Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Action Direction of Muscle Synergies in Three-Dimensional Force Space

Redundancy in the musculoskeletal system was supposed to be simplified by muscle synergies, which modularly organize muscles. To clarify the underlying mechanisms of motor control using muscle synergies, it is important to examine the spatiotemporal contribution of muscle synergies in the task space. In this study, we quantified the mechanical contribution of muscle synergies as considering spatiotemporal correlation between the activation of muscle synergies and endpoint force fluctuations. Subjects performed isometric force generation in the three-dimensional force space. The muscle-weighting vectors of muscle synergies and their activation traces across different trials were extracted from electromyogram data using decomposing technique. We then estimated mechanical contribution of muscle synergies across each trial based on cross-correlation analysis. The contributing vectors were averaged for all trials, and the averaging was defined as action direction (AD) of muscle synergies. As a result, we extracted approximately five muscle synergies. The ADs of muscle synergies mainly depended on the anatomical functions of their weighting muscles. Furthermore, the AD of each muscle indicated the synchronous activation of muscles, which composed of the same muscle synergy. These results provide the spatiotemporal characteristics of muscle synergies as neural basis.
Activity Involvement and Spiritual Health in Children with ADHD and Learning Disabilities

ABSTRACT Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities (LDs) represent two of the most prevalent disabilities experienced by adolescents. Despite the benefits of spiritual health in relation to happiness and overall well-being, there has been limited examination of spiritual health among adolescents with disabilities. Sports and other activities can act as protective factors that mediate the relationship between low spiritual health and negative outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of this study was threefold: to explore the differences in spiritual health (a) among adolescents with ADHD, LDs, or without disabilities; (b) by activity type; and (c) after taking into account the interaction between disabilities and activities. Adolescents included in the 2014 (Canadian cycle 7) Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study (n = 17,407, Mage = 14.08 years, SD = 1.46 years) reported their disability status and involvement in organized activities and completed a shortened version of Fisher's Spiritual Well-being scale. Overall spiritual health (analysis of covariance) and its dimensions (multivariate analysis of covariance) were compared by disabilities and activities with gender, age, and family affluence as covariates. Lower levels of engagement in both sports and nonsport activities were associated with diagnoses of ADHD (38.4%) and LDs (50.5%) compared with peers without disabilities (53.8%). Involvement in either sports or nonsport activities was associated with positive spiritual health outcomes (F = 228.7, p < .001), with the highest levels of spiritual health reported by children involved in both types of activities (F = 7.8, p < .001). The protective effect of activity involvement was stronger for children with ADHD or LDs than for children without disabilities. Diversity of activities including both sports and nonsport activities among adolescents with ADHD or LDs mitigates overall spiritual health when compared with peers without disabilities.
Underlying Thalamocortical Slow-Wave Oscillations Interactions Between Membrane Conductances

[PDF] [Full Text] [Abstract] , June 25, 2004; 304 (5679): 1926-1929. Science G. Buzsaki and A. Draguhn Neuronal Oscillations in Cortical Networks [PDF] [Full Text] [Abstract] , November 1, 2004; 11 (6): 686-696. Learn. Mem. S. Ribeiro and M. A.L. Nicolelis Reverberation, storage, and postsynaptic propagation of memories during sleep [PDF] [Full Text] [Abstract] , May 11, 2005; 25 (19): 4844-4855. J. Neurosci. I. Vitko, Y. Chen, J. M. Arias, Y. Shen, X. -R. Wu and E. Perez-Reyes Epilepsy Variants of CACNA1H, a T-Type Calcium Channel Functional Characterization and Neuronal Modeling of the Effects of Childhood Absence [PDF] [Full Text] [Abstract] , June 15, 2005; 565 (3): 765-781. J. Physiol. P. A Rhodes and R. Llinas A model of thalamocortical relay cells
Relationship between Oxytocin Level and Major Depressive Disorder

Background: major depressive disorder is one of the most common medical disorders worldwide, having huge impact on physical and mental health in the society and is considered an extended life-threatening psychiatric disorder. Abnormalities in the neurohypophyseal system, neuroendocrine, and immune systems have been reported in depression. Aim of the Work: this study was carried out to identify the relationship between plasma oxytocin level and the severity of major depressive disorder. Patients and Methods: this case control observational study was started from July 2016 till March 2018. The subjects were selected from inpatient and outpatient clinics of Institute of Psychiatry, Faculty of medicine, Ain Shams University. Twenty two female patients were enrolled and fourteen female healthy subjects were considered as controls. Both groups were subjected to Arabic version of Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I Disorders and sampling of serum Oxytocin. Moreover the female patients were subjected to Hamilton rating scale for depression and state trait anxiety inventory to assess the presence of anxiety symptoms. Results: our study revealed reduced serum oxytocin levels in depressed female patients with cutoff point ≤25.6 denoting that below this level shows probability for major depressive disorder in females. Conclusion: our study revealed reduced serum oxytocin levels in depressed female patients. Consistently with the hypothesis of dysregulated OXT biology may serve as a biomarker for major depression.
Individualized Theory of Mind (iToM): When Memory Modulates Empathy

