Multiple images captured from a single encounter do not promote face learning.

Viewing multiple images of a newly encountered face improves recognition of that identity in new instances. Studies examining face learning have presented high-variability (HV) images that incorporate changes that occur from moment-to-moment (e.g., head orientation and expression) and over time (e.g., lighting, hairstyle, and health). We examined whether low-variability (LV) images (i.e., images that incorporate only moment-to-moment changes) also promote generalisation of learning such that novel instances are recognised. Participants viewed a single image, six LV images, or six HV images of a target identity before being asked to recognise novel images of that identity in a face matching task (training stimuli remained visible) or a memory task (training stimuli were removed). In Experiment 1 (n = 71), participants indicated which image(s) in 8-image arrays belonged to the target identity. In Experiment 2 (n = 73), participants indicated whether sequentially presented images belonged to the target identity. Relative to the single-image condition, sensitivity to identity improved and response biases were less conservative in the HV condition; we found no evidence of generalisation of learning in the LV condition regardless of testing protocol. Our findings suggest that day-to-day variability in appearance plays an essential role in acquiring expertise with a novel face.

Ensemble coding of facial identity is robust, but may not contribute to face learning.

Ensemble coding - the rapid extraction of a perceptual average - has been proposed as a potential mechanism underlying face learning. We tested this proposal across five pre-registered experiments in which four ambient images of an identity were presented in the study phase. In Experiments 1 and 2a-c, participants were asked whether a test image was in the study array; these experiments examined the robustness of ensemble coding. Experiment 1 replicated ensemble coding in an online sample; participants recognize images from the study array and the average of those images. Experiments 2a-c provide evidence that ensemble coding meets several criteria of a possible learning mechanism: It is robust to changes in head orientation (± 60o), survives a short (30s) delay, and persists when images of two identities are interleaved during the study phase. Experiment 3 examined whether ensemble coding is sufficient for face learning (i.e., facilitates recognition of novel images of a target identity). Each study array comprised four ambient images (variability + average), a single image, or an average of four images (average only). Participants were asked whether a novel test image showed the identity from a study array. Performance was best in the four-image condition, with no difference between the single-image and average-only conditions. We conclude that ensemble coding of facial identity is robust but that the perceptual average per se is not sufficient for face learning.

Children's ability to recognize their parent's face improves with age.

Adults are experts at recognizing familiar faces across images that incorporate natural within-person variability in appearance (i.e., ambient images). Little is known about children's ability to do so. In the current study, we investigated whether 4- to 7-year-olds (n = 56) could recognize images of their own parent-a person with whom children have had abundant exposure in a variety of different contexts. Children were asked to identify images of their parent that were intermixed with images of other people. We included images of each parent taken both before and after their child was born to manipulate how close the images were to the child's own experience. When viewing before-birth images, 4- and 5-year-olds were less sensitive to identity than were older children; sensitivity did not differ when viewing images taken after the child was born. These findings suggest that with even the most familiar face, 4- and 5-year-olds have difficulty recognizing instances that go beyond their direct experience. We discuss two factors that may contribute to the prolonged development of familiar face recognition.

Learning faces from variability: Four- and five-year-olds differ from older children and adults.

Children under 6 years of age have difficulty recognizing a familiar face across changes in appearance and telling the face apart from similar-looking people. Understanding the process by which newly encountered faces become familiar can provide insights into these difficulties. Exposure to the ways in which a person varies in appearance is one mechanism by which adults and older children (≥6 years) learn new faces. We provide the first investigation of whether this mechanism for face learning functions in younger children. Children aged 4 and 5 years were read two storybooks featuring an unfamiliar character. Participants viewed six images of the character in one story and one image of the character in the other story. After each story, children were asked to identify novel images of the character that were intermixed with images of a similar-looking distractor. Like older children, 4- and 5-year-olds were more sensitive to identity in the 6-image condition, but they also adapted a less conservative criterion. Young children identified more images of the character after viewing six images versus one image. However, many also incorrectly identified more images of the distractor after viewing six images versus one image, an effect not previously found for older children and adults. These results suggest that this mechanism for face learning is not fully refined before 6 years of age.

Aquarium Tank Design Is Integral to the Elimination of Mantle Abrasion in the Captive Curled Octopus (Eledone cirrhosa): A Case Study at Macduff Marine Aquarium.

