Changes in Bihemispheric Structural Connectivity Following Middle Cerebral Artery Infarction

This study investigated the changes in the structural connectivity of the bilateral hemispheres over time following a middle cerebral artery infarction. Eighteen patients in the subacute group and nine patients in the chronic group with mild upper extremity motor impairment (Fugl-Meyer motor assessment score for the upper limb > 43) following middle cerebral artery infarction were retrospectively evaluated in this study. All the patients underwent T1-weighted and diffusion tensor imaging. Tract-based statistical analyses of fractional anisotropy were used to compare the changes in the bilateral structural connectivity with those of age-matched normal controls. The corticospinal tract pathway of the affected hemisphere, corpus callosum, and corona radiata of the unaffected hemisphere had decreased structural connectivity in the subacute group, while the motor association area and anterior corpus callosum in the bilateral frontal lobes had increased structural connectivity in the chronic group. The bilateral hemispheres were influenced even in patients with mild motor impairment following middle cerebral artery infarction, and the structural connectivity of the bilateral hemispheres changed according to the time following the stroke.

Lipophorin receptors regulate mushroom bodies development and participate in learning, memory, and sleep in flies

Drosophila melanogaster Lipophorin Receptors, LpR1 and LpR2, mediate lipid uptake. The orthologs of these receptors in vertebrates, ApoER2 and VLDL-R, bind Reelin, a glycoprotein not present in flies. These receptors are associated with the development and function of the hippocampus and cerebral cortex, important association areas in the mammalian brain. It is currently unknown whether LpRs play similar roles in the Drosophila brain. We report that LpR-deficient flies exhibit impaired olfactory memory and sleep patterns, which seem to reflect anatomical defects found in a critical brain association area, the Mushroom Bodies (MB). Moreover, cultured MB neurons respond to mammalian Reelin by increasing the complexity of their neurites. This effect depends on LpRs and Dab, the Drosophila ortholog of the reelin signaling adaptor protein Dab1. In vitro, two of the long isoforms of LpRs allow the internalization of Reelin. Overall, these findings demonstrate that LpRs contribute to MB development and function, supporting the existence of LpR-dependent signaling in Drosophila.

Computational analysis of MRIs predicts osteosarcoma chemoresponsiveness

Aim: This study aimed to improve osteosarcoma chemoresponsiveness prediction by optimization of computational analysis of MRIs. Patients & methods: Our retrospective predictive model involved osteosarcoma patients with MRI scans performed before OsteoSa MAP neoadjuvant cytotoxic chemotherapy. Results: We found that several monofractal and multifractal algorithms were able to classify tumors according to their chemoresponsiveness. The predictive clues were defined as morphological complexity, homogeneity and fractality. The monofractal feature CV for Λ′(G) provided the best predictive association (area under the ROC curve = 0.88; p <0.001), followed by Y-axis intersection of the regression line for box fractal dimension, r² for FDM and tumor circularity. Conclusion: This is the first full-scale study to indicate that computational analysis of pretreatment MRIs could provide imaging biomarkers for the classification of osteosarcoma according to their chemoresponsiveness.

Psycholinguistic Analysis of the Concept ‘The Sense of Communication’

