Predicting variations of perceptual performance across individuals from neural activity using pattern classifiers.

PubMed

Das, Koel; Giesbrecht, Barry; Eckstein, Miguel P

2010-07-15

Within the past decade computational approaches adopted from the field of machine learning have provided neuroscientists with powerful new tools for analyzing neural data. For instance, previous studies have applied pattern classification algorithms to electroencephalography data to predict the category of presented visual stimuli, human observer decision choices and task difficulty. Here, we quantitatively compare the ability of pattern classifiers and three ERP metrics (peak amplitude, mean amplitude, and onset latency of the face-selective N170) to predict variations across individuals' behavioral performance in a difficult perceptual task identifying images of faces and cars embedded in noise. We investigate three different pattern classifiers (Classwise Principal Component Analysis, CPCA; Linear Discriminant Analysis, LDA; and Support Vector Machine, SVM), five training methods differing in the selection of training data sets and three analyses procedures for the ERP measures. We show that all three pattern classifier algorithms surpass traditional ERP measurements in their ability to predict individual differences in performance. Although the differences across pattern classifiers were not large, the CPCA method with training data sets restricted to EEG activity for trials in which observers expressed high confidence about their decisions performed the highest at predicting perceptual performance of observers. We also show that the neural activity predicting the performance across individuals was distributed through time starting at 120ms, and unlike the face-selective ERP response, sustained for more than 400ms after stimulus presentation, indicating that both early and late components contain information correlated with observers' behavioral performance. Together, our results further demonstrate the potential of pattern classifiers compared to more traditional ERP techniques as an analysis tool for modeling spatiotemporal dynamics of the human brain and

Circulation patterns in active lava lakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Redmond, T. C.; Lev, E.

2014-12-01

Active lava lakes provide a unique window into magmatic conduit processes. We investigated circulation patterns of 4 active lava lakes: Kilauea's Halemaumau crater, Mount Erebus, Erta Ale and Nyiragongo, and in an artificial "lava lake" constructed at the Syracuse University Lava Lab. We employed visual and thermal video recordings collected at these volcanoes and use computer vision techniques to extract time-dependent, two-dimensional surface velocity maps. The large amount of data available from Halemaumau enabled us to identify several characteristic circulation patterns. One such pattern is a rapid acceleration followed by rapid deceleration, often to a level lower than the pre-acceleration level, and then a slow recovery. Another pattern is periodic asymmetric peaks of gradual acceleration and rapid deceleration, or vice versa, previously explained by gas pistoning. Using spectral analysis, we find that the dominant period of circulation cycles at approximately 30 minutes, 3 times longer than the dominant period identified previously for Mount Erebus. Measuring a complete surface velocity field allowed us to map and follow locations of divergence and convergence, therefore upwelling and downwelling, thus connecting the surface flow with that at depth. At Nyiragongo, the location of main upwelling shifts gradually, yet is usually at the interior of the lake, for Erebus it is usually along the perimeter yet often there is catastrophic downwelling at the interior; For Halemaumau upwelling/downwelling position is almost always on the perimeter. In addition to velocity fields, we developed an automated tool for counting crustal plates at the surface of the lava lakes, and found a correlation, and a lag time, between changes if circulation vigor and the average size of crustal plates. Circulation in the artificial basaltic lava "lake" was limited by its size and degree of foaming, yet we measured surface velocities and identify patterns. Maximum surface velocity

Understanding human activity patterns based on space-time-semantics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Wei; Li, Songnian

2016-11-01

Understanding human activity patterns plays a key role in various applications in an urban environment, such as transportation planning and traffic forecasting, urban planning, public health and safety, and emergency response. Most existing studies in modeling human activity patterns mainly focus on spatiotemporal dimensions, which lacks consideration of underlying semantic context. In fact, what people do and discuss at some places, inferring what is happening at the places, cannot be simple neglected because it is the root of human mobility patterns. We believe that the geo-tagged semantic context, representing what individuals do and discuss at a place and a specific time, drives a formation of specific human activity pattern. In this paper, we aim to model human activity patterns not only based on space and time but also with consideration of associated semantics, and attempt to prove a hypothesis that similar mobility patterns may have different motivations. We develop a spatiotemporal-semantic model to quantitatively express human activity patterns based on topic models, leading to an analysis of space, time and semantics. A case study is conducted using Twitter data in Toronto based on our model. Through computing the similarities between users in terms of spatiotemporal pattern, semantic pattern and spatiotemporal-semantic pattern, we find that only a small number of users (2.72%) have very similar activity patterns, while the majority (87.14%) show different activity patterns (i.e., similar spatiotemporal patterns and different semantic patterns, similar semantic patterns and different spatiotemporal patterns, or different in both). The population of users that has very similar activity patterns is decreased by 56.41% after incorporating semantic information in the corresponding spatiotemporal patterns, which can quantitatively prove the hypothesis.

Seasonal variation of activity patterns in roe deer in a temperate forested area.

PubMed

Pagon, Nives; Grignolio, Stefano; Pipia, Anna; Bongi, Paolo; Bertolucci, Cristiano; Apollonio, Marco

2013-07-01

We investigated the activity patterns of a European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) population living in a forested Apennine area in central Italy, in order to shed light on the environmental and biological factors that were expected to account for the observed activity patterns on daily and yearly bases. Daily and seasonal activity patterns of 31 radio-collared roe deer were assessed through sessions of radio tracking for a total period of 18 consecutive months. Roe deer showed bimodal activity patterns throughout the year, with the two highest peaks of activity recorded at dawn and dusk. Activity patterns of males and females differed during the territorial period (from early spring to late summer), whereas they did not during the nonterritorial period. Most likely, behavioral thermoregulation can be held responsible for variation of daily activity patterns in different seasons. In winter, for instance, activity during the dawn period was significantly higher than in other seasons and daylight activity was significantly higher than at night. Nocturnal activity was highest in summer and lowest in winter. During the hunting season, moreover, roe deer showed lower activity levels than during the rest of the year. The prediction that roe deer would show lower activity levels during full moon nights, when the predation risk was assumed to be higher, was not confirmed by our data. Activity rhythms in roe deer were thus subjected to both endogenous and environmental factors, the latter working as exogenous synchronization cues. Accordingly, in changing environmental and ecological conditions, a circadian cycle of activity could be seen as the result of complex interactions among daily behavioral rhythm, digestive physiology, and external modifying factors.

Pattern Formation on Networks: from Localised Activity to Turing Patterns

PubMed Central

McCullen, Nick; Wagenknecht, Thomas

2016-01-01

Networks of interactions between competing species are used to model many complex systems, such as in genetics, evolutionary biology or sociology and knowledge of the patterns of activity they can exhibit is important for understanding their behaviour. The emergence of patterns on complex networks with reaction-diffusion dynamics is studied here, where node dynamics interact via diffusion via the network edges. Through the application of a generalisation of dynamical systems analysis this work reveals a fundamental connection between small-scale modes of activity on networks and localised pattern formation seen throughout science, such as solitons, breathers and localised buckling. The connection between solutions with a single and small numbers of activated nodes and the fully developed system-scale patterns are investigated computationally using numerical continuation methods. These techniques are also used to help reveal a much larger portion of of the full number of solutions that exist in the system at different parameter values. The importance of network structure is also highlighted, with a key role being played by nodes with a certain so-called optimal degree, on which the interaction between the reaction kinetics and the network structure organise the behaviour of the system. PMID:27273339

Seasonal variation in American black bear Ursus americanus activity patterns: Quantification via remote photography

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bridges, A.S.; Vaughan, M.R.; Klenzendorf, S.

2004-01-01

Activity pattern plasticity may serve as an evolutionary adaptation to optimize fitness in an inconstant environment, however, quantifying patterns and demonstrating variation can be problematic. For American black bears Ursus americanus, wariness and habitat inaccessibility further complicate quantification. Radio telemetry has been the primary technique used to examine activity, however, interpretation error and limitation on numbers of animals available to monitor prevent extrapolation to unmarked or untransmittered members of the population. We used remote cameras to quantify black bear activity patterns and examined differences by season, sex and reproductive class in the Alleghany Mountains of western Virginia, USA. We used 1,533 pictures of black bears taken during 1998-2002 for our analyses. Black bears generally were diurnal in summer and nocturnal in autumn with a vespertine activity peak during both seasons. Bear-hound training seasons occurred during September and may offer explanation for the observed shift towards nocturnal behaviour. We found no substantial differences in activity patterns between sex and reproductive classes. Use of remote cameras allowed us to efficiently sample larger numbers of individual animals and likely offered a better approximation of population-level activity patterns than individual-level, telemetry-based methodologies.

Patterns of activity expressed by juvenile horseshoe crabs.

PubMed

Dubofsky, E A; Simpson, S D; Chabot, Christopher C; Watson, Winsor H

2013-09-01

Adult American horseshoe crabs, Limulus polyphemus, possess endogenous circadian and circatidal clocks controlling visual sensitivity and locomotion, respectively. The goal of this study was to determine the types of activity rhythms expressed by juvenile horseshoe crabs (n = 24) when exposed to a 14:10 light/dark cycle (LD) for 10 days, followed by 10 days of constant darkness (DD). Horseshoe crab activity was recorded with a digital time-lapse video system that used an infrared-sensitive camera so animals could be monitored at night. In LD, 15 animals expressed daily patterns of activity, 6 displayed a circatidal pattern, and the remaining 3 were arrhythmic. Of the 15 animals with daily patterns of locomotion, 7 had a significant preference (P < 0.05) for diurnal activity and 3 for nocturnal activity; the remainder did not express a significant preference for day or night activity. In DD, 13 horseshoe crabs expressed circatidal rhythms and 8 maintained a pattern of about 24 h. Although these results suggest the presence of a circadian clock influencing circatidal patterns of locomotion, these apparent circadian rhythms may actually represent the expression of just one of the two bouts of activity driven by the putative circalunidian clocks that control their tidal rhythms. Overall, these results indicate that, like adults, juvenile horseshoe crabs express both daily and tidal patterns of activity and that at least one, and maybe both, of these patterns is driven by endogenous clocks.

Bilateral versus ipsilesional cortico-subcortical activity patterns in stroke show hemispheric dependence.

PubMed

Vidal, Ana C; Banca, Paula; Pascoal, Augusto G; Cordeiro, Gustavo; Sargento-Freitas, João; Gouveia, Ana; Castelo-Branco, Miguel

2018-01-01

Background Understanding of interhemispheric interactions in stroke patients during motor control is an important clinical neuroscience quest that may provide important clues for neurorehabilitation. In stroke patients bilateral overactivation in both hemispheres has been interpreted as a poor prognostic indicator of functional recovery. In contrast, ipsilesional patterns have been linked with better motor outcomes. Aim We investigated the pathophysiology of hemispheric interactions during limb movement without and with contralateral restraint, to mimic the effects of constraint-induced movement therapy. We used neuroimaging to probe brain activity with such a movement-dependent interhemispheric modulation paradigm. Methods We used a functional magnetic resonance imaging block design during which the plegic/paretic upper limb was recruited/mobilized to perform unilateral arm elevation, as a function of presence versus absence of contralateral limb restriction (n = 20, with balanced left/right lesion sites). Results Analysis of 10 right hemispheric stroke participants yielded bilateral sensorimotor cortex activation in all movement phases in contrast with the unilateral dominance seen in the 10 left hemispheric stroke participants. Superimposition of contralateral restriction led to a prominent shift from activation to deactivation response patterns, in particular in cortical and basal ganglia motor areas in right hemispheric stroke. Left hemispheric stroke was, in general, characterized by reduced activation patterns, even in the absence of restriction, which induced additional cortical silencing. Conclusion The observed hemispheric-dependent activation/deactivation shifts is novel and these pathophysiological observations suggest short-term neuroplasticity that may be useful for hemisphere-tailored neurorehabilitation.

Bilateral versus ipsilesional cortico-subcortical activity patterns in stroke show hemispheric dependence.

PubMed

Vidal, A Cristina; Banca, Paula; Pascoal, Augusto G; Santo, Gustavo C; Sargento-Freitas, João; Gouveia, Ana; Castelo-Branco, Miguel

2017-01-01

Background Understanding of interhemispheric interactions in stroke patients during motor control is an important clinical neuroscience quest that may provide important clues for neurorehabilitation. In stroke patients, bilateral overactivation in both hemispheres has been interpreted as a poor prognostic indicator of functional recovery. In contrast, ipsilesional patterns have been linked with better motor outcomes. Aim We investigated the pathophysiology of hemispheric interactions during limb movement without and with contralateral restraint, to mimic the effects of constraint-induced movement therapy. We used neuroimaging to probe brain activity with such a movement-dependent interhemispheric modulation paradigm. Methods We used an fMRI block design during which the plegic/paretic upper limb was recruited/mobilized to perform unilateral arm elevation, as a function of presence versus absence of contralateral limb restriction ( n = 20, with balanced left/right lesion sites). Results Analysis of 10 right-hemispheric stroke participants yielded bilateral sensorimotor cortex activation in all movement phases in contrast with the unilateral dominance seen in the 10 left-hemispheric stroke participants. Superimposition of contralateral restriction led to a prominent shift from activation to deactivation response patterns, in particular in cortical and basal ganglia motor areas in right-hemispheric stroke. Left-hemispheric stroke was in general characterized by reduced activation patterns, even in the absence of restriction, which induced additional cortical silencing. Conclusion The observed hemispheric-dependent activation/deactivation shifts are novel and these pathophysiological observations suggest short-term neuroplasticity that may be useful for hemisphere-tailored neurorehabilitation.

Observations of diffusion-limited aggregation-like patterns by atmospheric plasma jet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiu, Ching-Yang; Chu, Hong-Yu

2017-11-01

We report on the observations of diffusion-limited aggregation-like patterns during the thin film removal process by an atmospheric plasma jet. The fractal patterns are found to have various structures like dense branching and tree-like patterns. The determination of surface morphology reveals that the footprints of discharge bursts are not as random as expected. We propose a diffusion-limited aggregation model with a few extra requirements by analogy with the experimental results, and thereby present the beauty of nature. We show that the model simulates not only the shapes of the patterns similar to the experimental observations, but also the growing sequences of fluctuating, oscillatory, and zigzag traces.

Effects of action observation therapy on hand dexterity and EEG-based cortical activation patterns in patients with post-stroke hemiparesis.

PubMed

Kuk, Eun-Ju; Kim, Jong-Man; Oh, Duck-Won; Hwang, Han-Jeong

2016-10-01

Previous reports have suggested that action observation training (AOT) is beneficial in enhancing the early learning of new motor tasks; however, EEG-based investigation has received little attention for AOT. The purpose of this study was to illustrate the effects of AOT on hand dexterity and cortical activation in patients with post-stroke hemiparesis. Twenty patients with post-stroke hemiparesis were randomly divided into either the experimental group (EG) or control group (CG), with 10 patients in each group. Prior to the execution of motor tasks (carrying wooden blocks from one box to another), subjects in the EG and CG observed a video clip displaying the execution of the same motor task and pictures showing landscapes, respectively. Outcome measures included the box and block test (BBT) to evaluate hand dexterity and EEG-based brain mapping to detect changes in cortical activation. The BBT scores (EG: 20.50 ± 6.62 at pre-test and 24.40 ± 5.42 at post-test; CG: 20.20 ± 6.12 at pre-test and 20.60 ± 7.17 at post-test) revealed significant main effects for the time and group and significant time-by-group interactions (p < 0.05). For the subjects in the EG, topographical representations obtained with the EEG-based brain mapping system were different in each session of the AOT and remarkable changes occurred from the 2nd session of AOT. Furthermore, the middle frontal gyrus was less active at post-test than at pre-test. These findings support that AOT may be beneficial in altering cortical activation patterns and hand dexterity.

Physical activity patterns and metabolic syndrome in Costa Rica

PubMed Central

Hastert, Theresa A.; Gong, Jian; Campos, Hannia; Baylin, Ana

2015-01-01

Objective To examine whether total physical activity or activity patterns are associated with metabolic syndrome and its components. Methods Participants include 1,994 controls from a case-control study of non-fatal myocardial infarction in Costa Rica (1994–2004). Physical activity was assessed via self-administered questionnaire and patterns were identified using principal components analysis. Metabolic syndrome was assessed via blood samples and anthropometry measurements from in-home study visits. Prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using log binomial regression. Adjusted least squares means of metabolic syndrome components were calculated by quintile of total activity and pattern scores. Results Four activity patterns were identified: rest/sleep, agricultural, light indoor activity, and manual labor. Total activity was not associated with metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome prevalence was 20% lower in participants with the highest scores on the agricultural job pattern compared to those with the lowest (PR: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.68–0.94). Higher total activity was associated with lower triglycerides and lower HDL cholesterol. Higher scores on each pattern were inversely associated with metabolic syndrome components, particularly waist circumference and fasting blood glucose. Conclusions Patterns or types of physical activity may be more strongly associated with metabolic syndrome and its components than total activity levels. PMID:25445330

Operant conditioning of synaptic and spiking activity patterns in single hippocampal neurons.

PubMed

Ishikawa, Daisuke; Matsumoto, Nobuyoshi; Sakaguchi, Tetsuya; Matsuki, Norio; Ikegaya, Yuji

2014-04-02

Learning is a process of plastic adaptation through which a neural circuit generates a more preferable outcome; however, at a microscopic level, little is known about how synaptic activity is patterned into a desired configuration. Here, we report that animals can generate a specific form of synaptic activity in a given neuron in the hippocampus. In awake, head-restricted mice, we applied electrical stimulation to the lateral hypothalamus, a reward-associated brain region, when whole-cell patch-clamped CA1 neurons exhibited spontaneous synaptic activity that met preset criteria. Within 15 min, the mice learned to generate frequently the excitatory synaptic input pattern that satisfied the criteria. This reinforcement learning of synaptic activity was not observed for inhibitory input patterns. When a burst unit activity pattern was conditioned in paired and nonpaired paradigms, the frequency of burst-spiking events increased and decreased, respectively. The burst reinforcement occurred in the conditioned neuron but not in other adjacent neurons; however, ripple field oscillations were concomitantly reinforced. Neural conditioning depended on activation of NMDA receptors and dopamine D1 receptors. Acutely stressed mice and depression model mice that were subjected to forced swimming failed to exhibit the neural conditioning. This learning deficit was rescued by repetitive treatment with fluoxetine, an antidepressant. Therefore, internally motivated animals are capable of routing an ongoing action potential series into a specific neural pathway of the hippocampal network.

Similarity of Cortical Activity Patterns Predicts generalization Behavior

PubMed Central

Engineer, Crystal T.; Perez, Claudia A.; Carraway, Ryan S.; Chang, Kevin Q.; Roland, Jarod L.; Sloan, Andrew M.; Kilgard, Michael P.

2013-01-01

Humans and animals readily generalize previously learned knowledge to new situations. Determining similarity is critical for assigning category membership to a novel stimulus. We tested the hypothesis that category membership is initially encoded by the similarity of the activity pattern evoked by a novel stimulus to the patterns from known categories. We provide behavioral and neurophysiological evidence that activity patterns in primary auditory cortex contain sufficient information to explain behavioral categorization of novel speech sounds by rats. Our results suggest that category membership might be encoded by the similarity of the activity pattern evoked by a novel speech sound to the patterns evoked by known sounds. Categorization based on featureless pattern matching may represent a general neural mechanism for ensuring accurate generalization across sensory and cognitive systems. PMID:24147140

Where Do I Look? Preservice Teachers' Classroom Observation Patterns

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Teresa; Bender-Slack, Delane

2011-01-01

During field experiences, preservice teachers are typically required to observe mentor teachers in schools, but what exactly are they seeing? This research examined the patterns and variations that existed with regard to preservice teachers' classroom observations during recent field experiences. Data were collected from 24 preservice teachers…

Associations between physical activity patterns and dietary patterns in a representative sample of Polish girls aged 13-21 years: a cross-sectional study (GEBaHealth Project).

PubMed

Wadolowska, Lidia; Kowalkowska, Joanna; Lonnie, Marta; Czarnocinska, Jolanta; Jezewska-Zychowicz, Marzena; Babicz-Zielinska, Ewa

2016-08-02

Similar to other countries, trends of decreasing levels of physical activity (PA) and an increasing prevalence of unhealthy dietary patterns are observed among girls in Poland. Better understanding of potentially inter-related behaviours within this population can help to design tailored interventions. The purpose of this study was to determine associations between PA patterns and dietary patterns in a representative sample of Polish girls. Girls aged 13-21 years (n = 1107) were randomly selected for the study. PA was assessed using International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Long (IPAQ-L). Dietary data were collected with food frequency questionnaires. PA patterns and dietary patterns were drawn separately by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Logistic regression was used to find the associations between PA patterns and dietary patterns. Four major PA patterns ('School/work activity', 'Active recreation', 'Yard activity' and 'Walking and domestic activity') and four dietary patterns ('Traditional Polish', 'Fruit & vegetables', 'Fast food & sweets' and 'Dairy & fats') were identified. Level of PA was the highest in the upper tertile of 'School/work activity' pattern (mean 1372.2 MET-minutes/week, 95 % Confidence Intervals [CI]: 1285.9-1458.5). Girls in upper tertiles of 'Yard activity', 'Active recreation' and 'School/work activity' patterns had significantly higher chances of being in the upper tertile of the 'Fruit and vegetables' dietary pattern (odds ratio [OR] 2.17, 95 % CI: 1.50-3.14, p < 0.0001; OR 2.02, 95 % CI: 1.41-2.91; p < 0.001 and OR 1.76, 95 % CI: 1.24-2.51, p < 0.01 respectively; all adjusted for confounders) in comparison to bottom tertiles. Weak, but significant inverse associations were found between upper tertiles of 'Active recreation' and 'Yard activity' patterns and unhealthy dietary patterns. We found associations between PA patterns and dietary patterns in the population of Polish girls. Girls with the highest

Cultural patterns in children's learning through keen observation and participation in their communities.

PubMed

Correa-Chávez, Maricela; Roberts, Amy L D; Pérez, Margarita Martínez

2011-01-01

This chapter examines children's learning through careful attention and participation in the ongoing activities of their community. This form of learning, which has been called learning through Intent Community Participation, seems to be especially common in Mesoamerican Indigenous communities. In these communities, children are integrated into the everyday work and lives of adults and their learning may not be the central focus. We contrast this pattern with that of middle-class European American communities where children are segregated from the primary adult functions of the community. In middle-class communities and schools, children are often encouraged to engage in abstract lessons where their attention is explicitly directed to specific events. In contrast, learning through keen attention and observation may rely on learning through attention to instructions not specifically directed to the learner. Studies demonstrate Mesoamerican Indigenous children's ability to learn through simultaneous and open attention to overheard or observed activities. This form of learning is supported through multiple modalities of communication and interaction. Motivation to learn stems from the learner's inclusion into the major activities and goals of the community. Implications of research and future directions for the study of learning through keen observation are discussed.

Self-reported empathy and neural activity during action imitation and observation in schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Horan, William P.; Iacoboni, Marco; Cross, Katy A.; Korb, Alex; Lee, Junghee; Nori, Poorang; Quintana, Javier; Wynn, Jonathan K.; Green, Michael F.

2014-01-01

Introduction Although social cognitive impairments are key determinants of functional outcome in schizophrenia their neural bases are poorly understood. This study investigated neural activity during imitation and observation of finger movements and facial expressions in schizophrenia, and their correlates with self-reported empathy. Methods 23 schizophrenia outpatients and 23 healthy controls were studied with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while they imitated, executed, or simply observed finger movements and facial emotional expressions. Between-group activation differences, as well as relationships between activation and self-reported empathy, were evaluated. Results Both patients and controls similarly activated neural systems previously associated with these tasks. We found no significant between-group differences in task-related activations. There were, however, between-group differences in the correlation between self-reported empathy and right inferior frontal (pars opercularis) activity during observation of facial emotional expressions. As in previous studies, controls demonstrated a positive association between brain activity and empathy scores. In contrast, the pattern in the patient group reflected a negative association between brain activity and empathy. Conclusions Although patients with schizophrenia demonstrated largely normal patterns of neural activation across the finger movement and facial expression tasks, they reported decreased self perceived empathy and failed to show the typical relationship between neural activity and self-reported empathy seen in controls. These findings suggest that patients show a disjunction between automatic neural responses to low level social cues and higher level, integrative social cognitive processes involved in self-perceived empathy. PMID:25009771

Self-reported empathy and neural activity during action imitation and observation in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Horan, William P; Iacoboni, Marco; Cross, Katy A; Korb, Alex; Lee, Junghee; Nori, Poorang; Quintana, Javier; Wynn, Jonathan K; Green, Michael F

2014-01-01

Although social cognitive impairments are key determinants of functional outcome in schizophrenia their neural bases are poorly understood. This study investigated neural activity during imitation and observation of finger movements and facial expressions in schizophrenia, and their correlates with self-reported empathy. 23 schizophrenia outpatients and 23 healthy controls were studied with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while they imitated, executed, or simply observed finger movements and facial emotional expressions. Between-group activation differences, as well as relationships between activation and self-reported empathy, were evaluated. Both patients and controls similarly activated neural systems previously associated with these tasks. We found no significant between-group differences in task-related activations. There were, however, between-group differences in the correlation between self-reported empathy and right inferior frontal (pars opercularis) activity during observation of facial emotional expressions. As in previous studies, controls demonstrated a positive association between brain activity and empathy scores. In contrast, the pattern in the patient group reflected a negative association between brain activity and empathy. Although patients with schizophrenia demonstrated largely normal patterns of neural activation across the finger movement and facial expression tasks, they reported decreased self perceived empathy and failed to show the typical relationship between neural activity and self-reported empathy seen in controls. These findings suggest that patients show a disjunction between automatic neural responses to low level social cues and higher level, integrative social cognitive processes involved in self-perceived empathy.

Detecting potential anomalies in projections of rainfall trends and patterns using human observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohfeld, K. E.; Savo, V.; Sillmann, J.; Morton, C.; Lepofsky, D.

2016-12-01

Shifting precipitation patterns are a well-documented consequence of climate change, but their spatial variability is particularly difficult to assess. While the accuracy of global models has increased, specific regional changes in precipitation regimes are not well captured by these models. Typically, researchers who wish to detect trends and patterns in climatic variables, such as precipitation, use instrumental observations. In our study, we combined observations of rainfall by subsistence-oriented communities with several metrics of rainfall estimated from global instrumental records for comparable time periods (1955 - 2005). This comparison was aimed at identifying: 1) which rainfall metrics best match human observations of changes in precipitation; 2) areas where local communities observe changes not detected by global models. The collated observations ( 3800) made by subsistence-oriented communities covered 129 countries ( 1830 localities). For comparable time periods, we saw a substantial correspondence between instrumental records and human observations (66-77%) at the same locations, regardless of whether we considered trends in general rainfall, drought, or extreme rainfall. We observed a clustering of mismatches in two specific regions, possibly indicating some climatic phenomena not completely captured by the currently available global models. Many human observations also indicated an increased unpredictability in the start, end, duration, and continuity of the rainy seasons, all of which may hamper the performance of subsistence activities. We suggest that future instrumental metrics should capture this unpredictability of rainfall. This information would be important for thousands of subsistence-oriented communities in planning, coping, and adapting to climate change.

Patterns in Crew-Initiated Photography of Earth from ISS - Is Earth Observation a Salutogenic Experience?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robinson, Julie A.; Slack, Kelley J.; Olson, Valerie A.; Trenchard, Mike; Willis, Kim; Baskin, Pam; Ritsher, Jennifer Boyd

2006-01-01

To provide for the well-being of crewmembers on future exploration missions, understanding how space station crewmembers handle the inherently stressful isolation and confinement during long-duration missions is important. A recent retrospective survey of previously flown astronauts found that the most commonly reported psychologically enriching aspects of spaceflight had to do with their Perceptions of Earth. Crewmembers onboard the International Space Station (ISS) photograph Earth through the station windows. Some of these photographs are in response to requests from scientists on the ground through the Crew Earth Observations (CEO) payload. Other photographs taken by crewmembers have not been in response to these formal requests. The automatically recorded data from the camera provides a dataset that can be used to test hypotheses about factors correlated with self-initiated crewmember photography. The present study used objective in-flight data to corroborate the previous questionnaire finding and to further investigate the nature of voluntary Earth-Observation activity. We examined the distribution of photographs with respect to time, crew, and subject matter. We also determined whether the frequency fluctuated in conjunction with major mission events such as vehicle dockings, and extra-vehicular activities (EVAs, or spacewalks), relative to the norm for the relevant crew. We also examined the influence of geographic and temporal patterns on frequency of Earth photography activities. We tested the hypotheses that there would be peak photography intensity over locations of personal interest, and on weekends. From December 2001 through October 2005 (Expeditions 4-11) crewmembers took 144,180 photographs of Earth with time and date automatically recorded by the camera. Of the time-stamped photographs, 84.5% were crew-initiated, and not in response to CEO requests. Preliminary analysis indicated some phasing in patterns of photography during the course of a

Evaluation of camouflage pattern performance of textiles by human observers and CAMAELEON

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heinrich, Daniela H.; Selj, Gorm K.

2017-10-01

Military textiles with camouflage pattern are an important part of the protection measures for soldiers. Military operational environments differ a lot depending on climate and vegetation. This requires very different camouflage pattern to achieve good protection. To find the best performing pattern for given environments we have in earlier evaluations mainly applied observer trials as evaluation method. In these camouflage evaluation test human observers were asked to search for targets (in natural settings) presented on a high resolution PC screen, and the corresponding detection times were recorded. Another possibility is to base the evaluation on simulations. CAMAELEON is a licensed tool that ranks camouflaged targets by their similarity with local backgrounds. The similarity is estimated through the parameters local contrast, orientation of structures in the pattern and spatial frequency, by mimicking the response and signal processing in the visual cortex of the human eye. Simulations have a number of advantages over observer trials, for example, that they are more flexible, cheaper, and faster. Applying these two methods to the same images of camouflaged targets we found that CAMAELEON simulation results didn't match observer trial results for targets with disruptive patterns. This finding now calls for follow up studies in order to learn more about the advantages and pitfalls of CAMAELEON. During recent observer trials we studied new camouflage patterns and the effect of additional equipment, such as combat vests. In this paper we will present the results from a study comparing evaluation results of human based observer trials and CAMAELEON.

