Effects of an external compared to an internal focus of attention on the excitability of fast and slow(er) motor pathways

The neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the behavioural improvements usually associated with an external (EF) compared with an internal focus of attention (IF) remain poorly investigated. Surround inhibition in the primary cortex has been shown to be more pronounced with an EF, indicating a more spatial restriction of the motor command. However, the influence of different foci on the temporal aspect of the motor command, such as the modulation of fast versus slow(er) motor pathways, remains unknown and was therefore investigated in this study. Fourteen participants were asked to press on a pedal with the right foot to match its position with a target line displayed on a screen. The deviation of the pedal from the target line was used as a behavioural parameter and compared between both foci (EF vs IF). Additionally, conditioned H-reflexes were evoked during the motor task to assess the excitability of fast (direct) and slower (more indirect) motor pathways when adopting an EF or IF. With an EF compared to an IF, the motor performance was enhanced (P = .001; + 24%) and the activation of slow(er) motor pathways was reduced (P < 0.001, − 11.73%). These findings demonstrate for the first time that using different attentional strategies (EF and IF) has an influence on the excitability of slow(er) motor pathways. Together with the increased intracortical inhibition and surround inhibition known from previous studies, the diminished activation in the slow(er) motor pathways further explains why using an EF is a more economic strategy.

The Target-Step-Test (TST) to Evaluate Locomotory Differentiation Ability – Evaluation of the Test and Development of Norm Values for Healthy People

Introduction There is need of a clinical assessment measuring locomotory differentiation ability. Objective The Target-Step-Test (TST) for evaluating the locomotory differentiation ability should be checked for its reliability in the context of practical application. Furthermore, it is necessary to define a standard value range. In addition, an examination of the exercise attempts should enable a statement to be made about the adequate test execution. Materials and Methods 208 healthy adults between 18 and 45 years were asked to perform the TST twice. The test procedures of 205 test persons could be evaluated. The individual experiments and target steps were photo documented. The 4 directions of movement included stepping forward with the right and left leg and stepping to the side with the right and left leg. Each direction contains 3 exercise steps with open eyes and one target step with closed eyes. The difference to the target line was rounded up or down to 5 mm by the raters. Results For the inter-rater and intra-rater reliability as well as the test-retest reliability high intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and corrected kappa values could be calculated. 90 % of the measurements performed are within the range of −4.85 to 5 cm of the target line. The testing of the measured value repetition shows no differences between 2nd and 3rd step with open eyes. Therefore, it should be sufficient to perform 2 exercise steps with open eyes before the decisive target step with closed eyes. Conclusions The TST is reliable regarding inter-rater, intra-rater and test-retest reliability. The standard value range for healthy adults is set to±5 cm distance from the target line. Regarding the test procedure, it is sufficient to execute the target step with closed eyes after practicing twice with open eyes. The Target-Step-Test is reliable and can easily be carried out in daily routine to measure locomotory differentiation ability as a step movement.

APPLICATION OF AN OPTIMAL CONTROL ALGORITHM FOR A GYROSCOPE SYSTEM OF A HOMING AIR-TO-AIR MISSILE

Missile homing precision depends mainly on the correct determination of the current angle between the Gyroscope System Axis (GSA) and the target line-of-sight (LOS). A gyroscope automatic control system shall ensure spontaneous levelling of this angle, hence, constant homing of the gyroscope system axis in on the LOS, i.e. tracking the target by the head. The available literature on the subject lacks a description of how to use the controlled gyro system in the process of guiding the missile onto the target. In this paper, the authors present the original development of an optimal control algorithm for a gyro system with a square quality indicator in conditions of interference and kinematic influence of the missile deck. A comparative analysis of the LQR with the PD regulator was made. PD regulator parameters are also selected optimally, using the Golubencev method, so that the transition process of the homing system fades over a minimal time, while simultaneously ensuring the overlapping of the gyroscope axis with the target line-of-sight. The computer simulation results have been obtained in a Matlab-Simulink environment and are presented in a graphic form.

Personalized approach to the treatment of metastatic kidney cancer

Objective: Develop a new organizational form of a personalized approach to assign a target therapy to the patients with metastatic nephrocellular cancer concerning its clinical and economic effectiveness.Methods: The data by cancer register of the Primorsky region were used. 446 patients are included in the register, it allowed to estimate clinical-economic effectiveness of the target therapy by studying 88 cases.Results: 5 medicines were used: sunitrib, soraphenib, bevazizumab, everolimus and pazopanib. The control of the progress of the disease and the toxicity covered 44,3% of the patients. The toxicity of the 3–4th levels were registered during the treatment by inhibitors tyrozinkinaz. The target line therapy increased expenditures by 10% and allowed to increase overall survivability to 42 months.Conclusion: An electronic register of the patients provides monitoring, optimizes expenditures and increases the availability of the target therapy up to 19,7%. Sequential therapy is reasonable and provides the increase of the overall patients’ survivability.