Macduff Marine Aquarium is a native species aquarium situated on the Moray Firth coastline and houses the curled octopus, Eledone cirrhosa, for public display. Historically, the designated octopus display tank has been in-keeping with the overall theme of the aquarium, consisting of artificially created rock work mimicking the local rocky coastline, within an angular glass tank. This tank was not originally designed for housing octopus and as a consequence, if individuals on display exhibited jetting behavior mantle abrasion occurred. In 2016, a new bespoke octopus tank was designed and installed. Since then 14 different octopuses have been individually housed and maintained within the tank, with none having experienced mantle abrasion. This paper highlights the importance of aquarium design for the ethical maintenance of an intelligent and challenging species.

Recognizing, discriminating, and labeling emotional expressions in a free-sorting task: A developmental story.

Recognizing emotional expressions across different people and discriminating between them are important social skills. We examined their development using a novel free-sorting task in which children (aged 5 to 10) and adults sorted 20 faces (posing sadness, anger, fear, and disgust) into piles such that all faces in each pile were feeling the same. Participants could make as many or few piles (emotion categories) as they liked and then labeled each pile. There were no age-related changes in the number of piles made. Children made more confusion errors (two emotions in the same pile) than adults, a pattern that decreased with age. Errors were not random, but disproportionately involved placing fearful faces into piles labeled sad and disgusted faces into piles labeled angry-especially among children who did not produce fear and disgust labels, respectively. Our findings are consistent with differentiation and constructivist models of the development of emotion perception. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Ensemble coding of facial identity is not refined by experience: Evidence from other-race and inverted faces.

The ability to recognize identity despite within-person variability in appearance is likely a face-specific skill and shaped by experience. Ensemble coding - the automatic extraction of the average of a stimulus array - has been proposed as a mechanism underlying face learning (allowing one to recognize novel instances of a newly learned face). We investigated whether ensemble encoding, like face learning and recognition, is refined by experience by testing participants with upright own-race faces and two categories of faces with which they lacked experience: other-race faces (Experiment 1) and inverted faces (Experiment 2). Participants viewed four images of an unfamiliar identity and then were asked whether a test image of that same identity had been in the study array. Each test image was a matching exemplar (from the array), matching average (the average of the images in the array), non-matching exemplar (a novel image of the same identity), or non-matching average (an average of four different images of the same identity). Adults showed comparable ensemble coding for all three categories (i.e., reported that matching averages had been present more than non-matching averages), providing evidence that this early stage of face learning is not shaped by face-specific experience.

Evaluation of Point-of-Care ACT Coagulometers and Anti-Xa Activity During Cardiopulmonary Bypass.

OBJECTIVE: The activated clotting time (ACT) is used worldwide to confirm safe heparin anticoagulation for cardiopulmonary bypass. For the present study, the performances of 2 commonly used ACT devices were compared with each other and with anti-Xa levels throughout the surgical procedure in order to understand whether they can be used interchangeably. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: Tertiary care center. PARTICIPANTS: The study comprised 33 elective adult cardiac surgical patients. INTERVENTIONS: Blood samples were taken at standard times throughout the surgery (after induction, after heparin bolus, 4 samples at 30-minute intervals during cardiopulmonary bypass, after protamine), and ACTs and anti-Xa levels were analyzed. Data were compared using receiver operating characteristics and LOESS regression. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The correlation between anti-Xa levels and the Hemochron ACT (Instrumentation Laboratory, Bedford, MA) was acceptable (r = 0.82, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.757-0.868; p < 0.0001), as was the correlation between anti-Xa levels and the i-STAT (Abbott Point of Care, Abbott Park, IL) (r = 0.81, 95% CI 0.738-0.858; p < 0.0001). The correlation between the 2 ACT methods was poorer (r = 0.77, 95% CI 0.707-0.828; p < 0.0001) than their correlation to anti-Xa levels. When compared with anti-Xa levels, the sensitivity and specificity were mediocre for both devices, although the i-STAT performed better than the Hemochron ACT. The Hemochron ACT read higher values than the i-STAT ACT throughout the course of the surgery. CONCLUSION: The correlation between the Hemochron ACT and i-STAT ACT is moderate, and they have different sensitivity and specificity when compared with anti-Xa levels. This suggests that ACT devices should not be used interchangeably, but cut-off values for safe anticoagulation during cardiopulmonary bypass should be determined for each type of device, particularly when switching supplier.

MesoTRAP: a feasibility study that includes a pilot clinical trial comparing video-assisted thoracoscopic partial pleurectomy decortication with indwelling pleural catheter in patients with trapped lung due to malignant pleural mesothelioma designed to address recruitment and randomisation uncertainties and sample size requirements for a phase III trial.

