The Emergence of ADHD Comorbidity in School-Aged Children with ASD Impacts Resting-State Brain Networks Dynamics

Background: EEG microstates are defined in the literature as quasi-stable topographies of the electric fields in the ongoing EEG, lasting approximately 100 milliseconds and representing the sub-second coherent activation within global functional brain networks. Recently, we found early alterations in the spatio-temporal dynamics and syntax of brain states in toddlers and preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) compared to their typically developing (TD) peers.Method: Here, we investigated how these alterations evolve over time and how they are impacted by the emergence of comorbid attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in ASD among 49 school-aged children (19 children with ASD-only, 15 children with ASD+ADHD, and 15 TD children). Results: We found a decreased prevalence of all temporal parameters of microstate map B in school-aged children with ASD compared to TD peers. Children with ASD+ADHD had a significantly lower prevalence of map B compared to children with ASD-only. Moreover, children with ASD+ADHD had a higher prevalence in time coverage and occurrence for microstate map A than children with ASD-only and TD children. Map E of the ASD+ADHD group has a weaker spatial correlation with map E of ASD-only and TD groups. Moreover, the GEV of map E was significantly decreased for the ASD+ADHD group compared to the ASD-only group. We found that the transition probabilities between maps of the ASD+ADHD group, particularly for map B, differed from ASD-only and TD groups. Exploratory longitudinal analysis showed an increase in all temporal parameters of map B in TD children but a decrease in children with ASD, regardless of the ADHD comorbidity.Limitations: The present study has a small sample size and does not include a group of children with ADHD-only. Conclusion: Our results show that ADHD comorbidity in school-aged children with ASD impacts the spatial organization and the temporal dynamics of whole-brain networks. Further longitudinal studies are needed to understand better the impact of the emergence of ADHD comorbidity in ASD across ages.

Overground Walking in a Fully Immersive Virtual Reality: A Comprehensive Study on the Effects on Full-Body Walking Biomechanics

Virtual reality (VR) is an emerging technology offering tremendous opportunities to aid gait rehabilitation. To this date, real walking with users immersed in virtual environments with head-mounted displays (HMDs) is either possible with treadmills or room-scale (overground) VR setups. Especially for the latter, there is a growing interest in applications for interactive gait training as they could allow for more self-paced and natural walking. This study investigated if walking in an overground VR environment has relevant effects on 3D gait biomechanics. A convenience sample of 21 healthy individuals underwent standard 3D gait analysis during four randomly assigned walking conditions: the real laboratory (RLab), a virtual laboratory resembling the real world (VRLab), a small version of the VRlab (VRLab−), and a version which is twice as long as the VRlab (VRLab+). To immerse the participants in the virtual environment we used a VR-HMD, which was operated wireless and calibrated in a way that the virtual labs would match the real-world. Walking speed and a single measure of gait kinematic variability (GaitSD) served as primary outcomes next to standard spatio-temporal parameters, their coefficients of variant (CV%), kinematics, and kinetics. Briefly described, participants demonstrated a slower walking pattern (−0.09 ± 0.06 m/s) and small accompanying kinematic and kinetic changes. Participants also showed a markedly increased gait variability in lower extremity gait kinematics and spatio-temporal parameters. No differences were found between walking in VRLab+ vs. VRLab−. Most of the kinematic and kinetic differences were too small to be regarded as relevant, but increased kinematic variability (+57%) along with increased percent double support time (+4%), and increased step width variability (+38%) indicate gait adaptions toward a more conservative or cautious gait due to instability induced by the VR environment. We suggest considering these effects in the design of VR-based overground training devices. Our study lays the foundation for upcoming developments in the field of VR-assisted gait rehabilitation as it describes how VR in overground walking scenarios impacts our gait pattern. This information is of high relevance when one wants to develop purposeful rehabilitation tools.

Assessment of the Kinematic Adaptations in Parkinson’s Disease Using the Gait Profile Score: Influences of Trunk Posture, a Pilot Study

Introduction: Postural abnormalities are common in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and lead to gait abnormalities. Relationships between changes in the trunk posture of PD patients and gait profile score (GPS) and gait spatiotemporal parameters are poorly investigated. The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationships between trunk posture, GPS, and gait spatiotemporal parameters, in patients with PD. Materials and Methods: Twenty-three people with PD and nineteen age-matched healthy people participated in this study. A 3D gait kinematical analysis was applied to all participants using the Plug-In Gait Full BodyTM tool. Trunk and limb kinematics patterns and gait spatio-temporal parameters of patients with PD and the control group were compared. Additionally, correlations between trunk kinematics patterns, gait spatio-temporal parameters, and GPS of the PD group were tested. Results: Cadence, opposite foot off, step time, single support, double support, foot off, gait speed, trunk kinematics, and GPS showed significant differences between the two groups (p ≤ 0.05). Posture of the trunk during gait was not related to the spatio-temporal parameters and gait profile score in the PD group. The trunk flexor pattern influenced GPS domains, mainly of the ankle and the knee. Discussion and Conclusions: Flexed posture of the trunk in patients with PD seems to influence both ankle and knee movement patterns during the gait. The GPS analysis provided direct and simplified kinematic information for the PD group. These results may have implications for understanding the importance of considering the positioning of the trunk during gait.

