential alcohol and other drug (AOD) rehabilitation in Victoria are most frequently referred to the Ngwala Willumbong Co-operative (Ngwala). This study aimed to describe socio-demographic changes in clients of Ngwala's residential rehabilitation services between 2015 and 2016.

Design And Methods: Self-assessment surveys completed upon screening for rehabilitation between May 2015 and November 2016 (n = 117) were analysed for socio-demographic data, AOD use and mental health status.

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The incidence of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is estimated to be at least 500,000 in the United States and is most commonly found in premenopausal females. This syndrome shares clinical features with orthostatic hypotension (OH); however, the inclusion criteria and clinical features for POTS are not well known. The purposes of this case report are to: 1) describe the common clinical features of POTS and highlight the differences to orthostatic hypotension and 2) discuss physical therapy management of patients with POTS using exercise.

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. This study was conducted to identify the surface projection of the interosseous foramen and associated structures of the proximal leg using the average clinician's thumb width as a quick measurement to assist in differential diagnosis and treatment. .

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The formation of advanced glycation end-products (AGE) as a result of the action of reducing sugars on host macromolecules plays a role in increased morbidity of diabetic patients. There are currently no clinically available therapeutics for the prevention or eradication of AGEs. Following our previous identification of 2-aminoimidazole (2-AI) based AGE inhibitors and breakers, we now report the use of a rapid, scalable, two-step procedure to access a second generation of 2-AI based anti-AGE compounds from commercially available amino acids.

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Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), unregulated modifications to host macromolecules that occur as a result of metabolic dysregulation, play a role in many diabetes related complications, inflammation and aging, and may lead to increased cardiovascular risk. Small molecules that have the ability to inhibit AGE formation, and even break preformed AGEs have enormous therapeutic potential in the treatment of these disease states. We report the screening of a series of 2-aminoimidazloles for anti-AGE activity, and the identification of a bis-2-aminoimidazole lead compound that possesses superior AGE inhibition and breaking activity compared to the known AGE inhibitor aminoguanidine.

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Shortening the lengthy treatment duration for tuberculosis patients is a major goal of current drug development efforts. The common marmoset develops human-like disease pathology and offers an attractive model to better understand the basis for relapse and test regimens for effective shorter duration therapy. We treated Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected marmosets with two drug regimens known to differ in their relapse rates in human clinical trials: the standard four-drug combination of isoniazid, rifampin, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol (HRZE) that has very low relapse rates and the combination of isoniazid and streptomycin that is associated with higher relapse rates.

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  • The study focuses on developing a scalable and regulated manufacturing process for creating pancreatic progenitors from human embryonic stem cells (hESC) to treat type 1 diabetes.
  • Researchers optimized methods for expanding and differentiating the CyT49 cell line, resulting in a resource that can produce functional insulin-secreting cells in a controlled environment.
  • Upon implantation into mice, these cells formed mature pancreatic tissue that effectively managed glucose levels, indicating progress toward a potential clinical therapy for diabetes.
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  • Researchers utilized a flow cytometry-based method to identify specific cell-surface markers that help separate different pancreatic cell types derived from human embryonic stem cells.
  • The study found that pancreatic endoderm cells could be enriched using the markers CD142, while endocrine cells were enriched using CD200 and CD318.
  • When transplanted into mice, the enriched endoderm cells developed into various functional pancreatic cells, including insulin-producing cells, proving their potential as pancreatic progenitors, whereas the polyhormonal endocrine cells mainly generated glucagon cells.
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This paper describes the development of a microwave plasma reactor for the oxidation of gaseous organic contaminants in air. The reactor was designed such that plasma could be sustained at atmospheric pressure or greater with an effluent gas flow rate of up to 2000 l/min. The oxidation of methane was chosen as the test reaction for laboratory studies.

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  • Development of a cell therapy for diabetes can be enhanced by a continuous source of human beta-cells, and research shows that pancreatic endoderm from human embryonic stem (hES) cells can generate these cells effectively.
  • When implanted in mice, these cells responded to glucose by producing human insulin and C-peptide at levels comparable to natural human islets.
  • Additionally, the implanted cells demonstrated key characteristics of functional beta-cells and were able to protect against high blood sugar levels induced by streptozotocin, confirming the potential of hES cells for diabetes treatment.
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