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PubMed1994

Delayed emergence of effects of memory-enhancing drugs: implications for the dynamics of long-term memory.

Many theories of memory postulate that processing of information outlasts the learning situation and involves several different physiological substrates. If such physiologically distinct mechanisms or stages of memory do in fact exist, they should be differentially affected by particular experimental manipulations. Accordingly, a selective improvement of the processes underlying short-term memory should be detectable only while the information is encoded in the short-term mode, and a selective influence on long-term memory should be detectable only from the moment when memory is based on the long-term trace. Our comparative study of the time course of the effects of the cholinergic agonist arecoline, the gamma-aminobutyric acid type B receptor antagonist CGP 36742, the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor captopril, and the nootropic oxiracetam, four substances with completely different primary sites of action, show that the memory-enhancing effects consistently come into evidence no sooner than 16-24 h after the learning trial. On the one hand, this finding suggests that all these substances act by way of the same type of mechanism; on the other hand, it demonstrates that the substrate modulated by the compounds forms the basis of memory only after 16-24 h. From the observation that animals also show clear signs of retention during the first 16 h--i.e., before the effects of the substances are measurable--it can be inferred that retention during this time is mediated by other mechanisms that are not influenced by any of the substances.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

The simultaneous acquisition effect: simultaneous task learning inhibits memory for order.

Delayed recall of a list of words learned simultaneously with other lists is superior to that of a list of words learned singly. A Brown-Peterson-like task was used to investigate this simultaneous acquisition effect from the perspective of the item-order distinction. It was hypothesized that simultaneous task learning would impede the encoding of order information but promote the encoding of item-specific information relative to single-task learning. The results of the first four experiments strongly supported the hypothesis that simultaneous task learning decreases the encoding of order information but provided no evidence that it facilitated the encoding of item-specific information. Additionally, Experiment 5 showed that the simultaneous acquisition effect did not occur in a mixed-list design, demonstrating an important boundary condition of the effect.

Humans↗

PubMed2004

Consent for regional anaesthesia in the United Kingdom: what is material risk?

Legal principles that apply to the process of informed consent have changed in recent years. Patients should now be given the information that they wish to receive, not the information that health professionals may consider reasonable for them. In obstetric practice informed consent is especially important as young, fit patients may request and receive non-essential but potentially life-threatening interventions. The quantity and detail of information parturients desire do not remain static. They vary over time and from country to country. Our paper examines current opinion amongst parturients in the United Kingdom. We asked 100 obstetric patients to choose the complications of regional anaesthesia that they would like to learn about during informed consent. Nearly all women (82-94%) wished to know about common, less severe side effects. A substantial majority (70-77%) also wished to know about rarer but more severe complications, such as permanent neurological deficit, meningitis and high spinal block. Despite the availability of information for patients from sources such as the Obstetric Anaesthetists' Association and the National Electronic Library for Health, there remains little consensus amongst anaesthetists about what information to provide. Frequently some complications that patients would consider important are not discussed. Changing legal and public expectations demand that we adapt our current practice and improve the accuracy and timing of information provided.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

A case study in mainstreaming flexible learning in health--perspectives from the bush.

Our mission is to inculcate an ethos of online learning and communicating, moving it from the margins to mainstream. A skilled health workforce is crucial to better practices. Face-to-face teaching still dominates learning across NSW Health, despite remarkable developments worldwide in using technology for learning. Health is slow to embrace this renaissance due partly to lack of exposure among educators and learners, and the fact of course that learning is not its core business. The three staff comprising New England Area Health Service (NEAHS) Learning Services extensively researched NEAHS staff attitudes to fexible learning (2001) and Information Technology skills (2003). Amalgamating these data, with that from the first ever across-NSW Health online course we ran (2002) determined the appropriateness of our decision to instigate an external web-based discussion facility previously not available in health, for supporting learning and for communicating within NEAHS and indeed across Area Health Services (AHS).

Certification↗

PubMed2025

APNet, an explainable sparse deep learning model to discover differentially active drivers of severe COVID-19.

