Prospective, Randomized Assessment of Transfer of Training (ToT) and Transfer Effectiveness Ratio (TER) of Virtual Reality Simulation Training for Laparoscopic Skill Acquisition

OBJECTIVES:: We assessed the effectiveness of ToT from VR laparoscopic simulation training in 2 studies. In a second study, we also assessed the TER. ToT is a detectable performance improvement between equivalent groups, and TER is the observed percentage performance differences between 2 matched groups carrying out the same task but with 1 group pretrained on VR simulation. Concordance between simulated and in-vivo procedure performance was also assessed. DESIGN:: Prospective, randomized, and blinded. PARTICIPANTS:: In Study 1, experienced laparoscopic surgeons (n = 195) and in Study 2 laparoscopic novices (n = 30) were randomized to either train on VR simulation before completing an equivalent real-world task or complete the real-world task only. RESULTS:: Experienced laparoscopic surgeons and novices who trained on the simulator performed significantly better than their controls, thus demonstrating ToT. Their performance showed a TER between 7% and 42% from the virtual to the real tasks. Simulation training impacted most on procedural error reduction in both studies (32- 42%). The correlation observed between the VR and real-world task performance was r > 0·96 (Study 2). CONCLUSIONS:: VR simulation training offers a powerful and effective platform for training safer skills.

Ethics in neuroscience graduate training programs:Views and models from Canada

Consideration of the ethical, social, and policy implications of research has become increasingly important to scientists and scholars whose work focuses on brain and mind, but limited empirical data exist on the education in ethics available to them. We examined the current landscape of ethics training in neuroscience programs, beginning with the Canadian context specifically, to elucidate the perceived needs of mentors and trainees and offer recommendations for resource development to meet those needs. We surveyed neuroscientists at all training levels and interviewed directors of neuroscience programs and training grants. A total of 88% of survey respondents reported general interest in ethics, and 96% indicated a desire for more ethics content as it applies to brain research and clinical translation. Expert interviews revealed formal ethics education in over half of programs and in 90% of grants-based programs. Lack of time, resources, and expertise, however, are major barriers to expanding ethics content in neuroscience education. We conclude with an initial set of recommendations to address these barriers which includes the development of flexible, tailored ethics education tools, increased financial support for ethics training, and strategies for fostering collaboration between ethics experts, neuroscience program directors, and funding agencies. © 2010 the Authors. Journal Compilation © 2010 International Mind, Brain, and Education Society and Blackwell Publishing, Inc.

Chronic workplace stress and insufficient physical activity: a cohort study

Objectives To examine whether exposure to workplace stressors predicts changes in physical activity and the risk of insufficient physical activity.

Methods Prospective data from the Finnish Public Sector Study. Repeated exposure to low job control, high job demands, low effort, low rewards and compositions of these (job strain and effort-reward imbalance) were assessed at Time 1 (2000-2002) and Time 2 (2004). Insufficient physical activity (<14 metabolic equivalent task hours per week) was measured at Time 1 and Time 3 (2008). The effect of change in workplace stressors on change in physical activity was examined using fixed-effects (within-subject) logistic regression models (N=6665). In addition, logistic regression analysis was applied to examine the associations between repeated exposure to workplace stressors and insufficient physical activity (N=13 976). In these analyses, coworker assessed workplace stressor scores were used in addition to individual level scores.

Results The proportion of participants with insufficient physical activity was 24% at baseline and 26% at follow-up. 19% of the participants who were sufficiently active at baseline became insufficiently active at follow-up. In the fixed-effect analysis, an increase in workplace stress was weakly related to an increase in physical inactivity within an individual. In between-subjects analysis, employees with repeated exposure to low job control and low rewards were more likely to be insufficiently active at follow-up than those with no reports of these stressors; fully adjusted ORs ranged from 1.11 (95% CI 1.00 to 1.24) to 1.21 (95% CI 1.05 to 1.39).

Conclusions Workplace stress is associated with a slightly increased risk of physical inactivity.

Workplace social capital and adherence to antihypertensive medication:a cohort study

While hypertension is a common and treatable health problem, adherence to antihypertensive medication remains a challenge. This study examines the hypothesis that workplace social capital may influence adherence to antihypertensive medication among hypertensive employees.

Robust Multimodal Person Identification With Limited Training Data

This paper presents a novel method of audio-visual feature-level fusion for person identification where both the speech and facial modalities may be corrupted, and there is a lack of prior knowledge about the corruption. Furthermore, we assume there are limited amount of training data for each modality (e.g., a short training speech segment and a single training facial image for each person). A new multimodal feature representation and a modified cosine similarity are introduced to combine and compare bimodal features with limited training data, as well as vastly differing data rates and feature sizes. Optimal feature selection and multicondition training are used to reduce the mismatch between training and testing, thereby making the system robust to unknown bimodal corruption. Experiments have been carried out on a bimodal dataset created from the SPIDRE speaker recognition database and AR face recognition database with variable noise corruption of speech and occlusion in the face images. The system's speaker identification performance on the SPIDRE database, and facial identification performance on the AR database, is comparable with the literature. Combining both modalities using the new method of multimodal fusion leads to significantly improved accuracy over the unimodal systems, even when both modalities have been corrupted. The new method also shows improved identification accuracy compared with the bimodal systems based on multicondition model training or missing-feature decoding alone.

Tact training versus bi-directional intraverbal training in teaching a foreign language

The current study involved an evaluation of the emergence of untrained verbal relations as a function of between three different foreign-language teaching strategies. Two Spanish-speaking adults received foreign-language (English) tact-training as well as native-to-foreign and foreign-to-native intraverbal training. The results indicated that tact training and native-to-foreign intraverbal training are more likely to result in the emergence of untrained relations, and may thus be more efficient compared to foreign-to-native intraverbal training.

How Do Trainees Rate the Impact of a Short Cognitive Behavioural Training Programme on their Knowledge and Skills?

Background: A strong evidence base for cognitive behavioural therapy has led to CBT models becoming available within mainstream mental health services. As the concept of stepped care develops, new less intensive mental health interventions such as guided self-help are emerging, delivered by staff not trained to the level of accredited Cognitive Behavioural Therapists. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine how mental health staff evaluated the usefulness of a short training programme in CBT concepts, models and techniques for routine clinical practice.
Method: A cohort of mental health staff (n = 102) completed pre- and posttraining self-report questionnaires measuring trainee perceptions of the impact of a short training programme on knowledge and skills. Mentors and managers were also asked to comment on perceived impact of the training.
Results: Trainees and mentors reported perceived gains in knowledge and skills posttraining and at 1-year follow-up. Managers and trainees reported perceived improvements in skills and practice. Conclusion: A short Cognitive Behavioural skills programme can enable mental health staff to integrate basic CB knowledge and skills into routine clinical practice.