Functional neuroimaging studies have noted that brain regions supporting theory of mind (ToM) overlap remarkably with those underlying episodic memory, suggesting a link between the two processes. The present study shows that memory for others’ past experiences modulates significantly our appraisal of, and reaction to, what is happening to them currently. Participants read the life story of two characters; one had experienced a long series of love-related failures, the other a long series of work-related failures. In a later faux pas recognition task, participants reported more empathy for the character unlucky in love in love-related faux pas scenarios, and for the character unlucky at work in work-related faux pas scenarios. The memory-based modulation of empathy correlated with the number of details remembered from the characters’ life story. These results suggest that individuals use memory for other people’s past experiences to simulate how they feel in similar situations they are currently facing. The integration of ToM and memory processes allows adjusting mental state inferences to fit unique social targets, constructing an individualized ToM.
How do registered nurses learn about practice? : a qualitative study

Lifelong learning is strongly encouraged within healthcare, through government and professional initiatives. The emphasis of this learning is to positively influence practice thereby enhancing the patient experience and patient care. However, within these initiatives there is little consideration of the impact of this lifelong learning on the individual, nor their ability to engage with it. This study employed a hermeneutic approach which explored the feelings, perceptions and experiences of a group of registered nurses relating to their learning about practice. The study provides insight into how nurses view themselves professionally and academically. Data were collected in three ways. Demographic data was collected to situate the sample group. Written and verbal data were collected through the use of meta-planned focus groups (Davies et al 2001). Linguistic metaphor analysis was carried out on the written and verbal data which was coded, categorized and organised into themes. The study revealed a number of attributes in relation to learning about practice. Whilst many participants were intrinsically motivated to develop new skills and ways of working, they were also extrinsically motivated through the relationships they had with colleagues. It was recognised that a supportive environment and collaborative partnership led to a successful learning experience. However, whilst many of the participants recognised their own need to develop skills of assertiveness, they identified that professional inequalities and the inappropriate use of power within their relationship with colleagues adversely affected their learning. The findings from the study resulted in the development of a model of support for learning in practice. This is based on the individual nature of learning, the social environment of learning and cultural aspects of learning. These three areas encompassed the feelings, perceptions and experiences of registered nurses related to their learning about practice.
Verbal fluency in relation to reading ability in students with and without dyslexia

ABSTRACT Verbal fluency tasks, in which participants generate words during a set time, have been used in research and assessments of neurobiological disorders and impairments. Research on verbal fluency in dyslexia has shown impaired performance in semantic and letter fluency. However, studies report inconsistent results, and action fluency has not been examined in dyslexia. Current research has mainly examined verbal fluency in relation to executive functions, vocabulary, and phonological processing. The present study examined performance on letter, semantic, and action fluency in relation to reading ability in 42 students in higher education, of which 16 had developmental dyslexia and 26 had typical reading development. It was examined if verbal fluency can predict variance in reading ability when group, phonological awareness, and rapid automatized naming are controlled for. Results showed impaired verbal fluency in the developmental dyslexia group. Action fluency and group were significant predictors of reading ability, together explaining 73% of the variance, in a backward elimination regression analysis. The results point to a possible, unique connection between action fluency and reading ability; this connection is discussed based on their neurocognitive underpinnings.
Emotion Regulation in At-Risk Mother-Child Dyads During Middle Childhood: Associations with Concurrent Functioning and Adolescent Outcomes

The two studies that make up the present dissertation were designed to investigate the emotion regulation abilities of school-aged children and their mothers in two different samples of families at-risk for negative psychosocial outcomes. Specifically, it examined the associations between mother and child emotion regulation abilities in middle childhood, and mothers’ childhood histories of aggression, parenting factors, child behaviour, and the longitudinal association of these early behaviours to adolescent health-risk behaviours. Participants in Study 1 were mothers and their 9-12-year-old children (n = 82); participants in Study 2 (n = 59) were mothers and their 5-12-year-old children. Both samples were drawn from the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project (Concordia Project): a prospective, longitudinal, intergenerational study of high-risk children from disadvantaged neighbourhoods that began in 1976-1978. Original participants were screened along dimensions of aggression, social withdrawal, and likeability in childhood, and were followed into parenthood. The Concordia Project provides a unique opportunity to study the intergenerational transfer of health and psychosocial risk during childhood, and to determine the processes and protective factors that predict positive outcomes for children within an ‘‘at-risk’’ population. A unique observational coding system was developed and used in both studies in the present dissertation. Emotion regulation behaviours in children and mothers were observationally coded second-by-second, using the Middle Childhood Emotion Regulation System. Observational codes loaded onto three broad dimensions: avoidance, approach, and self-comfort. Behaviour problems, parental support, parental stress, and adolescent risk behaviour were all measured through the use of reliable and well-validated questionnaire measures. Results revealed that certain child emotion regulation behaviours (e.g., self-comfort, approach) were related to maternal childhood histories of aggression. Moreover, results from both studies found links between child emotion regulation behaviors and parental variables. Finally, emotion regulation behaviours in middle childhood were associated with both concurrent behaviour problems and longitudinal risky behaviours, such as drug use. Together, findings contribute to our understanding of how emotion regulation behaviours in children are intergenerationally, concurrently, and longitudinally associated. Results have implications for the design of preventative interventions for both individuals and families to target the development of adaptive emotion regulation behaviours.
Influence of Ionophore Supplementation on Growth Performance, Dietary Energetics and Carcass Characteristics in Finishing Cattle during Period of Heat Stress

