Functional and diagnostic significance of the fMRI-response type to motor loads in patients after traumatic brain damage

Aim of the study. Clarification of the functional and diagnostic significance of topography, or the type of fMRI-response recorded during active and passive hand movements in patients after traumatic brain injury.Material and methods. fMRI-responses gained during active and passive hand movements were analyzed in 40 patients with posttraumatic motor function disturbances and compared with results gained from 17 healthy volunteers (control group ).Results. In analyzed patients the increase of percentage of diffuse fMRI-response has been shown along with the areas of activation not typical for movement activation pattern typical healthy volunteers. The fMRI response type being it local or multifocal does not clearly correlate with the presence of motor function impairment (hemiparesis). However, it was found that with greater severity of hemiparesis there is a larger percentage of multifocal fMRI-response.The transition from a multifocal form of a motor fMRI-response to a local one observed in a dynamic study is accompanied by an improvement of patient’s general condition, a shift towards normalization of a number of morphofunctional indicators of the central nervous system, the tendency of regression of motor disorders.Conclusion. The increase of multifocal fMRI-responses in patients after traumatic brain injury is one of the signs of cerebral dysfunction. Dynamically observed transformation from multifocal to local fMRI-responses is associated with current or long-term improvement in motor activity as well, wit the regression of other clinical impairments and can be considered as prognostically positive sign of the course of post-traumatic illness.

Theoretical evaluation of partial credit scoring of the multiple-response test item

We compute and compare statistics of five different scoring rules for the selected-response type of test items where the number of keys is an arbitrary integer and the test-takers are perfectly rational agents. We consider a hypothetical test of factual recognition, in which the underlying ability that we seek to measure is the fraction of the item options that the test-taker truly recognizes (and not only guesses correctly), assumed directly proportional the test-taker’s domain knowledge. From these comparisons, two of these scoring rules are singled out as superior to the others.

Prevalence of Allergic Diseases in Children Vaccinated Against Tuberculosis and Hepatitis B in the Early Neonatal Period: Literature Review

Background. T-cell response is shifted towards Th2-type predominance in newborns. This makes them particularly vulnerable to exposure of various external pathogens, development of severe infections, moreover, it is also a risk factor for allergic diseases development. Various methods of switching the immune response to Th1-type are currently under research, and one of them is vaccination.Objective. The aim of the study is to provide data on the prevalence of allergic pathology among children vaccinated against tuberculosis and hepatitis B, as well as the effect of vaccines on immune response type.Results. Data on both increase and decrease in the prevalence of atopic conditions in children vaccinated with BCG and against hepatitis B were analyzed, thus, most of them cannot be considered reliable. The results of several large studies do not reveal any correlation between vaccination and the presence of allergic disease in children. There is data that BCG and hepatitis B vaccines shift the immune response towards Th1-type activation.Conclusion. Vaccination in the early neonatal period may affect switching of the immune response towards Th1-type. That, in turn, can affect the prevalence of allergic pathology in vaccinated children. However, the data available for now is not sufficient to reliably estimate the possible effect of vaccination on atopic conditions manifestation in the future.

Plucking a string or playing a G? Degree of choice abstraction impacts human reinforcement learning

In reinforcement learning (RL) experiments, participants learn to make rewarding choices in response to different stimuli; RL models use outcomes to estimate stimulus-response values which change incrementally. RL models consider any response type indiscriminately, ranging from less abstract choices (e.g. pressing a key with the index finger), to more abstract choices that can be executed in a number of ways (e.g. getting dinner at the restaurant). But does the learning process vary as a function of how abstract the choices are? In Experiment 1, we show that choice abstraction impacts learning: participants were slower and less accurate in learning to select a more abstract choice. Using computational modeling, we show that two mechanisms contribute to this. First, the values of motor actions interfered with the values of more abstract responses, resulting in more incorrect choices; second, information integration for relevant abstract choices was slower. In Experiment 2, we replicate the findings from Experiment 1, and further extend the results by investigating whether slowed learning is attributable to working memory (WM) or RL contributions. We find that the impairment in more abstract/flexible choices is driven primarily by a weaker contribution of WM. We conclude that defining a more abstract choice space used by multiple learning systems recruits limited executive resources, limiting how much such processes then contribute to fast learning.

Humoral and cellular indices of immunity in newborns with early realization of the allergically changed reactivity

The complex immunologic examination in 39 children aged 2 to 28 days with early realization of the allergically changed reactivity in boys 61,5%, in girls 38,5% is performed. The peculiarities of immunologic reactivity in children with early realization of the allergically changed reactivity (the increase of the immune regulatory index due to the deficiency of CD 8+ lymphocytes, the increased expression of activation markers, the increase of Ig E) show the prevalence of the atopic response type. Uniformity of changes of the immune status indices in early and late neonatal period testifies the intrauterine and/or early change of immunocompetent cell phenotype under the influence of perinatal development factors of a child

Disentangling the Psycholinguistic Loci of Anomia with Cognitive Psychometric Models

This article reviews advanced statistical techniques for measuring impairments in object naming, particularly in the context of stroke-induced aphasia. Traditional testing strategies can be challenged by the multifaceted nature of impairments that arise due to the complex relationships between localized brain damage and disruption to the cognitive processes required for successful object naming. Cognitive psychometric models can combine response-type analysis with item-response theory to yield accurate estimates of multiple abilities using data collected from a single task. The models also provide insights about how the test items can be challenging in different ways. Although more work is needed to fully optimize their clinical utility in practice, these formal concepts can guide thoughtful selection of stimuli used in treatment or assessment, as well as providing a framework to interpret response-type data.

Methodology for environmental health assessment of adaptive response to professional activity factors as part of health risk assessment

Introduction. The article presents the findings of a study of the adaptive responses of working people depending on their professional activity nature. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the adaptive response of working people exposed to harmful and dangerous factors. Material and methods. The research involved 225 people, including 157 cases exposed to different hazards and dangers: Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster relief workers (their average age was 59.2 ± 2.2 years (M ± m)); servicemen working with rocket fuels (their average age was 30.6 ± 1.3 years (M ± m)); and service members participated in combat operations (their average age was 32.0 ± 0.8 years (M ± m)). A set of standard methods was used to assess their cardiorespiratory system’s functional state, biological age, activity levels in different organs, and adaptive abilities. Results. The study has made it possible to describe distribution in terms of ANS response, biological age, adaptive potential, and their correlation. The relief workers showed a medium inverse correlation between adaptive potential and ANS response type (r = -0.308; p = 0.153) and a significant medium positive correlation between adaptive potential and biological age (r = 0.690; p < 0.001). The servicemen working with rocket fuels showed a high medium positive correlation (r = 0.726; p = 0.001) and a significant medium positive correlation (r = 0.658; p < 0.004) between adaptive potential and ANS response type and biological age, respectively. The servicemen who had participated in combat operations showed weak inverse correlation (r = -0.139; p = 0.155) and medium positive correlation (r = 0.683; p = 0.005) in the first and second case, respectively. Conclusion. The biological age, individual aging rate, ANS response, and potential adaptive performance can be used as criteria for assessing health risks for working people exposed to different hazards and dangers and determining groups of people who need case follow-up.