Mandatory Nap Times and Group Napping Patterns in Child Care: An Observational Study.

PubMed

Staton, Sally L; Smith, Simon S; Hurst, Cameron; Pattinson, Cassandra L; Thorpe, Karen J

2017-01-01

Policy provision for naps is typical in child care settings, but there is variability in the practices employed. One practice that might modify children's early sleep patterns is the allocation of a mandatory nap time in which all children are required to lie on their beds without alternate activity permitted. There is currently limited evidence of the effects of such practices on children's napping patterns. This study examined the association between duration of mandatory nap times and group-level napping patterns in child care settings. Observations were undertaken in a community sample of 113 preschool rooms with a scheduled nap time (N = 2,114 children). Results showed that 83.5% of child care settings implemented a mandatory nap time (range = 15-145 min) while 14.2% provided alternate activities for children throughout the nap time period. Overall, 31% of children napped during nap times. Compared to rooms with ≤ 30 min of mandatory nap time, rooms with 31-60 min and > 60 min of mandatory nap time had a two-and-a-half and fourfold increase, respectively, in the proportion of children napping. Nap onset latency did not significantly differ across groups. Among preschool children, exposure to longer mandatory nap times in child care may increase incidence of napping.

Contrasting activity patterns of two related octopus species, Octopus macropus and Octopus vulgaris.

PubMed

Meisel, Daniela V; Byrne, Ruth A; Kuba, Michael; Mather, Jennifer; Ploberger, Werner; Reschenhofer, Erhard

2006-08-01

Octopus macropus and Octopus vulgaris have overlapping habitats and are exposed to similar temporal changes. Whereas the former species is described as nocturnal in the field, there are conflicting reports about the activity time of the latter one. To compare activity patterns, the authors tested both species in the laboratory. Octopuses were exposed to a light-dark cycle and held under constant dim light for 7 days each. O. macropus showed nocturnal and light-cued activity. According to casual observations, O. vulgaris started out nocturnal but had switched to mostly diurnal when the experiment began. Individual variation of its activity was found. The different activity patterns of O. macropus and O. vulgaris might reflect their lifestyles, the latter species being more generalist. ((c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).

Positivity effect in healthy aging in observational but not active feedback-learning.

PubMed

Bellebaum, Christian; Rustemeier, Martina; Daum, Irene

2012-01-01

The present study investigated the impact of healthy aging on the bias to learn from positive or negative performance feedback in observational and active feedback learning. In active learning, a previous study had already shown a negative learning bias in healthy seniors older than 75 years, while no bias was found for younger seniors. However, healthy aging is accompanied by a 'positivity effect', a tendency to primarily attend to stimuli with positive valence. Based on recent findings of dissociable neural mechanisms in active and observational feedback learning, the positivity effect was hypothesized to influence older participants' observational feedback learning in particular. In two separate experiments, groups of young (mean age 27) and older participants (mean age 60 years) completed an observational or active learning task designed to differentially assess positive and negative learning. Older but not younger observational learners showed a significant bias to learn better from positive than negative feedback. In accordance with previous findings, no bias was found for active learning. This pattern of results is discussed in terms of differences in the neural underpinnings of active and observational learning from performance feedback.

Investigating circular patterns in linear polarization observations of Venus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahapatra, Gourav; Stam, Daphne; Rossi, Loic; Rodenhuis, Michiel; Snik, Frans

2017-04-01

ESA's Venus Express mission has revealed our neighbouring planet to be a highly dynamic world, with ever-changing cloud properties and structures, wind speeds that increase in time, and variable concentrations of atmospheric trace gases such as SO2. The SPICAV-IR instrument on Venus Express has provided us with close-up linear polarization data of sunlight reflected by Venus's clouds and hazes, that allows a characterisation of their composition and particle sizes. Here, we analyse linear polarization data of the planet at a distance, obtained with the Extreme Polarimeter (ExPo) on the William Herschel Telescope on La Palma. These spatially resolved, high-accuracy polarization observations of Venus show faint circular patterns centered on the sub-solar point that are absent in the flux observations. So far, careful analyses have ruled out instrumental effects which leaves us to wonder about atmospheric properties as the cause of the circular patterns. Using numerical simulations of the flux and polarization of sunlight that is reflected by Venus, we have investigated the relation between the observed patterns and several atmospheric properties, such as variations in particle sizes, composition, density and altitude. We discuss the plausibility of the possible causes in the view of the current knowledge of the composition and dynamical processes in Venus's atmosphere.

Design, application and testing of the Work Observation Method by Activity Timing (WOMBAT) to measure clinicians' patterns of work and communication.

PubMed

Westbrook, Johanna I; Ampt, Amanda

2009-04-01

Evidence regarding how health information technologies influence clinicians' patterns of work and support efficient practices is limited. Traditional paper-based data collection methods are unable to capture clinical work complexity and communication patterns. The use of electronic data collection tools for such studies is emerging yet is rarely assessed for reliability or validity. Our aim was to design, apply and test an observational method which incorporated the use of an electronic data collection tool for work measurement studies which would allow efficient, accurate and reliable data collection, and capture greater degrees of work complexity than current approaches. We developed an observational method and software for personal digital assistants (PDAs) which captures multiple dimensions of clinicians' work tasks, namely what task, with whom, and with what; tasks conducted in parallel (multi-tasking); interruptions and task duration. During field-testing over 7 months across four hospital wards, fifty-two nurses were observed for 250 h. Inter-rater reliability was tested and validity was measured by (i) assessing whether observational data reflected known differences in clinical role work tasks and (ii) by comparing observational data with participants' estimates of their task time distribution. Observers took 15-20 h of training to master the method and data collection process. Only 1% of tasks observed did not match the classification developed and were classified as 'other'. Inter-rater reliability scores of observers were maintained at over 85%. The results discriminated between the work patterns of enrolled and registered nurses consistent with differences in their roles. Survey data (n=27) revealed consistent ratings of tasks by nurses, and their rankings of most to least time-consuming tasks were significantly correlated with those derived from the observational data. Over 40% of nurses' time was spent in direct care or professional communication

Dietary patterns as compared with physical activity in relation to metabolic syndrome among Chinese adults.

PubMed

He, Y; Li, Y; Lai, J; Wang, D; Zhang, J; Fu, P; Yang, X; Qi, L

2013-10-01

To examine the nationally-representative dietary patterns and their joint effects with physical activity on the likelihood of metabolic syndrome (MS) among 20,827 Chinese adults. CNNHS was a nationally representative cross-sectional observational study. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the Joint Interim Statement definition. The "Green Water" dietary pattern, characterized by high intakes of rice and vegetables and moderate intakes in animal foods was related to the lowest prevalence of MS (15.9%). Compared to the "Green Water" dietary pattern, the "Yellow Earth" dietary pattern, characterized by high intakes of refined cereal products, tubers, cooking salt and salted vegetable was associated with a significantly elevated odds of MS (odds ratio 1.66, 95%CI: 1.40-1.96), after adjustment of age, sex, socioeconomic status and lifestyle factors. The "Western/new affluence" dietary pattern characterized by higher consumption of beef/lamb, fruit, eggs, poultry and seafood also significantly associated with MS (odds ratio: 1.37, 95%CI: 1.13-1.67). Physical activity showed significant interactions with the dietary patterns in relation to MS risk (P for interaction = 0.008). In the joint analysis, participants with the combination of sedentary activity with the "Yellow Earth" dietary pattern or the "Western/new affluence" dietary pattern both had more than three times (95%CI: 2.8-6.1) higher odds of MS than those with active activity and the "Green Water" dietary pattern. Our findings from the large Chinese national representative data indicate that dietary patterns affect the likelihood of MS. Combining healthy dietary pattern with active lifestyle may benefit more in prevention of MS. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Acute stress evokes sexually dimorphic, stressor-specific patterns of neural activation across multiple limbic brain regions in adult rats.

PubMed

Sood, Ankit; Chaudhari, Karina; Vaidya, Vidita A

2018-03-01

Stress enhances the risk for psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression. Stress responses vary across sex and may underlie the heightened vulnerability to psychopathology in females. Here, we examined the influence of acute immobilization stress (AIS) and a two-day short-term forced swim stress (FS) on neural activation in multiple cortical and subcortical brain regions, implicated as targets of stress and in the regulation of neuroendocrine stress responses, in male and female rats using Fos as a neural activity marker. AIS evoked a sex-dependent pattern of neural activation within the cingulate and infralimbic subdivisions of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), lateral septum (LS), habenula, and hippocampal subfields. The degree of neural activation in the mPFC, LS, and habenula was higher in males. Female rats exhibited reduced Fos positive cell numbers in the dentate gyrus hippocampal subfield, an effect not observed in males. We addressed whether the sexually dimorphic neural activation pattern noted following AIS was also observed with the short-term stress of FS. In the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and the amygdala, FS similar to AIS resulted in robust increases in neural activation in both sexes. The pattern of neural activation evoked by FS was distinct across sexes, with a heightened neural activation noted in the prelimbic mPFC subdivision and hippocampal subfields in females and differed from the pattern noted with AIS. This indicates that the sex differences in neural activation patterns observed within stress-responsive brain regions are dependent on the nature of stressor experience.

Physiological Profile and Activity Pattern of Minor Gaelic Football Players.

PubMed

Cullen, Bryan D; Roantree, Mark T; McCarren, Andrew L; Kelly, David T; OʼConnor, Paul L; Hughes, Sarah M; Daly, Pat G; Moyna, Niall M

2017-07-01

Cullen, BD, Roantree, M, McCarren, A, Kelly, DT, O'Connor, PL, Hughes, SM, Daly, PG, and Moyna1, NM. Physiological profile and activity pattern of minor Gaelic football players. J Strength Cond Res 31(7): 1811-1820, 2017-The purpose of this study was to evaluate the physiological profile and activity pattern in club- and county-level under-18 (U-18) Gaelic football players relative to playing position. Participants (n = 85) were analyzed during 17 official 15-a-side matches using global positioning system technology (SPI Pro X II; GPSports Systems, Canberra, Australia) and heart rate (HR) telemetry. During the second part of this study, 63 participants underwent an incremental treadmill test to assess their maximal oxygen uptake (V[Combining Dot Above]o2max) and peak HR (HRmax). Players covered a mean distance of 5,774 ± 737 m during a full 60-minute match. The mean %HRmax and %V[Combining Dot Above]O2max observed during the match play were 81.6 ± 4.3% and 70.1 ± 7.75%, respectively. The playing level had no effect on the distance covered, player movement patterns, or %HRmax observed during match play. Midfield players covered significantly greater distance than defenders (p = 0.033). Playing position had no effect on %HRmax or the frequency of sprinting or high-intensity running during match play. The frequency of jogging, cruise running, striding (p = 0.000), and walking (p = 0.003) was greater in the midfield position than in the forward position. Time had a significant effect (F(1,39) = 33.512, p-value = 0.000, and (Equation is included in full-text article.)= 0.462) on distance covered and %HRmax, both of which showed a reduction between playing periods. Gaelic football is predominantly characterized by low-to-moderate intensity activity interspersed with periods of high-intensity running. The information provided may be used as a framework for coaches in the design and prescription of training strategies. Positional specific training may be warranted given

An assessment of schoolyard features and behavior patterns in children's utilization and physical activity.

PubMed

Anthamatten, Peter; Brink, Lois; Kingston, Beverly; Kutchman, Eve; Lampe, Sarah; Nigg, Claudio

2014-03-01

Careful research that elucidates how behavior relates to design in the context of elementary school grounds can serve to guide cost-efficient design with the goal of encouraging physical activity (PA). This work explores patterns in children's PA behavior within playground spaces with the specific goal of guiding healthy playground design. Data on children's utilization and PA behavior in 6 playgrounds divided into 106 observation zones were collected in 2005 and 2006 at Denver elementary school playgrounds using the System for Observing Play and Leisure Activity in Youth. Analyses of variance and t tests determined whether there were differences in utilization and behavior patterns across observations zones and between genders. This study provides evidence that children prefer to use certain types of playground zones and that they are more likely to practice moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in some zones. The authors observed statistically significant differences between genders. Boys were more likely to engage in MVPA in zones without equipment, girls were more likely to use zones with equipment. This work suggests that the inclusion or omission of specific playground features may have an impact on the way that children use the spaces.

The Influence of Epoch Length on Physical Activity Patterns Varies by Child's Activity Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nettlefold, Lindsay; Naylor, P. J.; Warburton, Darren E. R.; Bredin, Shannon S. D.; Race, Douglas; McKay, Heather A.

2016-01-01

Purpose: Patterns of physical activity (PA) and sedentary time, including volume of bouted activity, are important health indicators. However, the effect of accelerometer epoch length on measurement of these patterns and associations with health outcomes in children remain unknown. Method: We measured activity patterns in 308 children (52% girls,…

Axi-symmetric patterns of active polar filaments on spherical and composite surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srivastava, Pragya; Rao, Madan

2014-03-01

Experiments performed on Fission Yeast cells of cylindrical and spherical shapes, rod-shaped bacteria and reconstituted cylindrical liposomes suggest the influence of cell geometry on patterning of cortical actin. A theoretical model based on active hydrodynamic description of cortical actin that includes curvature-orientation coupling predicts spontaneous formation of acto-myosin rings, cables and nodes on cylindrical and spherical geometries [P. Srivastava et al, PRL 110, 168104(2013)]. Stability and dynamics of these patterns is also affected by the cellular shape and has been observed in experiments performed on Fission Yeast cells of spherical shape. Motivated by this, we study the stability and dynamics of axi-symmetric patterns of active polar filaments on the surfaces of spherical, saddle shaped and conical geometry and classify the stable steady state patterns on these surfaces. Based on the analysis of the fluorescence images of Myosin-II during ring slippage we propose a simple mechanical model for ring-sliding based on force balance and make quantitative comparison with the experiments performed on Fission Yeast cells. NSF Grant DMR-1004789 and Syracuse Soft Matter Program.

Modeling activity patterns of wildlife using time-series analysis.

PubMed

Zhang, Jindong; Hull, Vanessa; Ouyang, Zhiyun; He, Liang; Connor, Thomas; Yang, Hongbo; Huang, Jinyan; Zhou, Shiqiang; Zhang, Zejun; Zhou, Caiquan; Zhang, Hemin; Liu, Jianguo

2017-04-01

The study of wildlife activity patterns is an effective approach to understanding fundamental ecological and evolutionary processes. However, traditional statistical approaches used to conduct quantitative analysis have thus far had limited success in revealing underlying mechanisms driving activity patterns. Here, we combine wavelet analysis, a type of frequency-based time-series analysis, with high-resolution activity data from accelerometers embedded in GPS collars to explore the effects of internal states (e.g., pregnancy) and external factors (e.g., seasonal dynamics of resources and weather) on activity patterns of the endangered giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ). Giant pandas exhibited higher frequency cycles during the winter when resources (e.g., water and forage) were relatively poor, as well as during spring, which includes the giant panda's mating season. During the summer and autumn when resources were abundant, pandas exhibited a regular activity pattern with activity peaks every 24 hr. A pregnant individual showed distinct differences in her activity pattern from other giant pandas for several months following parturition. These results indicate that animals adjust activity cycles to adapt to seasonal variation of the resources and unique physiological periods. Wavelet coherency analysis also verified the synchronization of giant panda activity level with air temperature and solar radiation at the 24-hr band. Our study also shows that wavelet analysis is an effective tool for analyzing high-resolution activity pattern data and its relationship to internal and external states, an approach that has the potential to inform wildlife conservation and management across species.

Effect of Frustration on Brain Activation Pattern in Subjects with Different Temperament

PubMed Central

Bierzynska, Maria; Bielecki, Maksymilian; Marchewka, Artur; Debowska, Weronika; Duszyk, Anna; Zajkowski, Wojciech; Falkiewicz, Marcel; Nowicka, Anna; Strelau, Jan; Kossut, Malgorzata

2016-01-01

In spite of the prevalence of frustration in everyday life, very few neuroimaging studies were focused on this emotional state. In the current study we aimed to examine effects of frustration on brain activity while performing a well-learned task in participants with low and high tolerance for arousal. Prior to the functional magnetic resonance imaging session, the subjects underwent 2 weeks of Braille reading training. Frustration induction was obtained by using a novel highly difficult tactile task based on discrimination of Braille-like raised dots patterns and negative feedback. Effectiveness of this procedure has been confirmed in a pilot study using galvanic skin response and questionnaires. Brain activation pattern during tactile discrimination task before and after frustration were compared directly. Results revealed changes in brain activity in structures mostly reported in acute stress studies: striatum, cingulate cortex, insula, middle frontal gyrus and precuneus and in structures engaged in tactile Braille discrimination: SI and SII. Temperament type affected activation pattern. Subjects with low tolerance for arousal showed higher activation in the posterior cingulate gyrus, precuneus, and inferior parietal lobule than high reactivity group. Even though performance in the discrimination trials following frustration was unaltered, we observed increased activity of primary and secondary somatosensory cortex processing the tactile information. We interpret this effect as an indicator of additional involvement required to counteract the effects of frustration. PMID:26793136

Effect of Frustration on Brain Activation Pattern in Subjects with Different Temperament.

PubMed

Bierzynska, Maria; Bielecki, Maksymilian; Marchewka, Artur; Debowska, Weronika; Duszyk, Anna; Zajkowski, Wojciech; Falkiewicz, Marcel; Nowicka, Anna; Strelau, Jan; Kossut, Malgorzata

2015-01-01

In spite of the prevalence of frustration in everyday life, very few neuroimaging studies were focused on this emotional state. In the current study we aimed to examine effects of frustration on brain activity while performing a well-learned task in participants with low and high tolerance for arousal. Prior to the functional magnetic resonance imaging session, the subjects underwent 2 weeks of Braille reading training. Frustration induction was obtained by using a novel highly difficult tactile task based on discrimination of Braille-like raised dots patterns and negative feedback. Effectiveness of this procedure has been confirmed in a pilot study using galvanic skin response and questionnaires. Brain activation pattern during tactile discrimination task before and after frustration were compared directly. Results revealed changes in brain activity in structures mostly reported in acute stress studies: striatum, cingulate cortex, insula, middle frontal gyrus and precuneus and in structures engaged in tactile Braille discrimination: SI and SII. Temperament type affected activation pattern. Subjects with low tolerance for arousal showed higher activation in the posterior cingulate gyrus, precuneus, and inferior parietal lobule than high reactivity group. Even though performance in the discrimination trials following frustration was unaltered, we observed increased activity of primary and secondary somatosensory cortex processing the tactile information. We interpret this effect as an indicator of additional involvement required to counteract the effects of frustration.

Temporal Links in Daily Activity Patterns between Coral Reef Predators and Their Prey

PubMed Central

Bosiger, Yoland J.; McCormick, Mark I.

2014-01-01

Few studies have documented the activity patterns of both predators and their common prey over 24 h diel cycles. This study documents the temporal periodicity of two common resident predators of juvenile reef fishes, Cephalopholis cyanostigma (rockcod) and Pseudochromis fuscus (dottyback) and compares these to the activity and foraging pattern of a common prey species, juvenile Pomacentrus moluccensis (lemon damselfish). Detailed observations of activity in the field and using 24 h infrared video in the laboratory revealed that the two predators had very different activity patterns. C. cyanostigma was active over the whole 24 h period, with a peak in feeding strikes at dusk and increased activity at both dawn and dusk, while P. fuscus was not active at night and had its highest strike rates at midday. The activity and foraging pattern of P. moluccensis directly opposes that of C. cyanostigma with individuals reducing strike rate and intraspecific aggression at both dawn and dusk, and reducing distance from shelter and boldness at dusk only. Juveniles examined were just outside the size-selection window of P. fuscus. We suggest that the relatively predictable diel behaviour of coral reef predators results from physiological factors such as visual sensory abilities, circadian rhythmicity, variation in hunting profitability, and predation risk at different times of the day. Our study suggests that the diel periodicity of P. moluccensis behaviour may represent a response to increased predation risk at times when both the ability to efficiently capture food and visually detect predators is reduced. PMID:25354096

Fractal Patterns of Neural Activity Exist within the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus and Require Extrinsic Network Interactions

PubMed Central

Hu, Kun; Meijer, Johanna H.; Shea, Steven A.; vanderLeest, Henk Tjebbe; Pittman-Polletta, Benjamin; Houben, Thijs; van Oosterhout, Floor; Deboer, Tom; Scheer, Frank A. J. L.

2012-01-01

The mammalian central circadian pacemaker (the suprachiasmatic nucleus, SCN) contains thousands of neurons that are coupled through a complex network of interactions. In addition to the established role of the SCN in generating rhythms of ∼24 hours in many physiological functions, the SCN was recently shown to be necessary for normal self-similar/fractal organization of motor activity and heart rate over a wide range of time scales—from minutes to 24 hours. To test whether the neural network within the SCN is sufficient to generate such fractal patterns, we studied multi-unit neural activity of in vivo and in vitro SCNs in rodents. In vivo SCN-neural activity exhibited fractal patterns that are virtually identical in mice and rats and are similar to those in motor activity at time scales from minutes up to 10 hours. In addition, these patterns remained unchanged when the main afferent signal to the SCN, namely light, was removed. However, the fractal patterns of SCN-neural activity are not autonomous within the SCN as these patterns completely broke down in the isolated in vitro SCN despite persistence of circadian rhythmicity. Thus, SCN-neural activity is fractal in the intact organism and these fractal patterns require network interactions between the SCN and extra-SCN nodes. Such a fractal control network could underlie the fractal regulation observed in many physiological functions that involve the SCN, including motor control and heart rate regulation. PMID:23185285

Are muscle activation patterns altered during shod and barefoot running with a forefoot footfall pattern?

PubMed

Ervilha, Ulysses Fernandes; Mochizuki, Luis; Figueira, Aylton; Hamill, Joseph

2017-09-01

This study aimed to investigate the activation of lower limb muscles during barefoot and shod running with forefoot or rearfoot footfall patterns. Nine habitually shod runners were asked to run straight for 20 m at self-selected speed. Ground reaction forces and thigh and shank muscle surface electromyographic (EMG) were recorded. EMG outcomes (EMG intensity [iEMG], latency between muscle activation and ground reaction force, latency between muscle pairs and co-activation index between muscle pairs) were compared across condition (shod and barefoot), running cycle epochs (pre-strike, strike, propulsion) and footfall (rearfoot and forefoot) by ANOVA. Condition affected iEMG at pre-strike epoch. Forefoot and rearfoot strike patterns induced different EMG activation time patterns affecting co-activation index for pairs of thigh and shank muscles. All these timing changes suggest that wearing shoes or not is less important for muscle activation than the way runners strike the foot on the ground. In conclusion, the guidance for changing external forces applied on lower limbs should be pointed to the question of rearfoot or forefoot footfall patterns.

Brain activity patterns induced by interrupting the cognitive processes with online advertising.

PubMed

Rejer, Izabela; Jankowski, Jarosław

2017-11-01

As a result of the increasing role of online advertising and strong competition among advertisers, intrusive techniques are commonly used to attract web users' attention. Moreover, since marketing content is usually delivered to the target audience when they are performing typical online tasks, like searching for information or reading online content, its delivery interrupts the web user's current cognitive process. The question posed by many researchers in the field of online advertising is: how should we measure the influence of interruption of cognitive processes on human behavior and emotional state? Much research has been conducted in this field; however, most of this research has focused on monitoring activity in the simulated environment, or processing declarative responses given by users in prepared questionnaires. In this paper, a more direct real-time approach is taken, and the effect of the interruption on a web user is analyzed directly by studying the activity of his brain. This paper presents the results of an experiment that was conducted to find the brain activity patterns associated with interruptions of the cognitive process by showing internet advertisements during a text-reading task. Three specific aspects were addressed in the experiment: individual patterns, the consistency of these patterns across trials, and the intra-subject correlation of the individual patterns. Two main effects were observed for most subjects: a drop in activity in the frontal and prefrontal cortical areas across all frequency bands, and significant changes in the frontal/prefrontal asymmetry index.

Active sensing in the categorization of visual patterns

PubMed Central

Yang, Scott Cheng-Hsin; Lengyel, Máté; Wolpert, Daniel M

2016-01-01

Interpreting visual scenes typically requires us to accumulate information from multiple locations in a scene. Using a novel gaze-contingent paradigm in a visual categorization task, we show that participants' scan paths follow an active sensing strategy that incorporates information already acquired about the scene and knowledge of the statistical structure of patterns. Intriguingly, categorization performance was markedly improved when locations were revealed to participants by an optimal Bayesian active sensor algorithm. By using a combination of a Bayesian ideal observer and the active sensor algorithm, we estimate that a major portion of this apparent suboptimality of fixation locations arises from prior biases, perceptual noise and inaccuracies in eye movements, and the central process of selecting fixation locations is around 70% efficient in our task. Our results suggest that participants select eye movements with the goal of maximizing information about abstract categories that require the integration of information from multiple locations. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12215.001 PMID:26880546

Patterns in Crew-Initiated Photography of Earth from ISS - Is Earth Observation a Salutogenic Experience?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robinson, Julie A.; Slack, Kelley; Olson, V.; Trenchard, M.; Willis, K.; Baskin, P.

2006-01-01

This viewgraph presentation asks the question "Is the observation of earth from the ISS a positive (salutogenic) experience for crew members?"All images are distributed to the public via the "Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth at http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov. The objectives of the study are (1) Mine the dataset of Earth Observation photography--What can it tell us about the importance of viewing the Earth as a positive experience for the crewmembers? (2) Quantify extent to which photography was self-initiated (not requested by scientists) (3) Identify patterns photography activities versus scientific requested photography.

Prediction of Spatiotemporal Patterns of Neural Activity from Pairwise Correlations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Marre, O.; El Boustani, S.; Fregnac, Y.

We designed a model-based analysis to predict the occurrence of population patterns in distributed spiking activity. Using a maximum entropy principle with a Markovian assumption, we obtain a model that accounts for both spatial and temporal pairwise correlations among neurons. This model is tested on data generated with a Glauber spin-glass system and is shown to correctly predict the occurrence probabilities of spatiotemporal patterns significantly better than Ising models only based on spatial correlations. This increase of predictability was also observed on experimental data recorded in parietal cortex during slow-wave sleep. This approach can also be used to generate surrogatesmore » that reproduce the spatial and temporal correlations of a given data set.« less

Mining continuous activity patterns from animal trajectory data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wang, Y.; Luo, Ze; Baoping, Yan; Takekawa, John Y.; Prosser, Diann J.; Newman, Scott H.

2014-01-01

The increasing availability of animal tracking data brings us opportunities and challenges to intuitively understand the mechanisms of animal activities. In this paper, we aim to discover animal movement patterns from animal trajectory data. In particular, we propose a notion of continuous activity pattern as the concise representation of underlying similar spatio-temporal movements, and develop an extension and refinement framework to discover the patterns. We first preprocess the trajectories into significant semantic locations with time property. Then, we apply a projection-based approach to generate candidate patterns and refine them to generate true patterns. A sequence graph structure and a simple and effective processing strategy is further developed to reduce the computational overhead. The proposed approaches are extensively validated on both real GPS datasets and large synthetic datasets.

Integration of active pauses and pattern of muscular activity during computer work.

PubMed

St-Onge, Nancy; Samani, Afshin; Madeleine, Pascal

2017-09-01

Submaximal isometric muscle contractions have been reported to increase variability of muscle activation during computer work; however, other types of active contractions may be more beneficial. Our objective was to determine which type of active pause vs. rest is more efficient in changing muscle activity pattern during a computer task. Asymptomatic regular computer users performed a standardised 20-min computer task four times, integrating a different type of pause: sub-maximal isometric contraction, dynamic contraction, postural exercise and rest. Surface electromyographic (SEMG) activity was recorded bilaterally from five neck/shoulder muscles. Root-mean-square decreased with isometric pauses in the cervical paraspinals, upper trapezius and middle trapezius, whereas it increased with rest. Variability in the pattern of muscular activity was not affected by any type of pause. Overall, no detrimental effects on the level of SEMG during active pauses were found suggesting that they could be implemented without a cost on activation level or variability. Practitioner Summary: We aimed to determine which type of active pause vs. rest is best in changing muscle activity pattern during a computer task. Asymptomatic computer users performed a standardised computer task integrating different types of pauses. Muscle activation decreased with isometric pauses in neck/shoulder muscles, suggesting their implementation during computer work.

Contrasting activity patterns of sympatric and allopatric black and grizzly bears

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schwartz, C.C.; Cain, S.L.; Podruzny, S.; Cherry, S.; Frattaroli, L.

2010-01-01

The distribution of grizzly (Ursus arctos) and American black bears (U. americanus) overlaps in western North America. Few studies have detailed activity patterns where the species are sympatric and no studies contrasted patterns where populations are both sympatric and allopatric. We contrasted activity patterns for sympatric black and grizzly bears and for black bears allopatric to grizzly bears, how human influences altered patterns, and rates of grizzlyblack bear predation. Activity patterns differed between black bear populations, with those sympatric to grizzly bears more day-active. Activity patterns of black bears allopatric with grizzly bears were similar to those of female grizzly bears; both were crepuscular and day-active. Male grizzly bears were crepuscular and night-active. Both species were more night-active and less day-active when ???1 km from roads or developments. In our sympatric study area, 2 of 4 black bear mortalities were due to grizzly bear predation. Our results suggested patterns of activity that allowed for intra- and inter-species avoidance. National park management often results in convergence of locally high human densities in quality bear habitat. Our data provide additional understanding into how bears alter their activity patterns in response to other bears and humans and should help park managers minimize undesirable bearhuman encounters when considering needs for temporal and spatial management of humans and human developments in bear habitats. ?? 2010 The Wildlife Society.