MOTIVATION: Computational analyses of bulk and single-cell omics provide translational insights into complex diseases, such as COVID-19, by revealing molecules, cellular phenotypes, and signalling patterns that contribute to unfavourable clinical outcomes. Current in silico approaches dovetail differential abundance, biostatistics, and machine learning, but often overlook nonlinear proteomic dynamics, like post-translational modifications, and provide limited biological interpretability beyond feature ranking. RESULTS: We introduce APNet, a novel computational pipeline that combines differential activity analysis based on SJARACNe co-expression networks with PASNet, a biologically informed sparse deep learning model, to perform explainable predictions for COVID-19 severity. The APNet driver-pathway network ingests SJARACNe co-regulation and classification weights to aid result interpretation and hypothesis generation. APNet outperforms alternative models in patient classification across three COVID-19 proteomic datasets, identifying predictive drivers and pathways, including some confirmed in single-cell omics and highlighting under-explored biomarker circuitries in COVID-19. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: APNet's R, Python scripts, and Cytoscape methodologies are available at https://github.com/BiodataAnalysisGroup/APNet.

COVID-19↗

PubMed2001

Assessment techniques for web-based instruction: lessons learned from teaching a graduate course in instructional technology.

In an attempt to discover how students learn in an online learning environment, as well as to investigate how online communication patterns differ from those in a face-to-face class, the authors used students participating in a graduate program in instructional technology in Philadelphia, PA. Various activities and assignments were used to elicit information about student learning with, and attitudes toward an online learning environment. Over a period of 3 semesters, student data were collected through qualitative and quantitative methods, including observations, surveys, tests, in-class discussions, and e-mail communication analysis. Results for these assessment methods are included in this article, as well as implications for future investigation into this topic.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed1998

Fundamental concepts of problem-based learning for the new facilitator.

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a powerful small group learning tool that should be part of the armamentarium of every serious educator. Classic PBL uses ill-structured problems to simulate the conditions that occur in the real environment. Students play an active role and use an iterative process of seeking new information based on identified learning issues, restructuring the information in light of the new knowledge, gathering additional information, and so forth. Faculty play a facilitatory role, not a traditional instructional role, by posing metacognitive questions to students. These questions serve to assist in organizing, generalizing, and evaluating knowledge; to probe for supporting evidence; to explore faulty reasoning; to stimulate discussion of attitudes; and to develop self-directed learning and self-assessment skills. Professional librarians play significant roles in the PBL environment extending from traditional service provider to resource person to educator. Students and faculty usually find the learning experience productive and enjoyable.

Curriculum↗

PubMed2006

PepDist: a new framework for protein-peptide binding prediction based on learning peptide distance functions.

BACKGROUND: Many different aspects of cellular signalling, trafficking and targeting mechanisms are mediated by interactions between proteins and peptides. Representative examples are MHC-peptide complexes in the immune system. Developing computational methods for protein-peptide binding prediction is therefore an important task with applications to vaccine and drug design. METHODS: Previous learning approaches address the binding prediction problem using traditional margin based binary classifiers. In this paper we propose PepDist: a novel approach for predicting binding affinity. Our approach is based on learning peptide-peptide distance functions. Moreover, we suggest to learn a single peptide-peptide distance function over an entire family of proteins (e.g. MHC class I). This distance function can be used to compute the affinity of a novel peptide to any of the proteins in the given family. In order to learn these peptide-peptide distance functions, we formalize the problem as a semi-supervised learning problem with partial information in the form of equivalence constraints. Specifically, we propose to use DistBoost, which is a semi-supervised distance learning algorithm. RESULTS: We compare our method to various state-of-the-art binding prediction algorithms on MHC class I and MHC class II datasets. In almost all cases, our method outperforms all of its competitors. One of the major advantages of our novel approach is that it can also learn an affinity function over proteins for which only small amounts of labeled peptides exist. In these cases, our method's performance gain, when compared to other computational methods, is even more pronounced. We have recently uploaded the PepDist webserver which provides binding prediction of peptides to 35 different MHC class I alleles. The webserver which can be found at http://www.pepdist.cs.huji.ac.il is powered by a prediction engine which was trained using the framework presented in this paper. CONCLUSION: The results obtained suggest that learning a single distance function over an entire family of proteins achieves higher prediction accuracy than learning a set of binary classifiers for each of the proteins separately. We also show the importance of obtaining information on experimentally determined non-binders. Learning with real non-binders generalizes better than learning with randomly generated peptides that are assumed to be non-binders. This suggests that information about non-binding peptides should also be published and made publicly available.

