Identification of Information-Seeking Behaviors from Air Traffic Controllers′ Eye Movements

Air traffic controllers are the important parts of air traffic management system who are responsible for the safety and efficiency of the system.They make traffic management decisions based on information acquired from various sources.The understanding of their information seeking behaviors is still limited.We aim to identify controllers′ behavior through the examination of the correlations between controllers′eye movements and air traffic.Sixteen air traffic controllers were invited to participate real-time simulation experiments,during which the data of their eye ball movements and air traffic were recorded.Tweny-three air traffic complexity metrics and six eye movements metrics were calculated to examine their relationships.Two correlational methods,Pearson′s correlation and Spearman′s correlation,were tested between every eye-traffic pair of metrics.The results indicate that controllers′two kinds of information-seeking behaviors can be identified from their eye movements:Targets tracking,and confliction recognition.The study on controllers′ eye movements may contribute to the understanding of information-seeking mechanisms leading to the development of more intelligent automations in the future.

Sex differences in eye movements and neural oscillations during mental rotation in virtual reality

Virtual reality(VR)has been a promising tool for developing visuospatial tasks.Among visuospatial tasks,mental rotation tasks are widely used in the assessment of visuospatial ability.Males have a distinct advantage in mental rotation ability compared to females,yet it is generally produced by investigations based on two-dimensional(2D)images on a computer screen.Sex differences in mental rotation tasks with three-dimensional(3D)objects in VR were not fully investigated.It is unclear whether the male's advantages in 2D mental rotation tasks are weakened in 3D tasks.The aim of this study was to provide new insights into the understanding of sex differences in mental rotation tasks presented in VR.Here,we developed a VR mental rotation task(VR-MRT)using 3D objects presented by a head-mounted display(HMD)and used VR-based eye tracking and electroencephalography(EEG)to examine eye movements and neural oscillations for males and females.Our results showed that females preferred a piecemeal strategy compared to males,suggesting a significant sex difference in visual strategy.More importantly,we found no significant sex differences in alpha-band and beta-band oscillations related to rotation processes of VR-MRT.These findings indicated that sex differences in the VR-MRT were mainly attributed to the selection of visual strategy rather than the rotation processes.The study helps to comprehensively understand the dominant factors contributing to the sex differences in the VR-MRT.

Adaptive navigation assistance based on eye movement features in virtual reality

Background Navigation assistance is essential for users when roaming virtual reality scenes;however,the traditional navigation method requires users to manually request a map for viewing,which leads to low immersion and poor user experience.Methods To address this issue,we first collected data on who required navigation assistance in a virtual reality environment,including various eye movement features,such as gaze fixation,pupil size,and gaze angle.Subsequently,we used the boosting-based XGBoost algorithm to train a prediction model and finally used it to predict whether users require navigation assistance in a roaming task.Results After evaluating the performance of the model,the accuracy,precision,recall,and F1-score of our model reached approximately 95%.In addition,by applying the model to a virtual reality scene,an adaptive navigation assistance system based on the real-time eye movement data of the user was implemented.Conclusions Compared with traditional navigation assistance methods,our new adaptive navigation assistance method could enable the user to be more immersive and effective while roaming in a virtual reality(VR)environment.

Application of Eye Movement Analysis in Landscape Visual Quality Evaluation

The existing methods of landscape visual quality evaluation is mostly based on people's subjective feelings,and the objectivity and scientificity of evaluation results are insufficient.As an important means of experimental psychology,eye movement technology can show great advantages and potential in landscape visual quality evaluation.On the basis of combing and summarizing the relevant literature,based on the explanation of the technical principle of eye movement analysis,the application field,research content,technical methods and other aspects of eye movement analysis were reviewed.The application prospect of eye movement technology in landscape visual quality evaluation was explored to provide theoretical reference for the in-depth evaluation and research of landscape visual quality evaluation theory.

Eye Movement Modeling Examples as a Teaching Tool for Epidural Block

Introduction: Video examples with task demonstrations by experts, with the expert’s eye movements superimposed on the task, are known as “eye movement modeling examples” (EMME). We performed this study to evaluate if there were improvements in the performance of anesthesia novice trainees when executing the epidural technique after an EMME of epidural block procedure. Methods: We developed an eye movement modeling example (EMME) from eye tracking recordings made by experienced anesthesiologists with more than 20 years of experience. Forty-two PGY3 anesthesia trainees who had never previously performed an epidural block were randomized to receive (study group) or not receive (control group) the EMME video before their institutional training. All the trainees were evaluated every 10 epidural blocks until the end of the rotation period, by an independent, blinded observer using the Global Rating Scale for Epidural Anesthesia (GRS). Results: Trainees who received the EMME training exhibited more respect for the patient’s tissues (P Discussion: This is the first study that has used the EMME for a practical, clinical teaching purpose on real patients and that has used it as an aid in teaching epidural anesthesia. We demonstrated that inexperienced trainees who received the EMME training improved their proficiency at epidural blocks as compared to those who had no EMME training beforehand. Given this result, we welcome further studies to investigate the impact and the role of EMME on clinical teaching in the field of anesthesia.

Effect of Working Experience on Air Traffic Controller Eye Movement

Eye movement is an important indicator of information-seeking behavior and provides insight into cognitive strategies which are vital for decision-making.Various measures based on eye movements have been proposed to capture humans’ability to process information in a complex environment.The effectiveness of these measures has not yet been fully explored in the field of air traffic management.This paper presents a comparative study on eye-movement measures in air traffic controllers with different levels of working experience.Two commonly investigated oculomotor behaviors,fixation and saccades,together with gaze entropy,are examined.By comparing the statistical properties of the relevant metrics,it is shown that working experience has a notable effect on eye-movement patterns.Both fixation and saccades differ between qualified and novice controllers,with the former type of controller employing more efficient searching strategies.These findings are useful in enhancing the quality of controller training and contributing to an understanding of the information-seeking mechanisms humans use when executing complex tasks.

EasyGaze:Hybrid eye tracking approach for handheld mobile devices

Background Eye-tracking technology for mobile devices has made significant progress.However,owing to limited computing capacity and the complexity of context,the conventional image feature-based technology cannot extract features accurately,thus affecting the performance.Methods This study proposes a novel approach by combining appearance-and feature-based eye-tracking methods.Face and eye region detections were conducted to obtain features that were used as inputs to the appearance model to detect the feature points.The feature points were used to generate feature vectors,such as corner center-pupil center,by which the gaze fixation coordinates were calculated.Results To obtain feature vectors with the best performance,we compared different vectors under different image resolution and illumination conditions,and the results indicated that the average gaze fixation accuracy was achieved at a visual angle of 1.93°when the image resolution was 96×48 pixels,with light sources illuminating from the front of the eye.Conclusions Compared with the current methods,our method improved the accuracy of gaze fixation and it was more usable.

How non-rapid eye movement sleep and Alzheimer pathology are linked

Alzheimer's disease(AD)is a multifactorial neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the presence of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles.Research attempts to identify characteristic factors that are associated with the presence of the AD pathology on the one hand and that increase the risk of developing AD on the other.Changes in non-rapid eye movement(NREM)sleep may meet both requirements for various reasons.First,NREM-sleep is important for optimal memory function.In addition,studies report that the presence of AD pathology is associated with NREM-sleep changes.Finally,more and more results appear to suggest that sleep problems are not only a symptom of AD but can also increase the risk of AD.Several of these studies suggest that it is primarily a lack of NREM-sleep that is responsible for this increased risk.However,the majority investigated sleep only through subjective reporting,as a result of which NREMsleep could not be analyzed separately.The aim of this literature study is therefore to present the results of the studies that relate the AD pathology and NREM-sleep(registered by electroencephalography).Furthermore,we try to evaluate whether NREM-sleep analysis could be used to support the diagnosis of AD and whether NREM-sleep deficiency could be a causal factor in the development of AD.

Predictive Model of Live Shopping Interest Degree Based on Eye Movement Characteristics and Deep Factorization Machine

In the live broadcast process,eye movement characteristics can reflect people’s attention to the product.However,the existing interest degree predictive model research does not consider the eye movement characteristics.In order to obtain the users’interest in the product more effectively,we will consider the key eye movement indicators.We first collect eye movement characteristics based on the self-developed data processing algorithm fast discriminative model prediction for tracking(FDIMP),and then we add data dimensions to the original data set through information filling.In addition,we apply the deep factorization machine(DeepFM)architecture to simultaneously learn the combination of low-level and high-level features.In order to effectively learn important features and emphasize relatively important features,the multi-head attention mechanism is applied in the interest model.The experimental results on the public data set Criteo show that,compared with the original DeepFM algorithm,the area under curve(AUC)value was improved by up to 9.32%.

Chemogenetic activation of sublaterodorsal tegmental glutamatergic neurons alleviates rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder symptoms in a chronic rat model of Parkinson disease

Rapid eye movement(REM)sleep behavior disorder(RBD)is a parasomnia that is featured by elevated motor behaviors and dream enactments during REM sleep.Clinical observations show that RBD bears significant relevance with several synucleinopathies such as Lewy body dementia and Parkinson disease(PD),and often develops prior to their diagnosis.Being a potential biomarker of PD,investigating the relationship of RBD symptoms and their emergence in developing PD would provide insight intoits pathogenesis.Here,in a chronic model of PD,rats with daily rotenone treatment exhibited key RBD features,including elevated sleep muscle tone,sleep fragmentation and EEG slowing at different time points.Based on detectedearly alpha synuclein aggregation and neural apoptosis in the sublaterodorsal tegmental nucleus(SLD),an area known to promote REM sleep and maintain sleep muscle atonia,the possible involvement of SLD glutamatergic neurons was interrogated.Via chemogenetic activation of SLD glutamatergic neurons,key RBD symptoms and EEG slowing in REM sleep were alleviated.These results are consistent with a progressive degeneration in REM sleep promoting pathways.Our findings provide a foundation for further studies into RBD and its relationship to neurodegenerative diseases.

Role of vascular endothelial growth factor as a critical neurotrophic factor for the survival and physiology of motoneurons

Vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)was discovered by its angiogenic activity.However,during evolution,it appeared earlier as a neurotrophic factor required for the development of the nervous system in invertebrates lacking a circulatory system.We aimed at reviewing recent evidence indicating that VEGF has neuroprotective effects in neurons exposed to a variety of insults.Of particular interest is the link established between VEGF and motoneurons,especially after the design of the VEGFδ/δmutant mice.These mice are characterized by low levels of VEGF and develop muscle weakness and motoneuron degeneration resembling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.The administration of VEGF through several routes to animal models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis delays motor impairment and motoneuron degeneration and increases life expectancy.There are new recent advances in the role of VEGF in the physiology of motoneurons.Our experimental aims use the extraocular(abducens)motoneurons lesioned by axotomy as a model for studying VEGF actions.Axotomized abducens motoneurons exhibit severe alterations in their discharge activity and a loss of synaptic boutons.The exogenous administration of VEGF to axotomized abducens motoneurons,either from the transected nerve or intraventricularly,fully restores the synaptic and discharge properties of abducens motoneurons,despite being axotomized.In addition,when an anti-VEGF neutralizing antibody is delivered from the muscle to intact,uninjured abducens motoneurons,these cells display alterations in their discharge pattern and a loss of synaptic boutons that resemble the state of axotomy.All these data indicate that VEGF is an essential neurotrophic factor for motoneurons.

AB048.Pre-saccadic attentional facilitation is influenced by irrelevant post-saccadic changes

Background:Many studies have shown that attention is shifted toward the goal of the upcoming saccade.It has been suggested that the purpose of this attentional shift is to aid in trans-saccadic integration by acting as a‘pointer’(Cavanagh,Hunt,Afraz&Rolfs,2010)for remembering,processing and updating objects across saccadic eye movements(Rolfs,Jonikaitis,Deubel&Cavanagh,2011).We tested this hypothesis that pre-saccadic attentional facilitation acts as a pointer for trans-saccadic integration by investigating how irrelevant post-saccadic changes influenced pre-saccadic attentional discrimination.On one hand,if pre-saccadic attentional facilitation is an independent process involved only in enhancing peripheral information before the saccade,then manipulating visual information(absence or shift)after the saccade should have no influence on discrimination.On the other hand,if pre-saccadic attentional facilitation is involved in trans-saccadic integration,changes in visual information should influence discrimination of the pre-saccadic information.Methods:We tested different conditions involving different post-saccadic changes.In the baseline condition,participants made a saccade at the appearance of an arrow and discriminated a symbol(DS)that was presented briefly before the saccade at one of six peripheral locations.The symbol was masked thereafter with a figure 8,which remained till the end of the trial.Importantly,the DS was always presented while participants were fixating at center,and only the figure 8 was present at the end of the saccade.Participants were instructed to make the saccade then report the identity of the DS(4AFC).We then tested how blanking post-saccadic information[blanking of the saccade goal(SG)location,DSOff condition;of the entire visual scene including or excluding the SG location,AllOff and DSOnly conditions]and how displacement of the figure 8s after the saccade would affect performance.Results:We observed that discrimination performance was significantly lower when the SG location disappeared during the saccade and was no longer present when the saccade was completed(DSOff,-6.9%).This decrease in performance cannot be attributed to changes in the visual scene that may have drawn attention,as this was the case for all conditions;performance was not different when the entire visual scene was blanked(AllOff,-0.0%)or when only the DS remained(DSOnly,-1.6%).We also found that the performance decreased as a function of the displacement of the figure 8 from the SG location,particularly if it was displaced outside of the saccade landing zone.Conclusions:Based on these pattern of results,we suggest that pre-saccadic attentional facilitation is indeed involved in trans-saccadic integration by acting as a location marker or pointer.The lack of a visual target at the saccade goal,even if it is irrelevant to the pre-saccadic discrimination task,disrupted performance.