Epidemiology of moderate-to-severe injury patterns observed in rollover crashes.

PubMed

McMurry, Timothy L; Bose, Dipan; Ridella, Stephen A; Eigen, Ana M; Crandall, Jeff R; Kerrigan, Jason R

2016-05-01

Previous epidemiological studies have highlighted the high risk of injury to the head, thorax, and cervical spine in rollover crashes. However, such results provide limited information on whole-body injury distribution and multiple region injury patterns necessary for the improvement and prioritization of rollover-focused injury countermeasures. Sampled cases representing approximately 133,000 U.S. adult occupants involved in rollover crashes (between 1995 and 2013) sustaining moderate-to-severe injuries were selected from the National Automotive Sampling System Crashworthiness Data System database. A retrospective cohort study, based on a survey of population-based data, was used to identify relevant whole body injury patterns. Among belted occupants injured in rollover crashes, 79.2% sustained injuries to only one body region. The three most frequently injured (AIS2+) body regions were head (42.1%), upper extremity (28.0%), and thorax (27.1%). The most frequent multi-region injury pattern involved the head and upper extremity, but this pattern only accounted for 2.3% of all of occupants with moderate or worse injuries. The results indicated that for rollover-dominated crashes, the frequently observed injury patterns involved isolated body regions. In contrast, multi-region injury patterns are more frequently observed in rollovers with significant planar impacts. Identification of region-specific injury patterns in pure rollover crashes is essential for clarifying injury mitigation targets and developing whole-body injury metrics specifically applicable to rollovers. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pattern Activity Clustering and Evaluation (PACE)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blasch, Erik; Banas, Christopher; Paul, Michael; Bussjager, Becky; Seetharaman, Guna

2012-06-01

With the vast amount of network information available on activities of people (i.e. motions, transportation routes, and site visits) there is a need to explore the salient properties of data that detect and discriminate the behavior of individuals. Recent machine learning approaches include methods of data mining, statistical analysis, clustering, and estimation that support activity-based intelligence. We seek to explore contemporary methods in activity analysis using machine learning techniques that discover and characterize behaviors that enable grouping, anomaly detection, and adversarial intent prediction. To evaluate these methods, we describe the mathematics and potential information theory metrics to characterize behavior. A scenario is presented to demonstrate the concept and metrics that could be useful for layered sensing behavior pattern learning and analysis. We leverage work on group tracking, learning and clustering approaches; as well as utilize information theoretical metrics for classification, behavioral and event pattern recognition, and activity and entity analysis. The performance evaluation of activity analysis supports high-level information fusion of user alerts, data queries and sensor management for data extraction, relations discovery, and situation analysis of existing data.

Dermoscopic patterns of Melanoma Metastases: inter-observer consistency and accuracy for metastases recognition

PubMed Central

Costa, J.; Ortiz-Ibañez, K.; Salerni, G.; Borges, V.; Carrera, C.; Puig, S.; Malvehy, J.

2013-01-01

Background Cutaneous metastases of malignant melanoma (CMMM) can be confused with other skin lesions. Dermoscopy could be helpful in the differential diagnosis. Objective To describe distinctive dermoscopic patterns that are reproducible and accurate in the identification of CMMM Methods A retrospective study of 146 dermoscopic images of CMMM from 42 patients attending a Melanoma Unit between 2002 and 2009 was performed. Firstly, two investigators established six dermoscopic patterns for CMMM. The correlation of 73 dermoscopic images with their distinctive patterns was assessed by four independent dermatologists to evaluate the reproducibility in the identification of the patterns. Finally, 163 dermoscopic images, including CMMM and non-metastatic lesions, were evaluated by the same four dermatologists to calculate the accuracy of the patterns in the recognition of CMMM. Results Five CMMM dermoscopic patterns had a good inter-observer agreement (blue nevus-like, nevus-like, angioma like, vascular and unspecific). When CMMM were classified according to these patterns, correlation between the investigators and the four dermatologists ranged from κ = 0.56 to 0.7. 71 CMMM, 16 angiomas, 22 blue nevus, 15 malignant melanoma, 11 seborrheic keratosis, 15 melanocytic nevus with globular pattern and 13 pink lesions with vascular pattern were evaluated according to the previously described CMMM dermoscopy patterns, showing an overall sensitivity of 68% (between 54.9–76%) and a specificity of 81% (between 68.6–93.5) for the diagnosis of CMMM. Conclusion Five dermoscopic patterns of CMMM with good inter-observer agreement obtained a high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of metastasis, the accuracy varying according to the experience of the observer. PMID:23495915

Correlates of US adult physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns.

PubMed

Jones, Sydney A; Wen, Fang; Herring, Amy H; Evenson, Kelly R

2016-12-01

Physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns may be differentially associated with socio-demographic and health measures. We explored correlates of day-to-day patterns over a week in accelerometer measured physical activity and sedentary behavior to inform intervention development. Cross-sectional study. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) adult participants (≥20 years) in 2003-2006 wore an accelerometer for 1 week. Accelerometer data from 7236 participants were used to derive latent classes describing day-to-day patterns over a week of physical activity and sedentary behavior. Correlates of each pattern were identified using multinomial logistic regression from 21 potential variables grouped into four domains: socio-demographic, acculturation, cardiovascular, and health history. Older age, female sex, higher body mass index, and history of chronic disease were consistently associated with lower odds of being in a more active compared to the least active class. In contrast, being employed, speaking Spanish at home, and having better self-rated health were associated with higher odds of being in a more active compared to the least active class. Correlates of physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns were identified from all domains (socio-demographic, acculturation, cardiovascular, and health history). Most correlates that were positively associated with physical activity were negatively associated with sedentary behavior. Better understanding of the correlates of physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns can inform interventions to promote physical activity and reduce sedentary behavior. Copyright © 2016 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Composite catalyst surfaces: Effect of inert and active heterogeneities on pattern formation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Baer, M.; Bangia, A.K.; Kevrekidis, I.G.

1996-12-05

Spatiotemporal dynamics in reaction-diffusion systems can be altered through the properties (reactivity, diffusivity) of the medium in which they occur. We construct active heterogeneous media (composite catalytic surfaces with inert as well as active illusions) using microelectronics fabrication techniques and study the spatiotemporal dynamics of heterogeneous catalytic reactions on these catalysts. In parallel, we perform simulations as well as numerical stability and bifurcation analysis of these patterns using mechanistic models. At the limit of large heterogeneity `grain size` (compared to the wavelength of spontaneously arising structures) the interaction patterns with inert or active boundaries dominates (e.g., pinning, transmission, and boundarymore » breakup of spirals, interaction of pulses with corners, `pacemaker` effects). At the opposite limit of very small or very finely distributed heterogeneity, effective behavior is observed (slight modulation of pulses, nearly uniform oscillations, effective spirals). Some representative studies of transitions between the two limits are presented. 48 refs., 11 figs.« less

Modeling Patterns of Activities using Activity Curves

PubMed Central

Dawadi, Prafulla N.; Cook, Diane J.; Schmitter-Edgecombe, Maureen

2016-01-01

Pervasive computing offers an unprecedented opportunity to unobtrusively monitor behavior and use the large amount of collected data to perform analysis of activity-based behavioral patterns. In this paper, we introduce the notion of an activity curve, which represents an abstraction of an individual’s normal daily routine based on automatically-recognized activities. We propose methods to detect changes in behavioral routines by comparing activity curves and use these changes to analyze the possibility of changes in cognitive or physical health. We demonstrate our model and evaluate our change detection approach using a longitudinal smart home sensor dataset collected from 18 smart homes with older adult residents. Finally, we demonstrate how big data-based pervasive analytics such as activity curve-based change detection can be used to perform functional health assessment. Our evaluation indicates that correlations do exist between behavior and health changes and that these changes can be automatically detected using smart homes, machine learning, and big data-based pervasive analytics. PMID:27346990

Modeling Patterns of Activities using Activity Curves.

PubMed

Dawadi, Prafulla N; Cook, Diane J; Schmitter-Edgecombe, Maureen

2016-06-01

Pervasive computing offers an unprecedented opportunity to unobtrusively monitor behavior and use the large amount of collected data to perform analysis of activity-based behavioral patterns. In this paper, we introduce the notion of an activity curve , which represents an abstraction of an individual's normal daily routine based on automatically-recognized activities. We propose methods to detect changes in behavioral routines by comparing activity curves and use these changes to analyze the possibility of changes in cognitive or physical health. We demonstrate our model and evaluate our change detection approach using a longitudinal smart home sensor dataset collected from 18 smart homes with older adult residents. Finally, we demonstrate how big data-based pervasive analytics such as activity curve-based change detection can be used to perform functional health assessment. Our evaluation indicates that correlations do exist between behavior and health changes and that these changes can be automatically detected using smart homes, machine learning, and big data-based pervasive analytics.

PATTERNS OF FLOWS IN AN INTERMEDIATE PROMINENCE OBSERVED BY HINODE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ahn, Kwangsu; Chae, Jongchul; Cao Wenda

2010-09-20

The investigation of plasma flows in filaments/prominences gives us clues to understanding their magnetic structures. We studied the patterns of flows in an intermediate prominence observed by Hinode/SOT. By examining a time series of H{alpha} images and Ca II H images, we have found horizontal flows in the spine and vertical flows in the barb. Both of these flows have a characteristic speed of 10-20 km s{sup -1}. The horizontal flows displayed counterstreaming. Our detailed investigation revealed that most of the moving fragments in fact reversed direction at the end point of the spine near a footpoint close to themore » associated active region. These returning flows may be one possible explanation of the well-known counterstreaming flows in prominences. In contrast, we have found vertical flows-downward and upward-in the barb. Most of the horizontal flows in the spine seem to switch into vertical flows when they approach the barb, and vice versa. We propose that the net force resulting from a small deviation from magnetohydrostatic equilibrium, where magnetic fields are predominantly horizontal, may drive these patterns of flow. In the prominence studied here, the supposed magnetohydrostatic configuration is characterized by magnetic field lines sagging with angles of 13{sup 0} and 39{sup 0} in the spine and the barb, respectively.« less

Longitudinal Physical Activity Patterns Among Older Adults: A Latent Transition Analysis.

PubMed

Mooney, Stephen J; Joshi, Spruha; Cerdá, Magdalena; Kennedy, Gary J; Beard, John R; Rundle, Andrew G

2018-05-14

Most epidemiologic studies of physical activity measure either total energy expenditure or engagement in a single activity type, such as walking. These approaches may gloss over important nuances in activity patterns. We performed a latent transition analysis to identify patterns of activity types as well as neighborhood and individual determinants of changes in those activity patterns over two years in a cohort of 2,023 older adult residents of New York City, NY, surveyed between 2011 and 2013. We identified seven latent classes: 1) Mostly Inactive, 2) Walking, 3) Exercise, 4) Household Activities and Walking, 5) Household Activities and Exercise, 6) Gardening and Household Activities, and 7) Gardening, Household Activities, and Exercise. The majority of subjects retained the same activity patterns between waves (54% unchanged between waves 1 and 2, 66% unchanged between waves 2 and 3).Most latent class transitions were between classes distinguished only by one form of activity, and only neighborhood unemployment was consistently associated with changing between activity latent classes. Future latent transition analyses of physical activity would benefit from larger cohorts and longer follow-up periods to assess predictors of and long-term impacts of changes in activity patterns.

Repeating Patterns in Kindergarten: Findings from Children's Enactments of Two Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tsamir, Pessia; Tirosh, Dina; Levenson, Esther S.; Barkai, Ruthi; Tabach, Michal

2017-01-01

This paper describes kindergarten children's engagement with two patterning activities. The first activity includes two tasks in which children are asked to choose possible ways for extending two different repeating patterns and the second activity calls for comparing different pairs of repeating patterns. Children's recognition of the unit of…

The activation pattern of macrophages in giant cell (temporal) arteritis and primary angiitis of the central nervous system.

PubMed

Mihm, Bernhard; Bergmann, Markus; Brück, Wolfgang; Probst-Cousin, Stefan

2014-06-01

To determine if the pattern of macrophage activation reflects differences in the pathogenesis and clinical presentation of giant cell arteritis and primary angiitis of the central nervous system, specimens of 10 patients with giant cell arteritis and five with primary angiitis of the central nervous system were immunohistochemically studied and the expression of the macrophage activation markers 27E10, MRP14, MRP8 and 25F9 was determined in the vasculitic infiltrates. Thus, a partly different expression pattern of macrophage activation markers in giant cell arteritis and primary angiitis of the central nervous system was observed. The group comparison revealed that giant cell arteritis cases had significantly higher numbers of acute activated MRP14-positive macrophages, whereas primary angiitis of the central nervous system is characterized by a tendency toward more MRP8-positive intermediate/late activated macrophages. Furthermore, in giant cell arteritis comparably fewer CD8-positive lymphocytes were observed. These observations suggest, that despite their histopathological similarities, giant cell arteritis and primary angiitis of the central nervous system appear to represent either distinct entities within the spectrum of granulomatous vasculitides or different stages of similar disease processes. Their discrete clinical presentation is reflected by different activation patterns of macrophages, which may characterize giant cell arteritis as a more acute process and primary angiitis of the central nervous system as a more advanced inflammatory process. © 2013 Japanese Society of Neuropathology.

Neuronal pattern separation of motion-relevant input in LIP activity

PubMed Central

Berberian, Nareg; MacPherson, Amanda; Giraud, Eloïse; Richardson, Lydia

2016-01-01

In various regions of the brain, neurons discriminate sensory stimuli by decreasing the similarity between ambiguous input patterns. Here, we examine whether this process of pattern separation may drive the rapid discrimination of visual motion stimuli in the lateral intraparietal area (LIP). Starting with a simple mean-rate population model that captures neuronal activity in LIP, we show that overlapping input patterns can be reformatted dynamically to give rise to separated patterns of neuronal activity. The population model predicts that a key ingredient of pattern separation is the presence of heterogeneity in the response of individual units. Furthermore, the model proposes that pattern separation relies on heterogeneity in the temporal dynamics of neural activity and not merely in the mean firing rates of individual neurons over time. We confirm these predictions in recordings of macaque LIP neurons and show that the accuracy of pattern separation is a strong predictor of behavioral performance. Overall, results propose that LIP relies on neuronal pattern separation to facilitate decision-relevant discrimination of sensory stimuli. NEW & NOTEWORTHY A new hypothesis is proposed on the role of the lateral intraparietal (LIP) region of cortex during rapid decision making. This hypothesis suggests that LIP alters the representation of ambiguous inputs to reduce their overlap, thus improving sensory discrimination. A combination of computational modeling, theoretical analysis, and electrophysiological data shows that the pattern separation hypothesis links neural activity to behavior and offers novel predictions on the role of LIP during sensory discrimination. PMID:27881719

Direct observation of resonance scattering patterns in single silicon nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valuckas, Vytautas; Paniagua-Domínguez, Ramón; Fu, Yuan Hsing; Luk'yanchuk, Boris; Kuznetsov, Arseniy I.

2017-02-01

We present the first direct observation of the scattering patterns of electric and magnetic dipole resonances excited in a single silicon nanosphere. Almost perfectly spherical silicon nanoparticles were fabricated and deposited on a 30 nm-thick silicon nitride membrane in an attempt to minimize particle—substrate interaction. Measurements were carried out at visible wavelengths by means of the Fourier microscopy in a dark-field illumination setup. The obtained back-focal plane images clearly reveal the characteristic scattering patterns associated with each resonance and are found to be in a good agreement with the simulated results.

Activity patterns of American martens, fishers, snowshoe hares, and red squirrels in westcentral Montana

Treesearch

Kerry R. Foresman; Dean Pearson

1999-01-01

We investigated winter activity patterns of American Martens, Martes americana, Snowshoe Hares, Lepus americanus, and Red Squirrels, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, in westcentral Montana between November 1994 and March 1995 using dual-sensor remote cameras. One hundred percent of Snowshoe Hare (n = 25) observations occurred at night while Martens (n = 85) exhibited...

Physical activity patterns in Greenland: a country in transition.

PubMed

Dahl-Petersen, Inger K; Jørgensen, Marit E; Bjerregaard, Peter

2011-11-01

To examine differences in physical activity patterns among Inuit in Greenland in relation to social transition. The Inuit in Greenland are an indigenous population in the circumpolar north who are experiencing rapid social transition. Physical activity patterns were assessed by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (long version). The population was divided into six groups according to different stages of social change, measured on the basis of education, current residence and occupation. Data were collected in a country-wide cross-sectional population survey among adult Inuit in Greenland from 2005 to 2009. Men with long vocational or academic education living in towns (latest stage of social change) spent significantly less time on occupational physical activity (p = 0.001) compared with hunters and fishermen in villages (earliest stage of social change) (trend test p = 0.01). Women in the latest stage of change spent significantly less time on domestic physical activity (p < 0.001) (trend test p = 0.06) compared with women in the earliest stage of social change. This was also found for physical activity during transportation (p = 0.02 and p = 0.01 for men and women, respectively). No significant difference was found for leisure time physical activity. Men and women in the latest stage of social change spent more time on sedentary activity (p < 0.001). Differences in physical activity patterns among Inuit in Greenland included decreasing time spent on domestic and occupational physical activity and increasing time spent on sedentary activities along with social change. Knowledge of changes in physical activity patterns in relation to social transition is important in prevention of obesity, type 2 diabetes and lifestyle diseases.

Exploring associations between gaze patterns and putative human mirror neuron system activity.

PubMed

Donaldson, Peter H; Gurvich, Caroline; Fielding, Joanne; Enticott, Peter G

2015-01-01

The human mirror neuron system (MNS) is hypothesized to be crucial to social cognition. Given that key MNS-input regions such as the superior temporal sulcus are involved in biological motion processing, and mirror neuron activity in monkeys has been shown to vary with visual attention, aberrant MNS function may be partly attributable to atypical visual input. To examine the relationship between gaze pattern and interpersonal motor resonance (IMR; an index of putative MNS activity), healthy right-handed participants aged 18-40 (n = 26) viewed videos of transitive grasping actions or static hands, whilst the left primary motor cortex received transcranial magnetic stimulation. Motor-evoked potentials recorded in contralateral hand muscles were used to determine IMR. Participants also underwent eyetracking analysis to assess gaze patterns whilst viewing the same videos. No relationship was observed between predictive gaze and IMR. However, IMR was positively associated with fixation counts in areas of biological motion in the videos, and negatively associated with object areas. These findings are discussed with reference to visual influences on the MNS, and the possibility that MNS atypicalities might be influenced by visual processes such as aberrant gaze pattern.

Changing patterns of brain activation during maze learning.

PubMed

Van Horn, J D; Gold, J M; Esposito, G; Ostrem, J L; Mattay, V; Weinberger, D R; Berman, K F

1998-05-18

Recent research has found that patterns of brain activation involving the frontal cortex during novel task performance change dramatically following practice and repeat performance. Evidence for differential left vs. right frontal lobe activation, respectively, during episodic memory encoding and retrieval has also been reported. To examine these potentially related issues regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was measured in 15 normal volunteers using positron emission tomography (PET) during the naive and practiced performance of a maze task paradigm. SPM analysis indicated a largely right-sided, frontal lobe activation during naive performance. Following training and practice, performance of the same maze task elicited a more posterior pattern of rCBF activation involving posterior cingulate and precuneus. The change in the pattern of rCBF activation between novel and practiced task conditions agrees with results found in previous studies using repeat task methodology, and indicates that the neural circuitry required for encoding novel task information differs from that required when the same task has become familiar and information is being recalled. The right-sided preponderance of activation during naive performance may relate to task novelty and the spatially-based nature of the stimuli, whereas posterior areas activated during repeat performance are those previously found to be associated with visuospatial memory recall. Activation of these areas, however, does not agree with previously reported findings of left-sided activation during verbal episodic memory encoding and right-sided activation during retrieval, suggesting different neural substrates for verbal and visuospatial processing within memory. Copyright 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.

Relationship between BOLD amplitude and pattern classification of orientation-selective activity in the human visual cortex.

PubMed

Tong, Frank; Harrison, Stephenie A; Dewey, John A; Kamitani, Yukiyasu

2012-11-15

Orientation-selective responses can be decoded from fMRI activity patterns in the human visual cortex, using multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA). To what extent do these feature-selective activity patterns depend on the strength and quality of the sensory input, and might the reliability of these activity patterns be predicted by the gross amplitude of the stimulus-driven BOLD response? Observers viewed oriented gratings that varied in luminance contrast (4, 20 or 100%) or spatial frequency (0.25, 1.0 or 4.0 cpd). As predicted, activity patterns in early visual areas led to better discrimination of orientations presented at high than low contrast, with greater effects of contrast found in area V1 than in V3. A second experiment revealed generally better decoding of orientations at low or moderate as compared to high spatial frequencies. Interestingly however, V1 exhibited a relative advantage at discriminating high spatial frequency orientations, consistent with the finer scale of representation in the primary visual cortex. In both experiments, the reliability of these orientation-selective activity patterns was well predicted by the average BOLD amplitude in each region of interest, as indicated by correlation analyses, as well as decoding applied to a simple model of voxel responses to simulated orientation columns. Moreover, individual differences in decoding accuracy could be predicted by the signal-to-noise ratio of an individual's BOLD response. Our results indicate that decoding accuracy can be well predicted by incorporating the amplitude of the BOLD response into simple simulation models of cortical selectivity; such models could prove useful in future applications of fMRI pattern classification. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Relationship between BOLD amplitude and pattern classification of orientation-selective activity in the human visual cortex

PubMed Central

Tong, Frank; Harrison, Stephenie A.; Dewey, John A.; Kamitani, Yukiyasu

2012-01-01

Orientation-selective responses can be decoded from fMRI activity patterns in the human visual cortex, using multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA). To what extent do these feature-selective activity patterns depend on the strength and quality of the sensory input, and might the reliability of these activity patterns be predicted by the gross amplitude of the stimulus-driven BOLD response? Observers viewed oriented gratings that varied in luminance contrast (4, 20 or 100%) or spatial frequency (0.25, 1.0 or 4.0 cpd). As predicted, activity patterns in early visual areas led to better discrimination of orientations presented at high than low contrast, with greater effects of contrast found in area V1 than in V3. A second experiment revealed generally better decoding of orientations at low or moderate as compared to high spatial frequencies. Interestingly however, V1 exhibited a relative advantage at discriminating high spatial frequency orientations, consistent with the finer scale of representation in the primary visual cortex. In both experiments, the reliability of these orientation-selective activity patterns was well predicted by the average BOLD amplitude in each region of interest, as indicated by correlation analyses, as well as decoding applied to a simple model of voxel responses to simulated orientation columns. Moreover, individual differences in decoding accuracy could be predicted by the signal-to-noise ratio of an individual's BOLD response. Our results indicate that decoding accuracy can be well predicted by incorporating the amplitude of the BOLD response into simple simulation models of cortical selectivity; such models could prove useful in future applications of fMRI pattern classification. PMID:22917989

Dynamic response and transfer function of social systems: A neuro-inspired model of collective human activity patterns.

PubMed

Lymperopoulos, Ilias N

2017-10-01

The interaction of social networks with the external environment gives rise to non-stationary activity patterns reflecting the temporal structure and strength of exogenous influences that drive social dynamical processes far from an equilibrium state. Following a neuro-inspired approach, based on the dynamics of a passive neuronal membrane, and the firing rate dynamics of single neurons and neuronal populations, we build a state-of-the-art model of the collective social response to exogenous interventions. In this regard, we analyze online activity patterns with a view to determining the transfer function of social systems, that is, the dynamic relationship between external influences and the resulting activity. To this end, first we estimate the impulse response (Green's function) of collective activity, and then we show that the convolution of the impulse response with a time-varying external influence field accurately reproduces empirical activity patterns. To capture the dynamics of collective activity when the generating process is in a state of statistical equilibrium, we incorporate into the model a noisy input convolved with the impulse response function, thus precisely reproducing the fluctuations of stationary collective activity around a resting value. The outstanding goodness-of-fit of the model results to empirical observations, indicates that the model explains human activity patterns generated by time-dependent external influences in various socio-economic contexts. The proposed model can be used for inferring the temporal structure and strength of external influences, as well as the inertia of collective social activity. Furthermore, it can potentially predict social activity patterns. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Vitality Forms Processing in the Insula during Action Observation: A Multivoxel Pattern Analysis

PubMed Central

Di Cesare, Giuseppe; Valente, Giancarlo; Di Dio, Cinzia; Ruffaldi, Emanuele; Bergamasco, Massimo; Goebel, Rainer; Rizzolatti, Giacomo

2016-01-01

Observing the style of an action done by others allows the observer to understand the cognitive state of the agent. This information has been defined by Stern “vitality forms”. Previous experiments showed that the dorso-central insula is selectively active both during vitality form observation and execution. In the present study, we presented participants with videos showing hand actions performed with different velocities and asked them to judge either their vitality form (gentle, neutral, rude) or their velocity (slow, medium, fast). The aim of the present study was to assess, using multi-voxel pattern analysis, whether vitality forms and velocities of observed goal-directed actions are differentially processed in the insula, and more specifically whether action velocity is encoded per se or it is an element that triggers neural populations of the insula encoding the vitality form. The results showed that, consistently across subjects, in the dorso-central sector of the insula there were voxels selectively tuned to vitality forms, while voxel tuned to velocity were rare. These results indicate that the dorso-central insula, which previous data showed to be involved in the vitality form processing, contains voxels specific for the action style processing. PMID:27375461

Vitality Forms Processing in the Insula during Action Observation: A Multivoxel Pattern Analysis.

PubMed

Di Cesare, Giuseppe; Valente, Giancarlo; Di Dio, Cinzia; Ruffaldi, Emanuele; Bergamasco, Massimo; Goebel, Rainer; Rizzolatti, Giacomo

2016-01-01

Observing the style of an action done by others allows the observer to understand the cognitive state of the agent. This information has been defined by Stern "vitality forms". Previous experiments showed that the dorso-central insula is selectively active both during vitality form observation and execution. In the present study, we presented participants with videos showing hand actions performed with different velocities and asked them to judge either their vitality form (gentle, neutral, rude) or their velocity (slow, medium, fast). The aim of the present study was to assess, using multi-voxel pattern analysis, whether vitality forms and velocities of observed goal-directed actions are differentially processed in the insula, and more specifically whether action velocity is encoded per se or it is an element that triggers neural populations of the insula encoding the vitality form. The results showed that, consistently across subjects, in the dorso-central sector of the insula there were voxels selectively tuned to vitality forms, while voxel tuned to velocity were rare. These results indicate that the dorso-central insula, which previous data showed to be involved in the vitality form processing, contains voxels specific for the action style processing.

A system for simulating aerial or orbital TV observations of geographic patterns

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Latham, J. P.

1972-01-01

A system which simulates observation of the earth surface by aerial or orbiting television devices has been developed. By projecting color slides of photographs taken by aircraft and orbiting sensors upon a rear screen system, and altering scale of projected image, screen position, or TV camera position, it is possible to simulate alternatives of altitude, or optical systems. By altering scan line patterns in COHU 3200 series camera from 525 to 945 scan lines, it is possible to study implications of scan line resolution upon the detection and analysis of geographic patterns observed by orbiting TV systems.

Estimating repetitive spatiotemporal patterns from resting-state brain activity data.

PubMed

Takeda, Yusuke; Hiroe, Nobuo; Yamashita, Okito; Sato, Masa-Aki

2016-06-01

Repetitive spatiotemporal patterns in spontaneous brain activities have been widely examined in non-human studies. These studies have reported that such patterns reflect past experiences embedded in neural circuits. In human magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG) studies, however, spatiotemporal patterns in resting-state brain activities have not been extensively examined. This is because estimating spatiotemporal patterns from resting-state MEG/EEG data is difficult due to their unknown onsets. Here, we propose a method to estimate repetitive spatiotemporal patterns from resting-state brain activity data, including MEG/EEG. Without the information of onsets, the proposed method can estimate several spatiotemporal patterns, even if they are overlapping. We verified the performance of the method by detailed simulation tests. Furthermore, we examined whether the proposed method could estimate the visual evoked magnetic fields (VEFs) without using stimulus onset information. The proposed method successfully detected the stimulus onsets and estimated the VEFs, implying the applicability of this method to real MEG data. The proposed method was applied to resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data and MEG data. The results revealed informative spatiotemporal patterns representing consecutive brain activities that dynamically change with time. Using this method, it is possible to reveal discrete events spontaneously occurring in our brains, such as memory retrieval. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The neural coding of expected and unexpected monetary performance outcomes: dissociations between active and observational learning.

PubMed

Bellebaum, C; Jokisch, D; Gizewski, E R; Forsting, M; Daum, I

2012-02-01

Successful adaptation to the environment requires the learning of stimulus-response-outcome associations. Such associations can be learned actively by trial and error or by observing the behaviour and accompanying outcomes in other persons. The present study investigated similarities and differences in the neural mechanisms of active and observational learning from monetary feedback using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Two groups of 15 subjects each - active and observational learners - participated in the experiment. On every trial, active learners chose between two stimuli and received monetary feedback. Each observational learner observed the choices and outcomes of one active learner. Learning performance as assessed via active test trials without feedback was comparable between groups. Different activation patterns were observed for the processing of unexpected vs. expected monetary feedback in active and observational learners, particularly for positive outcomes. Activity for unexpected vs. expected reward was stronger in the right striatum in active learning, while activity in the hippocampus was bilaterally enhanced in observational and reduced in active learning. Modulation of activity by prediction error (PE) magnitude was observed in the right putamen in both types of learning, whereas PE related activations in the right anterior caudate nucleus and in the medial orbitofrontal cortex were stronger for active learning. The striatum and orbitofrontal cortex thus appear to link reward stimuli to own behavioural reactions and are less strongly involved when the behavioural outcome refers to another person's action. Alternative explanations such as differences in reward value between active and observational learning are also discussed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Advances in the use of observed spatial patterns of catchment hydrological response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grayson, Rodger B.; Blöschl, Günter; Western, Andrew W.; McMahon, Thomas A.