Algorithms↗

PubMed1997

How will we know if we got it right? Aims, benefits, and risks of consumer information initiatives.

BACKGROUND: Initiatives on the part of many groups to provide American consumers with information about the quality of health care may have several goals. Symbolic aims include recognizing consumers, increasing the sense of accountability, providing reassurance about health care quality, and emphasizing quality. Instrumental aims include improving system performance, increasing satisfaction with care and/or plans, and reducing random plan switching. These efforts may have both good effects and bad effects. BENEFITS AND RISKS: The possible positive byproducts of consumer information initiatives are learning about consumer preferences and variations, learning how to help consumers use health plans and providers, changing consumer-provider relationships, and building an infrastructure of consumer-centered intermediaries. Possible bad effects are generating demands that cannot be met, skewing the system to certain consumers' preferences, discouraging consumers from using information, adding another new program that will die, contributing to biased plan selection, and decreasing trust in providers. DISCUSSION: Before health care professionals can gather evidence about outcomes signaling success, they must address several major issues. How should high-quality performance be defined and by whom? Whose vision will be embedded in these definitions? Will it be the consumer's vision or the patient's vision that will be maximized? How long will it take before expected consequences occur? A strategy to measure success calls for beginning immediately to develop consensus on outcomes and a "theory of action" specifying the pathways and timing for different players.

Community Participation↗

PubMed2005

A new image representation algorithm inspired by image submodality models, redundancy reduction, and learning in biological vision.

We develop a new biologically motivated algorithm for representing natural images using successive projections into complementary subspaces. An image is first projected into an edge subspace spanned using an ICA basis adapted to natural images which captures the sharp features of an image like edges and curves. The residual image obtained after extraction of the sharp image features is approximated using a mixture of probabilistic principal component analyzers (MPPCA) model. The model is consistent with cellular, functional, information theoretic, and learning paradigms in visual pathway modeling. We demonstrate the efficiency of our model for representing different attributes of natural images like color and luminance. We compare the performance of our model in terms of quality of representation against commonly used basis, like the discrete cosine transform (DCT), independent component analysis (ICA), and principal components analysis (PCA), based on their entropies. Chrominance and luminance components of images are represented using codes having lower entropy than DCT, ICA, or PCA for similar visual quality. The model attains considerable simplification for learning from images by using a sparse independent code for representing edges and explicitly evaluating probabilities in the residual subspace.

Algorithms↗

PubMed1995

Developing study, organization, and management strategies for adolescents with language disabilities.

Developing strategies for learning is important for all individuals, but even more so for students who have difficulty learning and processing information. Because many students with language disabilities have not developed a repertoire of such strategies or do not actively apply the strategies they know, direct instruction in this area is imperative. It is also important that any strategy taught is functional, easily and directly applied to present learning situations, and easy to generalize. Determining the variables in a learning situation (the script) should provide appropriate choices and direction for strategic teaching and learning. The acquisition of strategies involves direct, explicit teaching and requires time for modeling, practice, and discussion. Using a cognitive strategy model is critical because it supports the later use and generalization of strategies, but it is important to explore various models for strategy instruction and to work collaboratively with students and teachers. The SLP can provide direct instruction, consultation, or training, or can facilitate a collaborative model among professionals. In so doing, her impact may reach throughout a life, because learning strategies are life strategies, and if learned they are tools forever.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Faculty development in teaching skills: an intensive longitudinal model.