Introduction: One of the most debilitating symptoms of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is dyspnoea caused by pleural effusion. MPM can be complicated by the presence of tumour on the visceral pleura preventing the lung from re-expanding, known as trapped lung (TL). There is currently no consensus on the best way to manage TL. One approach is insertion of an indwelling pleural catheter (IPC) under local anaesthesia. Another is video-assisted thoracoscopic partial pleurectomy/decortication (VAT-PD). Performed under general anaesthesia, VAT-PD permits surgical removal of the rind of tumour from the visceral pleura thereby allowing the lung to fully re-expand. Methods and analysis: MesoTRAP is a feasibility study that includes a pilot multicentre, randomised controlled clinical trial comparing VAT-PD with IPC in patients with TL and pleural effusion due to MPM. The primary objective is to measure the SD of visual analogue scale scores for dyspnoea following randomisation and examine the patterns of change over time in each treatment group. Secondary objectives include documenting survival and adverse events, estimating the incidence and prevalence of TL in patients with MPM, examining completion of alternative forms of data capture for economic evaluation and determining the ability to randomise 38 patients in 18 months. Ethics and dissemination: This study was approved by the East of England-Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee and the Health Research Authority (reference number 16/EE/0370). We aim to publish the outputs of this work in international peer-reviewed journals compliant with an Open Access policy. Trial registration: NCT03412357.

Attending to identity cues reduces the own-age but not the own-race recognition advantage.

Adults' ability to recognize individual faces is shaped by experience. Young adults recognize own-age and own-race faces more accurately than other-age and other-race faces. The own-age and own-race biases have been attributed to differential perceptual experience and to differences in how in-group vs. out-group faces are processed, with in-group faces being processed at the individual level and out-group faces being processed at the categorical level. To examine this social categorization hypothesis, young adults studied young and older faces in Experiment 1 and own- and other-race faces in Experiment 2. During the learning phase the identity-matching group viewed faces in pairs and completed a same/different task designed to enhance attention to individuating cues; the passive-viewing group memorized faces presented individually. After the learning phase, all participants completed an identical old/new recognition task. Both passive-viewing groups showed the expected recognition bias, but divergent patterns were observed in the identity-matching groups. Whereas the identity-matching task eliminated the own-age bias, it neither eliminated nor reduced the own-race bias. Collectively, these results suggest that categorization-individuation processes do not play the same role in explaining the two recognition biases.

Becoming Familiar With a Newly Encountered Face: Evidence of an Own-Race Advantage.

Adults' ability to match identity in images of unfamiliar faces is impaired for other- compared with own-race faces; their ability to match identity in images of familiar faces is independent of face race. Exposure to within-person variability in appearance plays a key role in face learning. Past research suggests that children need exposure to higher levels of variability than adults to learn a new face-a difference that has been attributed to experience. We predicted that adults' limited experience with other-race faces would result in their needing exposure to higher levels of variability when learning other- compared with own-race faces. We introduced adults to four new identities (two own-race; two other-race) in one of the three conditions: a single image, a low-variability video (filmed on 1 day), or a high-variability video (filmed across 3 days). Adults' ability to recognize new instances of learned identities improved in the low-variability condition for own-race faces but only in the high-variability condition for other-race faces. We discuss learning mechanisms that might drive this difference-a difference we attribute to experience.

Mini-Stern Trial: A randomized trial comparing mini-sternotomy to full median sternotomy for aortic valve replacement.

OBJECTIVE: Aortic valve replacement (AVR) can be performed either through full median sternotomy (FS) or upper mini-sternotomy (MS). The Mini-Stern trial aimed to establish whether MS leads to quicker postoperative recovery and shorter hospital stay after first-time isolated AVR. METHODS: This pragmatic, open-label, parallel randomized controlled trial (RCT) compared MS with FS for first-time isolated AVR in 2 United Kingdom National Health Service hospitals. Primary endpoints were duration of postoperative hospital stay and the time to fitness for discharge from hospital after AVR, analyzed in the intent-to-treat population. RESULTS: In this RCT, 222 patients were recruited and randomized (n = 118 in the MS group; n = 104 in the FS group). Compared with the FS group, the MS group had a longer hospital length of stay (mean, 9.5 days vs 8.6 days) and took longer to achieve fitness for discharge home (mean, 8.5 days vs 7.5 days). Adjusting for valve type, sex, and surgeon, hazard ratios (HRs) from Cox models did not show a statistically significant effect of MS (relative to FS) on either hospital stay (HR, 0.874; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.668-1.143; P = .3246) or time to fitness for discharge (HR, 0.907; 95% CI, 0.688-1.197; P value = .4914). During a mean follow-up of 760 days (745 days for the MS group and 777 days for the FS group), 12 patients (10%) in the MS group and 7 patients (7%) in the FS group died (HR, 1.871; 95% CI, 0.723-4.844; P = .1966). Average extra cost for MS was £1714 during the first 12 months after AVR. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with FS for AVR, MS did not result in shorter hospital stay, faster recovery, or improved survival and was not cost-effective. The MS approach is not superior to FS for performing AVR.