The article is dedicated to studying the psycholinguistic aspects of the phenomenon of sense in verbal communication. The theoretical analysis of psycholinguistics patterns regarding the subject of the research has allowed for revealing the peculiarities of transforming certain senses into notions by an individual in the course of communication. In verbal communication, the updates of identification, induction, and reflexive evaluation mechanisms of the communicants’ senses provide for the processes of constructing the addressee’s own notional structures along with their further embedment into the linguistic world picture. The addresser, being an active subject of sensemaking, constructs his own messages for the most accurate sense transmission to the addressee, to organize the joint activity and affect the behavior. The purpose of the experimental research was to identify the peculiarities of the senses of communication in adolescent individuals. The most prominent associations of the concept under research have become communication, friendship, mutual understanding, trust, interests. The analysis of the associative field has demonstrated that the respondents view the sense of their own communication mainly in the emotionally close relationship with their agemates. The foreground values in building such relationship are honesty, partnership, a possibility to trust another person, to rely on his/her help when facing hardships. In life-long transspective, the respondents predominantly project the senses of communication in the present time. The senses prolonged into the future are observed only in the association area of the professional academic and professional communication, the formation of which is open and has not been finalized. The priority areas of the semantic field of the concept under research are as follows: the area of the interpersonal interaction proper, the relationship design area, and the area of understanding and interpreting the interlocutor’s messages. The specifics of the development of a contemporary personality in late years of adolescence is represented by the contents of the association areas of self-expression, self-management of one’s own activity, and the communication organization means.

Inhibition of the Deep and Intermediate Layers of the Superior Colliculus Disrupts Sensorimotor Gating in Monkeys

The deep and intermediate layers of the superior colliculus (DLSC) respond to visual, auditory, and tactile inputs and act as a multimodal sensory association area. In turn, activity in the DLSC can drive orienting and avoidance responses—such as saccades and head and body movements—across species, including in rats, cats, and non-human primates. As shown in rodents, DLSC also plays a role in regulating pre-pulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle response (ASR), a form of sensorimotor gating. DLSC lesions attenuate PPI and electrical stimulation of DLSC inhibits the startle response. While the circuitry mediating PPI is well-characterized in rodents, less is known about PPI regulation in primates. Two recent studies from our labs reported a species difference in the effects of pharmacological inhibition of the basolateral amygdala and substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNpr) on PPI between rats and macaques: in rats, inhibition of these structures decreased PPI, while in macaques, it increased PPI. Given that the SNpr sends direct inhibitory projections to DLSC, we next sought to determine if this species difference was similarly evident at the level of DLSC. Here, we transiently inactivated DLSC in four rhesus macaques by focal microinfusion of the GABAA receptor agonist muscimol. Similar to findings reported in rodents, we observed that bilateral inhibition of the DLSC in macaques significantly disrupted PPI. The impairment was specific to the PPI as the ASR itself was not affected. These results indicate that our previously reported species divergence at the level of the SNpr is not due to downstream differences at the level of the DLSC. Species differences at the level of the SNpr and basolateral amygdala emphasize the importance of studying the underlying circuitry in non-human primates, as impairment in PPI has been reported in several disorders in humans, including schizophrenia, autism, and PTSD.

A Longitudinal Implementation Evaluation of a Physical Activity Program for Cancer Survivors: LIVESTRONG® at the Y.

Purpose: Increased physical activity (PA) levels in cancer survivors are associated with decreased risk of recurrence and mortality as well as additional positive health outcomes. PA interventions have shown to be efficacious, though many lack translation to and sustainability in community settings. We used dimensions of the RE-AIM framework to evaluate LIVE STRONG® at the YMCA, a nation-wide community-based PA program for cancer survivors delivered at Ys. Methods: LIVE STRONG at the Y national data compiled by YMCA of the USA and Y Association Program Managers between the years of 2010-2018 was examined. We assessed reach (number of participants), adoption (Associations offering the program), implementation (conducting 3 fidelity checks), setting-level maintenance (Associations recently offering program) and participant-level maintenance (membership conversion rate). We also examined relationships between organizational characteristics (years of program existence and Association area household income), and program implementation factors with member conversion. Results: As of 2018, LIVE STRONG at the Y has reached 62,044 survivors and 245 of the 840 (29.2%) of Y Associations have adopted the program. Among the adopters, 91% were aware of fidelity checks; implementation of Observational (62.3%), Goal-setting (49.9%), and Functional (64.6%) checklists varied. Most (95.1%) adopters reported offering ≥1 LIVE STRONG session per year (setting-level maintenance) and a facility-level mean membership conversion percentage of 46.9±31.2% (participant-level maintenance). Fewer years implementing the program and higher Association area household income were significantly associated with a greater membership conversion rate vs their comparison (all t-test p’s <0.05). In a multiple regression model controlling for organizational characteristics, conducting the fidelity checks (Observational, β=8.41; Goal-setting, β=9.70; and Functional, β=9.61; all p’s <0.01) was positively associated with higher membership conversion rates. Conclusions: LIVE STRONG at the Y, in its early years, has shown promise for high reach, while adoption at more Associations could be facilitated. Implementing fidelity checks along with organizational characteristics were associated with higher participant-level maintenance. Identification of Association-level strategies to increase reach, adoption, implementation and maintenance may increase the impact of this community-based PA program.