Over the past two decades there have been repeated calls for the collection of new data for use in developing hydrological science. The last few years have begun to bear fruit from the seeds sown by these calls, through increases in the availability and utility of remote sensing data, as well as the execution of campaigns in research catchments aimed at providing new data for advancing hydrological understanding and predictive capability. In this paper we discuss some philosophical considerations related to model complexity, data availability and predictive performance, highlighting the potential of observed patterns in moving the science and practice of catchment hydrology forward. We then review advances that have arisen from recent work on spatial patterns, including in the characterisation of spatial structure and heterogeneity, and the use of patterns for developing, calibrating and testing distributed hydrological models. We illustrate progress via examples using observed patterns of snow cover, runoff occurrence and soil moisture. Methods for the comparison of patterns are presented, illustrating how they can be used to assess hydrologically important characteristics of model performance. These methods include point-to-point comparisons, spatial relationships between errors and landscape parameters, transects, and optimal local alignment. It is argued that the progress made to date augers well for future developments, but there is scope for improvements in several areas. These include better quantitative methods for pattern comparisons, better use of pattern information in data assimilation and modelling, and a call for improved archiving of data from field studies to assist in comparative studies for generalising results and developing fundamental understanding.

Seasonality and weather conditions jointly drive flight activity patterns of aquatic and terrestrial chironomids.

PubMed

Vebrová, Lucie; van Nieuwenhuijzen, Andre; Kolář, Vojtěch; Boukal, David S

2018-06-19

Chironomids, a major invertebrate taxon in many standing freshwaters, rely on adult flight to reach new suitable sites, yet the impact of weather conditions on their flight activity is little understood. We investigated diel and seasonal flight activity patterns of aquatic and terrestrial chironomids in a reclaimed sandpit area and analysed how weather conditions and seasonality influenced their total abundance and species composition. Air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and air pressure significantly affected total flight activity of both groups, but not in the same way. We identified an intermediate temperature and humidity optimum for the flight activity of terrestrial chironomids, which contrasted with weaker, timescale-dependent relationships in aquatic species. Flight activity of both groups further declined with wind speed and increased with air pressure. Observed flight patterns also varied in time on both daily and seasonal scale. Flight activity of both groups peaked in the evenings after accounting for weather conditions but, surprisingly, aquatic and terrestrial chironomids used partly alternating time windows for dispersal during the season. This may be driven by different seasonal trends of key environmental variables in larval habitats and hence implies that species phenologies and conditions experienced by chironomid larvae (and probably other aquatic insects with short-lived adults) influence adult flight patterns more than weather conditions. Our results provide detailed insights into the drivers of chironomid flight activity and highlight the methodological challenges arising from the inherent collinearity of weather characteristics and their diurnal and seasonal cycles.

Individual, Social, and Environmental Correlates of Active Transportation Patterns in French Women.

PubMed

Perchoux, Camille; Enaux, Christophe; Oppert, Jean-Michel; Menai, Mehdi; Charreire, Hélène; Salze, Paul; Weber, Christiane; Hercberg, Serge; Feuillet, Thierry; Hess, Franck; Roda, Célina; Simon, Chantal; Nazare, Julie-Anne

2017-01-01

The objectives were (1) to define physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviors (SB) patterns in daily life contexts (work, leisure, and transportation) in French working women from NutriNet-Santé web-cohort and (2) to identify pattern(s) of active transportation and their individual, social, and environmental correlates. 23,432 participants completed two questionnaires to evaluate PA and SB in daily life contexts and individual representations of residential neighborhood and transportation modes. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed which identified 6 distinct movement behavior patterns: (i) active occupation, high sedentary leisure, (ii) sedentary occupation, low leisure, (iii) sedentary transportation, (iv) sedentary occupation and leisure, (v) active transportation, and (vi) active leisure. Multinomial logistic regressions were performed to identify correlates of the "active transportation" cluster. The perceived environmental characteristics positively associated with "active transportation" included "high availability of destinations around home," "presence of bicycle paths," and "low traffic." A "positive image of walking/cycling," the "individual feeling of being physically active," and a "high use of active transport modes by relatives/friends" were positively related to "active transportation," identified as a unique pattern regarding individual and environmental correlates. Identification of PA and SB context-specific patterns will help to understand movement behaviors' complexity and to design interventions to promote active transportation in specific subgroups.

Cardiovascular activity in blood-injection-injury phobia during exposure: evidence for diphasic response patterns?

PubMed

Ritz, Thomas; Meuret, Alicia E; Simon, Erica

2013-08-01

Exposure to feared stimuli in blood-injection-injury (BII)-phobia is thought to elicit a diphasic response pattern, with an initial fight-flight-like cardiovascular activation followed by a marked deactivation and possible fainting (vasovagal syncope). However, studies have remained equivocal on the importance of such patterns. We therefore sought to determine the prevalence and clinical relevance of diphasic responses using criteria that require a true diphasic response to exceed cardiovascular activation of an emotional episode of a negative valence and to exceed deactivation of an emotionally neutral episode. Sixty BII-phobia participants and 20 healthy controls were exposed to surgery, anger and neutral films while measuring heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory pattern, and end-tidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide (as indicator of hyperventilation). Diphasic response patterns were observed in up to 20% of BII-phobia participants and 26.6% of healthy controls for individual cardiovascular parameters. BII-phobia participants with diphasic patterns across multiple parameters showed more fear of injections and blood draws, reported the strongest physical symptoms during the surgery film, and showed the strongest tendency to hyperventilate. Thus, although only a minority of individuals with BII phobia shows diphasic responses, their occurrence indicates significant distress. Respiratory training may add to the treatment of BII phobia patients that show diphasic response patterns. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reproduction of overall spontaneous pain pattern by manual stimulation of active myofascial trigger points in fibromyalgia patients

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Introduction It has previously been reported that local and referred pain from active myofascial trigger points (MTPs) in the neck and shoulder region contribute to fibromyalgia (FM) pain and that the pain pattern induced from active MTPs can reproduce parts of the spontaneous clinical FM pain pattern. The current study investigated whether the overall spontaneous FM pain pattern can be reproduced by local and referred pain from active MTPs located in different muscles. Methods A spontaneous pain pattern in FM was recorded in 30 FM patients and 30 healthy subjects served as controls. Local and referred pain patterns induced from active (patients) and latent (controls) MTPs were recorded following manual stimulation. The existence of MTPs was confirmed by intramuscular electromyographical registration of spontaneous electrical activity. Results Local and referred pain areas induced from key active MTPs in FM were larger than pain areas from latent MTPs in healthy controls (P < 0.001), but were similar to the overall spontaneous FM pain area in FM (P > 0.05). The induced pain area was positively associated with current spontaneous pain intensity in FM (P < 0.01). The locations of key active MTPs in FM patients were found to have latent MTPs in healthy subjects. The muscles containing key active MTPs in FM are often observed in the muscles of extensor digitorum, trapezius, infraspinatus in the upper part of the body and of quadratus lumborum, gluteus medius in the lower part of the body. Conclusions The overall spontaneous FM pain pattern can be reproduced by mechanical stimulation of active MTPs located in different muscles, suggesting that fibromyalgia pain is largely composed of pain arising from muscle pain and spasm. Targeting active MTPs and related perpetuating factors may be an important strategy in FM pain control. Trial registration ISRCTN ISRCTN43167547. PMID:21426569

Pattern Formation in Active Nematics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishra, Prashant

This thesis presents analytical and numerical studies of the nonequilibrium dynamics of active nematic liquid crystals. Active nematics are a new class of liquid crystals consisting of elongated rod-like units that convert energy into motion and spontaneously organize in large-scale structures with orientational order and self-sustained flows. Examples include suspensions of cytoskeletal filaments and associated motor proteins, monolayers of epithelial cells plated on a substrate, and bacteria swimming in a nematic liquid crystal. In these systems activity drives the continuous generation and annihilation of topological defects and streaming flows, resulting in spatio-temporal chaotic dynamics akin to fluid turbulence, but that occurs in a regime of flow of vanishing Reynolds number, where inertia is negligible. Quantifying the origin of this nonequilibrium dynamics has implications for understanding phenomena ranging from bacterial swarming to cytoplasmic flows in living cells. After a brief review (Chapter 2) of the properties of equilibrium or passive nematic liquid crystals, in Chapter 3 we discuss how the hydrodynamic equations of nematic liquid crystals can be modified to account for the effect of activity. We then use these equations of active nemato-hydrodynamics to characterize analytically the nonequilibrium steady states of the system and their stability. We supplement the analytical work with numerical solution of the full nonlinear equations for the active suspension and construct a phase diagram that identifies the various emergent patterns as a function of activity and nematic stiffness. In Chapter 4 we compare results obtained with two distinct hydrodynamic models that have been employed in previous studies. In both models we find that the chaotic spatio-temporal dynamics in the regime of fully developed active turbulence is controlled by a single active scale determined by the balance of active and elastic stresses. This work provides a unified

Patterns of acoustical activity of bats prior to and following White-nose Syndrome occurrence

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ford, W. Mark; Britzke, Eric R.; Dobony, Christopher A.; Rodrigue, Jane L.; Johnson, Joshua B.

2011-01-01

White-nose Syndrome (WNS), a wildlife health concern that has decimated cave-hibernating bat populations in eastern North America since 2006, began affecting source-caves for summer bat populations at Fort Drum, a U.S. Army installation in New York in the winter of 2007–2008. As regional die-offs of bats became evident, and Fort Drum's known populations began showing declines, we examined whether WNS-induced change in abundance patterns and seasonal timing of bat activity could be quantified using acoustical surveys, 2003–2010, at structurally uncluttered riparian–water habitats (i.e., streams, ponds, and wet meadows). As predicted, we observed significant declines in overall summer activity between pre-WNS and post-WNS years for little brown bats Myotis lucifugus, northern bats M. septentrionalis, and Indiana bats M. sodalis. We did not observe any significant change in activity patterns between pre-WNS and post-WNS years for big brown bats Eptesicus fuscus, eastern red bats Lasiurus borealis, or the small number of tri-colored bats Perimyotis subflavus. Activity of silver-haired bats Lasionycteris noctivagans increased from pre-WNS to post-WNS years. Activity levels of hoary bats Lasiurus cinereus significantly declined between pre- and post-WNS years. As a nonhibernating, migratory species, hoary bat declines might be correlated with wind-energy development impacts occurring in the same time frame rather than WNS. Intraseason activity patterns also were affected by WNS, though the results were highly variable among species. Little brown bats showed an overall increase in activity from early to late summer pre-WNS, presumably due to detections of newly volant young added to the local population. However, the opposite occurred post-WNS, indicating that reproduction among surviving little brown bats may be declining. Our data suggest that acoustical monitoring during the summer season can provide insights into species' relative abundance on the

Parental Activity as a Determinant of Activity Level and Patterns of Activity in Obese Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kalakanis, Lisa E.; Goldfield, Gary S.; Paluch, Rocco A.; Epstein, Leonard H.

2001-01-01

Investigated the level and pattern of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in obese children, examining predictors of their activity. Children and their parents wore accelerometers for several days and provided demographic data. Parental activity levels significantly and independently predicted and improved the prediction of children's…

Virtual Active Touch Using Randomly Patterned Intracortical Microstimulation

PubMed Central

O’Doherty, Joseph E.; Lebedev, Mikhail A.; Li, Zheng; Nicolelis, Miguel A.L.

2012-01-01

Intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) has promise as a means for delivering somatosensory feedback in neuroprosthetic systems. Various tactile sensations could be encoded by temporal, spatial, or spatiotemporal patterns of ICMS. However, the applicability of temporal patterns of ICMS to artificial tactile sensation during active exploration is unknown, as is the minimum discriminable difference between temporally modulated ICMS patterns. We trained rhesus monkeys in an active exploration task in which they discriminated periodic pulse-trains of ICMS (200 Hz bursts at a 10 Hz secondary frequency) from pulse trains with the same average pulse rate, but distorted periodicity (200 Hz bursts at a variable instantaneous secondary frequency). The statistics of the aperiodic pulse trains were drawn from a gamma distribution with mean inter-burst intervals equal to those of the periodic pulse trains. The monkeys distinguished periodic pulse trains from aperiodic pulse trains with coefficients of variation 0.25 or greater. Reconstruction of movement kinematics, extracted from the activity of neuronal populations recorded in the sensorimotor cortex concurrent with the delivery of ICMS feedback, improved when the recording intervals affected by ICMS artifacts were removed from analysis. These results add to the growing evidence that temporally patterned ICMS can be used to simulate a tactile sense for neuroprosthetic devices. PMID:22207642

Virtual active touch using randomly patterned intracortical microstimulation.

PubMed

O'Doherty, Joseph E; Lebedev, Mikhail A; Li, Zheng; Nicolelis, Miguel A L

2012-01-01

Intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) has promise as a means for delivering somatosensory feedback in neuroprosthetic systems. Various tactile sensations could be encoded by temporal, spatial, or spatiotemporal patterns of ICMS. However, the applicability of temporal patterns of ICMS to artificial tactile sensation during active exploration is unknown, as is the minimum discriminable difference between temporally modulated ICMS patterns. We trained rhesus monkeys in an active exploration task in which they discriminated periodic pulse-trains of ICMS (200 Hz bursts at a 10 Hz secondary frequency) from pulse trains with the same average pulse rate, but distorted periodicity (200 Hz bursts at a variable instantaneous secondary frequency). The statistics of the aperiodic pulse trains were drawn from a gamma distribution with mean inter-burst intervals equal to those of the periodic pulse trains. The monkeys distinguished periodic pulse trains from aperiodic pulse trains with coefficients of variation 0.25 or greater. Reconstruction of movement kinematics, extracted from the activity of neuronal populations recorded in the sensorimotor cortex concurrent with the delivery of ICMS feedback, improved when the recording intervals affected by ICMS artifacts were removed from analysis. These results add to the growing evidence that temporally patterned ICMS can be used to simulate a tactile sense for neuroprosthetic devices.

Sedentary and Physical Activity Patterns in Adults with Intellectual Disability.

PubMed

Oviedo, Guillermo R; Travier, Noémie; Guerra-Balic, Myriam

2017-09-07

Little is known about the patterns of sedentary time (ST) and physical activity (PA) levels throughout the week among adults and older adults with Intellectual Disability (ID). We analyzed ST and PA patterns of adults and older adults with ID. Forty-two adults and 42 older adults with mild to severe ID participated in this study. Height and weight were obtained to calculate Body Mass Index (BMI). Body fat and fat-free mass percentages were also obtained. Patterns of PA levels and ST were assessed with GT3X Actigraph accelerometers. Adults performed higher amounts of total PA and moderate to vigorous PA than older adults during the week, on weekdays and in center time (all p > 0.05). No differences between males and females were found for either PA levels or ST. Only 10.7% of the participants met the global recommendations on PA for health. The participants of the current study showed low PA levels and a high prevalence of ST. Interestingly, when comparing age and/or sex groups, no differences were observed for ST. Our findings provide novel and valuable information to be considered in future interventions aiming to increase PA levels and reduce ST.

Analysing human mobility patterns of hiking activities through complex network theory.

PubMed

Lera, Isaac; Pérez, Toni; Guerrero, Carlos; Eguíluz, Víctor M; Juiz, Carlos

2017-01-01

The exploitation of high volume of geolocalized data from social sport tracking applications of outdoor activities can be useful for natural resource planning and to understand the human mobility patterns during leisure activities. This geolocalized data represents the selection of hike activities according to subjective and objective factors such as personal goals, personal abilities, trail conditions or weather conditions. In our approach, human mobility patterns are analysed from trajectories which are generated by hikers. We propose the generation of the trail network identifying special points in the overlap of trajectories. Trail crossings and trailheads define our network and shape topological features. We analyse the trail network of Balearic Islands, as a case of study, using complex weighted network theory. The analysis is divided into the four seasons of the year to observe the impact of weather conditions on the network topology. The number of visited places does not decrease despite the large difference in the number of samples of the two seasons with larger and lower activity. It is in summer season where it is produced the most significant variation in the frequency and localization of activities from inland regions to coastal areas. Finally, we compare our model with other related studies where the network possesses a different purpose. One finding of our approach is the detection of regions with relevant importance where landscape interventions can be applied in function of the communities.

Analysing human mobility patterns of hiking activities through complex network theory

PubMed Central

Pérez, Toni; Guerrero, Carlos; Eguíluz, Víctor M.; Juiz, Carlos

2017-01-01

The exploitation of high volume of geolocalized data from social sport tracking applications of outdoor activities can be useful for natural resource planning and to understand the human mobility patterns during leisure activities. This geolocalized data represents the selection of hike activities according to subjective and objective factors such as personal goals, personal abilities, trail conditions or weather conditions. In our approach, human mobility patterns are analysed from trajectories which are generated by hikers. We propose the generation of the trail network identifying special points in the overlap of trajectories. Trail crossings and trailheads define our network and shape topological features. We analyse the trail network of Balearic Islands, as a case of study, using complex weighted network theory. The analysis is divided into the four seasons of the year to observe the impact of weather conditions on the network topology. The number of visited places does not decrease despite the large difference in the number of samples of the two seasons with larger and lower activity. It is in summer season where it is produced the most significant variation in the frequency and localization of activities from inland regions to coastal areas. Finally, we compare our model with other related studies where the network possesses a different purpose. One finding of our approach is the detection of regions with relevant importance where landscape interventions can be applied in function of the communities. PMID:28542280

Individual, Social, and Environmental Correlates of Active Transportation Patterns in French Women

PubMed Central

Perchoux, Camille; Enaux, Christophe; Oppert, Jean-Michel; Menai, Mehdi; Charreire, Hélène; Salze, Paul; Weber, Christiane; Hercberg, Serge; Feuillet, Thierry; Hess, Franck; Roda, Célina; Simon, Chantal

2017-01-01

The objectives were (1) to define physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviors (SB) patterns in daily life contexts (work, leisure, and transportation) in French working women from NutriNet-Santé web-cohort and (2) to identify pattern(s) of active transportation and their individual, social, and environmental correlates. 23,432 participants completed two questionnaires to evaluate PA and SB in daily life contexts and individual representations of residential neighborhood and transportation modes. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed which identified 6 distinct movement behavior patterns: (i) active occupation, high sedentary leisure, (ii) sedentary occupation, low leisure, (iii) sedentary transportation, (iv) sedentary occupation and leisure, (v) active transportation, and (vi) active leisure. Multinomial logistic regressions were performed to identify correlates of the “active transportation” cluster. The perceived environmental characteristics positively associated with “active transportation” included “high availability of destinations around home,” “presence of bicycle paths,” and “low traffic.” A “positive image of walking/cycling,” the “individual feeling of being physically active,” and a “high use of active transport modes by relatives/friends” were positively related to “active transportation,” identified as a unique pattern regarding individual and environmental correlates. Identification of PA and SB context-specific patterns will help to understand movement behaviors' complexity and to design interventions to promote active transportation in specific subgroups. PMID:28717653

Observation of Communication by Physical Education Teachers: Detecting Patterns in Verbal Behavior

PubMed Central

García-Fariña, Abraham; Jiménez-Jiménez, F.; Anguera, M. Teresa

2018-01-01

The aim of this study was to analyze the verbal behavior of primary school physical education teachers in a natural classroom setting in order to investigate patterns in social constructivist communication strategies before and after participation in a training program designed to familiarize teachers with these strategies. The participants were three experienced physical education teachers interacting separately with 65 students over a series of classes. Written informed consent was obtained from all the students' parents or legal guardians. An indirect observation tool (ADDEF) was designed specifically for the study within the theoretical framework, and consisted of a combined field format, with three dimensions, and category systems. Each dimension formed the basis for building a subsequent system of exhaustive and mutually exclusive categories. Twenty-nine sessions, grouped into two separate modules, were coded using the Atlas.ti 7 program, and a total of 1991 units (messages containing constructivist discursive strategies) were recorded. Analysis of intraobserver reliability showed almost perfect agreement. Lag sequential analysis, which is a powerful statistical technique based on the calculation of conditional and unconditional probabilities in prospective and retrospective lags, was performed in GSEQ5 software to search for verbal behavior patterns before and after the training program. At both time points, we detected a pattern formed by requests for information combined with the incorporation of students' contributions into the teachers' discourse and re-elaborations of answers. In the post-training phase, we detected new and stronger patterns in certain sessions, indicating that programs combining theoretical and practical knowledge can effectively increase teachers' repertoire of discursive strategies and ultimately promote active engagement in learning. This has important implications for the evaluation and development of teacher effectiveness in

Observation of Communication by Physical Education Teachers: Detecting Patterns in Verbal Behavior.

PubMed

García-Fariña, Abraham; Jiménez-Jiménez, F; Anguera, M Teresa

2018-01-01

The aim of this study was to analyze the verbal behavior of primary school physical education teachers in a natural classroom setting in order to investigate patterns in social constructivist communication strategies before and after participation in a training program designed to familiarize teachers with these strategies. The participants were three experienced physical education teachers interacting separately with 65 students over a series of classes. Written informed consent was obtained from all the students' parents or legal guardians. An indirect observation tool (ADDEF) was designed specifically for the study within the theoretical framework, and consisted of a combined field format, with three dimensions, and category systems. Each dimension formed the basis for building a subsequent system of exhaustive and mutually exclusive categories. Twenty-nine sessions, grouped into two separate modules, were coded using the Atlas.ti 7 program, and a total of 1991 units (messages containing constructivist discursive strategies) were recorded. Analysis of intraobserver reliability showed almost perfect agreement. Lag sequential analysis, which is a powerful statistical technique based on the calculation of conditional and unconditional probabilities in prospective and retrospective lags, was performed in GSEQ5 software to search for verbal behavior patterns before and after the training program. At both time points, we detected a pattern formed by requests for information combined with the incorporation of students' contributions into the teachers' discourse and re-elaborations of answers. In the post-training phase, we detected new and stronger patterns in certain sessions, indicating that programs combining theoretical and practical knowledge can effectively increase teachers' repertoire of discursive strategies and ultimately promote active engagement in learning. This has important implications for the evaluation and development of teacher effectiveness in

Activity patterns in networks stabilized by background oscillations.

PubMed

Hoppensteadt, Frank

2009-07-01

The brain operates in a highly oscillatory environment. We investigate here how such an oscillating background can create stable organized behavior in an array of neuro-oscillators that is not observable in the absence of oscillation, much like oscillating the support point of an inverted pendulum can stabilize its up position, which is unstable without the oscillation. We test this idea in an array of electronic circuits coming from neuroengineering: we show how the frequencies of the background oscillation create a partition of the state space into distinct basins of attraction. Thus, background signals can stabilize persistent activity that is otherwise not observable. This suggests that an image, represented as a stable firing pattern which is triggered by a voltage pulse and is sustained in synchrony or resonance with the background oscillation, can persist as a stable behavior long after the initial stimulus is removed. The background oscillations provide energy for organized behavior in the array, and these behaviors are categorized by the basins of attraction determined by the oscillation frequencies.

Correlations between human mobility and social interaction reveal general activity patterns.

PubMed

Mollgaard, Anders; Lehmann, Sune; Mathiesen, Joachim

2017-01-01

A day in the life of a person involves a broad range of activities which are common across many people. Going beyond diurnal cycles, a central question is: to what extent do individuals act according to patterns shared across an entire population? Here we investigate the interplay between different activity types, namely communication, motion, and physical proximity by analyzing data collected from smartphones distributed among 638 individuals. We explore two central questions: Which underlying principles govern the formation of the activity patterns? Are the patterns specific to each individual or shared across the entire population? We find that statistics of the entire population allows us to successfully predict 71% of the activity and 85% of the inactivity involved in communication, mobility, and physical proximity. Surprisingly, individual level statistics only result in marginally better predictions, indicating that a majority of activity patterns are shared across our sample population. Finally, we predict short-term activity patterns using a generalized linear model, which suggests that a simple linear description might be sufficient to explain a wide range of actions, whether they be of social or of physical character.

Recent meteor observing activities in Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamamoto, M.

2005-02-01

The meteor train observation (METRO) campaign is described as an example of recent meteor observing activity in Japan. Other topics of meteor observing activities in Japan, including Ham-band radio meteor observation, the ``Japan Fireball Network'', the automatic video-capture software ``UFOCapture'', and the Astro-classroom programme are also briefly introduced.

Parietal and premotor cortices: activation reflects imitation accuracy during observation, delayed imitation and concurrent imitation.

PubMed

Krüger, Britta; Bischoff, Matthias; Blecker, Carlo; Langhanns, Christine; Kindermann, Stefan; Sauerbier, Isabell; Reiser, Mathias; Stark, Rudolf; Munzert, Jörn; Pilgramm, Sebastian

2014-10-15

This study investigated whether activation within areas belonging to the action observation and imitation network reveals a linear relation to the subsequent accuracy of imitating a bimanual rhythmic movement measured via a motion capturing system. 20 participants were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) when asked to imitate observed bimanual movements either concurrently versus with a delay (2s) or simply to observe the movements without imitation. Results showed that action observation relates to activation within classic mirror-related areas. Activation patterns were more widespread when participants were asked to imitate the movement. During observation with concurrent imitation, activation in the left inferior parietal lobe (IPL) was associated negatively with imitation accuracy. During observation in the delayed imitation condition, higher subsequent imitation accuracy was coupled with higher activation in the right superior parietal lobe (SPL) and the left parietal operculum (POp). During the delayed imitation itself, a negative association between imitation accuracy and brain activation was revealed in the right ventral premotor cortex (vPMC). We conclude that the IPL is involved in online comparison and visuospatial attention processes during imitation, the SPL provides a kinesthetic blueprint during movement observation, the POp preserves body identity, and the vPMC recruits motor representations--especially when no concurrent visual guidance is possible. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Renal electrolyte circadian rhythms - Independence from feeding and activity patterns

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore-Ede, M. C.; Herd, J. A.

1977-01-01

Experiments were conducted on six unanesthetized chair-acclimatized adult male squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) weighing 600-900 g to determine whether internal synchronization is the result of simple passive dependence of renal excretory rhythms on endogenous rhythms of those variable that influence electrolyte excretion such as dietary intake and muscular activity. Independence of the urinary rhythms from diurnal variations in feeding, drinking, and activity was secured by depriving the animals of food, water, and training them to perform a two-hourly schedule of feeding, drinking, and activity throughout day and night. Results indicate that the internal synchronization which is normally observed between the behavioral and urinary rhythms cannot be explained by any direct dependence of renal function on behavioral patterns. The most probable mechanism for circadian internal synchronization is that the various behavioral and renal rhythms are controlled by potentially independent separate oscillators which are normally kept in synchrony with one another.

Body temperature, activity patterns, and hunting in free-living cheetah: biologging reveals new insights.

PubMed

Hetem, Robyn S; Mitchell, Duncan; de Witt, Brenda A; Fick, Linda G; Maloney, Shane K; Meyer, Leith C R; Fuller, Andrea

2018-05-31

As one of the few felids that is predominantly diurnal, cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus Von Schreber, 1775) can be exposed to high heat loads in their natural habitat. Little is known about long-term patterns of body temperature and activity (including hunting) in cheetahs because long-term concurrent measurements of body temperature and activity never have been reported for cheetahs, or indeed for any free-living felid. We report here body temperature and locomotor activity measured with implanted data loggers over seven months in five free-living cheetahs in Namibia. Air temperature ranged from a maximum of 39ºC in summer to -2ºC in winter. Cheetahs had higher (∼0.4 ºC) maximum 24h body temperatures, later acrophase (∼1 h), with larger fluctuations in the range of the 24h body temperature rhythm (∼0.4 ºC) during a hot-dry period than during a cool-dry period, but maintained homeothermy irrespective of the climatic conditions. As ambient temperatures increased, the cheetahs shifted from a diurnal to a crepuscular activity pattern, with reduced activity between 9:00 and 15:00 and increased nocturnal activity. The timing of hunts followed the general pattern of activity; the cheetahs hunted when they were on the move. Cheetahs hunted if an opportunity presented itself, on occasion they hunted in the midday heat or in total darkness (new moon). Biologging revealed insights into cheetah biology that are not accessible by traditional observer-based techniques. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Predesigned surface patterns and topological defects control the active matter.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turiv, Taras; Peng, Chenhui; Guo, Yubing; Wei, Qi-Huo; Lavrentovich, Oleg

Active matter exhibits remarkable patterns of never-ending dynamics with giant fluctuations of concentration, varying order, nucleating and annihilating topological defects. These patterns can be seen in active systems of both biological and artificial origin. A fundamental question is whether and how one can control this chaotic out-of-equilibrium behavior. We demonstrate a robust control of local concentration, trajectories of active self-propelled units and the net flows of active bacteria Bacillus Substilis by imposing pre-designed surface patterns of orientational order in a water-based lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal. The patterns force the bacteria to gather into dynamic swarms with spatially modulated concentration and well-defined polarity of motion. Topological defects produce net motion of bacteria with a unidirectional circulation, while pairs of defects induce a pumping action. The qualitative features of the dynamics can be explained by interplay of curvature and activity, in particular, by ability of mixed splay-bend curvatures to generate threshold-less active flows. The demonstrated level of control opens opportunities in engineering materials and devices that mimic rich functionality of living systems. This work was supported by NSF Grants DMR-1507637, DMS-1434185, CMMI-1436565, by the Petroleum Research Grant PRF# 56046-ND7 administered by the American Chemical Society.