Fansubbing practices in Ukraine

This research focuses on the analysis of the English non-professional subtitles of the Ukrainian films, produced by the amateur translators for whom English is a foreign language. Such exploration in the nature of fansubbing gives insights into the basic principles that define the notion of subtitling, examines the standards set to the audiovisual translation, and outlines the challenges fansubbers may face in the process of subtitling. The study is based on the following Ukrainian films of the second half of the XXth – beginning of the XXIst century: Chasing Two Hares (1961); Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1965); Prayer for Hetman Mazepa (2001). The analysis of the films is conducted on the syntactic, lexical, and grammatical levels, as well as on the level of fansubs screen presentation (spatial and temporal parameters). The study discusses fansubbers’ translation decisions from the perspective of their correlation with the established subtitling guidelines, and their effect on the foreign audience.

The Accuracy and Precision of Gait Spatio-Temporal Parameters Extracted from an Instrumented Sock during Treadmill and Overground Walking in Healthy Subjects and Patients with a Foot Impairment Secondary to Psoriatic Arthritis

The objectives of this study were to assess the accuracy and precision of a system combining an IMU-instrumented sock and a validated algorithm for the estimation of the spatio-temporal parameters of gait. A total of 25 healthy participants (HP) and 21 patients with foot impairments secondary to psoriatic arthritis (PsA) performed treadmill walking at three different speeds and overground walking at a comfortable speed. HP performed the assessment over two sessions. The proposed system’s estimations of cadence (CAD), gait cycle duration (GCD), gait speed (GS), and stride length (SL) obtained for treadmill walking were validated versus those estimated with a motion capture system. The system was also compared with a well-established multi-IMU-based system for treadmill and overground walking. The results showed a good agreement between the motion capture system and the IMU-instrumented sock in estimating the spatio-temporal parameters during the treadmill walking at normal and fast speeds for both HP and PsA participants. The accuracy of GS and SL obtained from the IMU-instrumented sock was better compared to the established multi-IMU-based system in both groups. The precision (inter-session reliability) of the gait parameter estimations obtained from the IMU-instrumented sock was good to excellent for overground walking and treadmill walking at fast speeds, but moderate-to-good for slow and normal treadmill walking. The proposed IMU-instrumented sock offers a novel form factor addressing the wearability issues of IMUs and could potentially be used to measure spatio-temporal parameters under clinical conditions and free-living conditions.

A small vocal repertoire during the breeding season expresses complex behavioral motivations and individual signature in the common coot

Background Although acoustic communication plays an essential role in the social interactions of Rallidae, our knowledge of how Rallidae encode diverse types of information using simple vocalizations is limited. We recorded and examined the vocalizations of a common coot (Fulica atra) population during the breeding season to test the hypotheses that 1) different call types can be emitted under different behavioral contexts, and 2) variation in the vocal structure of a single call type may be influenced both by behavioral motivations and individual signature. We measured a total of 61 recordings of 30 adults while noting the behavioral activities in which individuals were engaged. We compared several acoustic parameters of the same call type emitted under different behavioral activities to determine how frequency and temporal parameters changed depending on behavioral motivations and individual differences. Results We found that adult common coots had a small vocal repertoire, including 4 types of call, composed of a single syllable that was used during 9 types of behaviors. The 4 calls significantly differed in both frequency and temporal parameters and can be clearly distinguished by discriminant function analysis. Minimum frequency of fundamental frequency (F0min) and duration of syllable (T) contributed the most to acoustic divergence between calls. Call a was the most commonly used (in 8 of the 9 behaviors detected), and maximum frequency of fundamental frequency (F0max) and interval of syllables (TI) contributed the most to variation in call a. Duration of syllable (T) in a single call a can vary with different behavioral motivations after individual vocal signature being controlled. Conclusions These results demonstrate that several call types of a small repertoire, and a single call with function-related changes in the temporal parameter in common coots could potentially indicate various behavioral motivations and individual signature. This study advances our knowledge of how Rallidae use “simple” vocal systems to express diverse motivations and provides new models for future studies on the role of vocalization in avian communication and behavior.

Tandem Gait test – kinematics and temporal parameters at normal children and patients survived after posterior fossa tumor

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