Finding an unfamiliar face in a line-up: Viewing multiple images of the target is beneficial on target-present trials but costly on target-absent trials.

When viewing unfamiliar faces, photographs of the same person often are perceived as belonging to different people and photographs of different people as belonging to the same person. Identity matching of unfamiliar faces is especially challenging when the photographs are of a person whose ethnicity differs from that of the observer. In contrast, matching is trivial when viewing familiar faces, regardless of race. Viewing multiple images of an own-race target identity improves accuracy on a line-up task when the target is known to be present (Dowsett et al., 2016, Q J Exp Psychol, 69, 1), suggesting that exposure to within-person variability in appearance is key to face learning. Across three experiments, we show that viewing multiple images of a target identity also improves accuracy for other-race faces on target-present trials. However, viewing multiple images decreases accuracy (i.e., increases false alarms) on target-absent trials for both own- and other-race faces. We discuss the implications of our findings for models of face recognition and for forensic settings.

Getting to know you: The development of mechanisms underlying face learning.

Nearly every study investigating the development of face recognition has focused on the ability to tell people apart using one or two tightly controlled images to represent each identity. Such research ignores the challenge of recognizing the same person despite variability in appearance. Whereas natural variation in appearance makes unfamiliar faces difficult to recognize, by 6 years of age people easily recognize multiple images of familiar faces. Two mechanisms are proposed to underlie the process by which adults become familiar with newly encountered faces. We provide the first examination of the development of these mechanisms during childhood (6-11 years). In Experiment 1, we examined children's (6- to 10-year-olds') and adults' ability to engage in ensemble coding-the ability to rapidly extract an average representation of an identity from several instances. In Experiment 2, we examined children's ability to use within-person variability in appearance to recognize novel instances of a newly encountered identity. We created a child-friendly perceptual matching task, and the number of images to which participants were exposed varied across targets. Although children were less accurate than adults overall in Experiment 2, we found no age-related improvement in either ensemble coding or the ability to benefit from exposure to within-person variability in appearance when learning a new face, suggesting that both abilities are developed by 6 years of age. We discuss the implications of these findings for understanding the nature of mechanisms underlying face learning and other developmental processes such as language and music.

A review of nausea and vomiting in the anaesthetic and post anaesthetic environment.

Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) has long been known as a complication of anaesthesia and surgery. This paper focuses on the assessment of the risk factors related to PONV along with the strategies and interventions which can be put in place to manage the condition. The pharmacological and multi-modal treatment methods of managing the risk factors that contribute to PONV are discussed.

Neurobehavioral and Cardiovascular Effects of Potassium Cyanide Administered Orally to Mice.

The Food and Drug Administration Animal Rule requires evaluation of cardiovascular and central nervous system (CNS) effects of new therapeutics. To characterize an adult and juvenile mouse model, neurobehavioral and cardiovascular effects and pathology of a single sublethal but toxic, 8 mg/kg, oral dose of potassium cyanide (KCN) for up to 41 days postdosing were investigated. This study describes the short- and long-term sensory, motor, cognitive, and behavioral changes associated with oral dosing of a sublethal but toxic dose of KCN utilizing functional observation battery and Tier II CNS testing in adult and juvenile mice of both sexes. Selected tissues (histopathology) were evaluated for changes associated with KCN exposure with special attention to brain regions. Telemetry (adult mice only) was used to evaluate cardiovascular and temperature changes. Neurobehavioral capacity, sensorimotor responsivity or spontaneous locomotor activity, and rectal temperature were significantly reduced in adult and juvenile mice at 30 minutes post-8 mg/kg KCN dose. Immediate effects of cyanide included bradycardia, adverse electrocardiogram arrhythmic events, hypotension, and hypothermia with recovery by approximately 1 hour for blood pressure and heart rate effects and by 2 hours for body temperature. Lesions consistent with hypoxia, such as mild acute tubular necrosis in the kidneys corticomedullary junction, were the only histopathological findings and occurred at a very low incidence. The mouse KCN intoxication model indicates rapid and completely reversible effects in adult and juvenile mice following a single oral 8 mg/kg dose. Neurobehavioral and cardiovascular measurements can be used in this animal model as a trigger for treatment.