Forty-eight crossbred heifers (378.1±18 kg) were used in a 56-d feeding trial (four pens per treatment in a randomised complete block design) to evaluate the influence of ionophore supplementation on growth performance, dietary energetics and carcass characteristics in finishing cattle during a period of heat stress. Heifers were fed a diet based on steam-flaked corn (2.22 Mcal NEm/kg) with and without an ionophore. Treatments were: i) control, no ionophore; ii) 30 mg/kg monensin sodium (RUM30); iii) 20 mg/kg lasalocid sodium (BOV20), and iv) 30 mg/kg lasalocid sodium (BOV30). Both dry matter intake (DMI) and climatic variables were measured daily and the temperature humidity index (THI) was estimated. The maximum THI during the study averaged 93, while the minimum was 70 (THI average = 79.2±2.3). Compared to controls, monensin supplementation did not influence average daily gain, the estimated NE value of the diet, or observed-to-expected DMI, but tended (p = 0.07) to increase (4.8%) gain to feed. Compared to controls, the group fed BOV30 increased (p≤0.03) daily gain (11.8%), gain to feed (8.3%), net energy of the diet (5%), and observed-to-expected DMI (5.2%). Daily weight gain was greater (7.6%, p = 0.05) for heifers fed BOV30 than for heifers fed MON30. Otherwise, differences between the two treatments in DMI, gain to feed, and dietary NE were not statistically significant (p>0.11). Plotting weekly intakes versus THI, observed intake of controls was greater (p<0.05) at THI values ≤77 than ionophore groups. When THI values were greater than 79, DMI of control and MON30 were not different (p = 0.42), although less than that of groups fed lasalocid (p = 0.04). Variation in energy intake was lower (p>0.05) in the ionophores group (CV = 1.7%) than in the control group (CV = 4.5%). Inclusion of ionophores in the diet resulted in relatively minor changes in carcass characteristics. It is concluded that ionophore supplementation did not exacerbate the decline of DM intake in heat-stressed cattle fed a high-energy finishing diet; on the contrary, it stabilised feed intake and favoured feed efficiency. Ionophore supplementation reduced estimated maintenance coefficients around 10% in finishing cattle during a period of heat stress. This effect was greatest for heifers supplemented with 30 mg lasalocid/kg of diet.
Paroxetine treatment of generalized anxiety disorder: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

OBJECTIVE This study assessed the efficacy of two fixed doses of paroxetine in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder. METHOD Outpatients (N=566) with generalized anxiety disorder and no other axis I disorder were eligible if they scored >/=20 on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (with a score of 2 or higher on the anxious mood and tension items). Following a 1-week placebo run-in phase, patients were randomly assigned to 8 weeks of treatment with paroxetine, 20 or 40 mg/day, or placebo. The primary outcome measure was the change from baseline in total score on the Hamilton anxiety scale. Response was defined as a rating of "very much improved" or "much improved" on the Clinical Global Impression global improvement measure; remission was defined as a Hamilton anxiety scale score </=7. Change in functional impairment was measured with the Sheehan Disability Scale. RESULTS At 8 weeks, reductions in total score on the Hamilton anxiety scale were significantly greater for both paroxetine groups. Response was achieved by 62% and 68% of the patients receiving 20 and 40 mg of paroxetine, respectively, compared with a 46% response rate in the placebo group. Remission was achieved by 30% and 36% of patients in the 20- and 40-mg paroxetine groups, respectively, compared with 20% given placebo. For all three domains of the Sheehan Disability Scale, significantly greater improvement was seen with paroxetine than placebo. Both doses of paroxetine were well tolerated. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that paroxetine is an efficacious and well-tolerated treatment for generalized anxiety disorder.
Morphological studies of the Spitzer Wide-Area Infrared Extragalactic survey galaxy population in the UGC 10214 Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys field