Active dynamics of colloidal particles in time-varying laser speckle patterns

PubMed Central

Bianchi, Silvio; Pruner, Riccardo; Vizsnyiczai, Gaszton; Maggi, Claudio; Di Leonardo, Roberto

2016-01-01

Colloidal particles immersed in a dynamic speckle pattern experience an optical force that fluctuates both in space and time. The resulting dynamics presents many interesting analogies with a broad class of non-equilibrium systems like: active colloids, self propelled microorganisms, transport in dynamical intracellular environments. Here we show that the use of a spatial light modulator allows to generate light fields that fluctuate with controllable space and time correlations and a prescribed average intensity profile. In particular we generate ring-shaped random patterns that can confine a colloidal particle over a quasi one-dimensional random energy landscape. We find a mean square displacement that is diffusive at both short and long times, while a superdiffusive or subdiffusive behavior is observed at intermediate times depending on the value of the speckles correlation time. We propose two alternative models for the mean square displacement in the two limiting cases of a short or long speckles correlation time. A simple interpolation formula is shown to account for the full phenomenology observed in the mean square displacement across the entire range from fast to slow fluctuating speckles. PMID:27279540

Calibration of a distributed hydrologic model using observed spatial patterns from MODIS data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demirel, Mehmet C.; González, Gorka M.; Mai, Juliane; Stisen, Simon

2016-04-01

Distributed hydrologic models are typically calibrated against streamflow observations at the outlet of the basin. Along with these observations from gauging stations, satellite based estimates offer independent evaluation data such as remotely sensed actual evapotranspiration (aET) and land surface temperature. The primary objective of the study is to compare model calibrations against traditional downstream discharge measurements with calibrations against simulated spatial patterns and combinations of both types of observations. While the discharge based model calibration typically improves the temporal dynamics of the model, it seems to give rise to minimum improvement of the simulated spatial patterns. In contrast, objective functions specifically targeting the spatial pattern performance could potentially increase the spatial model performance. However, most modeling studies, including the model formulations and parameterization, are not designed to actually change the simulated spatial pattern during calibration. This study investigates the potential benefits of incorporating spatial patterns from MODIS data to calibrate the mesoscale hydrologic model (mHM). This model is selected as it allows for a change in the spatial distribution of key soil parameters through the optimization of pedo-transfer function parameters and includes options for using fully distributed daily Leaf Area Index (LAI) values directly as input. In addition the simulated aET can be estimated at a spatial resolution suitable for comparison to the spatial patterns observed with MODIS data. To increase our control on spatial calibration we introduced three additional parameters to the model. These new parameters are part of an empirical equation to the calculate crop coefficient (Kc) from daily LAI maps and used to update potential evapotranspiration (PET) as model inputs. This is done instead of correcting/updating PET with just a uniform (or aspect driven) factor used in the mHM model

Patterns of leisure time and non-leisure time physical activity of Korean immigrant women.

PubMed

Choi, Jiwon; Wilbur, Joellen; Kim, Mi Ja

2011-02-01

Our purpose in this study was to examine the patterns of physical activity and demographic characteristics associated with those patterns in Korean immigrants in the United States. Participants were 197 women, and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire was utilized. The inactive pattern was the most frequent pattern in all domains of physical activity except household physical activity. There were differences among the patterns of physical activity that were associated with variations in demographic characteristics. Health care providers who serve immigrants should assess physical activity level and demographic characteristics of the immigrants to enhance their physical activity.

Agricultural activity shapes the communication and migration patterns in Senegal.

PubMed

Martin-Gutierrez, S; Borondo, J; Morales, A J; Losada, J C; Tarquis, A M; Benito, R M

2016-06-01

The communication and migration patterns of a country are shaped by its socioeconomic processes. The economy of Senegal is predominantly rural, as agriculture employs over 70% of the labor force. In this paper, we use mobile phone records to explore the impact of agricultural activity on the communication and mobility patterns of the inhabitants of Senegal. We find two peaks of phone calls activity emerging during the growing season. Moreover, during the harvest period, we detect an increase in the migration flows throughout the country. However, religious holidays also shape the mobility patterns of the Senegalese people. Hence, in the light of our results, agricultural activity and religious holidays are the primary drivers of mobility inside the country.

Agricultural activity shapes the communication and migration patterns in Senegal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin-Gutierrez, S.; Borondo, J.; Morales, A. J.; Losada, J. C.; Tarquis, A. M.; Benito, R. M.

2016-06-01

The communication and migration patterns of a country are shaped by its socioeconomic processes. The economy of Senegal is predominantly rural, as agriculture employs over 70% of the labor force. In this paper, we use mobile phone records to explore the impact of agricultural activity on the communication and mobility patterns of the inhabitants of Senegal. We find two peaks of phone calls activity emerging during the growing season. Moreover, during the harvest period, we detect an increase in the migration flows throughout the country. However, religious holidays also shape the mobility patterns of the Senegalese people. Hence, in the light of our results, agricultural activity and religious holidays are the primary drivers of mobility inside the country.

Intra-session repeatability of lower limb muscles activation pattern during pedaling.

PubMed

Dorel, Sylvain; Couturier, Antoine; Hug, François

2008-10-01

Assessment of intra-session repeatability of muscle activation pattern is of considerable relevance for research settings, especially when used to determine changes over time. However, the repeatability of lower limb muscles activation pattern during pedaling is not fully established. Thus, we tested the intra-session repeatability of the activation pattern of 10 lower limb muscles during a sub-maximal cycling exercise. Eleven triathletes participated to this study. The experimental session consisted in a reference sub-maximal cycling exercise (i.e. 150 W) performed before and after a 53-min simulated training session (mean power output=200+/-12 W). Repeatability of EMG patterns was assessed in terms of muscle activity level (i.e. RMS of the mean pedaling cycle and burst) and muscle activation timing (i.e. onset and offset of the EMG burst) for the 10 following lower limb muscles: gluteus maximus (GMax), semimembranosus (SM), Biceps femoris (BF), vastus medialis (VM), rectus femoris (RF), vastus lateralis (VL), gastrocnemius medianus (GM) and lateralis (GL), soleus (SOL) and tibialis anterior (TA). No significant differences concerning the muscle activation level were found between test and retest for all the muscles investigated. Only VM, SOL and TA showed significant differences in muscle activation timing parameters. Whereas ICC and SEM values confirmed this weak repeatability, cross-correlation coefficients suggest a good repeatability of the activation timing parameters for all the studied muscles. Overall, the main finding of this work is the good repeatability of the EMG pattern during pedaling both in term of muscle activity level and muscle activation timing.

Neural Activity Patterns in the Human Brain Reflect Tactile Stickiness Perception.

PubMed

Kim, Junsuk; Yeon, Jiwon; Ryu, Jaekyun; Park, Jang-Yeon; Chung, Soon-Cheol; Kim, Sung-Phil

2017-01-01

Our previous human fMRI study found brain activations correlated with tactile stickiness perception using the uni-variate general linear model (GLM) (Yeon et al., 2017). Here, we conducted an in-depth investigation on neural correlates of sticky sensations by employing a multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA) on the same dataset. In particular, we statistically compared multi-variate neural activities in response to the three groups of sticky stimuli: A supra-threshold group including a set of sticky stimuli that evoked vivid sticky perception; an infra-threshold group including another set of sticky stimuli that barely evoked sticky perception; and a sham group including acrylic stimuli with no physically sticky property. Searchlight MVPAs were performed to search for local activity patterns carrying neural information of stickiness perception. Similar to the uni-variate GLM results, significant multi-variate neural activity patterns were identified in postcentral gyrus, subcortical (basal ganglia and thalamus), and insula areas (insula and adjacent areas). Moreover, MVPAs revealed that activity patterns in posterior parietal cortex discriminated the perceptual intensities of stickiness, which was not present in the uni-variate analysis. Next, we applied a principal component analysis (PCA) to the voxel response patterns within identified clusters so as to find low-dimensional neural representations of stickiness intensities. Follow-up clustering analyses clearly showed separate neural grouping configurations between the Supra- and Infra-threshold groups. Interestingly, this neural categorization was in line with the perceptual grouping pattern obtained from the psychophysical data. Our findings thus suggest that different stickiness intensities would elicit distinct neural activity patterns in the human brain and may provide a neural basis for the perception and categorization of tactile stickiness.

Neural Activity Patterns in the Human Brain Reflect Tactile Stickiness Perception

PubMed Central

Kim, Junsuk; Yeon, Jiwon; Ryu, Jaekyun; Park, Jang-Yeon; Chung, Soon-Cheol; Kim, Sung-Phil

2017-01-01

Our previous human fMRI study found brain activations correlated with tactile stickiness perception using the uni-variate general linear model (GLM) (Yeon et al., 2017). Here, we conducted an in-depth investigation on neural correlates of sticky sensations by employing a multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA) on the same dataset. In particular, we statistically compared multi-variate neural activities in response to the three groups of sticky stimuli: A supra-threshold group including a set of sticky stimuli that evoked vivid sticky perception; an infra-threshold group including another set of sticky stimuli that barely evoked sticky perception; and a sham group including acrylic stimuli with no physically sticky property. Searchlight MVPAs were performed to search for local activity patterns carrying neural information of stickiness perception. Similar to the uni-variate GLM results, significant multi-variate neural activity patterns were identified in postcentral gyrus, subcortical (basal ganglia and thalamus), and insula areas (insula and adjacent areas). Moreover, MVPAs revealed that activity patterns in posterior parietal cortex discriminated the perceptual intensities of stickiness, which was not present in the uni-variate analysis. Next, we applied a principal component analysis (PCA) to the voxel response patterns within identified clusters so as to find low-dimensional neural representations of stickiness intensities. Follow-up clustering analyses clearly showed separate neural grouping configurations between the Supra- and Infra-threshold groups. Interestingly, this neural categorization was in line with the perceptual grouping pattern obtained from the psychophysical data. Our findings thus suggest that different stickiness intensities would elicit distinct neural activity patterns in the human brain and may provide a neural basis for the perception and categorization of tactile stickiness. PMID:28936171

Predicting risky choices from brain activity patterns

PubMed Central

Helfinstein, Sarah M.; Schonberg, Tom; Congdon, Eliza; Karlsgodt, Katherine H.; Mumford, Jeanette A.; Sabb, Fred W.; Cannon, Tyrone D.; London, Edythe D.; Bilder, Robert M.; Poldrack, Russell A.

2014-01-01

Previous research has implicated a large network of brain regions in the processing of risk during decision making. However, it has not yet been determined if activity in these regions is predictive of choices on future risky decisions. Here, we examined functional MRI data from a large sample of healthy subjects performing a naturalistic risk-taking task and used a classification analysis approach to predict whether individuals would choose risky or safe options on upcoming trials. We were able to predict choice category successfully in 71.8% of cases. Searchlight analysis revealed a network of brain regions where activity patterns were reliably predictive of subsequent risk-taking behavior, including a number of regions known to play a role in control processes. Searchlights with significant predictive accuracy were primarily located in regions more active when preparing to avoid a risk than when preparing to engage in one, suggesting that risk taking may be due, in part, to a failure of the control systems necessary to initiate a safe choice. Additional analyses revealed that subject choice can be successfully predicted with minimal decrements in accuracy using highly condensed data, suggesting that information relevant for risky choice behavior is encoded in coarse global patterns of activation as well as within highly local activation within searchlights. PMID:24550270

Spatial Co-Occurrence and Activity Patterns of Mesocarnivores in the Temperate Forests of Southwest China.

PubMed

Bu, Hongliang; Wang, Fang; McShea, William J; Lu, Zhi; Wang, Dajun; Li, Sheng

2016-01-01

Understanding the interactions between species and their coexistence mechanisms will help explain biodiversity maintenance and enable managers to make sound conservation decisions. Mesocarnivores are abundant and diverse mid-sized carnivores and can have profound impacts on the function, structure and dynamics of ecosystem after the extirpation of apex predators in many ecosystems. The moist temperate forests of Southwest China harbor a diverse community of mesocarnivores in the absence of apex predators. Sympatric species tend to partition limited resources along time, diet and space to facilitate coexistence. We determined the spatial and temporal patterns for five species of mesocarnivores. We used detection histories from a large camera-trap dataset collected from 2004-2015 with an extensive effort of 23,313 camera-days from 495 camera locations. The five mesocarnivore species included masked palm civet Paguma larvata, leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis, hog badger Arctonyx collaris, yellow-throated marten Martes flavigula, and Siberian weasel Mustela sibirica. Only the masked palm civet and hog badger tended to avoid each other; while for other pairs of species, they occurred independently of each other, or no clear pattern observed. With regard to seasonal activity, yellow-throated marten was most active in winter, opposite the pattern observed for masked palm civet, leopard cat and hog badger. For diel activity, masked palm civet, leopard cat and hog badger were primarily nocturnal and crepuscular; yellow-throated marten was diurnal, and Siberian weasel had no clear pattern for most of the year (March to November), but was nocturnal in the winter (December to February). The seasonal shift of the Siberian weasel may be due to the high diet overlap among species in winter. Our results provided new facts and insights into this unique community of mesocarnivores of southwest China, and will facilitate future studies on the mechanism determining coexistence of

Helicity patterns on the Sun

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pevtsov, A.

Solar magnetic fields exhibit hemispheric preference for negative (pos- itive) helicity in northern (southern) hemisphere. The hemispheric he- licity rule, however, is not very strong, - the patterns of opposite sign helicity were observed on different spatial scales in each hemisphere. For instance, many individual sunspots exhibit patches of opposite he- licity inside the single polarity field. There are also helicity patterns on scales larger than the size of typical active region. Such patterns were observed in distribution of active regions with abnormal (for a give hemisphere) helicity, in large-scale photospheric magnetic fields and coronal flux systems. We will review the observations of large-scale pat- terns of helicity in solar atmosphere and their possible relationship with (sub-)photospheric processes. The emphasis will be on large-scale pho- tospheric magnetic field and solar corona.

Sedentary and Physical Activity Patterns in Adults with Intellectual Disability

PubMed Central

Oviedo, Guillermo R.; Travier, Noémie; Guerra-Balic, Myriam

2017-01-01

Little is known about the patterns of sedentary time (ST) and physical activity (PA) levels throughout the week among adults and older adults with Intellectual Disability (ID). We analyzed ST and PA patterns of adults and older adults with ID. Forty-two adults and 42 older adults with mild to severe ID participated in this study. Height and weight were obtained to calculate Body Mass Index (BMI). Body fat and fat-free mass percentages were also obtained. Patterns of PA levels and ST were assessed with GT3X Actigraph accelerometers. Adults performed higher amounts of total PA and moderate to vigorous PA than older adults during the week, on weekdays and in center time (all p > 0.05). No differences between males and females were found for either PA levels or ST. Only 10.7% of the participants met the global recommendations on PA for health. The participants of the current study showed low PA levels and a high prevalence of ST. Interestingly, when comparing age and/or sex groups, no differences were observed for ST. Our findings provide novel and valuable information to be considered in future interventions aiming to increase PA levels and reduce ST. PMID:28880236

An assessment of the pattern of spontaneous eyeblink activity under the influence of topical ocular anaesthesia.

PubMed

Naase, Taher; Doughty, Michael J; Button, Norman F

2005-04-01

To determine whether there is a change in the pattern of human eyeblink events under topical ocular anaesthesia. Forty male subjects, aged between 19 and 52 years and with no significant ocular surface disease, were recruited. Their spontaneous eyeblink activity, in primary eye gaze position and in silence, was recorded for 5-min periods, before and after instillation of benoxinate 0.4% eyedrops. The surface anaesthesia was confirmed by aesthesiometry. The spontaneous eyeblink rate (SEBR) decreased from 9.1+/-4.0 blinks/min to an average of 5.7+/-3.3 blinks/min, with 37 subjects showing a decreased eyeblink rate under anaesthesia. Three blink patterns were observed before anaesthesia (symmetrical, J-type and I-type) and these were essentially unchanged under anaesthesia. These studies confirm that the SEBR is usually reduced under surface anaesthesia (so is sensitive to exogenous control) but the pattern of the eyeblink activity is unchanged (so is less sensitive to exogenous control). The removal of exogenous stimuli by anaesthesia does not shift the eyeblink pattern to a single type, so indicates endogenous control.

Reconstructing Perceived and Retrieved Faces from Activity Patterns in Lateral Parietal Cortex.

PubMed

Lee, Hongmi; Kuhl, Brice A

2016-06-01

Recent findings suggest that the contents of memory encoding and retrieval can be decoded from the angular gyrus (ANG), a subregion of posterior lateral parietal cortex. However, typical decoding approaches provide little insight into the nature of ANG content representations. Here, we tested whether complex, multidimensional stimuli (faces) could be reconstructed from ANG by predicting underlying face components from fMRI activity patterns in humans. Using an approach inspired by computer vision methods for face recognition, we applied principal component analysis to a large set of face images to generate eigenfaces. We then modeled relationships between eigenface values and patterns of fMRI activity. Activity patterns evoked by individual faces were then used to generate predicted eigenface values, which could be transformed into reconstructions of individual faces. We show that visually perceived faces were reliably reconstructed from activity patterns in occipitotemporal cortex and several lateral parietal subregions, including ANG. Subjective assessment of reconstructed faces revealed specific sources of information (e.g., affect and skin color) that were successfully reconstructed in ANG. Strikingly, we also found that a model trained on ANG activity patterns during face perception was able to successfully reconstruct an independent set of face images that were held in memory. Together, these findings provide compelling evidence that ANG forms complex, stimulus-specific representations that are reflected in activity patterns evoked during perception and remembering. Neuroimaging studies have consistently implicated lateral parietal cortex in episodic remembering, but the functional contributions of lateral parietal cortex to memory remain a topic of debate. Here, we used an innovative form of fMRI pattern analysis to test whether lateral parietal cortex actively represents the contents of memory. Using a large set of human face images, we first extracted

Participant observation of time allocation, direct patient contact and simultaneous activities in hospital physicians.

PubMed

Weigl, Matthias; Müller, Andreas; Zupanc, Andrea; Angerer, Peter

2009-06-29

Hospital physicians' time is a critical resource in medical care. Two aspects are of interest. First, the time spent in direct patient contact - a key principle of effective medical care. Second, simultaneous task performance ('multitasking') which may contribute to medical error, impaired safety behaviour, and stress. There is a call for instruments to assess these aspects. A preliminary study to gain insight into activity patterns, time allocation and simultaneous activities of hospital physicians was carried out. Therefore an observation instrument for time-motion-studies in hospital settings was developed and tested. 35 participant observations of internists and surgeons of a German municipal 300-bed hospital were conducted. Complete day shifts of hospital physicians on wards, emergency ward, intensive care unit, and operating room were continuously observed. Assessed variables of interest were time allocation, share of direct patient contact, and simultaneous activities. Inter-rater agreement of Kappa = .71 points to good reliability of the instrument. Hospital physicians spent 25.5% of their time at work in direct contact with patients. Most time was allocated to documentation and conversation with colleagues and nursing staff. Physicians performed parallel simultaneous activities for 17-20% of their work time. Communication with patients, documentation, and conversation with colleagues and nursing staff were the most frequently observed simultaneous activities. Applying logit-linear analyses, specific primary activities increase the probability of particular simultaneous activities. Patient-related working time in hospitals is limited. The potential detrimental effects of frequently observed simultaneous activities on performance outcomes need further consideration.

Observational evidence of European summer weather patterns predictable from spring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ossó, Albert; Sutton, Rowan; Shaffrey, Len; Dong, Buwen

2018-01-01

Forecasts of summer weather patterns months in advance would be of great value for a wide range of applications. However, seasonal dynamical model forecasts for European summers have very little skill, particularly for rainfall. It has not been clear whether this low skill reflects inherent unpredictability of summer weather or, alternatively, is a consequence of weaknesses in current forecast systems. Here we analyze atmosphere and ocean observations and identify evidence that a specific pattern of summertime atmospheric circulation––the summer East Atlantic (SEA) pattern––is predictable from the previous spring. An index of North Atlantic sea-surface temperatures in March–April can predict the SEA pattern in July–August with a cross-validated correlation skill above 0.6. Our analyses show that the sea-surface temperatures influence atmospheric circulation and the position of the jet stream over the North Atlantic. The SEA pattern has a particularly strong influence on rainfall in the British Isles, which we find can also be predicted months ahead with a significant skill of 0.56. Our results have immediate application to empirical forecasts of summer rainfall for the United Kingdom, Ireland, and northern France and also suggest that current dynamical model forecast systems have large potential for improvement.

Sources of Information and Behavioral Patterns in Online Health Forums: Observational Study

PubMed Central

Friede, Tim; Grabowski, Jens; Koschack, Janka; Makedonski, Philip; Himmel, Wolfgang

2014-01-01

Background Increasing numbers of patients are raising their voice in online forums. This shift is welcome as an act of patient autonomy, reflected in the term “expert patient”. At the same time, there is considerable concern that patients can be easily misguided by pseudoscientific research and debate. Little is known about the sources of information used in health-related online forums, how users apply this information, and how they behave in such forums. Objective The intent of the study was to identify (1) the sources of information used in online health-related forums, and (2) the roles and behavior of active forum visitors in introducing and disseminating this information. Methods This observational study used the largest German multiple sclerosis (MS) online forum as a database, analyzing the user debate about the recently proposed and controversial Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency (CCSVI) hypothesis. After extracting all posts and then filtering relevant CCSVI posts between 01 January 2008 and 17 August 2012, we first identified hyperlinks to scientific publications and other information sources used or referenced in the posts. Employing k-means clustering, we then analyzed the users’ preference for sources of information and their general posting habits. Results Of 139,912 posts from 11,997 threads, 8628 posts discussed or at least mentioned CCSVI. We detected hyperlinks pointing to CCSVI-related scientific publications in 31 posts. In contrast, 2829 different URLs were posted to the forum, most frequently referring to social media, such as YouTube or Facebook. We identified a total of 6 different roles of hyperlink posters including Social Media Fans, Organization Followers, and Balanced Source Users. Apart from the large and nonspecific residual category of the “average user”, several specific behavior patterns were identified, such as the small but relevant groups of CCSVI-Focused Responders or CCSVI Activators. Conclusions The bulk

Activation patterns in superficial layers of neocortex change between experiences independent of behavior, environment, or the hippocampus.

PubMed

Takehara-Nishiuchi, Kaori; Insel, Nathan; Hoang, Lan T; Wagner, Zachary; Olson, Kathy; Chawla, Monica K; Burke, Sara N; Barnes, Carol A

2013-09-01

Previous work suggests that activation patterns of neurons in superficial layers of the neocortex are more sensitive to spatial context than activation patterns in deep cortical layers. A possible source of this laminar difference is the distribution of contextual information to the superficial cortical layers carried by hippocampal efferents that travel through the entorhinal cortex and subiculum. To evaluate the role that the hippocampus plays in determining context sensitivity in superficial cortical layers, behavior-induced expression of the immediate early gene Arc was examined in hippocampus-lesioned and control rats after exposing them to 2 distinct contexts. Contrary to expectations, hippocampal lesions had no observable effect on Arc expression in any neocortical layer relative to controls. Furthermore, another group of intact animals was exposed to the same environment twice, to determine the reliability of Arc-expression patterns across identical contextual and behavioral episodes. Although this condition included no difference in external input between 2 epochs, the significant layer differences in Arc expression still remained. Thus, laminar differences in activation or plasticity patterns are not likely to arise from hippocampal sources or differences in external inputs, but are more likely to be an intrinsic property of the neocortex.

Patterns of Children's Participation in Unorganized Physical Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Findlay, Leanne C.; Garner, Rochelle E.; Kohen, Dafna E.

2010-01-01

Children's leisure-time or unorganized physical activity is associated with positive physical and mental health, yet there is little information available on tracking and predicting participation throughout the childhood and adolescent years. The purpose of the current study was to explore patterns of unorganized physical activity participation of…

A comprehensive assessment of children's activity and travel patterns.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-09-01

This report provides a comprehensive review of previous research on childrens activity engagement and : travel by focusing on the dimensions characterizing childrens activity-travel patterns and the factors : affecting these dimensions. In addi...

Nonlinear analysis of human physical activity patterns in health and disease.

PubMed

Paraschiv-Ionescu, A; Buchser, E; Rutschmann, B; Aminian, K

2008-02-01

The reliable and objective assessment of chronic disease state has been and still is a very significant challenge in clinical medicine. An essential feature of human behavior related to the health status, the functional capacity, and the quality of life is the physical activity during daily life. A common way to assess physical activity is to measure the quantity of body movement. Since human activity is controlled by various factors both extrinsic and intrinsic to the body, quantitative parameters only provide a partial assessment and do not allow for a clear distinction between normal and abnormal activity. In this paper, we propose a methodology for the analysis of human activity pattern based on the definition of different physical activity time series with the appropriate analysis methods. The temporal pattern of postures, movements, and transitions between postures was quantified using fractal analysis and symbolic dynamics statistics. The derived nonlinear metrics were able to discriminate patterns of daily activity generated from healthy and chronic pain states.

Tidal-Induced Internal Ocean Waves as an Explanation for Enceladus' Tiger Stripe Pattern and Hotspot Activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vermeersen, B. L. A.; Maas, L. R.; van Oers, S.; Rabitti, A.; Jara-Orue, H.

2014-12-01

One of the most peculiar features on Saturn moon Enceladus is its so-called tiger stripe pattern at the geologically active South Polar Terrain (SPT), as first observed in detail by the Cassini spacecraft early 2005. It is generally assumed that the four almost parallel surface lines that constitute this pattern are faults in the icy surface overlying a confined salty water reservoir. Indeed, later Cassini observations have shown that salty water jets originate from the tiger stripes [e.g., Hansen et al., Science, 311, 1422-1425, 2006; Postberg et al., Nature, 474, 620-622, 2011]. More recently, Porco et al. [Astron. J., 148:45, Sep. 2014] and Nimmo et al. [Astron. J., 148:46, Sep. 2014] have reported strong evidence that the geysers are not caused by frictional heating at the surface, but that geysers must originate deeper in Enceladus' interior. Tidal flexing models, like those of Hurford et al., Nature, 447, 292-294, 2007, give a good match for the brightness variations Cassini observes, but they seem to fail to reproduce the exact timing of plume brightening. Although jet activity is thus strongly connected to tidal forcing, another mechanism must be involved as well. Last year, we formulated the original idea [Vermeersen et al., AGU Fall Meeting 2013, abstract #P53B-1848] that the tiger stripe pattern is formed and maintained by induced, tidally and rotationally driven, wave-attractor motions in the ocean underneath the icy surface of the tiger-stripe region. Such wave-attractor motions are observed in water tank experiments in laboratories on Earth and in numerical experiments [Maas et al., Nature, 338, 557-561, 1997; Drijfhout and Maas, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 37, 2740-2763, 2007; Hazewinkel et al., Phys. Fluids, 22, 107102, 2010]. The latest observations by Porco et al. and Nimmo et al. seem to be in agreement with this tidal-induced wave attractor phenomenon, both with respect to tiger stripe pattern and with respect to timing of hotspot activity. However, in

Labeling Residential Community Characteristics from Collective Activity Patterns Using Taxi Trip Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Y.; Fang, Z.

2017-09-01

There existing a significant social and spatial differentiation in the residential communities in urban city. People live in different places have different socioeconomic background, resulting in various geographically activity patterns. This paper aims to label the characteristics of residential communities in a city using collective activity patterns derived from taxi trip data. Specifically, we first present a method to allocate the O/D (Origin/Destination) points of taxi trips to the land use parcels where the activities taken place in. Then several indices are employed to describe the collective activity patterns, including both activity intensity, travel distance, travel time, and activity space of residents by taking account of the geographical distribution of all O/Ds of the taxi trip related to that residential community. Followed by that, an agglomerative hierarchical clustering algorithm is introduced to cluster the residential communities with similar activity patterns. In the case study of Wuhan, the residential communities are clearly divided into eight clusters, which could be labelled as ordinary communities, privileged communities, old isolated communities, suburban communities, and so on. In this paper, we provide a new perspective to label the land use under same type from people's mobility patterns with the support of big trajectory data.

Temporal pattern of acoustic imaging noise asymmetrically modulates activation in the auditory cortex.

PubMed

Ranaweera, Ruwan D; Kwon, Minseok; Hu, Shuowen; Tamer, Gregory G; Luh, Wen-Ming; Talavage, Thomas M

2016-01-01

This study investigated the hemisphere-specific effects of the temporal pattern of imaging related acoustic noise on auditory cortex activation. Hemodynamic responses (HDRs) to five temporal patterns of imaging noise corresponding to noise generated by unique combinations of imaging volume and effective repetition time (TR), were obtained using a stroboscopic event-related paradigm with extra-long (≥27.5 s) TR to minimize inter-acquisition effects. In addition to confirmation that fMRI responses in auditory cortex do not behave in a linear manner, temporal patterns of imaging noise were found to modulate both the shape and spatial extent of hemodynamic responses, with classically non-auditory areas exhibiting responses to longer duration noise conditions. Hemispheric analysis revealed the right primary auditory cortex to be more sensitive than the left to the presence of imaging related acoustic noise. Right primary auditory cortex responses were significantly larger during all the conditions. This asymmetry of response to imaging related acoustic noise could lead to different baseline activation levels during acquisition schemes using short TR, inducing an observed asymmetry in the responses to an intended acoustic stimulus through limitations of dynamic range, rather than due to differences in neuronal processing of the stimulus. These results emphasize the importance of accounting for the temporal pattern of the acoustic noise when comparing findings across different fMRI studies, especially those involving acoustic stimulation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Patterns of muscle activity underlying object-specific grasp by the macaque monkey.

