bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Experienced Meditators Show Multifaceted Attention-Related Differences in Neural Activity
Authors: Bailey Neil W , Baell Oliver , Payne Jake Elijah , Humble Gregory , Geddes Harry , Cahill Isabella , Hill Aron T , Chung Sung Wook , Emonson Melanie , Murphy Oscar W , Fitzgerald Paul B 
Published: February 2023

AbstractObjectivesMindfulness meditation (MM) is suggested to improve attention. Research has explored this using the ‘attentional-blink’ (AB) task, where stimuli are rapidly presented, and a second target stimulus (T2) is often missed if presented ∼300ms after an initial target stimulus (T1). This research showed improved task-accuracy and altered neural activity after an intensive 3-month MM retreat. We tested whether these results replicated in a community sample of typical meditators.MethodsThirty-one mindfulness meditators and 30 non-meditators completed an AB task while electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded. Between-group comparisons were made for task-accuracy, event-related potential activity (posterior-N2 and P3b), theta and alpha oscillatory phase synchronisation to stimuli presentation, and alpha-power. Primary aims examined effects within time windows reported by previous research. Additional exploratory aims assessed effects across broader time windows.ResultsNo differences were detected in task-accuracy or neural activity within our primary hypotheses. However, exploratory analyses showed posterior-N2 and theta phase synchronisation effects indicating meditators prioritised attending to T2 stimuli (p < 0.01). Meditators also showed more alpha-phase synchronisation, and lower alpha-power when processing T2 stimuli (p < 0.025).ConclusionsOur results showed multiple differences in neural activity that suggested enhanced attention in meditators. The neural activity patterns in meditators aligned with theoretical perspectives on activity associated with enhanced cognitive performance. These include enhanced alpha ‘gating’ mechanisms, increased oscillatory synchronisation to stimuli, and more equal allocation of neural activity across stimuli. However, meditators did not show higher task-accuracy, nor did effects align with our primary hypotheses or previous research.PreregistrationThis study was not preregistered.
Investigating Cerebral Autoregulation in Traumatic Brain Injury via Simultaneous Measurements of Intracranial Pressure, Arterial Blood Pressure and relative Cerebral Blood Flow
Authors: Uff Christopher 
Published: February 2023

AbstractTraumatic Brain Injury (TBI) can alter the brain’s ability to maintain an adequate supply of oxygen and metabolites to brain tissue by disrupting the autoregulatory mechanisms that maintain constant cerebral blood flow. Impaired cerebral autoregulation can result in brain hypoxia leading to morbidity and mortality so maintenance of cerebral blood flow after injury is of paramount importance. Currently, this is managed using limited information and various assumptions, hence there is significant interest in developing better correlates for establishing whether cerebral autoregulation is impaired or intact. In this study we simultaneously measure cerebral blood flow (CBF) using a non-invasive optical approach, intracranial pressure (ICP, measured invasively) and arterial blood pressure (ABP) with the aim of investigating the relationships between these signals over multiple timescales, and ultimately assessing how these measurements may best be combined and interpreted to aid the treatment of TBI.
Impact of brain parcellation on prediction performance in models of cognition and demographics
Authors: Litwińczuk Marta Czime , Muhlert Nils , Trujillo-Barreto Nelson , Woollams Anna 
Published: February 2023