We present the results of a morphological analysis of a small subset of the Spitzer Wide-Area Infrared Extragalactic survey (SWIRE) galaxy population. The analysis is based on public Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) data taken inside the SWIRE N1 field, which are the deepest optical high-resolution imaging available within the SWIRE fields as of today. Our reference sample includes 156 galaxies detected by both ACS and SWIRE. Among the various galaxy morphologies, we disentangle two main classes, spheroids (or bulge-dominated galaxies) and disc-dominated ones, for which we compute the number counts as a function of flux. We then limit our sample to objects with Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) fluxes brighter than 10 μJy, estimated ∼90 per cent completeness limit of the SWIRE catalogues, and compare the observed counts to model predictions. We find that the observed counts of the spheroidal population agree with the expectations of a hierarchical model while a monolithic scenario predicts steeper counts. Both scenarios, however, underpredict the number of late-type galaxies. These observations show that the large majority (close to 80 per cent) of the 3.6- and 4.5-μm galaxy population, even at these moderately faint fluxes, is dominated by spiral and irregular galaxies or mergers.
Human intelligence and brain networks

Intelligence can be defined as a general mental ability for reasoning, problem solving, and learning. Because of its general nature, intelligence integrates cognitive functions such as perception, attention, memory, language, or planning. On the basis of this definition, intelligence can be reliably measured by standardized tests with obtained scores predicting several broad social outcomes such as educational achievement, job performance, health, and longevity. A detailed understanding of the brain mechanisms underlying this general mental ability could provide significant individual and societal benefits. Structural and functional neuroimaging studies have generally supported a frontoparietal network relevant for intelligence. This same network has also been found to underlie cognitive functions related to perception, short-term memory storage, and language. The distributed nature of this network and its involvement in a wide range of cognitive functions fits well with the integrative nature of intelligence. A new key phase of research is beginning to investigate how functional networks relate to structural networks, with emphasis on how distributed brain areas communicate with each other.
Variable readthrough responsiveness of nonsense mutations in hemophilia A

Readthrough therapy relies on the use of small molecules that enable premature termination codons in mRNA open reading frames to be misinterpreted by the translation machinery, thus allowing the generation of full-length, potentially functional proteins from mRNA carrying nonsense mutations. In patients with hemophilia A, nonsense mutations potentially sensitive to readthrough agents represent approximately 16% of the point mutations. The aim of this study was to measure the readthrough effect of different compounds and to analyze the influence of premature termination codon context in selected nonsense mutations causing hemophilia A. To this end, primary fibroblasts from three patients with hemophilia A caused by nonsense mutations (p.W1586X, p.Q1636X and p.R1960X) and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells transfected with 12 different plasmids encoding mutated F8 (p.Q462X, p.Q1705X, p.Q1764X, p.W274X, p.W1726X, p.W2015X, p.W2131X, p.R1715X, p.R1822X, p.R1960X, p.R2071X and p.R2228X) were treated with gentamicin, geneticin, PTC124, RTC13 or RTC14. Responses were assessed by analyzing not only F8 mRNA expression and FVIII biosynthesis (FVIII antigen by ELISA, western blot and immunofluorescence) but also the FVIII activity (by chromogenic assay). In the patients’ fibroblasts, readthrough agents neither stabilized F8 mRNA nor increased FVIII protein or activity to detectable levels. In CHO cells, only in five of the 12 F8 variants, readthrough treatment increased both FVIII antigen and activity levels, which was associated with a reduction in intracellular accumulation of truncated forms and an increase in full-length proteins. These results provide experimental evidence of genetic context dependence of nonsense suppression by readthrough agents and of factors predicting responsiveness.
The Functional Anatomy of Sound Intensity Discrimination

The human neuroanatomical substrate of sound intensity discrimination was investigated by combining psychoacoustics and functional neuroimaging. Seven normal subjects were trained to detect deviant sounds presented with a slightly higher intensity than a standard harmonic sound, using a Go/No Go paradigm. Individual psychometric curves were carefully assessed using a three-step psychoacoustic procedure. Subjects were scanned while passively listening to the standard sound and while discriminating changes in sound intensity at four different performance levels (d′ = 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, and 4.5). Analysis of regional cerebral blood flow data outlined activation, during the discrimination conditions, of a right hemispheric frontoparietal network already reported in other studies of selective or sustained attention to sensory input, and in which activity appeared inversely proportional to intensity discriminability. Conversely, a right posterior temporal region included in secondary auditory cortex was activated during discrimination of sound intensity independently of performance level. These findings suggest that discrimination of sound intensity involves two different cortical networks: a supramodal right frontoparietal network responsible for allocation of sensory attentional resources, and a region of secondary auditory cortex specifically involved in sensory computation of sound intensity differences.