PubMed

Brochier, T; Spinks, R L; Umilta, M A; Lemon, R N

2004-09-01

During object grasp, a coordinated activation of distal muscles is required to shape the hand in relation to the physical properties of the object. Despite the fundamental importance of the grasping action, little is known of the muscular activation patterns that allow objects of different sizes and shapes to be grasped. In a study of two adult macaque monkeys, we investigated whether we could distinguish between EMG activation patterns associated with grasp of 12 differently shaped objects, chosen to evoke a wide range of grasping postures. Each object was mounted on a horizontal shuttle held by a weak spring (load force 1-2 N). Objects were located in separate sectors of a "carousel," and inter-trial rotation of the carousel allowed sequential presentation of the objects in pseudorandom order. EMG activity from 10 to 12 digit, hand, and arm muscles was recorded using chronically implanted electrodes. We show that the grasp of different objects was characterized by complex but distinctive patterns of EMG activation. Cluster analysis shows that these object-related EMG patterns were specific and consistent enough to identify the object unequivocally from the EMG recordings alone. EMG-based object identification required a minimum of six EMGs from simultaneously recorded muscles. EMG patterns were consistent across recording sessions in a given monkey but showed some differences between animals. These results identify the specific patterns of activity required to achieve distinct hand postures for grasping, and they open the way to our understanding of how these patterns are generated by the central motor network.

Influence of modified muscle morphology and activity pattern on the results of musculoskeletal system modelling in cerebral palsy patient.

PubMed

Ogrodnik, Justyna; Piszczatowski, Szczepan

2017-01-01

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of modified morphological parameters of the muscle model and excitation pattern on the results of musculoskeletal system numerical simulation in a cerebral palsy patient. The modelling of the musculoskeletal system was performed in the AnyBody Modelling System. The standard model (MoCap) was subjected to modifications consisting of changes in morphological parameters and excitation patterns of selected muscles. The research was conducted with the use of data of a 14-year-old cerebral palsy patient. A reduction of morphological parameters (variant MI) caused a decrease in the value of active force generated by the muscle with changed geometry, and as a consequence the changes in active force generated by other muscles. A simulation of the abnormal excitation pattern (variant MII) resulted in the muscle's additional activity during its lengthening. The simultaneous modification of the muscle morphology and excitation pattern (variant MIII) points to the interdependence of both types of muscle model changes. A significant increase in the value of the reaction force in the hip joint was observed as a consequence of modification of the hip abductor activity. The morphological parameters and the excitation pattern of modelled muscles have a significant influence on the results of numerical simulation of the musculoskeletal system functioning.

Weather effects on the patterns of people's everyday activities: a study using GPS traces of mobile phone users.

PubMed

Horanont, Teerayut; Phithakkitnukoon, Santi; Leong, Tuck W; Sekimoto, Yoshihide; Shibasaki, Ryosuke

2013-01-01

This study explores the effects that the weather has on people's everyday activity patterns. Temperature, rainfall, and wind speed were used as weather parameters. People's daily activity patterns were inferred, such as place visited, the time this took place, the duration of the visit, based on the GPS location traces of their mobile phones overlaid upon Yellow Pages information. Our analysis of 31,855 mobile phone users allowed us to infer that people were more likely to stay longer at eateries or food outlets, and (to a lesser degree) at retail or shopping areas when the weather is very cold or when conditions are calm (non-windy). When compared to people's regular activity patterns, certain weather conditions affected people's movements and activities noticeably at different times of the day. On cold days, people's activities were found to be more diverse especially after 10AM, showing greatest variations between 2PM and 6PM. A similar trend is observed between 10AM and midnight on rainy days, with people's activities found to be most diverse on days with heaviest rainfalls or on days when the wind speed was stronger than 4 km/h, especially between 10AM-1AM. Finally, we observed that different geographical areas of a large metropolis were impacted differently by the weather. Using data of urban infrastructure to characterize areas, we found strong correlations between weather conditions upon people's accessibility to trains. This study sheds new light on the influence of weather conditions on human behavior, in particular the choice of daily activities and how mobile phone data can be used to investigate the influence of environmental factors on urban dynamics.

Weather Effects on the Patterns of People's Everyday Activities: A Study Using GPS Traces of Mobile Phone Users

PubMed Central

Leong, Tuck W.; Sekimoto, Yoshihide; Shibasaki, Ryosuke

2013-01-01

This study explores the effects that the weather has on people's everyday activity patterns. Temperature, rainfall, and wind speed were used as weather parameters. People's daily activity patterns were inferred, such as place visited, the time this took place, the duration of the visit, based on the GPS location traces of their mobile phones overlaid upon Yellow Pages information. Our analysis of 31,855 mobile phone users allowed us to infer that people were more likely to stay longer at eateries or food outlets, and (to a lesser degree) at retail or shopping areas when the weather is very cold or when conditions are calm (non-windy). When compared to people's regular activity patterns, certain weather conditions affected people's movements and activities noticeably at different times of the day. On cold days, people's activities were found to be more diverse especially after 10AM, showing greatest variations between 2PM and 6PM. A similar trend is observed between 10AM and midnight on rainy days, with people's activities found to be most diverse on days with heaviest rainfalls or on days when the wind speed was stronger than 4 km/h, especially between 10AM–1AM. Finally, we observed that different geographical areas of a large metropolis were impacted differently by the weather. Using data of urban infrastructure to characterize areas, we found strong correlations between weather conditions upon people's accessibility to trains. This study sheds new light on the influence of weather conditions on human behavior, in particular the choice of daily activities and how mobile phone data can be used to investigate the influence of environmental factors on urban dynamics. PMID:24367481

Transcultural differences in brain activation patterns during theory of mind (ToM) task performance in Japanese and Caucasian participants.

PubMed

Koelkebeck, Katja; Hirao, Kazuyuki; Kawada, Ryousaku; Miyata, Jun; Saze, Teruyasu; Ubukata, Shiho; Itakura, Shoji; Kanakogi, Yasuhiro; Ohrmann, Patricia; Bauer, Jochen; Pedersen, Anya; Sawamoto, Nobukatsu; Fukuyama, Hidenao; Takahashi, Hidehiko; Murai, Toshiya

2011-01-01

Theory of mind (ToM) functioning develops during certain phases of childhood. Factors such as language development and educational style seem to influence its development. Some studies that have focused on transcultural aspects of ToM development have found differences between Asian and Western cultures. To date, however, little is known about transcultural differences in neural activation patterns as they relate to ToM functioning. The aim of our study was to observe ToM functioning and differences in brain activation patterns, as assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This study included a sample of 18 healthy Japanese and 15 healthy Caucasian subjects living in Japan. We presented a ToM task depicting geometrical shapes moving in social patterns. We also administered questionnaires to examine empathy abilities and cultural background factors. Behavioral data showed no significant group differences in the subjects' post-scan descriptions of the movies. The imaging results displayed stronger activation in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) in the Caucasian sample during the presentation of ToM videos. Furthermore, the task-associated activation of the MPFC was positively correlated with autistic and alexithymic features in the Japanese sample. In summary, our results showed evidence of culturally dependent sociobehavioral trait patterns, which suggests that they have an impact on brain activation patterns during information processing involving ToM.

Organ involvement in Argentinian systemic sclerosis patients with "late" pattern as compared to patients with "early/active" pattern by nailfold capillaroscopy.

PubMed

Marino Claverie, Lucila; Knobel, Elizabeth; Takashima, Lorena; Techera, Lorena; Oliver, Marina; Gonzalez, Paula; Romanini, Félix E; Fonseca, María L; Mamani, Marta N

2013-06-01

Changes in nailfold capillaroscopy in systemic sclerosis patients could be related to the disease severity. The aim of this study was to investigate whether patients with "late" scleroderma (SD) pattern have more organ involvement than patients with "early/active" SD pattern. Forty-six Argentinian patients (44 women and 2 men), with a diagnosis of systemic sclerosis, were distributed in two groups based on the presence of late and early/active patterns. Organ involvement was assessed as follows: pulmonary function by chest radiography, high-resolution chest tomography (HRCT), lung volume tests, and diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO); esophageal involvement by manometry; and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) by Doppler echocardiography and six-minute walk test. Honeycombing of the lungs evaluated by HRCT was more frequently present in patients with late pattern compared with early/active patients (p = 0.01). We also found statistically significant differences in lung volume tests (p = 0.03) and DLCO (p = 0.02) between the two SD pattern groups. Esophageal manometry showed a significantly higher frequency of motility disorders in the group with late pattern (p = 0.0024). In this study, patients with late pattern had higher frequency of pulmonary and esophageal involvement compared with patients with early/active pattern.

Optimizing human activity patterns using global sensitivity analysis.

PubMed

Fairchild, Geoffrey; Hickmann, Kyle S; Mniszewski, Susan M; Del Valle, Sara Y; Hyman, James M

2014-12-01

Implementing realistic activity patterns for a population is crucial for modeling, for example, disease spread, supply and demand, and disaster response. Using the dynamic activity simulation engine, DASim, we generate schedules for a population that capture regular (e.g., working, eating, and sleeping) and irregular activities (e.g., shopping or going to the doctor). We use the sample entropy (SampEn) statistic to quantify a schedule's regularity for a population. We show how to tune an activity's regularity by adjusting SampEn, thereby making it possible to realistically design activities when creating a schedule. The tuning process sets up a computationally intractable high-dimensional optimization problem. To reduce the computational demand, we use Bayesian Gaussian process regression to compute global sensitivity indices and identify the parameters that have the greatest effect on the variance of SampEn. We use the harmony search (HS) global optimization algorithm to locate global optima. Our results show that HS combined with global sensitivity analysis can efficiently tune the SampEn statistic with few search iterations. We demonstrate how global sensitivity analysis can guide statistical emulation and global optimization algorithms to efficiently tune activities and generate realistic activity patterns. Though our tuning methods are applied to dynamic activity schedule generation, they are general and represent a significant step in the direction of automated tuning and optimization of high-dimensional computer simulations.

Performance monitoring and empathy during active and observational learning in patients with major depression.

PubMed

Thoma, Patrizia; Norra, Christine; Juckel, Georg; Suchan, Boris; Bellebaum, Christian

2015-07-01

Previous literature established a link between major depressive disorder (MDD) and altered reward processing as well as between empathy and (observational) reward learning. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of MDD on the electrophysiological correlates - the feedback-related negativity (FRN) and the P300 - of active and observational reward processing and to relate them to trait cognitive and affective empathy. Eighteen patients with MDD and 16 healthy controls performed an active and an observational probabilistic reward-learning task while event- related potentials were recorded. Also, participants were assessed with regard to self-reported cognitive and affective trait empathy. Relative to healthy controls, patients with MDD showed overall impaired learning and attenuated FRN amplitudes, irrespective of feedback valence and learning type (active vs. observational), but comparable P300 amplitudes. In the patient group, but not in controls, higher trait perspective taking scores were significantly correlated with reduced FRN amplitudes. The pattern of results suggests impaired prediction error processing and a negative effect of higher trait empathy on feedback-based learning in patients with MDD. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Physical Activity Patterns of Youth with Down Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Esposito, Phil E.; MacDonald, Megan; Hornyak, Joseph E.; Ulrich, Dale A.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the physical activity patterns of children with Down syndrome. A cross-sectional approach and accelerometry were used to measure the time children with Down syndrome (N = 104) spent in sedentary, light, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Results indicated that adolescents from ages 14 to 15 years…

Unique and Persistent Individual Patterns of Brain Activity Across Different Memory Retrieval Tasks

PubMed Central

Miller, Michael B.; Donovan, Christa-Lynn; Van Horn, John D.; German, Elaine; Sokol-Hessner, Peter; Wolford, George L.

2009-01-01

Fourteen subjects were scanned in two fMRI sessions separated by several months. During each session, subjects performed an episodic retrieval task, a semantic retrieval task, and a working memory task. We found that 1) despite extensive intersubject variability in the pattern of activity across the whole brain, individual activity patterns were stable over time, 2) activity patterns of the same individual performing different tasks were more similar than activity patterns of different individuals performing the same task, and 3) that individual differences in decision criterion on a recognition test predicted the degree of similarity between any two individuals’ patterns of brain activity, but individual differences in memory accuracy or similarity in structural anatomy did not. These results imply that the exclusive use of group maps may be ineffective in profiling the pattern of activations for a given task. This may be particularly true for a task like episodic retrieval, which is relatively strategic and can involve widely-distributed specialized processes that are peripheral to the actual retrieval of stored information. Further, these processes may be differentially engaged depending on individual differences in cognitive processing and/or physiology. PMID:19540922

A random utility based estimation framework for the household activity pattern problem.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-06-01

This paper develops a random utility based estimation framework for the Household Activity : Pattern Problem (HAPP). Based on the realization that output of complex activity-travel decisions : form a continuous pattern in space-time dimension, the es...

a Three-Step Spatial-Temporal Clustering Method for Human Activity Pattern Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, W.; Li, S.; Xu, S.

2016-06-01

How people move in cities and what they do in various locations at different times form human activity patterns. Human activity pattern plays a key role in in urban planning, traffic forecasting, public health and safety, emergency response, friend recommendation, and so on. Therefore, scholars from different fields, such as social science, geography, transportation, physics and computer science, have made great efforts in modelling and analysing human activity patterns or human mobility patterns. One of the essential tasks in such studies is to find the locations or places where individuals stay to perform some kind of activities before further activity pattern analysis. In the era of Big Data, the emerging of social media along with wearable devices enables human activity data to be collected more easily and efficiently. Furthermore, the dimension of the accessible human activity data has been extended from two to three (space or space-time) to four dimensions (space, time and semantics). More specifically, not only a location and time that people stay and spend are collected, but also what people "say" for in a location at a time can be obtained. The characteristics of these datasets shed new light on the analysis of human mobility, where some of new methodologies should be accordingly developed to handle them. Traditional methods such as neural networks, statistics and clustering have been applied to study human activity patterns using geosocial media data. Among them, clustering methods have been widely used to analyse spatiotemporal patterns. However, to our best knowledge, few of clustering algorithms are specifically developed for handling the datasets that contain spatial, temporal and semantic aspects all together. In this work, we propose a three-step human activity clustering method based on space, time and semantics to fill this gap. One-year Twitter data, posted in Toronto, Canada, is used to test the clustering-based method. The results show that the

Feasibility assessment for battery electric vehicles based on multi-day activity-travel patterns.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-04-11

A Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) feasibility considering State Of Charge (SOC) level is : assessed using multiday activity-travel patterns to overcome the limitations of using one-day : activity-travel patterns. Since multi-day activity-travel patter...

Patterns of Physical Activity Among Older Adults in New York City

PubMed Central

Mooney, Stephen J.; Joshi, Spruha; Cerdá, Magdalena; Quinn, James W.; Beard, John R.; Kennedy, Gary J.; Benjamin, Ebele O.; Ompad, Danielle C.; Rundle, Andrew G.

2015-01-01

Introduction Little research to date has explored typologies of physical activity among older adults. An understanding of physical activity patterns may help to both determine the health benefits of different types of activity and target interventions to increase activity levels in older adults. This analysis, conducted in 2014, used a latent class analysis approach to characterize patterns of physical activity in a cohort of older adults. Methods A total of 3,497 men and women aged 65–75 years living in New York City completed the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) in 2011. PASE scale items were used to classify subjects into latent classes. Multinomial regression was then used to relate individual and neighborhood characteristics to class membership. Results Five latent classes were identified: “least active,” “walkers,” “domestic/gardening,” “athletic,” and “domestic/gardening athletic.” Individual-level predictors, including more education, higher income, and better self-reported health, were associated with membership in the more-active classes, particularly the athletic classes. Residential characteristics, including living in single-family housing and living in the lower-density boroughs of New York City, were predictive of membership in one of the domestic/gardening classes. Class membership was associated with BMI even after controlling for total PASE score. Conclusions This study suggests that individual and neighborhood characteristics are associated with distinct physical activity patterns in a group of older urban adults. These patterns are associated with body habitus independent of overall activity. PMID:26091927

Emergence of long-range correlations and bursty activity patterns in online communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panzarasa, Pietro; Bonaventura, Moreno

2015-12-01

Research has suggested that the activity occurring in a variety of social, economic, and technological systems exhibits long-range fluctuations in time. Pronounced levels of rapidly occurring events are typically observed over short periods of time, followed by long periods of inactivity. Relatively few studies, however, have shed light on the degree to which inhomogeneous temporal processes can be detected at, and emerge from, different levels of analysis. Here we investigate patterns of human activity within an online forum in which communication can be assessed at three intertwined levels: the micro level of the individual users; the meso level of discussion groups and continuous sessions; and the macro level of the whole system. To uncover the relation between different levels, we conduct a number of numerical simulations of a zero-crossing model in which users' behavior is constrained by progressively richer and more realistic rules of social interaction. Results indicate that, when users are solipsistic, their bursty behavior is not sufficient for generating heavy-tailed interevent time distributions at a higher level. However, when users are socially interdependent, the power spectra and interevent time distributions of the simulated and real forums are remarkably similar at all levels of analysis. Social interaction is responsible for the aggregation of multiple bursty activities at the micro level into an emergent bursty activity pattern at a higher level. We discuss the implications of the findings for an emergentist account of burstiness in complex systems.

Cross-Modal Multivariate Pattern Analysis

PubMed Central

Meyer, Kaspar; Kaplan, Jonas T.

2011-01-01

Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) is an increasingly popular method of analyzing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data1-4. Typically, the method is used to identify a subject's perceptual experience from neural activity in certain regions of the brain. For instance, it has been employed to predict the orientation of visual gratings a subject perceives from activity in early visual cortices5 or, analogously, the content of speech from activity in early auditory cortices6. Here, we present an extension of the classical MVPA paradigm, according to which perceptual stimuli are not predicted within, but across sensory systems. Specifically, the method we describe addresses the question of whether stimuli that evoke memory associations in modalities other than the one through which they are presented induce content-specific activity patterns in the sensory cortices of those other modalities. For instance, seeing a muted video clip of a glass vase shattering on the ground automatically triggers in most observers an auditory image of the associated sound; is the experience of this image in the "mind's ear" correlated with a specific neural activity pattern in early auditory cortices? Furthermore, is this activity pattern distinct from the pattern that could be observed if the subject were, instead, watching a video clip of a howling dog? In two previous studies7,8, we were able to predict sound- and touch-implying video clips based on neural activity in early auditory and somatosensory cortices, respectively. Our results are in line with a neuroarchitectural framework proposed by Damasio9,10, according to which the experience of mental images that are based on memories - such as hearing the shattering sound of a vase in the "mind's ear" upon seeing the corresponding video clip - is supported by the re-construction of content-specific neural activity patterns in early sensory cortices. PMID:22105246

Automated swimming activity monitor for examining temporal patterns of toxicant effects on individual Daphnia magna.

PubMed

Bahrndorff, Simon; Michaelsen, Thomas Yssing; Jensen, Anne; Marcussen, Laurits Faarup; Nielsen, Majken Elley; Roslev, Peter

2016-07-01

Aquatic pollutants are often biologically active at low concentrations and impact on biota in combination with other abiotic stressors. Traditional toxicity tests may not detect these effects, and there is a need for sensitive high-throughput methods for detecting sublethal effects. We have evaluated an automated infra-red (IR) light-based monitor for recording the swimming activity of Daphnia magna to establish temporal patterns of toxicant effects on an individual level. Activity was recorded for 48 h and the sensitivity of the monitor was evaluated by exposing D. magna to the reference chemicals K2 Cr2 O7 at 15, 20 and 25 °C and 2,4-dichlorophenol at 20 °C. Significant effects (P < 0.001) of toxicant concentrations, exposure time and incubation temperatures were observed. At 15 °C, the swimming activity remained unchanged for 48 h at sublethal concentrations of K2 Cr2 O7 whereas activity at 20 and 25 °C was more biphasic with decreases in activity occurring after 12-18 h. A similar biphasic pattern was observed after 2,4-dichlorophenol exposure at 20 °C. EC50 values for 2,4-dichlorophenol and K2 Cr2 O7 determined from automated recording of swimming activity showed increasing toxicity with time corresponding to decreases in EC50 of 0.03-0.07 mg l(-1) h(-1) . EC50 values determined after 48 h were comparable or lower than EC50 values based on visual inspection according to ISO 6341. The results demonstrated that the swimming activity monitor is capable of detecting sublethal behavioural effects that are toxicant and temperature dependent. The method allows EC values to be established at different time points and can serve as a high-throughput screening tool in toxicity testing. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Optimizing human activity patterns using global sensitivity analysis

PubMed Central

Hickmann, Kyle S.; Mniszewski, Susan M.; Del Valle, Sara Y.; Hyman, James M.

2014-01-01

Implementing realistic activity patterns for a population is crucial for modeling, for example, disease spread, supply and demand, and disaster response. Using the dynamic activity simulation engine, DASim, we generate schedules for a population that capture regular (e.g., working, eating, and sleeping) and irregular activities (e.g., shopping or going to the doctor). We use the sample entropy (SampEn) statistic to quantify a schedule’s regularity for a population. We show how to tune an activity’s regularity by adjusting SampEn, thereby making it possible to realistically design activities when creating a schedule. The tuning process sets up a computationally intractable high-dimensional optimization problem. To reduce the computational demand, we use Bayesian Gaussian process regression to compute global sensitivity indices and identify the parameters that have the greatest effect on the variance of SampEn. We use the harmony search (HS) global optimization algorithm to locate global optima. Our results show that HS combined with global sensitivity analysis can efficiently tune the SampEn statistic with few search iterations. We demonstrate how global sensitivity analysis can guide statistical emulation and global optimization algorithms to efficiently tune activities and generate realistic activity patterns. Though our tuning methods are applied to dynamic activity schedule generation, they are general and represent a significant step in the direction of automated tuning and optimization of high-dimensional computer simulations. PMID:25580080

Activities pattern of planned settlement’s residence and its influence toward settlement design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nirfalini Aulia, Dwira

2018-03-01

Everyday activity of residents in a housing area will create activities pattern. Utilization of public spaces in a housing area with repeating activities pattern will affect the design of public spaces. Changes in public space usage in a housing area happen as a result of residents’ activities pattern. The goal of this paper is to identify residents’ activity pattern and connect its influence towards public spaces utilization in planned housing in micro and urban area in macro. Housing residents classified into four respondent groups based on marriage status which is unmarried, single parents, the family without child and family with a child. The method used in this research is the qualitative descriptive approach. Research finding showed that housing area with housing facilities capable of creating happiness and convenience for its residents doing their activities in public spaces.

Whole person-evoked fMRI activity patterns in human fusiform gyrus are accurately modeled by a linear combination of face- and body-evoked activity patterns

PubMed Central

Kaiser, Daniel; Strnad, Lukas; Seidl, Katharina N.; Kastner, Sabine

2013-01-01

Visual cues from the face and the body provide information about another's identity, emotional state, and intentions. Previous neuroimaging studies that investigated neural responses to (bodiless) faces and (headless) bodies have reported overlapping face- and body-selective brain regions in right fusiform gyrus (FG). In daily life, however, faces and bodies are typically perceived together and are effortlessly integrated into the percept of a whole person, raising the possibility that neural responses to whole persons are qualitatively different than responses to isolated faces and bodies. The present study used fMRI to examine how FG activity in response to a whole person relates to activity in response to the same face and body but presented in isolation. Using multivoxel pattern analysis, we modeled person-evoked response patterns in right FG through a linear combination of face- and body-evoked response patterns. We found that these synthetic patterns were able to accurately approximate the response patterns to whole persons, with face and body patterns each adding unique information to the response patterns evoked by whole person stimuli. These results suggest that whole person responses in FG primarily arise from the coactivation of independent face- and body-selective neural populations. PMID:24108794

Physical Activity Patterns of Young Women Post-College Graduation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soliah, LuAnn; Walter, Janelle; Antosh, Deeanna

2008-01-01

Americans need more physical activity in their daily routines. There are numerous physical as well as psychological benefits that can be credited to regular physical activity. The purpose of this research was to examine the physical activity patterns of young women, post-college graduation. The average woman in this study exercised 22 minutes per…

Observations of two-phase flow patterns in a horizontal circular channel

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ewing, M.E.; Weinandy, J.J.; Christensen, R.N.

1999-01-01

Horizontal two-phase flow patterns were observed in a transparent circular channel (1.90 cm I.D.) using adiabatic mixtures of air and water. Visual identification of the flow regimes was supplemented with photographic data and the results were plotted on the flow regime map which has been proposed by Breber et al. for condensation applications. The results indicate general consistency between the observations and the predictions of the map, and, by providing data for different fluids and conditions from which the map was developed, support its general applicability.

Mapping the changing pattern of local climate as an observed distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chapman, Sandra; Stainforth, David; Watkins, Nicholas

2013-04-01

It is at local scales that the impacts of climate change will be felt directly and at which adaptation planning decisions must be made. This requires quantifying the geographical patterns in trends at specific quantiles in distributions of variables such as daily temperature or precipitation. Here we focus on these local changes and on the way observational data can be analysed to inform us about the pattern of local climate change. We present a method[1] for analysing local climatic timeseries data to assess which quantiles of the local climatic distribution show the greatest and most robust trends. We demonstrate this approach using E-OBS gridded data[2] timeseries of local daily temperature from specific locations across Europe over the last 60 years. Our method extracts the changing cumulative distribution function over time and uses a simple mathematical deconstruction of how the difference between two observations from two different time periods can be assigned to the combination of natural statistical variability and/or the consequences of secular climate change. This deconstruction facilitates an assessment of the sensitivity of different quantiles of the distributions to changing climate. Geographical location and temperature are treated as independent variables, we thus obtain as outputs the pattern of variation in sensitivity with temperature (or occurrence likelihood), and with geographical location. We find as an output many regionally consistent patterns of response of potential value in adaptation planning. We discuss methods to quantify and map the robustness of these observed sensitivities and their statistical likelihood. This also quantifies the level of detail needed from climate models if they are to be used as tools to assess climate change impact. [1] S C Chapman, D A Stainforth, N W Watkins, 2013, On Estimating Local Long Term Climate Trends, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A, in press [2] Haylock, M.R., N. Hofstra, A.M.G. Klein Tank, E.J. Klok, P

Relative humidity and activity patterns of Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Berger, K.A.; Ginsberg, Howard S.; Gonzalez, L.; Mather, T.N.

2014-01-01

Laboratory studies have shown clear relationships between relative humidity (RH) and the activity and survival of Ixodes scapularis Say (blacklegged tick). However, field studies have produced conflicting results. We examined this relationship using weekly tick count totals and hourly RH observations at three field sites, stratified by latitude, within the state of Rhode Island. Records of nymphal tick abundance were compared with several RH-related variables (e.g., RH at time of sampling and mean weekly daytime RH). In total, 825 nymphs were sampled in 2009, a year of greater precipitation, with a weighted average leaf litter RH recorded at time of sampling of 85.22%. Alternatively, 649 nymphs were collected in 2010, a year of relatively low precipitation, and a weighted average RH recorded at time of sampling was 75.51%. Negative binomial regression analysis of tick count totals identified cumulative hours <82% RH threshold as a significant factor observed in both years (2009: P = 0.0037; 2010: P < 0.0001). Mean weekly daytime RH did not significantly predict tick activity in either year. However, mean weekly daytime RH recorded with 1-wk lag before sample date was a significant variable (P = 0.0016) in 2010. These results suggest a lag effect between moisture availability and patterns of tick activity and abundance. Differences in the relative importance of each RH variable between years may have been due to abnormally wet summer conditions in 2009.

17β-Estradiol Induced Effects on Anterior Cruciate Ligament Laxness and Neuromuscular Activation Patterns in Female Runners.

PubMed

Khowailed, Iman Akef; Petrofsky, Jerrold; Lohman, Everett; Daher, Noha; Mohamed, Olfat

2015-08-01

We investigate the effects of 17β-Estradiol across phases of menstrual cycle on the laxness of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and the neuromuscular control patterns around the knee joint in female runners. Twelve healthy female runners who reported normal menstrual cycles for the previous 6 months were tested twice across one complete menstrual cycle for serum levels of 17β-estradiol, and knee joint laxity (KJL). Electromyographic (EMG) activity of the quadriceps and hamstrings muscles was also recorded during running on a treadmill. The changes in the EMG activity, KJL, and hormonal concentrations were recorded for each subject during the follicular and the ovulatory phases across the menstrual cycle. An observed increase in KJL in response to peak estradiol during the ovulatory phase was associated with increased preactivity of the hamstring muscle before foot impact (p<0.001). A consistent pattern was also observed in the firing of the quadriceps muscle recruitment pattern throughout the follicular phase associated with decreased hamstring recruitment pattern during weight acceptance phase of running (p=0.02). Additionally, a low ratio of medial to lateral quadriceps recruitment was associated with a significant reduction of the quadriceps to hamstring co-contraction ratio during the follicular phase. Changes in KJL during the menstrual cycle in response to 17β-estradiol fluctuations changes the neuromuscular control around the knee during running. Female runners utilize different neuromuscular control strategies during different phases of the menstrual cycle, which may contribute to increased ACL injury risk.

Muscle activity pattern dependent pain development and alleviation.