ABSTRACTBrain connectivity analysis begins with the selection of a parcellation scheme that will define brain regions as nodes of a network whose connections will be studied. Brain connectivity has already been used in predictive modelling of cognition, but it remains unclear if the resolution of the parcellation used can systematically impact the predictive model performance. In this work, structural, functional and combined connectivity were each defined with 5 different parcellation schemes. The resolution and modality of the parcellation schemes were varied. Each connectivity defined with each parcellation was used to predict individual differences in age, education, sex, Executive Function, Self-regulation, Language, Encoding and Sequence Processing. It was found that low-resolution functional parcellation consistently performed above chance at producing generalisable models of both demographics and cognition. However, no single parcellation scheme proved superior at predictive modelling across all cognitive domains and demographics. In addition, although parcellation schemes impacted the global organisation of each connectivity type, this difference could not account for the out-of-sample prediction performance of the models. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that while high-resolution parcellations may be beneficial for modelling specific individual differences, partial voluming of signals produced by higher resolution of parcellation likely disrupts model generalisability.
Immature neurons in the primate amygdala: changes with early development and disrupted early environment
Authors: McHale-Matthews Alexandra C , DeCampo Danielle M , Love Tanzy , Cameron Judy L , Fudge Julie L 
Published: February 2023

AbstractIn human and nonhuman primates, the amygdala paralaminar nucleus (PL) contains immature neurons. To explore the PL’s potential for cellular growth during development, we compared PL cells in 1) infant and adolescent macaques (control, maternally-reared), and in 2) infant macaques that experienced separation from their mother in the first month of life. In maternally-reared animals, the adolescent PL had fewer immature neurons, more mature neurons, and larger immature soma volumes compared to infant PL. There were also fewer total neurons (immature plus mature) in adolescent versus infant PL, suggesting that some neurons move out of the PL by adolescence. Maternal separation did not change mean immature or mature neuron counts in infant PL. However, across all infant animals, immature neuron soma volume was strongly correlated with mature neuron counts.tbr-1mRNA, a transcript required for glutamatergic neuron maturation, is significantly reduced in the maternally-separated infant PL (DeCampo et al, 2017), and was also positively correlated with mature neuron counts in infant PL. We conclude that immature neurons gradually mature by adolescence, and that the stress of maternal separation may shift this trajectory, as revealed by correlations between tbr1mRNA and mature neuron numbers across animals.
Highly efficient induction of functionally mature excitatory neurons from feeder-free human ES/iPS cells
Authors: Zhou Zhi , Kakegawa Wataru , Fujimori Koki , Sho Misato , Shimamura Rieko , Supakul Sopak , Yoshimatsu Sho , Kohyama Jun , Yuzaki Michisuke , Okano Hideyuki 
Published: February 2023

AbstractCortical excitatory neurons (Cx neurons) are the most dominant neuronal cell type in the cerebral cortex, which play a central role in cognition, perception, intellectual behavior and emotional processing. Robustin vitroinduction of Cx neurons may facilitate as a tool for the elucidation of brain development and pathomechanism of the intractable neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, and thus potentially contribute to drug development. Here, we report a defined method for efficient induction of Cx neurons from the feeder-free-conditioned human embryonic stem cells (ES cells) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). By using this method, human ES/iPS cells could be differentiated into ~99% MAP2-positive neurons by three weeks, and these induced neurons, within five weeks, presented various characteristics of mature excitatory neurons such as strong expression of glutamatergic neuron-specific markers (subunits of AMPA and NDMA receptors and CAMKIIα), highly synchronized spontaneous firing and excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC). Moreover, the Cx neurons showed susceptibility to the toxicity of Aβ42oligomers and excitotoxicity of excessive glutamates, which is another advantage in terms of toxicity test and searching for the therapeutic agents. Taken together, this study provides a novel research platform for the study of neural development and degeneration based on the feeder-free human ES/iPS cell system.
Mutant fixation in the presence of a natural enemy
Authors: Wodarz Dominik , Komarova Natalia L. 
Published: February 2023