Information Manipulation as a Category of Communication Recipient’s Information Discomfort

The research focuses on a level of consumers’ awareness regarding the specific nature of the manipulative influence of mass media upon their consciousness. A free-associative experiment allows determining how much “information manipulation” consumers understand it as a specific phenomenon of mass media. It is important to determine the comprehension of this notion to form the strategies for the preparation of professional journalists. The manipulative influence of mass media is determined by an assignment to influence on the consciousness of the information consumer to form views, concepts and/or behavioral models. While researching the level of awareness of mass media manipulative influence, individuals demonstrate an understanding that this influence is quite notable and is dangerous both for their personal information comfort and for social reality. Media education for media content consumers, which is topical nowadays, requires a preliminary understanding of all the mechanisms and consequences of manipulative influence by mass media, that is why the research focuses on the exploration of the association area for the concept of “manipulation”, “information manipulation”. The research demonstrates that manipulative technologies are often based on stereotypization and mythologization of reality as the methods of manipulative generalization.

A Longitudinal Implementation Evaluation of a Physical Activity Program for Cancer Survivors: LIVESTRONG® at the Y.

Purpose: Increased physical activity (PA) levels in cancer survivors are associated with decreased risk of recurrence and mortality as well as additional positive health outcomes. PA interventions have shown to be efficacious, though many lack translation to and sustainability in community settings. We used dimensions of the RE-AIM framework to evaluate LIVE STRONG® at the YMCA, a nation-wide community-based PA program for cancer survivors delivered at Ys. Methods: LIVE STRONG at the Y national data compiled by YMCA of the USA and Y Association Program Managers between the years of 2010-2018 was examined. We assessed reach (number of participants), adoption (Associations offering the program), implementation (conducting 3 fidelity checks), setting-level maintenance (Associations recently offering program) and participant-level maintenance (membership conversion rate). We also examined relationships between organizational characteristics (years of program existence and Association area household income), and program implementation factors with member conversion. Results: As of 2018, LIVE STRONG at the Y has reached 62,044 survivors and 245 of the 840 (29.2%) of Y Associations have adopted the program. Among the adopters, 91% were aware of fidelity checks; implementation of Observational (62.3%), Goal-setting (49.9%), and Functional (64.6%) checklists varied. Most (95.1%) adopters reported offering ≥1 LIVE STRONG session per year (setting-level maintenance) and a facility-level mean membership conversion percentage of 46.9±31.2% (participant-level maintenance). Fewer years implementing the program and higher Association area household income were significantly associated with a greater membership conversion rate vs their comparison (all t-test p’s <0.05). In a multiple regression model controlling for organizational characteristics, conducting the fidelity checks (Observational, β=8.41; Goal-setting, β=9.70; and Functional, β=9.61; all p’s <0.01) was positively associated with higher membership conversion rates. Conclusions: LIVE STRONG at the Y, in its early years, has shown promise for high reach, while adoption at more Associations could be facilitated. Implementing fidelity checks along with organizational characteristics were associated with higher participant-level maintenance. Identification of Association-level strategies to increase reach, adoption, implementation and maintenance may increase the impact of this community-based PA program.