PubMed

Sjøgaard, Gisela; Søgaard, Karen

2014-12-01

Muscle activity is for decades considered to provide health benefits irrespectively of the muscle activity pattern performed and whether it is during e.g. sports, transportation, or occupational work tasks. Accordingly, the international recommendations for public health-promoting physical activity do not distinguish between occupational and leisure time physical activity. However, in this body of literature, attention has not been paid to the extensive documentation on occupational physical activity imposing a risk of impairment of health - in particular musculoskeletal health in terms of muscle pain. Focusing on muscle activity patterns and musculoskeletal health it is pertinent to elucidate the more specific aspects regarding exposure profiles and body regional pain. Static sustained muscle contraction for prolonged periods often occurs in the neck/shoulder area during occupational tasks and may underlie muscle pain development in spite of rather low relative muscle load. Causal mechanisms include a stereotype recruitment of low threshold motor units (activating type 1 muscle fibers) characterized by a lack of temporal as well as spatial variation in recruitment. In contrast during physical activities at leisure and sport the motor recruitment patterns are more dynamic including regularly relatively high muscle forces - also activating type 2 muscles fibers - as well as periods of full relaxation even of the type 1 muscle fibers. Such activity is unrelated to muscle pain development if adequate recovery is granted. However, delayed muscle soreness may develop following intensive eccentric muscle activity (e.g. down-hill skiing) with peak pain levels in thigh muscles 1-2 days after the exercise bout and a total recovery within 1 week. This acute pain profile is in contrast to the chronic muscle pain profile related to repetitive monotonous work tasks. The painful muscles show adverse functional, morphological, hormonal, as well as metabolic characteristics. Of

Note: Experimental observation of nano-channel pattern in light sheet laser interference nanolithography system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mohan, Kavya; Mondal, Partha Pratim, E-mail: partha@iap.iisc.ernet.in

We experimentally observed nano-channel-like pattern in a light-sheet based interference nanolithography system. The optical system created nano-channel-like patterned illumination. Coherent counter-propagating light sheets are made to interfere at and near geometrical focus along the propagation z-axis. This results in the formation of nano-channel-like pattern (of size ≈ 300 nm and inter-channel periodicity of ≈337.5 nm) inside the sample due to constructive and destructive interference. In addition, the technique has the ability to generate large area patterning using larger light-sheets. Exciting applications are in the broad field of nanotechnology (nano-electronics and nano-fluidics).

Physical activity patterns and risk of depression in young adulthood: a 20-year cohort study since childhood.

PubMed

McKercher, Charlotte; Sanderson, Kristy; Schmidt, Michael D; Otahal, Petr; Patton, George C; Dwyer, Terence; Venn, Alison J

2014-11-01

Little is known about how physical activity patterns during childhood and adolescence are associated with risk of subsequent depression. We examined prospective and retrospective associations between leisure physical activity patterns from childhood to adulthood and risk of clinical depression in young adulthood. Participants (759 males, 871 females) in a national survey, aged 9-15 years, were re-interviewed approximately 20 years later. Leisure physical activity was self-reported at baseline (1985) and follow-up (2004-2006). To bridge the interval between the two time-points, historical leisure activity from age 15 years to adulthood was self-reported retrospectively at follow-up. Physical activity was categorized into groups that, from a public health perspective, compared patterns that were least beneficial (persistently inactive) with those increasingly beneficial (decreasing, increasing and persistently active). Depression (major depressive or dysthymic disorder) was assessed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Compared with those persistently inactive, males who were increasingly and persistently active had a 69 and 65 % reduced risk of depression in adulthood, respectively (all p < 0.05). In retrospective analyses, females who were persistently active had a 51 % reduced risk of depression in adulthood (p = 0.01). Similar but non-significant trends were observed for leisure physical activity in females and historical leisure activity in males. Results excluded those with childhood onset of depression and were adjusted for various sociodemographic and health covariates. Findings from both prospective and retrospective analyses indicate a beneficial effect of habitual discretionary physical activity since childhood on risk of depression in young adulthood.

A Three-Dimensional Human Atrial Model with Fiber Orientation. Electrograms and Arrhythmic Activation Patterns Relationship

PubMed Central

Tobón, Catalina; Ruiz-Villa, Carlos A.; Heidenreich, Elvio; Romero, Lucia; Hornero, Fernando; Saiz, Javier

2013-01-01

The most common sustained cardiac arrhythmias in humans are atrial tachyarrhythmias, mainly atrial fibrillation. Areas of complex fractionated atrial electrograms and high dominant frequency have been proposed as critical regions for maintaining atrial fibrillation; however, there is a paucity of data on the relationship between the characteristics of electrograms and the propagation pattern underlying them. In this study, a realistic 3D computer model of the human atria has been developed to investigate this relationship. The model includes a realistic geometry with fiber orientation, anisotropic conductivity and electrophysiological heterogeneity. We simulated different tachyarrhythmic episodes applying both transient and continuous ectopic activity. Electrograms and their dominant frequency and organization index values were calculated over the entire atrial surface. Our simulations show electrograms with simple potentials, with little or no cycle length variations, narrow frequency peaks and high organization index values during stable and regular activity as the observed in atrial flutter, atrial tachycardia (except in areas of conduction block) and in areas closer to ectopic activity during focal atrial fibrillation. By contrast, cycle length variations and polymorphic electrograms with single, double and fragmented potentials were observed in areas of irregular and unstable activity during atrial fibrillation episodes. Our results also show: 1) electrograms with potentials without negative deflection related to spiral or curved wavefronts that pass over the recording point and move away, 2) potentials with a much greater proportion of positive deflection than negative in areas of wave collisions, 3) double potentials related with wave fragmentations or blocking lines and 4) fragmented electrograms associated with pivot points. Our model is the first human atrial model with realistic fiber orientation used to investigate the relationship between different

Physical activity patterns among Latinos in the United States: putting the pieces together.

PubMed

Ham, Sandra A; Yore, Michelle M; Kruger, Judy; Heath, Gregory W; Moeti, Refilwe

2007-10-01

Estimates of participation in physical activity among Latinos are inconsistent across studies. To obtain better estimates and examine possible reasons for inconsistencies, we assessed 1) patterns of participation in various categories of physical activity among Latino adults, 2) changes in their activity patterns with acculturation, and 3) variations in their activity patterns by region of origin. Using data from four national surveillance systems (the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2002; the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2003; the National Household Travel Survey, 2001; and the National Health Interview Survey Cancer Supplement, 2000), we estimated the percentage of Latinos who participated at least once per week in leisure-time, household, occupational, or transportation-related physical activity, as well as in an active pattern of usual daily activity. We reported prevalences by acculturation measures and region of origin. The percentage of Latinos who participated in the various types of physical activity ranged from 28.7% for having an active level of usual daily activity (usually walking most of the day and usually carrying or lifting objects) to 42.8% for participating in leisure-time physical activity at least once per week. The percentage who participated in leisure-time and household activities increased with acculturation, whereas the percentage who participated in occupational and transportation-related activities decreased with acculturation. Participation in an active level of usual daily activity did not change significantly. The prevalence of participation in transportation-related physical activity and of an active level of usual daily activity among Latino immigrants varied by region of origin. Physical activity patterns among Latinos vary with acculturation and region of origin. To assess physical activity levels in Latino communities, researchers should measure all types of physical activity and the effects

Observations of hysteresis in solar cycle variations among seven solar activity indicators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bachmann, Kurt T.; White, Oran R.

1994-01-01

We show that smoothed time series of 7 indices of solar activity exhibit significant solar cycle dependent differences in their relative variations during the past 20 years. In some cases these observed hysteresis patterns start to repeat over more than one solar cycle, giving evidence that this is a normal feature of solar variability. Among the indices we study, we find that the hysteresis effects are approximately simple phase shifts, and we quantify these phase shifts in terms of lag times behind the leading index, the International Sunspot Number. Our measured lag times range from less than one month to greater than four months and can be much larger than lag times estimated from short-term variations of these same activity indices during the emergence and decay of major active regions. We argue that hysteresis represents a real delay in the onset and decline of solar activity and is an important clue in the search for physical processes responsible for changing solar emission at various wavelengths.

Patterns of adolescents' participation in organized activities: are sports best when combined with other activities?

PubMed

Linver, Miriam R; Roth, Jodie L; Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne

2009-03-01

Although many adolescents participate in sports and other types of organized activities, little extant research explores how youth development outcomes may vary for youth involved in different combinations of activities. The present study uses the Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, a large, nationally representative sample, to compare activity patterns of adolescents ages 10-18 years (n = 1,711). A cluster analytic technique revealed 5 activity clusters: sports-focused, sports plus other activities, primarily school-based activities, primarily religious youth groups, and low activity involvement. Activity patterns were examined in conjunction with 5 categories of youth development outcomes, including competence (e.g., academic ability), confidence (e.g., self-concept of ability), connections (e.g., talking with friends), character (e.g., externalizing behavior problems), and caring (e.g., prosocial behavior). Results showed that those who participated only in sports had more positive outcomes compared with those who had little or no involvement in organized activities, but less positive outcomes compared with those who participated in sports plus other activities.

Patterns of Bat Distribution and Foraging Activity in a Highly Urbanized Temperate Environment

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Understanding how to manage biodiversity in urban areas will become increasingly important as density of humans residing in urban centers increases and urban areas expand. While considerable research has documented the shifts in biodiversity along urbanization gradients, much less work has focused on how characteristics of dense urban centers, effectively novel environments, influence behavior and biodiversity. Urban bats in San Francisco provide an opportunity to document changes in behavior and biodiversity to very high-density development. We studied (1) the distribution and abundance of bat foraging activity in natural areas; and (2) characteristics of natural areas that influence the observed patterns of distribution and foraging activity. We conducted acoustic surveys of twenty-two parks during 2008–2009. We confirmed the presence of four species of bats (Tadarida brasiliensis, Myotis yumanensis, Lasiurus blossevillii, and M. lucifugus). T. brasiliensis were found in all parks, while M. yumanensis occurred in 36% of parks. Results indicate that proximity to water, park size, and amount of forest edge best explained overall foraging activity. Proximity to water best explained species richness. M. yumanensis activity was best explained by reduced proportion of native vegetation as well as proximity to water. Activity was year round but diminished in December. We show that although bats are present even in very densely populated urban centers, there is a large reduction in species richness compared to that of outlying areas, and that most habitat factors explaining their community composition and activity patterns are similar to those documented in less urbanized environments. PMID:28030640

Optimizing human activity patterns using global sensitivity analysis

DOE PAGES

Fairchild, Geoffrey; Hickmann, Kyle S.; Mniszewski, Susan M.; ...

2013-12-10

Implementing realistic activity patterns for a population is crucial for modeling, for example, disease spread, supply and demand, and disaster response. Using the dynamic activity simulation engine, DASim, we generate schedules for a population that capture regular (e.g., working, eating, and sleeping) and irregular activities (e.g., shopping or going to the doctor). We use the sample entropy (SampEn) statistic to quantify a schedule’s regularity for a population. We show how to tune an activity’s regularity by adjusting SampEn, thereby making it possible to realistically design activities when creating a schedule. The tuning process sets up a computationally intractable high-dimensional optimizationmore » problem. To reduce the computational demand, we use Bayesian Gaussian process regression to compute global sensitivity indices and identify the parameters that have the greatest effect on the variance of SampEn. Here we use the harmony search (HS) global optimization algorithm to locate global optima. Our results show that HS combined with global sensitivity analysis can efficiently tune the SampEn statistic with few search iterations. We demonstrate how global sensitivity analysis can guide statistical emulation and global optimization algorithms to efficiently tune activities and generate realistic activity patterns. Finally, though our tuning methods are applied to dynamic activity schedule generation, they are general and represent a significant step in the direction of automated tuning and optimization of high-dimensional computer simulations.« less

Objectively Measured Activity Patterns among Adults in Residential Aged Care

PubMed Central

Reid, Natasha; Eakin, Elizabeth; Henwood, Timothy; Keogh, Justin W. L.; Senior, Hugh E.; Gardiner, Paul A.; Winkler, Elisabeth; Healy, Genevieve N.

2013-01-01

Objectives: To determine the feasibility of using the activPAL3TM activity monitor, and, to describe the activity patterns of residential aged care residents. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Randomly selected aged care facilities within 100 km of the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Participants: Ambulatory, older (≥60 years) residential aged care adults without cognitive impairment. Measurements: Feasibility was assessed by consent rate, sleep/wear diary completion, and through interviews with staff/participants. Activity patterns (sitting/lying, standing, and stepping) were measured via activPAL3TM monitors worn continuously for seven days. Times spent in each activity were described and then compared across days of the week and hours of the day using linear mixed models. Results: Consent rate was 48% (n = 41). Activity patterns are described for the 31 participants (mean age 84.2 years) who provided at least one day of valid monitor data. In total, 14 (45%) completed the sleep/wear diary. Participants spent a median (interquartile range) of 12.4 (1.7) h sitting/lying (with 73% of this accumulated in unbroken bouts of ≥30 min), 1.9 (1.3) h standing, and 21.4 (36.7) min stepping during their monitored waking hours per day. Activity did not vary significantly by day of the week (p ≥ 0.05); stepping showed significant hourly variation (p = 0.018). Conclusions: Older adults in residential aged care were consistently highly sedentary. Feasibility considerations for objective activity monitoring identified for this population include poor diary completion and lost monitors. PMID:24304508

[Mammals' camera-trapping in Sierra Nanchititla, Mexico: relative abundance and activity patterns].

PubMed

Monroy-Vilchis, Octavio; Zarco-González, Martha M; Rodríguez-Soto, Clarita; Soria-Díaz, Leroy; Urios, Vicente

2011-03-01

Species conservation and their management depend on the availability of their population behavior and changes in time. This way, population studies include aspects such as species abundance and activity pattern, among others, with the advantage that nowadays new technologies can be applied, in addition to common methods. In this study, we used camera-traps to obtain the index of relative abundance and to establish activity pattern of medium and large mammals in Sierra Nanchititla, Mexico. The study was conducted from December 2003 to May 2006, with a total sampling effort of 4 305 trap-days. We obtained 897 photographs of 19 different species. Nasua narica, Sylvilagus floridanus and Urocyon cinereoargenteus were the most abundant, in agreement with the relative abundance index (RAI, number of independent records/100 trap-days), and according to previous studies with indirect methods in the area. The activity patterns of the species showed that 67% of them are nocturnal, except Odocoileus virginianus, Nasua narica and others. Some species showed differences with previously reported patterns, which are related with seasonality, resources availability, organism sex, principally. The applied method contributed with reliable data about relative abundance and activity patterns.

Geographic Variation in Daily Temporal Activity Patterns of a Neotropical Marsupial (Gracilinanus agilis)

PubMed Central

Vieira, Emerson M.; de Camargo, Nícholas F.; Colas, Paul F.; Ribeiro, Juliana F.; Cruz-Neto, Ariovaldo P.

2017-01-01

The temporal activity of animals is an outcome of both biotic and abiotic factors, which may vary along the geographic range of the species. Therefore, studies conducted with a species in different localities with distinct features could elucidate how animals deal with such factors. In this study, we used live traps equipped with timing devices to investigate the temporal activity patterns of the didelphid Gracilinanus agilis in two dry-woodland areas of the Brazilian savanna (Cerrado). These areas were located about 660 km apart, one in Central Brazil and the other in Southeastern Brazil. We compared such patterns considering both reproductive and non-reproductive periods, and how it varies as a function of temperature on a seasonal basis. In Central Brazil, we found a constant, and temperature-independent activity during the night in both reproductive and non-reproductive periods. On the other hand, in Southeastern Brazil, we detected a constant activity during the reproductive period, but in the non-reproductive period G. agilis presented a peak of activity between two and four hours after sunset. Moreover, in this latter we found a relation between temporal activity and temperature during the autumn and spring. These differences in temporal activity between areas, observed during the non-reproductive period, might be associated with the higher seasonal variability in temperature, and lower mean temperatures in the Southeastern site in comparison to the Central one. In Southeastern Brazil, the decrease in temperature during the non-reproductive season possibly forced G. agilis to be active only at certain hours of the night. However, likely due to the reproductive activities (intensive foraging and searching for mates) this marsupial showed constant, temperature-independent activity during the night in the reproductive period at both sites. PMID:28052077

The influence of gender on auditory and language cortical activation patterns: preliminary data.

PubMed

Kocak, Mehmet; Ulmer, John L; Biswal, Bharat B; Aralasmak, Ayse; Daniels, David L; Mark, Leighton P

2005-10-01

Intersex cortical and functional asymmetry is an ongoing topic of investigation. In this pilot study, we sought to determine the influence of acoustic scanner noise and sex on auditory and language cortical activation patterns of the dominant hemisphere. Echoplanar functional MR imaging (fMRI; 1.5T) was performed on 12 healthy right-handed subjects (6 men and 6 women). Passive text listening tasks were employed in 2 different background acoustic scanner noise conditions (12 sections/2 seconds TR [6 Hz] and 4 sections/2 seconds TR [2 Hz]), with the first 4 sections in identical locations in the left hemisphere. Cross-correlation analysis was used to construct activation maps in subregions of auditory and language relevant cortex of the dominant (left) hemisphere, and activation areas were calculated by using coefficient thresholds of 0.5, 0.6, and 0.7. Text listening caused robust activation in anatomically defined auditory cortex, and weaker activation in language relevant cortex of all 12 individuals. As a whole, there was no significant difference in regional cortical activation between the 2 background acoustic scanner noise conditions. When sex was considered, men showed a significantly (P < .01) greater change in left hemisphere activation during the high scanner noise rate condition than did women. This effect was significant (P < .05) in the left superior temporal gyrus, the posterior aspect of the left middle temporal gyrus and superior temporal sulcus, and the left inferior frontal gyrus. Increase in the rate of background acoustic scanner noise caused increased activation in auditory and language relevant cortex of the dominant hemisphere in men compared with women where no such change in activation was observed. Our preliminary data suggest possible methodologic confounds of fMRI research and calls for larger investigations to substantiate our findings and further characterize sex-based influences on hemispheric activation patterns.

Changes in shoulder muscle activity pattern on surface electromyography after breast cancer surgery.

PubMed

Yang, Eun Joo; Kwon, YoungOk

2018-02-01

Alterations in muscle activation and restricted shoulder mobility, which are common in breast cancer patients, have been found to affect upper limb function. The purpose of this study was to determine muscle activity patterns, and to compare the prevalence of abnormal patterns among the type of breast surgery. In total, 274 breast cancer patients were recruited after surgery. Type of breast surgery was divided into mastectomy without reconstruction (Mastectomy), reconstruction with tissue expander/implant (TEI), latissimus dorsi (LD) flap, or transverse rectus abdominis flap (TRAM). Activities of shoulder muscles were measured using surface electromyography. Experimental analysis was conducted using a Gaussian filter smoothing method with regression. Patients demonstrated different patterns of muscle activation, such as normal, lower muscle electrical activity, and tightness. After adjusting for BMI and breast surgery, the odds of lower muscle electrical activity and tightness in the TRAM are 40.2% and 38.4% less than in the Mastectomy only group. The prevalence of abnormal patterns was significantly greater in the ALND than SLNB in all except TRAM. Alterations in muscle activity patterns differed by breast surgery and reconstruction type. For breast cancer patients with ALND, TRAM may be the best choice for maintaining upper limb function. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Quantum Beating Patterns Observed in the Energetics of Pb Film Nanostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Czoschke, P.; Hong, Hawoong; Basile, L.; Chiang, T.-C.

2004-07-01

We have studied the nanoscale structural evolution of Pb films grown at 110K on a Si(111) substrate as they are annealed to increasingly higher temperatures. Surface x-ray diffraction from a synchrotron source is used to observe the morphology evolve from an initial smooth film through various metastable states before reaching a state of local equilibrium, at which point the coverage of different height Pb structures is analyzed and related to the thickness-dependent surface energy. Rich patterns are seen in the resulting energy landscape similar to the beating patterns heard from the interference of two musical notes of similar pitch. The explanation is, however, very simple, as demonstrated by a model calculation based on the confinement of free electrons to a quantum well.

Quantum beating patterns observed in the energetics of Pb film nanostructures.

PubMed

Czoschke, P; Hong, Hawoong; Basile, L; Chiang, T-C

2004-07-16

We have studied the nanoscale structural evolution of Pb films grown at 110 K on a Si(111) substrate as they are annealed to increasingly higher temperatures. Surface x-ray diffraction from a synchrotron source is used to observe the morphology evolve from an initial smooth film through various metastable states before reaching a state of local equilibrium, at which point the coverage of different height Pb structures is analyzed and related to the thickness-dependent surface energy. Rich patterns are seen in the resulting energy landscape similar to the beating patterns heard from the interference of two musical notes of similar pitch. The explanation is, however, very simple, as demonstrated by a model calculation based on the confinement of free electrons to a quantum well.

Penetration pattern of rhodamine dyes into enamel and dentin: confocal laser microscopy observation.

PubMed

Kwon, S R; Wertz, P W; Li, Y; Chan, D C N

2012-02-01

Enamel and dentin are susceptible to extrinsic and intrinsic stains. The purposes of this study were to determine the penetration pattern of Rhodamine B and dextran-conjugated Rhodamine B into the enamel and dentin as observed by confocal laser microscopy and to relate it to the penetration pattern of hydrogen peroxide commonly used as an active ingredient in tooth-whitening agents and high-molecular-weight staining molecules. Eighteen recently extracted human maxillary anterior teeth were used. Teeth were cleaned and painted with nail varnish except for the crown area above the cemento-enamel junction (CEJ). The painted teeth were then immersed in Rhodamine B and dextran-conjugated Rhodamine B (70 000 MW) for 4, 7, 10 and 15 days. Teeth were sliced to 3 mm thickness in transverse plane and mounted on a glass slide just prior to observation with confocal laser microscopy. Rhodamine B and dextran-conjugated Rhodamine B readily penetrated into the enamel and dentin when exposed for 4 and 7 days, respectively. Rhodamine B penetrated along the interprismatic spaces of the enamel into the dentin. The penetration was accentuated in sections with existing crack lines in the enamel. Rhodamine B was readily absorbed into the dentinal tubules at the dentino-enamel junction and continued to penetrate through the dentin via the dentinal tubules into the pre-dentin. Within the limitations of this study, it is concluded that Rhodamine B and dextran-conjugated Rhodamine B when applied to the external surface of the tooth readily penetrate into the enamel and dentin via the interprismatic spaces in the enamel and dentinal tubules in the dentin, suggesting that stain molecules and bleaching agents possibly exhibit similar penetration pathways. © 2011 The Authors. ICS © 2011 Society of Cosmetic Scientists and the Société Française de Cosmétologie.

Active Curved Polymers Form Vortex Patterns on Membranes.

PubMed

Denk, Jonas; Huber, Lorenz; Reithmann, Emanuel; Frey, Erwin

2016-04-29

Recent in vitro experiments with FtsZ polymers show self-organization into different dynamic patterns, including structures reminiscent of the bacterial Z ring. We model FtsZ polymers as active particles moving along chiral, circular paths by Brownian dynamics simulations and a Boltzmann approach. Our two conceptually different methods point to a generic phase behavior. At intermediate particle densities, we find self-organization into vortex structures including closed rings. Moreover, we show that the dynamics at the onset of pattern formation is described by a generalized complex Ginzburg-Landau equation.

GABAB-receptor activation alters the firing pattern of dopamine neurons in the rat substantia nigra.

PubMed

Engberg, G; Kling-Petersen, T; Nissbrandt, H

1993-11-01

Previous electrophysiological experiments have emphasized the importance of the firing pattern for the functioning of midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons. In this regard, excitatory amino acid receptors appear to constitute an important modulatory control mechanism. In the present study, extracellular recording techniques were used to investigate the significance of GABAB-receptor activation for the firing properties of DA neurons in the substantia nigra (SN) in the rat. Intravenous administration of the GABAB-receptor agonist baclofen (1-16 mg/kg) was associated with a dose-dependent regularization of the firing pattern, concomitant with a reduction in burst firing. At higher doses (16-32 mg/kg), the firing rate of the DA neurons was dose-dependently decreased. Also, microiontophoretic application of baclofen regularized the firing pattern of nigral DA neurons, including a reduction of burst firing. Both the regularization of the firing pattern and inhibition of firing rate produced by systemic baclofen administration was antagonized by the GABAB-receptor antagonist CGP 35348 (200 mg/kg, i.v.). The GABAA-receptor agonist muscimol produced effects on the firing properties of DA neurons that were opposite to those observed following baclofen, i.e., an increase in firing rate accompanied by a decreased regularity. The NMDA receptor antagonist MK 801 (0.4-3.2 mg/kg, i.v.) produced a moderate, dose-dependent increase in the firing rate of the nigral DA neurons as well as a slightly regularized firing pattern. Pretreatment with MK 801 (3.2 mg/kg, i.v., 3-10 min) did neither promote nor prevent the regularization of the firing pattern or inhibition of firing rate on the nigral DA neurons produced by baclofen. The present results clearly show that GABAB-receptors can alter the firing pattern of nigral DA neurons, hereby counterbalancing the previously described ability of glutamate to induce burst firing activity on these neurons.

Prediction of Human Activity by Discovering Temporal Sequence Patterns.

PubMed

Li, Kang; Fu, Yun

2014-08-01

Early prediction of ongoing human activity has become more valuable in a large variety of time-critical applications. To build an effective representation for prediction, human activities can be characterized by a complex temporal composition of constituent simple actions and interacting objects. Different from early detection on short-duration simple actions, we propose a novel framework for long -duration complex activity prediction by discovering three key aspects of activity: Causality, Context-cue, and Predictability. The major contributions of our work include: (1) a general framework is proposed to systematically address the problem of complex activity prediction by mining temporal sequence patterns; (2) probabilistic suffix tree (PST) is introduced to model causal relationships between constituent actions, where both large and small order Markov dependencies between action units are captured; (3) the context-cue, especially interactive objects information, is modeled through sequential pattern mining (SPM), where a series of action and object co-occurrence are encoded as a complex symbolic sequence; (4) we also present a predictive accumulative function (PAF) to depict the predictability of each kind of activity. The effectiveness of our approach is evaluated on two experimental scenarios with two data sets for each: action-only prediction and context-aware prediction. Our method achieves superior performance for predicting global activity classes and local action units.

It's about time: a comparison of Canadian and American time-activity patterns.

PubMed

Leech, Judith A; Nelson, William C; Burnett, Richard T; Aaron, Shawn; Raizenne, Mark E

2002-11-01

This study compares two North American time-activity data bases: the National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS) of 9386 interviewees in 1992-1994 in the continental USA with the Canadian Human Activity Pattern Survey (CHAPS) of 2381 interviewees in 1996-1997 in four major Canadian cities. Identical surveys and methodology were used to collect this data: random sample telephone selection within the identified telephone exchanges, computer-assisted telephone interviews, overselection of children and weekends in the 24-h recall diary and the same interviewers. Very similar response rates were obtained: 63% (NHAPS) and 64.5% (CHAPS). Results of comparisons by age within major activity and location groups suggest activity and location patterns are very similar (most differences being less than 1% or 14 min in a 24-h day) with the exception of seasonal differences. Canadians spend less time outdoors in winter and less time indoors in summer than their U.S. counterparts. When exposure assessments use time of year or outdoor/indoor exposure gradients, these differences may result in significant differences in exposure assessments. Otherwise, the 24-h time activity patterns of North Americans are remarkably similar and use of the combined data set for some exposure assessments may be feasible.

Topological dimension tunes activity patterns in hierarchical modular networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Safari, Ali; Moretti, Paolo; Muñoz, Miguel A.

2017-11-01

Connectivity patterns of relevance in neuroscience and systems biology can be encoded in hierarchical modular networks (HMNs). Recent studies highlight the role of hierarchical modular organization in shaping brain activity patterns, providing an excellent substrate to promote both segregation and integration of neural information. Here, we propose an extensive analysis of the critical spreading rate (or ‘epidemic’ threshold)—separating a phase with endemic persistent activity from one in which activity ceases—on diverse HMNs. By employing analytical and computational techniques we determine the nature of such a threshold and scrutinize how it depends on general structural features of the underlying HMN. We critically discuss the extent to which current graph-spectral methods can be applied to predict the onset of spreading in HMNs and, most importantly, we elucidate the role played by the network topological dimension as a relevant and unifying structural parameter, controlling the epidemic threshold.

Preservice Elementary Teachers' Knowledge of Observable Moon Phases and Pattern of Change in Phases

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trundle, Kathy Cabe; Atwood, Ronald K.; Christopher, John E.

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study was to describe selected content knowledge held by 52 preservice elementary teachers about the observable phases of the moon and the monthly pattern of change in observable phases. Data were obtained from participants in a physics course before and after they received inquiry-based instruction designed to promote…

Observer-Pattern Modeling and Slow-Scale Bifurcation Analysis of Two-Stage Boost Inverters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Hao; Wan, Xiaojin; Li, Weijie; Ding, Honghui; Yi, Chuanzhi

2017-06-01

This paper deals with modeling and bifurcation analysis of two-stage Boost inverters. Since the effect of the nonlinear interactions between source-stage converter and load-stage inverter causes the “hidden” second-harmonic current at the input of the downstream H-bridge inverter, an observer-pattern modeling method is proposed by removing time variance originating from both fundamental frequency and hidden second harmonics in the derived averaged equations. Based on the proposed observer-pattern model, the underlying mechanism of slow-scale instability behavior is uncovered with the help of eigenvalue analysis method. Then eigenvalue sensitivity analysis is used to select some key system parameters of two-stage Boost inverter, and some behavior boundaries are given to provide some design-oriented information for optimizing the circuit. Finally, these theoretical results are verified by numerical simulations and circuit experiment.

Patterns of adolescent physical activity and dietary behaviours

PubMed Central

Pearson, Natalie; Atkin, Andrew J; Biddle, Stuart JH; Gorely, Trish; Edwardson, Charlotte

2009-01-01

Background The potential synergistic effects of multiple dietary and physical activity behaviours on the risk of chronic conditions and health outcomes is a key issue for public health. This study examined the prevalence and clustering patterns of multiple health behaviours among a sample of adolescents in the UK. Methods Cross-sectional survey of 176 adolescents aged 12–16 years (49% boys). Adolescents wore accelerometers for seven days and completed a questionnaire assessing fruit, vegetable, and breakfast consumption. The prevalence of adolescents meeting the physical activity (≥ 60 minutes moderate-to-vigorous physical activity/day), fruit and vegetable (≥ 5 portions of FV per day) and breakfast recommendations (eating breakfast on ≥ 5 days per week), and clustering patterns of these health behaviours are described. Results Boys were more active than girls (p < 0.001) and younger adolescents were more active than older adolescents (p < 0.01). Boys ate breakfast on more days per week than girls (p < 0.01) and older adolescents ate more fruit and vegetables than younger adolescents (p < 0.01). Almost 54% of adolescents had multiple risk behaviours and only 6% achieved all three of the recommendations. Girls had significantly more risk factors than boys (p < 0.01). For adolescents with two risk behaviours, the most prevalent cluster was formed by not meeting the physical activity and fruit and vegetable recommendations. Conclusion Many adolescents fail to meet multiple diet and physical activity recommendations, highlighting that physical activity and dietary behaviours do not occur in isolation. Future research should investigate how best to achieve multiple health behaviour change in adolescent boys and girls. PMID:19624822

Children's organized physical activity patterns from childhood into adolescence.