Although reflection contributes to the personal growth of clinician-educators and is important for effective teaching, few teaching skills programs report its use. The Johns Hopkins Faculty Development Program in Teaching Skills, first implemented in 1987 as a theoretically grounded, longitudinal model for faculty development of clinician-educators, comprises a set of conditions intended to promote reflective learning. This paper describes the program and reports evaluation results for 98 participants and a comparison group of 112 nonparticipants between 1988 and 1996. Participants met with facilitators weekly for nine months for 3.5 hours, in stable groups of four to six individuals. Educational methods used across seven content areas emphasized relationships and collaboration, and included information provision, experiential learning with reflection, and personal awareness sessions. A pre-post evaluation design with comparison group measured changes in self-assessed teaching and professional skills, teaching enjoyment, and learning effectiveness. A post-only evaluation design appraised overall program quality, educational methods, facilitation, learning environment, and perceived impact of participation. Program participants had significantly greater pre-post-change scores than nonparticipants for all 14 outcomes (p <.05). Multiple regression modeling indicated that program participation was associated with pre-post improvement in all outcomes except administration skills, controlling for all participant and nonparticipant baseline characteristics (p <.05). All measured programmatic characteristics were highly rated by participants. Experiential methods with reflection were rated significantly higher than information-provision and personal awareness sessions (p <.001). Evaluation results demonstrate a positive impact of this alternative approach to faculty development on clinician-educator perceptions of their attitudes and behaviors towards learners and colleagues.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Storytelling as a method to teach African American women breast health information.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to explore the use of storytelling as a method to teach breast health information to older African American women. METHODS: A qualitative design utilizing the focus-group method. RESULTS: Six story types (categories) emerged from the focus-group data and were integrated into the breast health education class. Categories were: 1) loss, 2) pain, 3) suffering, 4) fear and worry/stress, 5) death, and 6) faith in God and prayer. Three major outcomes resulted from the storytelling format: 1) peer teaching enhanced learning, 2) incorrect information was identified and clarified, and 3) personal experiences were validated. CONCLUSIONS: Integration of African American women's self-identified issues and concerns with breast health messages through storytelling resulted in a meaningful teaching-learning experience.

Black or African American↗

PubMed2003

Possible role of intramembrane receptor-receptor interactions in memory and learning via formation of long-lived heteromeric complexes: focus on motor learning in the basal ganglia.

Learning in neuronal networks occurs by instructions to the neurons to change their synaptic weights (i.e., efficacies). According to the present model a molecular mechanism that can contribute to change synaptic weights may be represented by multiple interactions between membrane receptors forming aggregates (receptor mosaics) via oligomerization at both pre- and post-synaptic level. These assemblies of receptors together with inter alia single receptors, adapter proteins, G-proteins and ion channels form the membrane bound part of a complex three-dimensional (3D) molecular circuit, the cytoplasmic part of which consists especially of protein kinases, protein phosphatases and phosphoproteins. It is suggested that this molecular circuit has the capability to learn and store information. Thus, engram formation will depend on the resetting of 3D molecular circuits via the formation of new receptor mosaics capable of addressing the transduction of the chemical messages impinging on the cell membrane to certain sets of G-proteins. Short-term memory occurs by a transient stabilization of the receptor mosaics producing the appropriate change in the synaptic weight. Engram consolidation (long-term memory) may involve intracellular signals that translocate to the nucleus to cause the activation of immediate early genes and subsequent formation of postulated adapter proteins which stabilize the receptor mosaics with the formation of long-lived heteromeric receptor complexes. The receptor mosaic hypothesis of the engram formation has been formulated in agreement with the Hebbian rule and gives a novel molecular basis for it by postulating that the pre-synaptic activity change in transmitter and modulator release reorganizes the receptor mosaics at post-synaptic level and subsequently at pre-synaptic level with the formation of novel 3D molecular circuits leading to a different integration of chemical signals impinging on pre- and post-synaptic membranes hence leading to a new value of the synaptic weight. Engram retrieval is brought about by the scanning of the target networks by the highly divergent arousal systems. Hence, a continuous reverberating process occurs both at the level of the neural networks as well as at the level of the 3D molecular circuits within each neuron of the network until the appropriate tuning of the synaptic weights is obtained and, subsequently, the reappearance of the engram occurs. Learning and memory in the basal ganglia is discussed in the frame of the present hypothesis. It is proposed that formation of long-term memories (consolidated receptor mosaics) in the plasma membranes of the striosomal GABA neurons may play a major role in the motivational learning of motor skills of relevance for survival. In conclusion, long-lived heteromeric receptor complexes of high order may be crucial for learning, memory and retrieval processes, where extensive reciprocal feedback loops give rise to coherent synchronized neural activity (binding) essential for a sophisticated information handling by the central nervous system.