AbstractIn the extensive literature about mutant invasion and fixation, populations are typically assumed to exist in isolation from their ecosystem. Yet, populations are part of ecological communities, and enemy-victim (e.g. predator-prey or pathogen-host) dynamics are particularly common. We use computational models to re-visit the established theory about mutant fixation in the presence of a natural enemy, which equally attacks both wild-type and mutant populations. We consider advantageous and disadvantageous mutants, whose fitness is unrelated to the infection. Using spatially structured agent-based as well as patch models of a population that is subject to infection, we investigate the fixation probability of a mutant that is introduced into the population at quasi-equilibrium. We find that infection significantly weakens selection. Thus, the presence of infection increases the fixation probability of disadvantageous mutants and decreases the fixation probability of advantageous mutants, with the magnitude of the effect rising with the infection rate. We show that this occurs because infection induces spatial structures, in which mutant and wild-type individuals are mostly spatially separated. Thus, instead of mutant and wild-type individuals competing with each other, it is mutant and wild-type “patches” that compete, resulting in smaller fitness differences and hence weakened selection. Because natural enemies such as infections are ubiquitous, this has broad applicability to natural systems. Our results imply that the burden of deleterious mutants in natural populations might be significantly higher than expected from mutant invasion theory developed in the absence of natural enemies.
Confidential Screening for and Management of Intimate Partner Violence Risk using a Commercial Electronic Health Records System
Authors: Lenert Leslie A , Diaz Vanessa , Simpson Kit , Hahn Christine , Aiken Michael , Swazt Elizabeth , Sox Luke , Pekar Ekaterina , Ennis Naomi , Rheingold Alyssa 
Published: February 2023

AbstractIntimate partner violence is, unfortunately, a common problem (25% of women) for which screening in primary care is a recommended service. In this paper, we describe modifications to a commercial EHR system (Epic) designed to support confidential screening for and management of IPV in primary care settings. Modifications include the use of an exam room computer as a kiosk for patient-generated health data entry, storage of data in a hidden location, the use of rule-based alerting methods to direct providers to access data, and electronic form-based tools for case management and documentation. While preserving privacy, this approach also allows access by provider type and authorized setting, including use for population health management. The approach was tested in a pilot study and found to be feasible, to have good compliance for provider screening (65%) and is being evaluated in a stepped-wedge trial in other primary care clinics across a large academic health system.
Precise Spatial Tuning of Visually Driven Alpha Oscillations in Human Visual Cortex
Authors: Yuasa Kenichi , Groen Iris I.A. , Piantoni Giovanni , Montenegro Stephanie , Flinker Adeen , Devore Sasha , Devinsky Orrin , Doyle Werner , Dugan Patricia , Friedman Daniel , Ramsey Nick , Petridou Natalia , Winawer Jonathan 
Published: February 2023

ABSTRACTNeuronal oscillations at about 10 Hz, called alpha oscillations, are often thought to arise from synchronous activity across occipital cortex, reflecting general cognitive states such as arousal and alertness. However, there is also evidence that modulation of alpha oscillations in visual cortex can be spatially specific. Here, we used intracranial electrodes in human patients to measure alpha oscillations in response to visual stimuli whose location varied systematically across the visual field. We separated the alpha oscillatory power from broadband power changes. The variation in alpha oscillatory power with stimulus position was then fit by a population receptive field (pRF) model. We find that the alpha pRFs have similar center locations to pRFs estimated from broadband power (70–180 Hz), but are several times larger. The results demonstrate that alpha suppression in human visual cortex can be precisely tuned. Finally, we show how the pattern of alpha responses can explain several features of exogenous visual attention.Significance StatementThe alpha oscillation is the largest electrical signal generated by the human brain. An important question in systems neuroscience is the degree to which this oscillation reflects system-wide states and behaviors such as arousal, alertness, and attention, versus much more specific functions in the routing and processing of information. We examined alpha oscillations at high spatial precision in human patients with intracranial electrodes implanted over visual cortex. We discovered a surprisingly high spatial specificity of visually driven alpha oscillations, which we quantified with receptive field models. We further use our discoveries about properties of the alpha response to show a link between these oscillations and the spread of visual attention.
Time course of lipopolysaccharide- and capsaicin-induced cytokine release in an ex vivo mouse model of vaginal inflammation
Authors: Chalmers K Jane , Hutchinson Mark R , Dodds Kelsi N , Kwok Yuen H , Evans Susan F , Moseley G Lorimer 
Published: February 2023