The impact of training on data from genetically-related lines on the accuracy of genomic predictions for feed efficiency traits in pigs

Background Most genomic predictions use a unique population that is split into a training and a validation set. However, genomic prediction using genetically heterogeneous training sets could provide more flexibility when constructing the training sets in small populations. The aim of our study was to investigate the potential of genomic prediction of feed efficiency related traits using training sets that combine animals from two different, but genetically-related lines. We compared realized prediction accuracy and prediction bias for different training set compositions for five production traits. Results Genomic breeding values (GEBV) were predicted using the single-step genomic best linear unbiased prediction method in six scenarios applied iteratively to two genetically-related lines (i.e. 12 scenarios). The objective for all scenarios was to predict GEBV of pigs in the last three generations (~ 400 pigs, G7 to G9) of a given line. For each line, a control scenario was set up with a training set that included only animals from that line (target line). For all traits, adding more animals from the other line to the training set did not increase prediction accuracy compared to the control scenario. A small decrease in prediction accuracies was found for average daily gain, backfat thickness, and daily feed intake as the number of animals from the target line decreased in the training set. Including more animals from the other line did not decrease prediction accuracy for feed conversion ratio and residual feed intake, which were both highly affected by selection within lines. However, prediction biases were systematic for these cases and might be reduced with bivariate analyses. Conclusions Our results show that genomic prediction using a training set that includes animals from genetically-related lines can be as accurate as genomic prediction using a training set from the target population. With combined reference sets, accuracy increased for traits that were highly affected by selection. Our results provide insights into the design of reference populations, especially to initiate genomic selection in small-sized lines, for which the number of historical samples is small and that are developed simultaneously. This applies especially to poultry and pig breeding and to other crossbreeding schemes.

Search for a substring of characters using the theory of non-deterministic finite automata and vector-character architecture

The paper proposed an algorithm which purpose is searching for a substring of characters in a string. Principle of its operation is based on the theory of non-deterministic finite automata and vector-character architecture. It is able to provide the linear computational complexity of searching for a substring depending on the length of the searched string measured in the number of operations with hyperdimensional vectors when repeatedly searching for different strings in a target line. None of the existing algorithms has such a low level of computational complexity. The disadvantages of the proposed algorithm are the fact that the existing hardware implementations of computing systems for performing operations with hyperdimensional vectors require a large number of machine instructions, which reduces the gain from this algorithm. Despite this, in the future, it is possible to create a hardware implementation that can ensure the execution of operations with hyperdimensional vectors in one cycle, which will allow the proposed algorithm to be applied in practice.

Photogrammetry-based structural damage detection by tracking a visible laser line

Research works on photogrammetry have received tremendous attention in the past few decades. One advantage of photogrammetry is that it can measure displacement and deformation of a structure in a fully non-contact, full-field manner. As a non-destructive evaluation method, photogrammetry can be used to detect structural damage by identifying local anomalies in measured deformation of a structure. Numerous methods have been proposed to measure deformations by tracking exterior features of structures, assuming that the features can be consistently identified and tracked on sequences of digital images captured by cameras. Such feature-tracking methods can fail if the features do not exist on captured images. One feasible solution to the potential failure is to artificially add exterior features to structures. However, painting and mounting such features can introduce unwanted permanent surficial modifications, mass loads, and stiffness changes to structures. In this article, a photogrammetry-based structural damage detection method is developed, where a visible laser line is projected to a surface of a structure, serving as an exterior feature to be tracked; the projected laser line is massless and its existence is temporary. A laser-line-tracking technique is proposed to track the projected laser line on captured digital images. Modal parameters of a target line corresponding to the projected laser line can be estimated by conducting experimental modal analysis. By identifying anomalies in curvature mode shapes of the target line and mapping the anomalies to the projected laser line, structural damage can be detected with identified positions and sizes. An experimental investigation of the damage detection method was conducted on a damaged beam. Modal parameters of a target line corresponding to a projected laser line were estimated, which compared well with those from a finite element model of the damaged beam. Experimental damage detection results were validated by numerical ones from the finite element model.

Male body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms, body composition, and attentional bias to body stimuli evaluated using visual search

This study investigated the relationship between body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms, and attentional bias to images of male bodies using a compound visual search task. Sixty-three male participants searched for a horizontal or vertical target line among tilted lines. A separate male body image was presented within proximity to each line. Overall, search times were faster when the target line was paired with a muscular or obese body and distractor lines were paired with bodies of average muscularity and body fat ( congruent trials) than on neutral trials, in which only average muscularity and body fat images were shown. Attentional bias for muscular bodies was correlated with muscle dissatisfaction, eating restraint, and shape concern, and attentional bias for obese bodies was correlated with eating restraint. For incongruent trials, in which a single muscular or obese body was paired with a distractor line, search times were indistinguishable from neutral trials. Unexpectedly, we found a negative association between search times and both body fat dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms in conditions where obese bodies were paired with distracting stimuli. This result implicates a potential role for attentional filtering and/or avoidance of obese bodies in predicting body fat dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptomology.