Predictive ability of problem-solving efficacy sources on mathematics achievement

<span>This study examined the relationship between mathematics achievement and mathematics problem-solving efficacy sources. A cluster sample of 123 first year prospective teachers of a Philippine higher education institution responded to a 30-item problem-solving efficacy scales and took the teacher-made tests in Mathematics in the Modern World course; namely, Non-Routine Problem Solving and Natures and Numbers Pattern Tracing (NRPS-NNPT), Math Language and Symbols (MLS), and Data Management (DM). The research data was analyzed using Descriptive statistics, Pearson-r and Standard Multiple Regression. On the average, the respondents had satisfactory mathematics achievement. They reported a high level of social persuasion and somatic response and a low level of vicarious experience and mastery experience in mathematics problem-solving. Vicarious experience was directly associated with mastery experience while social persuasion and mastery experience were both inversely related to somatic responses. Among the four problem-solving efficacy sources, only social persuasion significantly predicted mathematics achievement specifically in the areas of NRPS-NNPT, MLS, and DM. Thus, becoming a trusted voice of encouragement and designing a persuasive and optimistic learning environment are highly recommended roles of schools to facilitate students’ mathematics achievement.</span>

Abdominothoracic Postural Tone Influences the Sensations Induced by Meal Ingestion

Postprandial objective abdominal distention is frequently associated with a subjective sensation of abdominal bloating, but the relation between both complaints is unknown. While the bloating sensation has a visceral origin, abdominal distention is a behavioral somatic response, involving contraction and descent of the diaphragm with protrusion of the anterior abdominal wall. Our aim was to determine whether abdominal distention influences digestive sensations. In 16 healthy women we investigated the effect of intentional abdominal distention on experimentally induced bloating sensation (by a meal overload). Participants were first taught to produce diaphragmatic contraction and visible abdominal distention. After a meal overload, sensations of bloating (0 to 10) and digestive well-being (−5 to + 5) were measured during 30-s. maneuvers alternating diaphragmatic contraction and diaphragmatic relaxation. Compared to diaphragmatic relaxation, diaphragmatic contraction was associated with diaphragmatic descent (by 21 + 3 mm; p < 0.001), objective abdominal distension (32 + 5 mm girth increase; p = 0.001), more intense sensation of bloating (7.3 + 0.4 vs. 8.0 + 0.4 score; p = 0.010) and lower digestive well-being (−0.9 + 0.5 vs. −1.9 + 0.5 score; p = 0.028). These results indicate that somatic postural tone underlying abdominal distention worsens the perception of visceral sensations (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04691882).

Somatic Depolarization Enhances Hippocampal CA1 Dendritic Spike Propagation and Distal Input Driven Synaptic Plasticity

Synaptic inputs that target distal regions of neuronal dendrites can often generate local dendritic spikes that can amplify synaptic depolarization, induce synaptic plasticity, and enhance neuronal output. However, distal dendritic spikes are subject to significant attenuation by dendritic cable properties, and often produce only a weak subthreshold depolarization of the soma. Nonetheless, such spikes have been implicated in memory storage, sensory perception and place field formation. How can such a weak somatic response produce such powerful behavioral effects? Here we use dual dendritic and somatic recordings in acute hippocampal slices to reveal that dendritic spike propagation, but not spike initiation, is strongly enhanced when the somatic resting potential is depolarized, likely as a result of increased inactivation of A-type K+ channels. Somatic depolarization also facilitates the induction of a form of dendritic spike driven heterosynaptic plasticity that enhances memory specificity. Thus, the effect of somatic membrane depolarization to enhance dendritic spike propagation and long-term synaptic plasticity is likely to play an important role in hippocampal-dependent spatial representations as well as learning and memory.

Dietary supplementation of wheatgrass powder to assess somatic response of juvenile grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)

Consequence of dietary fish meal substitution with wheatgrass was evaluated by observing growth response, associated feed cost and survival of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodonidella) fingerlings for sixty days. Sprouted wheatgrass (Triticumaestivum) was prepared for its inexpensively rich nutrients. Four isonitrogenous test diets were formulated and applied as treatments (T) in triplicates (R). In the control (T1), basal inclusion rate of fish meal was 30%, of which 10% was replaced with wheatgrass powder in T2 and in T3 replacement was 20%. In contrast, 30% of basal fishmeal was replaced in T4. Grass carp fingerlings (6.38±0.21 cm and 2.83±0.36 g) were stocked in twelve aquaria (60×40×45 cm³) each containing 75 L water, at 10 fish per aquarium, fed test diets at 5% of body weight twice daily. Prominent effect of wheatgrass supplementation was found on food conversion ratio (FCR) and survival rates. The significantly lowest FCR was observed in T3 (2.13±0.42) followed by T2 (2.89±0.99), T1 (3.01±1.53) and T4 (3.05±0.94). Besides, fish survival rate was significantly improved in T2 (90%), T3 (93.33%) and T4 (93.33%) compared to the lowest survival in T1 (83.33%). In conformity, fish tolerance (LT50) to low pH stressor was also increased with wheatgrass supplementation. The other growth parameters among the treatments were statistically similar with highest specific growth rate and fish production in T3 (1.13±0.12 %/day and 2.28±0.13 tons/ha). Dietary wheatgrass did not affect the fish carcass composition rather gave better result to some extents. The significantly highest carcass protein and lowest moisture was retained in T3 (14.13±0.05% and 74.91±0.25% respectively), whereas comparatively higher lipid and mineral (ash) content was found in T1 (7.69±0.02% and 2.35±0.27% respectively). Importantly, feed formulation cost was reduced by 2.61, 4.89, and 7.71% in T2, T3, and T4 respectively compared to T1. Therefore, wheatgrass could be promising in juvenile grass carp diet. Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. September 2020, 6(3): 482-490