Nonverbal Behavior as an Educational Symbolic Mediator in Class

Effective language strategies play an essential role in traditional teaching.However,the benefits of nonverbal behavior teaching strategy in the classroom have been underestimated.Facial expressions,gestures,and eye contact are all instantaneous nonverbal behaviors that play a significant part in exchanging information in classroom.This study aims to examine how different nonverbal teaching strategies affect teaching and learning and discover what it is used for and how important they are in education.Finally,some suggestions for improving teachers’use of nonverbal behaviors from a teacher professional development perspective are presented.

Sleep disorders in Alzheimer’s disease:the predictive roles and potential mechanisms

Sleep disorders are common in patients with Alzheimer’s disease,and can even occur in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment,which appears before Alzheimer’s disease.Sleep disorders further impair cognitive function and accelerate the accumulation of amyloid-βand tau in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.At present,sleep disorders are considered as a risk factor for,and may be a predictor of,Alzheimer’s disease development.Given that sleep disorders are encountered in other types of dementia and psychiatric conditions,sleep-related biomarkers to predict Alzheimer’s disease need to have high specificity and sensitivity.Here,we summarize the major Alzheimer’s disease-specific sleep changes,including abnormal non-rapid eye movement sleep,sleep fragmentation,and sleep-disordered breathing,and describe their ability to predict the onset of Alzheimer’s disease at its earliest stages.Understanding the mechanisms underlying these sleep changes is also crucial if we are to clarify the role of sleep in Alzheimer’s disease.This paper therefore explores some potential mechanisms that may contribute to sleep disorders,including dysregulation of the orexinergic,glutamatergic,andγ-aminobutyric acid systems and the circadian rhythm,together with amyloid-βaccumulation.This review could provide a theoretical basis for the development of drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease based on sleep disorders in future work.

Development of a depression in Parkinson's disease prediction model using machine learning

BACKGROUND It is important to diagnose depression in Parkinson’s disease(DPD)as soon as possible and identify the predictors of depression to improve quality of life in Parkinson’s disease(PD)patients.AIM To develop a model for predicting DPD based on the support vector machine,while considering sociodemographic factors,health habits,Parkinson's symptoms,sleep behavior disorders,and neuropsychiatric indicators as predictors and provide baseline data for identifying DPD.METHODS This study analyzed 223 of 335 patients who were 60 years or older with PD.Depression was measured using the 30 items of the Geriatric Depression Scale,and the explanatory variables included PD-related motor signs,rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorders,and neuropsychological tests.The support vector machine was used to develop a DPD prediction model.RESULTS When the effects of PD motor symptoms were compared using“functional weight”,late motor complications(occurrence of levodopa-induced dyskinesia)were the most influential risk factors for Parkinson's symptoms.CONCLUSION It is necessary to develop customized screening tests that can detect DPD in the early stage and continuously monitor high-risk groups based on the factors related to DPD derived from this predictive model in order to maintain the emotional health of PD patients.

MF-CFI:A fused evaluation index for camouflage patterns based on human visual perception

The evaluation index of camouflage patterns is important in the field of military application.It is the goal that researchers have always pursued to make the computable evaluation indicators more in line with the human visual mechanism.In order to make the evaluation method more computationally intelligent,a Multi-Feature Camouflage Fused Index(MF-CFI)is proposed based on the comparison of grayscale,color and texture features between the target and the background.In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed index,eye movement experiments are conducted to compare the proposed index with existing indexes including Universal Image Quality Index(UIQI),Camouflage Similarity Index(CSI)and Structural Similarity(SSIM).Twenty-four different simulated targets are designed in a grassland background,28 observers participate in the experiment and record the eye movement data during the observation process.The results show that the highest Pearson correlation coefficient is observed between MF-CFI and the eye movement data,both in the designed digital camouflage patterns and largespot camouflage patterns.Since MF-CFI is more in line with the detection law of camouflage targets in human visual perception,the proposed index can be used for the comparison and parameter optimization of camouflage design algorithms.

