Search Results (4)

Buildings are an integral part of our physical environment and have aesthetic significance with respect to the organizational integrity of architectural elements. While Gestalt principles are essential in design education, their relationship with architectural features remains understudied. The present study explored how Gestalt principles and complexity levels influence evaluations of building façades through the use of questionnaires and eye tracking. Twenty-four two-dimensional black and white façade drawings, manipulated using selected Gestalt principles (similarity and proximity) to achieve different levels of complexity (low, medium & high), were presented to 79 participants. The results suggested a negative linear relationship between aesthetic ratings and complexity levels across selected Gestalt principles. In addition, as expected, participants had the highest number of fixations, shortest fixation durations, and lowest aesthetic ratings for higher levels of complexity. Results involving Gestalt principles revealed that proximity-based designs received higher aesthetic ratings, demanded less time, elicited lower number of fixations, and resulted in shorter fixation durations. Conversely, similarity-based designs received lower aesthetic ratings, demanded more time, elicited higher number of fixations, and resulted in longer fixation durations. These findings offer insights into architectural aesthetic experiences and inform future research directions. Full article

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted many professions with short-, medium-, and long-term consequences. Hence, this study examined the mediating role of sense of coherence (SOC) and resilience in the relation to COVID-19 stress and teachers’ well-being (TWB). It recruited 836 teachers from Ethiopia’s higher-education institutions, of which 630 (75.4%) were men and 206 (24.6%) were women, with a mean age of 32.81 years and a standard deviation of 6.42. Findings showed that COVID-19 stress negatively predicted SOC, resilience, and TWB and that SOC and resilience positively predicted TWB. It was concluded that SOC and resilience, both together and separately, mediated the relation between COVID-19 stress and TWB. These results were discussed alongside relevant literature, and the study is found to be valuable for practitioners and researchers who seek to improve well-being using SOC and resilience as resources across teaching professions. Full article

Objective: To develop and validate a reliable in vitro culture system for human embryos. Design: Retrospective analyses of a series of four studies were conducted between 2006 and 2010 to assess the effect of incubator type (CO₂ box versus Tri-gas minibox), media type, oil type, and hyaluronate supplementation. Optimization of in vitro blastocyst development was verified by assessing our National CDC/ART Surveillance reports between 2010 and 2016. Material and Methods: All patients experienced controlled ovarian hyperstimulation, followed by egg retrieval 35 h post-hCG. Cumulus-oocyte complexes were temporarily cultured in P1 or LG Fert medium plus HSA. Eggs were moved to a more complex media (G-medium or Global^®-LG medium) containing a synthetic protein and embryo adhesion supplement (SPS and EAS, respectively; mLG) post-ICSI insemination. Zygotes were assigned to group culture in 25 µl droplets under oil (light mineral oil or paraffin oil; 37 °C) and embryo development was evaluated on Days 3, 5, and 6 and transferred on Day 3 to 5 depending on the number/quality of embryos available and the IVF history of the patient. Transfers were performed under ultrasound guidance, primarily using a Sureview-Wallace catheter, and enriched ET medium containing 500 µg/mL EAS. Results: Pilot study results (Expt. 1) showed that a mLG single-step medium could be effectively used in combination with Sanyo MCO-5 tri-gas (TG) incubators. Once adapted to SCIRS Lab in 2007 (Expt. 2), the latter culture system yielded improved blastocyst production and pregnancy outcomes compared to CO₂ in air sequential incubation in P1/Multi-blast medium. In Expt. 3, the mLG/TG system yielded high levels of ≥2BB quality blastocysts (51 to 66%) across all age groups, and greater (p < 0.05) pregnancy success/live birth rates using fewer embryos transferred on Day 5 versus Day 3. After validating its clinical effectiveness, mLG was then prospectively compared to a new generation G-media (1.5 & 2.5; Expt. 4) and determined that the crossover treatment using paraffin oil (Ovoil™) allowed the mLG system to be optimized. Subsequently, a compilation of our Annual CDC/ART reported data over six years verified the overall viability of in vitro cultured and vitrified blastocysts produced in the mLG/TG system. Conclusion: By systematically evaluating and implementing various components of an embryo culture system we were able to optimize blastocyst development over the last decade. Our mLG/TG culture system modified an exceptionally well designed KSOM^AA LG medium using endotoxin-free EAS and SPS additives to support cellular membrane wellness under stressful in vitro conditions (e.g., culture, cell biopsy, vitrification). Our use of the mLG/TG culture system has proven to be effective, creating reliably high blastocyst production, implantation, and healthy live births. Full article

Multilingualism has become an integral part of our present lifestyle. India has twenty two registered official languages with English and Hindi being most widely used for all official activities across the nation. As both these languages are introduced later in life, it was hypothesised that comprehensive reading will be better and faster if the native medium was used. Therefore present study aimed to evaluate the differences in performance while using one of the four Indian Dravidian vernaculars (Tamil, Telugu Kannada and Malayalam) and two nonvernacular (English and Hindi) languages for onscreen reading task. A multidimensional approach including physiological (Eye movement recording), subjective (Language Experience And Proficiency Questionnaire, LEAP-Q, Legibility rating) and Objective (Reading time and Word processing rate) measurements were used to quantify the effects. Forty-four Indian infantry soldiers from each of the Dravidian language groups participated in the study. Volunteers read aloud two simple story passages onscreen in their respective vernacular and non-vernacular languages using both time bound and self-paced reading mode. Reading time was lower and word processing rate was higher respectively in case of vernacular than non-vernacular. Consideration of fixation count in both the modes of reading indicated better performance with vernaculars. Legibility score was better in Dravidian languages than others. Results indicated that reading text was faster in vernacular media followed by English and Hindi. Use of vernaculars in onscreen text display of high density workstation may therefore be recommended for easier and faster comprehension. Full article