Cortical neuron response selectivity derives from strength in numbers of synapses

Single neocortical neurons are driven by populations of excitatory inputs, forming the basis of neural selectivity to features of sensory input. Excitatory connections are thought to mature during development through activity-dependent Hebbian plasticity1, whereby similarity between presynaptic and postsynaptic activity selectively strengthens some synapses and weakens others2. Evidence in support of this process ranges from measurements of synaptic ultrastructure to slice and in vivo physiology and imaging studies3,4,5,6,7,8. These corroborating lines of evidence lead to the prediction that a small number of strong synaptic inputs drive neural selectivity, while weak synaptic inputs are less correlated with the functional properties of somatic output and act to modulate activity overall6,7. Supporting evidence from cortical circuits, however, has been limited to measurements of neighboring, connected cell pairs, raising the question of whether this prediction holds for the full profile of synapses converging onto cortical neurons. Here we measure the strengths of functionally characterized excitatory inputs contacting single pyramidal neurons in ferret primary visual cortex (V1) by combining in vivo two-photon synaptic imaging and post hoc electron microscopy (EM). Using EM reconstruction of individual synapses as a metric of strength, we find no evidence that strong synapses play a predominant role in the selectivity of cortical neuron responses to visual stimuli. Instead, selectivity appears to arise from the total number of synapses activated by different stimuli. Moreover, spatial clustering of co-active inputs, thought to amplify synaptic drive, appears reserved for weaker synapses, further enhancing the contribution of the large number of weak synapses to somatic response. Our results challenge the role of Hebbian mechanisms in shaping neuronal selectivity in cortical circuits, and suggest that selectivity reflects the co-activation of large populations of presynaptic neurons with similar properties and a mixture of strengths.

Global, multiplexed dendritic computations under in vivo-like conditions

Dendrites integrate inputs in highly non-linear ways, but it is unclear how these non-linearities contribute to the overall input-output transformation of single neurons. Here, we developed statistically principled methods using a hierarchical cascade of linear-nonlinear subunits (hLN) to model the dynamically evolving somatic response of neurons receiving complex spatio-temporal synaptic input patterns. We used the hLN to predict the membrane potential of a detailed biophysical model of a L2/3 pyramidal cell receiving in vivo-like synaptic input and reproducing in vivo dendritic recordings. We found that more than 90% of the somatic response could be captured by linear integration followed a single global non-linearity. Multiplexing inputs into parallel processing channels could improve prediction accuracy by as much as additional layers of local non-linearities. These results provide a data-driven characterisation of a key building block of cortical circuit computations: dendritic integration and the input-output transformation of single neurons during in vivo-like conditions.

Body, Comity, and the Civil War Band: Thoughts on Music and Poetry

Civil War bands, indispensable to both Union and Confederate troops, were employed by officers to keep morale high during times of rest and relaxation, and to instill regional pride during times of battle. I engage in an inquiry into the functions of the Civil War band in order to highlight the nature of music as it offers at one moment the emotional integration of camaraderie and at another moment the impetus to spur soldiers to combat. As a means of investigating such cases, I start with the poem “Union Camp Music,” included in my recent book of poems, Cyclorama, and conclude with a discussion of the receptive functions activated by both poetry and music in the listeners of each art form. Both poetry and music depend upon bodily reactions, the former relying more upon a referentiality inherent to meaning, the latter upon a nonreferentiality that can turn intention obscure. Both art forms, nonetheless, retain as a primary effect, the performer-to-listener synchrony that derives from somatic response.

Regulation of AMPA and NMDA receptor-mediated EPSPs in dendritic trees of thalamocortical cells

Two main excitatory synapses are formed at the dendritic arbor of first-order nuclei thalamocortical (TC) neurons. Ascending sensory axons primarily establish contacts at large proximal dendrites, whereas descending corticothalamic fibers form synapses on thin distal dendrites. With the use of a multicomparment computational model based on fully reconstructed TC neurons from the ventroposterolateral nucleus of the cat, we compared local responses at the site of stimulation as well as somatic responses induced by both α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (AMPAR)- and N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-mediated currents. We found that AMPAR-mediated responses, when synapses were located at proximal dendrites, induced a larger depolarization at the level of soma, whereas NMDAR-mediated responses were more efficient for synapses located at distal dendrites. The voltage transfer and transfer impedance were higher for NMDAR than for AMPAR activation at any location. For both types of synaptic current and for both input locations at the dendritic arbor, somatic responses were characterized by a low variability despite the large variability found in local responses in dendrites. The large neurons had overall smaller somatic responses than small neurons, but this relation was not found in local dendritic responses. We conclude that in TC cells, the dendritic location of small synaptic inputs does not play a major role in the amplitude of a somatic response, but the size of the neuron does. The variability of response amplitude between cells was much larger than the variability within cells. This suggests possible functional segregation of TC neurons of different size.