Interactive method research of dual mode information coordination integration for astronaut gesture and eye movement signals based on hybrid model

The lightweight human-robot interaction model with high real-time,high accuracy,and strong anti-interference capability can be better applied to future lunar surface exploration and construction work.Based on the feature information inputted from the monocular camera,the signal acquisition and processing fusion of the astronaut gesture and eye-movement modal interaction can be performed.Compared with the single mode,the human-robot interaction model of bimodal collaboration can achieve the issuance of complex interactive commands more efficiently.The optimization of the target detection model is executed by inserting attention into YOLOv4 and filtering image motion blur.The central coordinates of pupils are identified by the neural network to realize the human-robot interaction in the eye movement mode.The fusion between the astronaut gesture signal and eye movement signal is performed at the end of the collaborative model to achieve complex command interactions based on a lightweight model.The dataset used in the network training is enhanced and extended to simulate the realistic lunar space interaction environment.The human-robot interaction effects of complex commands in the single mode are compared with those of complex commands in the bimodal collaboration.The experimental results show that the concatenated interaction model of the astronaut gesture and eye movement signals can excavate the bimodal interaction signal better,discriminate the complex interaction commands more quickly,and has stronger signal anti-interference capability based on its stronger feature information mining ability.Compared with the command interaction realized by using the single gesture modal signal and the single eye movement modal signal,the interaction model of bimodal collaboration is shorter about 79%to 91%of the time under the single mode interaction.Regardless of the influence of any image interference item,the overall judgment accuracy of the proposed model can be maintained at about 83%to 97%.The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified.

Sleep Disturbance in Parkinson’s Disease Varies with Age of Onset and Family History

Introduction: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease more common in those over the age of 60. PD is classically characterized by motor features, although patients may also experience non-motor symptoms. Sleep disturbances, such as rapid eye movement (REM) behavior disorder (RBD), are common in patients with PD and may precede onset of PD. Methods: Data was collected on patients with PD (358 subjects)in a movement disorders clinic at a safety net hospital. In this retrospective database analysis, the association of PD complications with age of onset was evaluated using chi-square tests and logistic regression. Results: Of the PD complications analyzed, there was a significant difference in sleep disturbances by age. Among the 358 PD patients, 120 individuals (33.5%) had information regarding the presence or absence of sleep disturbances. There was a significant difference between the early (onset < 50) and later onset (≥50) groups (p = 0.03) with the odds of having a sleep disorder for the early group 1.6 times that of the late group. Those subjects with siblings who also had PD had 2.0 times the odds of having a sleep disorder compared those without (p = 0.02). Conclusion: Non-motor symptoms such as sleep disorders are a useful predictor of early onset PD. Genetic components of PD impact both motor and non-motor aspects of the disease.

Simulate Human Saccadic Scan-Paths in Target Searching

Human saccade is a dynamic process of information pursuit. There are many methods using either global context or local context cues to model human saccadic scan-paths. In contrast to them, this paper introduces a model for gaze movement control using both global and local cues. To test the performance of this model, an experiment is done to collect human eye movement data by using an SMI iVIEW X Hi-Speed eye tracker with a sampling rate of 1250 Hz. The experiment used a two-by-four mixed design with the location of the targets and the four initial positions. We compare the saccadic scan-paths generated by the proposed model against human eye movement data on a face benchmark dataset. Experimental results demonstrate that the simulated scan-paths by the proposed model are similar to human saccades in term of the fixation order, Hausdorff distance, and prediction accuracy for both static fixation locations and dynamic scan-paths.

Embedding 3-D Gaze Points on a 3-D Visual Field:A Case of Transparency

2022 The paper seeks to demonstrates the likelihood of embedding a 3D gaze point on a 3D visual field,the visual field is inform of a game console where the user has to play from one level to the other by overcoming obstacles that will lead them to the next level.Complex game interface is sometimes difficult for the player to progress to next level of the game and the developers also find it difficult to regulate the game for an average player.The model serves as an analytical tool for game adaptations and also players can track their response to the game.Custom eye tracking and 3D object tracking algorithms were developed to enhance the analysis of the procedure.This is a part of the contributions to user interface design in the aspect of visual transparency.The development and testing of human computer interaction uses and application is more easily investigated than ever,part of the contribution to this is the embedding of 3-D gaze point on a 3-D visual field.This could be used in a number of applications,for instance in medical applications that includes long and short sightedness diagnosis and treatment.Experiments and Test were conducted on five different episodes of user attributes,result show that fixation points and pupil changes are the two most likely user attributes that contributes most significantly in the performance of the custom eye tracking algorithm the study.As the advancement in development of eye movement algorithm continues user attributes that showed the least likely appearance will prove to be redundant.