AbstractProblemThe neuroimmune interface has been characterised in few areas of the body. The objective of this study was to investigate the neuroimmune interface in the mouse vagina through a novelex vivomodel, to determine whether LPS could directly activate and produce TRPV1-mediated neuronal activation.Method of StudyConcentrations of IL-1β and IL-6 release into the supernatant at different times postex vivostimulation with LPS, capsaicin, or a combination of the two were assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.ResultsThere were no differences in the supernatant concentration of IL-6 with different stimulation type nor stimulation time. Supernatant concentrations of IL-1β were greater at the 20 hour time point than the 4 hour time point, and were greater for stimulations involving LPS.ConclusionThere is a clear pattern of pro-inflammatory neuroimmune responses followingex vivostimulation of mouse vaginal tissues with capsaicin and LPS, evident as an increased IL-1β output. This output is greatest at 20 hours post-stimulation, indicating this neuroimmune response is time-dependent.
Short Tandem Repeats of Human Genome Are Intrinsically Unstable in Cultured Cellsin vivo
Authors: Liu Yuzhe , Li Jinhuan , Wu Qiang 
Published: February 2023

ABSTRACTShort tandem repeats (STRs) are a class of abundant structural or functional elements in the human genome and exhibit a polymorphic nature of repeat length and genetic variation within human populations. Interestingly, STR expansions underlie about 60 neurological disorders. However, “stutter” artifacts or noises render it difficult to investigate the pathogenesis of STR expansions. Here, we systematically investigated STR instability in cultured human cells using GC-rich CAG and AT-rich ATTCT tandem repeats as examples. We found that triplicate bidirectional Sanger sequencing with PCR amplification under proper conditions can reliably assess STR length. In addition, we found that next-generation sequencing with paired-end reads bidirectionally covering STR regions can accurately and reliably assay STR length. Finally, we found that STRs are intrinsically unstable in cultured human cell populations and during single-cell cloning. Our data suggest a general method for accurately and reliably assessing STR length and have important implications in investigating pathogenesis of STR expansion diseases.
Multi-frame biomechanical and relaxometry analysis during in vivo loading of the human knee by spiral dualMRI and compressed sensing
Authors: Lee Woowon , Miller Emily Y. , Zhu Hongtian , Schneider Stephanie E. , Reiter David A. , Neu Corey P. 
Published: February 2023

ABSTRACTPurposeKnee cartilage experiences repetitive loading during physical activities, which is altered during the pathogenesis of diseases like osteoarthritis. Analyzing the biomechanics during motion provides a clear understanding of the dynamics of cartilage deformation, and may establish essential imaging biomarkers of early-stage disease. However, in vivo biomechanical analysis of cartilage during rapid motion is not well established.MethodsWe used spiral DENSE MRI on in vivo human tibiofemoral cartilage during cyclic varus loading (0.5 Hz) and employed compressed sensing on the k-space data. The applied compressive load was set for each participant at 0.5× body weight on the medial condyle. Relaxometry methods were measured on the cartilage before (T1ρ, T2) and after (T1ρ) varus load.ResultsDisplacement and strain maps showed a gradual shift of displacement and strain in time. Compressive strain was observed in the medial condyle cartilage and shear strain was roughly half of the compressive strain. Male participants had more displacement in the loading direction compared to females, and T1ρvalues did not change after cyclic varus load. Compressed sensing reduced the scanning time up to 25-40% when comparing the displacement maps and substantially lowered the noise levels.ConclusionThese results demonstrated the ease of which spiral DENSE MRI could be applied to clinical studies due to the shortened imaging time, while quantifying realistic cartilage deformations that occur through daily activities, and that could serve as biomarkers of early osteoarthritis.
Immp2l knockdown increases stimulus-driven instrumental behaviour but does not alter goal-directed learning or neuron density in cortico-striatal circuits in a mouse model of Tourette syndrome and autism spectrum disorder
Authors: Leung Beatrice K. , Merlin Sam , Walker Adam K. , Lawther Adam J. , Paxinos George , Eapen Valsamma , Clarke Raymond , Balleine Bernard W. , Furlong Teri M. 
Published: February 2023