Characterization of a Mouse Model of Oral Potassium Cyanide Intoxication.

Potassium cyanide (KCN) is an inhibitor of cytochrome C oxidase causing rapid death due to hypoxia. A well-characterized model of oral KCN intoxication is needed to test new therapeutics under the Food and Drug Administration Animal Rule. Clinical signs, plasma pH and lactate concentrations, biomarkers, histopathology, and cyanide and thiocyanate toxicokinetics were used to characterize the pathology of KCN intoxication in adult and juvenile mice. The acute oral LD50s were determined to be 11.8, 11.0, 10.9, and 9.9 mg/kg in water for adult male, adult female, juvenile male, and juvenile female mice, respectively. The time to death was rapid and dose dependent; juvenile mice had a shorter mean time to death. Juvenile mice displayed a more rapid onset and higher incidence of seizures. The time to observance of respiratory signs and prostration was rapid, but mice surviving beyond 2 hours generally recovered fully within 8 hours. At doses up to the LD50, there were no gross necropsy or microscopic findings clearly attributed to administration of KCN in juvenile or adult CD-1 mice from 24 hours to 28 days post-KCN challenge. Toxicokinetic analysis indicated rapid uptake, metabolism, and clearance of plasma cyanide. Potassium cyanide caused a rapid, dose-related decrease in blood pH and increase in serum lactate concentration. An increase in fatty acid-binding protein 3 was observed at 11.5 mg/kg KCN in adult but not in juvenile mice. These studies provide a characterization of KCN intoxication in adult and juvenile mice that can be used to screen or conduct preclinical efficacy studies of potential countermeasures.

The relationship between attentional bias and anxiety in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders.

Young people with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more likely to have heightened levels of anxiety compared with their typically developing (non-ASD) peers. The reasons for this are poorly understood, and there has been little research investigating the cognitive correlates of anxiety in individuals with ASD. Typically developing youth with anxiety disorders have frequently been found to show an attentional bias toward threatening information. In this study, we examined whether such a bias was also found in young people with ASD and anxiety symptoms. The protocol utilized two versions of the dot-probe paradigm, the first with emotional faces and the second with emotional words. Participants comprised 38 boys with an ASD and 41 typically developing controls aged 10-16 years of age. Those with an ASD displayed higher levels of parent- and child-rated anxiety (both P < 0.001) and depression (P < 0.001) compared with controls. However, there were no significant group differences in attentional bias scores and no significant relationship between anxiety and attentional bias in either the face or word tasks, for either group. Our findings suggest that, for young people with ASD, unlike non-ASD individuals with an anxiety disorder, high levels of anxiety may not be associated with attentional bias to threat. This may indicate that anxiety in ASD has different cognitive correlates from anxiety in the typically developing population. Further conclusions, study limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Left-sided pulmonary venous pathway obstruction after Mustard operation.

OBJECTIVE: Pulmonary venous pathway obstruction (PVPO) is a serious complication of the atrial switch procedure for transposition of the great arteries (TGA). Redistribution of pulmonary arterial blood flow may make conventional echocardiographic measures of unilateral PVPO difficult to interpret. Previous studies have demonstrated altered arterial flow patterns using phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (PC-MRI). The purpose of this study was to investigate arterial flow patterns in the setting of unilateral PVPO following the Mustard operation. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the arterial flow patterns of 12 patients undergoing magnetic resonance imaging between 2006 and 2011 who had had the Mustard operation. RESULTS: Three patients had left PVPO and all showed >65% flow distributed to the right pulmonary artery (RPA). One had severe obstruction and was the only one to show significant continuous diastolic forward flow in the RPA or diastolic flow reversal in the left pulmonary artery. CONCLUSION: RPA/left pulmonary artery flow ratio appears to be a sensitive marker for PVPO. In the absence of pulmonary regurgitation, reversed diastolic flow in the ipsilateral and continuous in the contralateral pulmonary artery appears specific for severe obstruction. Branch pulmonary artery phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (PC-MRI) should be performed routinely for patients who have had an atrial switch for transposition of the great arteries.