Animals↗

PubMed1984

Diazepam and memory: retrograde facilitation produced by interference reduction.

Although diazepam (Valium) reduces learning and memory of information presented after administration (anterograde amnesia), in some cases it improves retention of predrug information (retrograde facilitation). Three experiments examined the magnitude and the conditions for producing retrograde facilitation and tested three hypotheses about the cause of memory enhancement. Differential effort and enhanced consolidation explanations were rejected in favor of a reduced interference interpretation. Improvement in predrug memory occurs because poor postdrug learning reduces the amount of new information available to interfere with prior learning.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

The effect of mercury on the feeding behavior of fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas).

Fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) were exposed to mercury (1.69, 6.79, and 13. 57 microg/L HgCl(2), 10 days exposure), and afterward their foraging ability was tested in a vegetated habitat for 7 days. Among the foraging metrics used were foraging efficiency, capture speed, and the ability to learn and retain information regarding habitat characteristics. In addition to behavioral tests, muscle tissue acetylcholinesterase activity and brain levels of several neurotransmitters were investigated. Comparisons with control fish and fish from the two highest exposure groups revealed consistent performance deficits in foraging efficiency and capture speed. However, no treatment effects on learning were detected, nor were differences in neurotransmitter levels detected. In determining the underlying proximate cause of the foraging deficits, it is believed that the greater pause time exhibited by treatment fish while foraging was the main cause of treatment differences. In the future, behavioral studies will continue to allow toxicity testing of environmentally relevant variables such as those used by behavioral ecologists.

Acetylcholinesterase↗

PubMed2003

The relative efficacy of different forms of knowledge of results for the learning of a new relative timing pattern.

The goal of the present study was to determine the relative efficacy of verbal and auditory knowledge of results for promoting learning of a new constrained relative timing pattern. In a series of four experiments we compared the efficiency of verbal knowledge of results to that of auditory knowledge of results. The results of all four experiments revealed that verbal knowledge of result is a very effective source of information to promote learning of a new imposed relative timing pattern. Auditory knowledge of results favoured learning of a new relative timing pattern in a very limited set of circumstances. In the present study, this was only the case when movement velocity remained constant from one segment of the task to the next and if it resulted in an unfamiliar temporal pattern. The results of all four experiments also provided evidence that movement parameterization and relative timing are independent processes that can be developed in parallel.

Cognition↗

PubMed2006

Exploring mental status in Friedreich's ataxia: a combined neuropsychological, behavioral and neuroimaging study.

Despite much evidence of cognitive and affective disorders in Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA), the nature of mental status in FRDA has received little systematic attention. It has been proposed that the cerebellum may interfere indirectly with cognition through the cerebello-cortical loops, whereas the role of pathological changes in different areas of the central nervous system is still undetermined. In the present study, 13 patients with molecularly determined FRDA and a group of matched controls were evaluated by a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. A repetitive task of simple visual-reaction times was used to investigate implicit learning in all subjects. Pathological changes in cortical areas were explored comparing cerebral activations of patients and controls during finger movements (functional MRI). The intelligence profile of FRDA patients is characterized by concrete thinking, poor capacity in concept formation and visuospatial reasoning. FRDA patients show reduced speed of information processing. The learning effect seen in controls was notably absent in patients with FRDA. The patients' personality is characterized by some pathological aspects and reduced defensiveness. Patterns of cortical activation during finger movements are heterogeneous in patients compared to controls. Cognitive impairment, mood disorders and motor deficits in FRDA patients may be the result of the cumulative damage caused by frataxin deficiency not only in the cerebellum and spinal cord but also in other brain areas.

Adolescent↗