AbstractCortico-striatal neurocircuits mediate goal-directed and habitual actions which are necessary for adaptive behaviour. It has recently been proposed that some of the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS), such as tics and repetitive behaviours, may emerge because of imbalances in these neurocircuits. We have recently developed a model of ASD and GTS by knocking downImmp2l, a mitochondrial gene frequently associated with these disorders. The current study sought to determine whetherImmp2lknockdown (KD) in male mice alters flexible, goal- or cue-driven behaviour using procedures specifically designed to examine response-outcome and stimulus-response associations, which underlie goal-directed and habitual behaviour, respectively. WhetherImmp2lKD alters neuron density in cortico-striatal neurocircuits known to regulate these behaviours was also examined.Immp2lKD mice and wild type-like mice (WT) were trained on Pavlovian and instrumental learning procedures where auditory cues predicted food delivery and lever-press responses earned a food outcome. It was demonstrated that goal-directed learning was not changed forImmp2lKD mice compared to WT mice, as lever-press responses were sensitive to changes in the value of the food outcome, and to contingency reversal and degradation. There was also no difference in the capacity of KD mice to form habitual behaviours compared to WT mice following extending training of the instrumental action. However,Immp2lKD mice were more responsive to auditory stimuli paired with food as indicated by a non-specific increase in lever response rates during Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer. Finally, there were no alterations to neuron density in striatum or any prefrontal cortex or limbic brain structures examined. Thus, the current study suggests that Immp2l is not necessary for learned maladaptive goal or stimulus driven behaviours in ASD or GTS, but that it may contribute to increased capacity for external stimuli to drive behaviour. Alterations to stimulus-driven behaviour could potentially influence the expression of tics and repetitive behaviours, suggesting that genetic alterations toImmp2lmay contribute to these core symptoms in ASD and GTS. Given that this is the first application of this battery of instrumental learning procedures to a mouse model of ASD or GTS, it is an important initial step in determining the contribution of known risk-genes to goal-directed versus habitual behaviours, which should be more broadly applied to other rodent models of ASD and GTS in the future.
Professional boundary violations in prisons: a scoping review of the literature
Authors: Kelly Dominic , Potter Jonathan 
Published: February 2023

Purpose
Professional boundary violations – intentional blurring, minimising or exploiting of institutions’ ethical and legal frameworks – have the potential to cause significant harm to prisoners, staff, prison systems and the public. There has been little empirical research on the nature, extent and impact of boundary violations in UK prisons. The purpose of this paper is to synthesise and critically review studies which have sought to explore, measure and predict boundary violative behaviour, with a view to direct future research and inform prison policies and practices.

Design/methodology/approach
Four internet-based bibliographic databases were used for this review. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. Twenty studies published between 2001 and 2022 were included in this review.

Findings
There is a lack of comprehensive self-report measures around prison boundary violations. Staff and prisoner characteristics, as well as prison-specific conditions, are linked with boundary violations. Staff training, improved working conditions and amnesty programmes as well as bolstered surveillance and restricted cross-sex staff deployment were among recommendations to reduce boundary violations. “Insider” researchers offer insight and access opportunities, but they also pose ethical implications. Current studies have research design, participant sampling and measurement scale limitations which compromises the applicability of findings. Prisons need robust policies on defining, reporting, punishing and recovering from boundary violations. Collaboration between prison institutions and academics, using individuals with experience of both professions, is essential to understand, predict and reduce boundary violations.

Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first review of empirical studies on professional boundary violations in prison.