Week 6

Notes on the reading: The article by Malcolm Gladwell was extremely interesting to read, and the way that the food industry handled the creation and attempted implementation of luxury goods was fascinating to read about. My biggest takeaway from the article was that for some people to have hard evidence and data, it’s possible to bull your way into an existing marketplace – but Gladwell writes, “It is possible, of course, that ketchup is waiting for its own version of that Rolls-Royce commercial, or the discovery of the ketchup equivalent of extra-chunky—the magic formula that will satisfy an unmet need. It is also possible, however, that the rules of Howard Moskowitz, which apply to Grey Poupon and Prego spaghetti sauce and to olive oil and salad dressing and virtually everything else in the supermarket, don’t apply to ketchup.” [1]

            The other article was very interesting and made a lot of sense about your evolutionary response to taste, and how those in areas with low food security use taste as a tool to identify nutrients and how edible things are, however, it writes that, “…But for those who have easy access to tasty, energy-dense foods our sensitivities for sugary, salty and fatty foods have also helped cause over nutrition-related diseases, such as obesity and diabetes.” [2]

For this week’s project I will expand more upon my midterm project, and bring up examples I have found online that can help my paper – I have done research into the helpful effects of video games and PTSD treatment, and the links and downsides that they each have. For example, for soldiers on the ground, video game maker DICE has allowed the use of their physics engine “FrostBite” to be used for creation of lifelike and realistic recreation of each individual scenario that custom to however the viewer feels during the traumatic event, as well as incorporate a full body immersion featuring Virtual Reality as well as actual walking.  [3] I have a lot to talk about today, and hopefully it will all make sense!

 

Works Cited:

[1] Gladwell, Malcolm. "The Ketchup Conundrum Mustard Now Comes in Dozens of Varieties. Why Has Ketchup Stayed the Same?" Taste Technologies. The New Yorker, 6 Sept. 2004. Web. 22 June 2016. <https://doted.artcenter.edu/pluginfile.php/111322/mod_resource/content/1/The%20Ketchup%20Conundrum%20-%20The%20New%20Yorker.pdf>.

[2] Breslin, Paul AS. "An Evolutionary Perspective on Food Review and Human Taste." NIH Public Access 1-45 4.12 (n.d.): n. pag. National Institute of Health. Rutgers University, Department of Nutrition, 6 May 2013. Web. 22 June 2016. <https://doted.artcenter.edu/pluginfile.php/111320/mod_resource/content/1/An%20Evolutionary%20Perspective%20on%20Food%20Review%20and%20Human%20Taste.pdf>.

[3] VirtuixOmni. "Virtuix Omni - Battlefield 4." YouTube. YouTube, 08 Jan. 2014. Web. 22 June 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTtfAQEeAJI>.

Week 5

Notes on the reading: The readings these weeks were very dense – still interesting none the less. I hope to take away some useful information, such as the use of biomedical application in cell structure to force stem cell differentiation - whew…

The article is interesting and the only part that I truly understand is the intrinsic programs that affect the cells response – the environmental cues such as physical force, cell-ecm contact, and cell-to-cell contact are all physical factors that can cause the cell’s response. Responses such as cellular self-renewal, cell differentiation, apoptosis (death) and migration / metabolism and biosynthesis [figure 1] [1]

 

Also, the significant increase in usability of PLP in human limb rehabilitation is groundbreaking. The scientific article is optimistic that the use of PLP “…system has considerably increased the quality of life of a single patient, where other previ- ous conventional treatments had proved unsuccessful, we believe that it offers sufficient justification to further explore its efficacy on a wider PLP population.” [2]

For this week’s project I propose the use of VR in hospitals to help patients get a visual and 3-dimensional educational walkthrough VR, and how it works. Imagine the show The Magic School Bus, with Ms. Frizzle, and how it hugely helped articulate tough scientific ideas in a easy to understand format such as a visual journey. 

This type of breakdown would help patients suffering from disease and mental issues to exercise their brains and stimulate educational effects. A study from University of Toronto used Virtual Reality in patients with Alzhiemers, to see if VR could stimulate mental growth. They found that, “…Individuals with schizophrenia had difficulties in way-finding, measured as distance travelled to find targets previously encountered within the virtual city. They were also more likely not to notice the target during passive viewing, less likely to find novel shortcuts to targets, and more likely to become lost and fail completely in finding the target.” [3] Overall, its clearly a hard progression but I think for younger people and students who’s brains might be more receptive to new information might have better results!

Joe.

Works Cited:

 [1] Clause, Kelly C. "Directed Stem Cell Differentiation: The Role of Physical Forces." Cell Commun Adhes. 2010 April ; 17(2): 48–54. Doi:10.3109/15419061.2010.492535. Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 17 Apr. 2010. Web. 14 June 2016.

[2] Sander, Nichlas F. "Treatment of Phantom Limb Pain (PLP) Based on Augmented Reality and Gaming Controlled by Myoelectric Pattern Recognition: A Case Study of a Chronic PLP Patient." Frontiers. Biomedical Engineering Division, Department of Signals and Systems, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden, 25 Feb. 2015. Web. 08 June 2016. <http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2014.00024/full

[3] Lerch, Jason F., and George Foussias. "Simulating Real World Functioning in Schizophrenia Using a Naturalistic City Environment and Single-trial, Goal-directed Navigation." Frontiers. Epartment of Psychology, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada, 26 Nov. 2013. Web. 14 June 2016. <http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00180/full>

Week 3

Notes on the reading: As someone who suffers from chronic calf pain from soccer-sustained injuries, the way that pain decreased significantly overtime with the use of the virtual limbs was very inspiring! I hope to be able to use it at some point, as all my current pain medications are self-prescribed. Also, the us of the video games seemed as a very positive experience, something that can really help. It was quoted as, “…The distribution of pain intensity over time shows that at the beginning of the treatment, the patient had a sustained level of pain (∼30%) during more than half of the time, and periods with higher levels of pain the rest of the time. Over the course of the treatment, a reduction of time at higher pain intensity levels was reported, as well as the appearance of periods of lower or absent pain.” [1]

The project I propose would be a study on the use of sound to recall and restore memories. There have been successful studies where memory recall can be manipulated by sounds from that place and time as the memory.  Doctors in Spain “….found the reactivation of associated memories by sound cues at test biased oculomotor behavior towards locations congruent with memory representations, even when participants failed to consciously provide a memory report of it.” [2]

This would be a very hard study to conduct, but I believe that creating specific sound cues and memory associations while creating memories can increase the possibility of later recalling memories by listening to the cues.

 

Works Cited:

 [1] Sander, Nichlas F. "Treatment of Phantom Limb Pain (PLP) Based on Augmented Reality and Gaming Controlled by Myoelectric Pattern Recognition: A Case Study of a Chronic PLP Patient." Frontiers. Biomedical Engineering Division, Department of Signals and Systems, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden, 25 Feb. 2015. Web. 08 June 2016. <http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2014.00024/full>.

[2] Càmara, Estela. "Accessing Forgotten Memory Traces from Long-term Memory via Visual Movements." Frontiers. Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit, Institute of Biomedical Research of Bellvitge (IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain, May-June 2014. Web. 08 June 2016. <http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00930/full>.