PubMed

Findlay, Leanne C; Garner, Rochelle E; Kohen, Dafna E

2009-11-01

Few longitudinal studies of physical activity have included young children or used nationally representative datasets. The purpose of the current study was to explore patterns of organized physical activity for Canadian children aged 4 through 17 years. Data from 5 cycles of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth were analyzed separately for boys (n = 4463) and girls (n = 4354) using multiple trajectory modeling. Boys' and girls' organized physical activity was best represented by 3 trajectory groups. For boys, these groups were labeled: high stable, high decreasing, and low decreasing participation. For girls, these groups were labeled: high decreasing, moderate stable, and low decreasing participation. Risk factors (parental education, household income, urban/rural dwelling, and single/dual parent) were explored. For boys and girls, having a parent with postsecondary education and living in a higher income household were associated with a greater likelihood of weekly participation in organized physical activity. Living in an urban area was also significantly associated with a greater likelihood of weekly participation for girls. Results suggest that Canadian children's organized physical activity is best represented by multiple patterns of participation that tend to peak in middle childhood and decline into adolescence.

Extreme events and single-pulse spatial patterns observed in a self-pulsing all-solid-state laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonazzola, Carlos; Hnilo, Alejandro; Kovalsky, Marcelo; Tredicce, Jorge

2018-03-01

The passively Q -switched, self-pulsing all-solid-state laser is a device of widespread use in many applications. Depending on the condition of saturation of the absorber, which is easy to adjust, different dynamical regimes are observed: continuous-wave emission, stable oscillations, period doubling bifurcations, chaos, and, within some chaotic regimes, extreme events (EEs) in the form of pulses of extraordinary intensity. These pulses are sometimes called "dissipative optical rogue waves." The mechanism of their formation in this laser is unknown. Previous observations suggest they are caused by the interaction of a few transverse modes. Here we report a direct observation of the pulse-to-pulse evolution of the transverse pattern. In the periodical regimes, sequences of intensities are correlated with sequences of patterns. In the chaotic ones, a few different patterns alternate, and the EEs are related with even fewer ones. In addition, the series of patterns and the pulse intensities before and after an EE are markedly repetitive. These observations demonstrate that EEs follow a deterministic evolution, and that they can appear even in a system with few interacting modes. This information plays a crucial role for the development of a mathematical description of EEs in this laser. This would allow managing the formation of EE through control of chaos, which is of both academic and practical interest (laser rangefinder).

Extreme events and single-pulse spatial patterns observed in a self-pulsing all-solid-state laser.

PubMed

Bonazzola, Carlos; Hnilo, Alejandro; Kovalsky, Marcelo; Tredicce, Jorge

2018-03-01

The passively Q-switched, self-pulsing all-solid-state laser is a device of widespread use in many applications. Depending on the condition of saturation of the absorber, which is easy to adjust, different dynamical regimes are observed: continuous-wave emission, stable oscillations, period doubling bifurcations, chaos, and, within some chaotic regimes, extreme events (EEs) in the form of pulses of extraordinary intensity. These pulses are sometimes called "dissipative optical rogue waves." The mechanism of their formation in this laser is unknown. Previous observations suggest they are caused by the interaction of a few transverse modes. Here we report a direct observation of the pulse-to-pulse evolution of the transverse pattern. In the periodical regimes, sequences of intensities are correlated with sequences of patterns. In the chaotic ones, a few different patterns alternate, and the EEs are related with even fewer ones. In addition, the series of patterns and the pulse intensities before and after an EE are markedly repetitive. These observations demonstrate that EEs follow a deterministic evolution, and that they can appear even in a system with few interacting modes. This information plays a crucial role for the development of a mathematical description of EEs in this laser. This would allow managing the formation of EE through control of chaos, which is of both academic and practical interest (laser rangefinder).

fMRI activation patterns in an analytic reasoning task: consistency with EEG source localization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Bian; Vasanta, Kalyana C.; O'Boyle, Michael; Baker, Mary C.; Nutter, Brian; Mitra, Sunanda

2010-03-01

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is used to model brain activation patterns associated with various perceptual and cognitive processes as reflected by the hemodynamic (BOLD) response. While many sensory and motor tasks are associated with relatively simple activation patterns in localized regions, higher-order cognitive tasks may produce activity in many different brain areas involving complex neural circuitry. We applied a recently proposed probabilistic independent component analysis technique (PICA) to determine the true dimensionality of the fMRI data and used EEG localization to identify the common activated patterns (mapped as Brodmann areas) associated with a complex cognitive task like analytic reasoning. Our preliminary study suggests that a hybrid GLM/PICA analysis may reveal additional regions of activation (beyond simple GLM) that are consistent with electroencephalography (EEG) source localization patterns.

Development of a computational model on the neural activity patterns of a visual working memory in a hierarchical feedforward Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

An, Soyoung; Choi, Woochul; Paik, Se-Bum

2015-11-01

Understanding the mechanism of information processing in the human brain remains a unique challenge because the nonlinear interactions between the neurons in the network are extremely complex and because controlling every relevant parameter during an experiment is difficult. Therefore, a simulation using simplified computational models may be an effective approach. In the present study, we developed a general model of neural networks that can simulate nonlinear activity patterns in the hierarchical structure of a neural network system. To test our model, we first examined whether our simulation could match the previously-observed nonlinear features of neural activity patterns. Next, we performed a psychophysics experiment for a simple visual working memory task to evaluate whether the model could predict the performance of human subjects. Our studies show that the model is capable of reproducing the relationship between memory load and performance and may contribute, in part, to our understanding of how the structure of neural circuits can determine the nonlinear neural activity patterns in the human brain.

Saw-tooth pattern from flux jumps observed by high resolution M-H curves in MgB2 thin films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Jae-Yeap; Lee, Hu-Jong; Jung, Myung-Hwa; Lee, Sung-Ik; Choi, Eun-Mi; Kang, W. N.

2010-08-01

While flux jumps have been observed in the magnetic hysteresis loops of superconductors, a saw-tooth pattern of the flux jump is known to appear only in a bulk superconductor. But in this study, we were able to observe the saw-tooth pattern in MgB2 thin film with the careful data acquisition method enhancing the data taking capability and report the details of the distribution of the field interval between jumps Bfj, and the size of the flux jump, Mfj. The theory based on Bean's model in the adiabatic approach was adapted and it was compared with experimental results. In addition, we observe the cross-over between the saw-tooth pattern and a rounded saw-tooth pattern, as a byproduct. A patterns diagram of the vortex jump was drawn on the H-T plane.

New activity pattern in human interactive dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Formentin, Marco; Lovison, Alberto; Maritan, Amos; Zanzotto, Giovanni

2015-09-01

We investigate the response function of human agents as demonstrated by written correspondence, uncovering a new pattern for how the reactive dynamics of individuals is distributed across the set of each agent’s contacts. In long-term empirical data on email, we find that the set of response times considered separately for the messages to each different correspondent of a given writer, generate a family of heavy-tailed distributions, which have largely the same features for all agents, and whose characteristic times grow exponentially with the rank of each correspondent. We furthermore show that this new behavioral pattern emerges robustly by considering weighted moving averages of the priority-conditioned response-time probabilities generated by a basic prioritization model. Our findings clarify how the range of priorities in the inputs from one’s environment underpin and shape the dynamics of agents embedded in a net of reactive relations. These newly revealed activity patterns might be universal, being present in other general interactive environments, and constrain future models of communication and interaction networks, affecting their architecture and evolution.

Bedtime activities, sleep environment, and sleep/wake patterns of Japanese elementary school children.

PubMed

Oka, Yasunori; Suzuki, Shuhei; Inoue, Yuich

2008-01-01

Bedtime activities, sleep environment, and their impact on sleep/wake patterns were assessed in 509 elementary school children (6-12 years of age; 252 males and 257 females). Television viewing, playing video games, and surfing the Internet had negative impact on sleep/wake parameters. Moreover, presence of a television set or video game in the child's bedroom increased their activity before bedtime. Time to return home later than 8 p.m. from after-school activity also had a negative impact on sleep/wake patterns. Health care practitioners should be aware of the potential negative impact of television, video games, and the Internet before bedtime, and also the possibility that late after-school activity can disturb sleep/wake patterns.

A cluster analysis of patterns of objectively measured physical activity in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Lee, Paul H; Yu, Ying-Ying; McDowell, Ian; Leung, Gabriel M; Lam, T H

2013-08-01

The health benefits of exercise are clear. In targeting interventions it would be valuable to know whether characteristic patterns of physical activity (PA) are associated with particular population subgroups. The present study used cluster analysis to identify characteristic hourly PA patterns measured by accelerometer. Cross-sectional design. Objectively measured PA in Hong Kong adults. Four-day accelerometer data were collected during 2009 to 2011 for 1714 participants in Hong Kong (mean age 44?2 years, 45?9% male). Two clusters were identified, one more active than the other. The ‘active cluster’ (n 480) was characterized by a routine PA pattern on weekdays and a more active and varied pattern on weekends; the other, the ‘less active cluster’ (n 1234), by a consistently low PA pattern on both weekdays and weekends with little variation from day to day. Demographic, lifestyle, PA level and health characteristics of the two clusters were compared. They differed in age, sex, smoking, income and level of PA required at work. The odds of having any chronic health conditions was lower for the active group (adjusted OR50?62, 95% CI 0?46, 0?84) but the two groups did not differ in terms of specific chronic health conditions or obesity. Implications are drawn for targeting exercise promotion programmes at the population level.

Micro-flock patterns and macro-clusters in chiral active Brownian disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levis, Demian; Liebchen, Benno

2018-02-01

Chiral active particles (or self-propelled circle swimmers) feature a rich collective behavior, comprising rotating macro-clusters and micro-flock patterns which consist of phase-synchronized rotating clusters with a characteristic self-limited size. These patterns emerge from the competition of alignment interactions and rotations suggesting that they might occur generically in many chiral active matter systems. However, although excluded volume interactions occur naturally among typical circle swimmers, it is not yet clear if macro-clusters and micro-flock patterns survive their presence. The present work shows that both types of pattern do survive but feature strongly enhance fluctuations regarding the size and shape of the individual clusters. Despite these fluctuations, we find that the average micro-flock size still follows the same characteristic scaling law as in the absence of excluded volume interactions, i.e. micro-flock sizes scale linearly with the single-swimmer radius.

Dynamic Modulation of Human Motor Activity When Observing Actions

PubMed Central

Press, Clare; Cook, Jennifer; Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne; Kilner, James

2012-01-01

Previous studies have demonstrated that when we observe somebody else executing an action many areas of our own motor systems are active. It has been argued that these motor activations are evidence that we motorically simulate observed actions; this motoric simulation may support various functions such as imitation and action understanding. However, whether motoric simulation is indeed the function of motor activations during action observation is controversial, due to inconsistency in findings. Previous studies have demonstrated dynamic modulations in motor activity when we execute actions. Therefore, if we do motorically simulate observed actions, our motor systems should also be modulated dynamically, and in a corresponding fashion, during action observation. Using magnetoencephalography, we recorded the cortical activity of human participants while they observed actions performed by another person. Here, we show that activity in the human motor system is indeed modulated dynamically during action observation. The finding that activity in the motor system is modulated dynamically when observing actions can explain why studies of action observation using functional magnetic resonance imaging have reported conflicting results, and is consistent with the hypothesis that we motorically simulate observed actions. PMID:21414901

Post-fire recovery of torpor and activity patterns of a small mammal.

PubMed

Stawski, Clare; Hume, Taylor; Körtner, Gerhard; Currie, Shannon E; Nowack, Julia; Geiser, Fritz

2017-05-01

To cope with the post-fire challenges of decreased availability of food and shelter, brown antechinus ( Antechinus stuartii ), a small marsupial mammal, increase the use of energy-conserving torpor and reduce activity. However, it is not known how long it takes for animals to resume pre-fire torpor and activity patterns during the recovery of burnt habitat. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that antechinus will adjust torpor use and activity after a fire depending on vegetation recovery. We simultaneously quantified torpor and activity patterns for female antechinus from three adjacent areas: (i) the area of a management burn 1 year post-fire, (ii) an area that was burned 2 years prior, and (iii) a control area. In comparison to shortly after the management burn, antechinus in all three groups displayed less frequent and less pronounced torpor while being more active. We provide the first evidence that only 1 year post-fire antechinus resume pre-fire torpor and activity patterns, probably in response to the return of herbaceous ground cover and foraging opportunities. © 2017 The Author(s).

Activity patterns of elderly men and women.

PubMed

Sidney, K H; Shephard, R J

1977-01-01

The activity patterns of elderly men and women (greater than 60 years) were examined by diaries, ECG taperecorders, and electro-chemical integrators. Although the subjects thought that they were active relative to others of their age, both activity measurements and initial assessments of fitness indicated an inactive life style. At different periods of the day, the heart rate averaged 70-90 beats per minute, and the physical training threshold was rarely approached. During the week, the women engaged in 90 min. more physical activity than the men. However, at the weekend the men added an average of 100 min. of physical activity, whereas the women carried out 30 min. less physical work. Introduction of a 1-hour physical activity class four times per week increased the average daily energy expenditure by 150-200 kCal, to 2500 kCal in the men and 2200 kCal in the women. The added activity was sufficient to augment aerobic power, to induce favorable changes in body composition and to initiate change in other areas of life style, including a diminished use of the car.

Muscle activity patterns altered during pedaling at different body orientations.

PubMed

Brown, D A; Kautz, S A; Dairaghi, C A

1996-10-01

Gravity is a contributing force that is believed to influence strongly the control of limb movements since it affects sensory input and also contributes to task mechanics. By altering the relative contribution of gravitational force to the overall forces used to control pedaling at different body orientations, we tested the hypothesis that joint torque and muscle activation patterns would be modified to generate steady-state pedaling at altered body orientations. Eleven healthy subjects pedaled a modified ergometer at different body orientations (from horizontal to vertical), maintaining the same workload (80 J), cadence (60 rpm), and hip and knee kinematics. Pedal reaction forces and crank and pedal kinematics were measured and used to calculate joint torques and angles. EMG was recorded from four muscles (tibialis anterior, triceps surae, rectus femoris, biceps femoris). Measures of muscle activation (joint torque and EMG activity) showed strong dependence on body orientation, indicating that muscle activity is not fixed and is modified in response to altered body orientation. Simulations confirmed that, while joint torque changes were not necessary to pedal at different body orientations, observed changes were necessary to maintain consistent crank angular velocity profiles. Dependence of muscle activity on body orientation may be due to neural integration of sensory information with an internal model that includes characteristics of the endpoint, to produce consistent pedaling trajectories. Thus, both sensory consequences and mechanical aspects of gravitational forces are important determinants of locomotor tasks such as pedaling.

Characteristics of proportionate growth observed in instability patterns of miscible fluids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bischofberger, Irmgard; Ramachandran, Radha; Nagel, Sidney R.; Nagel lab Team

2014-11-01

As a baby mammal grows, different parts of its body develop at the nearly the same rate and thus to a good approximation in direct proportion to one another. This type of growth is called proportionate growth. As familiar as it appears to us, it is very rarely found in physical systems outside of the biological world. We here show an example of proportionate growth that occurs in the instability formed when a less viscous liquid, of viscosity ηin displaces a more viscous miscible one, of viscosity ηout. We investigate the growth of these patterns in a quasi-two-dimensional geometry. Within a range of viscosity ratios 0.1 <ηin /ηout <0.3, we observe the formation of small blunt structures that form at the edges of an inner circular region devoid of fingers. As the pattern grows, the size of these structures increases in proportion to the size of the inner circle, such that even small details in the shape of the pattern remain essentially unchanged during growth. These characteristics of proportionate growth are reflected in the shape of the interface in the third dimension as well.

Patterns of Physical Activity Outside of School Time among Japanese Junior High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

He, Li; Ishii, Kaori; Shibata, Ai; Adachi, Minoru; Nonoue, Keiko; Oka, Koichiro

2013-01-01

Background: Physical activity is beneficial for adolescent health. The physical activity patterns of Japanese adolescents are relatively unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to describe the current patterns of physical activity and to identify sex and grade differences among them. Methods: The participants comprised 714 Japanese adolescents aged…

Observations of Local Positive Low Cloud Feedback Patterns and Their Role in Internal Variability and Climate Sensitivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Tianle; Oreopoulos, Lazaros; Platnick, Steven E.; Meyer, Kerry

2018-05-01

Modeling studies have shown that cloud feedbacks are sensitive to the spatial pattern of sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies, while cloud feedbacks themselves strongly influence the magnitude of SST anomalies. Observational counterparts to such patterned interactions are still needed. Here we show that distinct large-scale patterns of SST and low-cloud cover (LCC) emerge naturally from objective analyses of observations and demonstrate their close coupling in a positive local SST-LCC feedback loop that may be important for both internal variability and climate change. The two patterns that explain the maximum amount of covariance between SST and LCC correspond to the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, leading modes of multidecadal internal variability. Spatial patterns and time series of SST and LCC anomalies associated with both modes point to a strong positive local SST-LCC feedback. In many current climate models, our analyses suggest that SST-LCC feedback strength is too weak compared to observations. Modeled local SST-LCC feedback strength affects simulated internal variability so that stronger feedback produces more intense and more realistic patterns of internal variability. To the extent that the physics of the local positive SST-LCC feedback inferred from observed climate variability applies to future greenhouse warming, we anticipate significant amount of delayed warming because of SST-LCC feedback when anthropogenic SST warming eventually overwhelm the effects of internal variability that may mute anthropogenic warming over parts of the ocean. We postulate that many climate models may be underestimating both future warming and the magnitude of modeled internal variability because of their weak SST-LCC feedback.

Physical activity patterns of youth with Down syndrome.

PubMed

Esposito, Phil E; MacDonald, Megan; Hornyak, Joseph E; Ulrich, Dale A

2012-04-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the physical activity patterns of children with Down syndrome. A cross-sectional approach and accelerometry were used to measure the time children with Down syndrome (N = 104) spent in sedentary, light, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Results indicated that adolescents from ages 14 to 15 years were the most sedentary and spent the least amount of time in light and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. A general trend of decreasing physical activity as children increase in age was found. This trend is similar to that found among typically developing youth. Participants in this study were found to spend a majority of their day engaged in sedentary activities. Results indicate that most participants were not accumulating the recommended 60 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity.

Spatial-temporal patterns of retinal waves underlying activity-dependent refinement of retinofugal projections.

PubMed

Stafford, Ben K; Sher, Alexander; Litke, Alan M; Feldheim, David A

2009-10-29

During development, retinal axons project coarsely within their visual targets before refining to form organized synaptic connections. Spontaneous retinal activity, in the form of acetylcholine-driven retinal waves, is proposed to be necessary for establishing these projection patterns. In particular, both axonal terminations of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and the size of receptive fields of target neurons are larger in mice that lack the beta2 subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (beta2KO). Here, using a large-scale, high-density multielectrode array to record activity from hundreds of RGCs simultaneously, we present analysis of early postnatal retinal activity from both wild-type (WT) and beta2KO retinas. We find that beta2KO retinas have correlated patterns of activity, but many aspects of these patterns differ from those of WT retina. Quantitative analysis suggests that wave directionality, coupled with short-range correlated bursting patterns of RGCs, work together to refine retinofugal projections.

Observations and Measurements Design Patterns within INSPIRE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schleidt, K.; Cox, S.; Grellet, S.; Lowe, D.; Lutz, M.; Portele, C.; Sarretta, A.; Ventouras, S.

2012-04-01

Several INSPIRE spatial data themes have been specified so that their scope, in addition to classical geographic information, includes measured, modelled or simulated data. The FprEN ISO 19156 standard on Observations and Measurements (O&M) was designed for the explicit purpose of creating application schemas for such data, and thus shall be used in INSPIRE as a basis for developing data models for these themes. The following INSPIRE themes have identified O&M as integrally relevant to their thematic domain and are including elements of O&M in their data specifications: • Geology • Oceanographic geographical features • Atmospheric conditions and Meteorological geographical features • Environmental monitoring facilities • Soil In addition to these themes, several other INSPIRE themes have been identified to which observational information, while not at the core of the data specification, is relevant. Some examples of this are the INSPIRE theme "Species distribution", where primary occurrence data could be provided together with the aggregate distribution, as well as "Industrial and production facilities", where the provision of emissions data on such facilities would be useful for various environmental reporting obligations. While the O&M standard provides a generic framework for the provision of measurement data, it is also kept very abstract, and there are many ways of implementing the core structures in specific application schemas. In order to assure the consistent application of the O&M classes and properties across different INSPIRE themes, a cross-thematic working group on the use of O&M in INSPIRE has been convened. This group has analysed the requirements towards O&M within INSPIRE, identified the types of O&M design patterns required in INSPIRE and developed both additional classes identified as necessary within INSPIRE as well as guidelines detailing how this standard is to be used within INSPIRE. Some examples for these additional classes are

Linking Plagioclase Zoning Patterns to Active Magma Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Izbekov, P. E.; Nicolaysen, K. P.; Neill, O. K.; Shcherbakov, V.; Eichelberger, J. C.; Plechov, P.

2016-12-01

Plagioclase, one of the most common and abundant mineral phases in volcanic products, will vary in composition in response to changes in temperature, pressure, composition of the ambient silicate melt, and melt H2O concentration. Changes in these parameters may cause dissolution or growth of plagioclase crystals, forming characteristic textural and compositional variations (zoning patterns), the complete core-to-rim sequence of which describes events experienced by an individual crystal from its nucleation to the last moments of its growth. Plagioclase crystals in a typical volcanic rock may look drastically dissimilar despite their spatial proximity and the fact that they have erupted together. Although they shared last moments of their growth during magma ascent and eruption, their prior experiences could be very different, as plagioclase crystals often come from different domains of the same magma system. Distinguishing similar zoning patterns, correlating them across the entire population of plagioclase crystals, and linking these patterns to specific perturbations in the magmatic system may provide additional perspective on the variety, extent, and timing of magma processes at active volcanic systems. Examples of magma processes, which may be distinguished based on plagioclase zoning patterns, include (1) cooling due to heat loss, (2) heating and/or pressure build up due to an input of new magmatic material, (3) pressure drop in response to magma system depressurization, and (4) crystal transfer between different magma domains/bodies. This review will include contrasting examples of zoning patters from recent eruptions of Augustine and Cleveland Volcanoes in Alaska, Sakurajima Volcano in Japan, Karymsky, Bezymianny, and Tolbachik Volcanoes in Kamchatka, as well as from the drilling into an active magma body at Krafla, Iceland.

Linking Plagioclase Zoning Patterns to Active Magma Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Izbekov, P. E.; Nicolaysen, K. P.; Neill, O. K.; Shcherbakov, V.; Plechov, P.; Eichelberger, J. C.

2015-12-01

Plagioclase, one of the most common and abundant mineral phases in volcanic products, will vary in composition in response to changes in temperature, pressure, composition of the ambient silicate melt, and melt H2O concentration. Changes in these parameters may cause dissolution or growth of plagioclase crystals, forming characteristic textural and compositional variations (zoning patterns), the complete core-to-rim sequence of which describes events experienced by an individual crystal from its nucleation to the last moments of its growth. Plagioclase crystals in a typical volcanic rock may look drastically dissimilar despite their spatial proximity and the fact that they have erupted together. Although they shared last moments of their growth during magma ascent and eruption, their prior experiences could be very different, as plagioclase crystals often come from different domains of the same magma system. Distinguishing similar zoning patterns, correlating them across the entire population of plagioclase crystals, and linking these patterns to specific perturbations in the magmatic system may provide additional perspective on the variety, extent, and timing of magma processes at active volcanic systems. Examples of magma processes, which may be distinguished based on plagioclase zoning patterns, include (1) cooling due to heat loss, (2) heating and/or pressure build up due to an input of new magmatic material, (3) pressure drop in response to magma system depressurization, and (4) crystal transfer between different magma domains/bodies. This review will include contrasting examples of zoning patters from recent eruptions of Karymsky, Bezymianny, and Tolbachik Volcanoes in Kamchatka, Augustine and Cleveland Volcanoes in Alaska, as well as from the drilling into an active magma body at Krafla, Iceland.

Reliable and Affordable Control Systems Active Combustor Pattern Factor Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McCarty, Bob; Tomondi, Chris; McGinley, Ray

2004-01-01

Active, closed-loop control of combustor pattern factor is a cooperative effort between Honeywell (formerly AlliedSignal) Engines and Systems and the NASA Glenn Research Center to reduce emissions and turbine-stator vane temperature variations, thereby enhancing engine performance and life, and reducing direct operating costs. Total fuel flow supplied to the engine is established by the speed/power control, but the distribution to individual atomizers will be controlled by the Active Combustor Pattern Factor Control (ACPFC). This system consist of three major components: multiple, thin-film sensors located on the turbine-stator vanes; fuel-flow modulators for individual atomizers; and control logic and algorithms within the electronic control.

Listening to sound patterns as a dynamic activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, Mari Riess

2003-04-01

The act of listening to a series of sounds created by some natural event is described as involving an entrainmentlike process that transpires in real time. Some aspects of this dynamic process are suggested. In particular, real-time attending is described in terms of an adaptive synchronization activity that permits a listener to target attending energy to forthcoming elements within an acoustical pattern (e.g., music, speech, etc.). Also described are several experiments that illustrate features of this approach as it applies to attending to musiclike patterns. These involve listeners' responses to changes in either the timing or the pitch structure (or both) of various acoustical sequences.

Concerted vs. Sequential. Two Activation Patterns of Vast Arrays of Intracellular Ca2+ Channels in Muscle

PubMed Central

Zhou, Jinsong; Brum, Gustavo; González, Adom; Launikonis, Bradley S.; Stern, Michael D.; Ríos, Eduardo

2005-01-01

To signal cell responses, Ca2+ is released from storage through intracellular Ca2+ channels. Unlike most plasmalemmal channels, these are clustered in quasi-crystalline arrays, which should endow them with unique properties. Two distinct patterns of local activation of Ca2+ release were revealed in images of Ca2+ sparks in permeabilized cells of amphibian muscle. In the presence of sulfate, an anion that enters the SR and precipitates Ca2+, sparks became wider than in the conventional, glutamate-based solution. Some of these were “protoplatykurtic” (had a flat top from early on), suggesting an extensive array of channels that activate simultaneously. Under these conditions the rate of production of signal mass was roughly constant during the rise time of the spark and could be as high as 5 μm3 ms−1, consistent with a release current >50 pA since the beginning of the event. This pattern, called “concerted activation,” was observed also in rat muscle fibers. When sulfate was combined with a reduced cytosolic [Ca2+] (50 nM) these sparks coexisted (and interfered) with a sequential progression of channel opening, probably mediated by Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release (CICR). Sequential propagation, observed only in frogs, may require parajunctional channels, of RyR isoform β, which are absent in the rat. Concerted opening instead appears to be a property of RyR α in the amphibian and the homologous isoform 1 in the mammal. PMID:16186560

Time-sequential observation of spindle and phragmoplast orientation in BY-2 cells with altered cortical actin microfilament patterning.

PubMed

Kojo, Kei H; Yasuhara, Hiroki; Hasezawa, Seiichiro

2014-01-01

Precise division plane determination is essential for plant development. At metaphase, a dense actin microfilament meshwork appears on both sides of the cell center, forming a characteristic cortical actin microfilament twin peak pattern in BY-2 cells. We previously reported a strong correlation between altered cortical actin microfilament patterning and an oblique mitotic spindle orientation, implying that these actin microfilament twin peaks play a role in the regulation of mitotic spindle orientation. In the present study, time-sequential observation was used to reveal the progression from oblique phragmoplast to oblique cell plate orientation in cells with altered cortical actin microfilament patterning. In contrast to cells with normal actin microfilament twin peaks, oblique phragmoplast reorientation was rarely observed in cells with altered cortical actin microfilament patterning. These results support the important roles of cortical actin microfilament patterning in division plane orientation.

Time-sequential observation of spindle and phragmoplast orientation in BY-2 cells with altered cortical actin microfilament patterning.

PubMed

Kojo, Kei H; Yasuhara, Hiroki; Hasezawa, Seiichiro

2014-06-18

Precise division plane determination is essential for plant development. At metaphase, a dense actin microfilament meshwork appears on both sides of the cell center, forming a characteristic cortical actin microfilament twin peak pattern in BY-2 cells. We previously reported a strong correlation between altered cortical actin microfilament patterning and an oblique mitotic spindle orientation, implying that these actin microfilament twin peaks play a role in the regulation of mitotic spindle orientation. In the present study, time-sequential observation was used to reveal the progression from oblique phragmoplast to oblique cell plate orientation in cells with altered cortical actin microfilament patterning. In contrast to cells with normal actin microfilament twin peaks, oblique phragmoplast reorientation was rarely observed in cells with altered cortical actin microfilament patterning. These results support the important roles of cortical actin microfilament patterning in division plane orientation.

Prospective observation of physical activity in critically ill patients who were intubated for more than 48 hours.

PubMed

Berney, Susan C; Rose, Joleen W; Bernhardt, Julie; Denehy, Linda

2015-08-01

Critical illness can result in impaired physical function. Increased physical activity, additional to rehabilitation, has demonstrated improved functional independence at hospital discharge. The purpose of this study was to measure patterns of physical activity in a group of critically ill patients. This was a single-center, open, observational behavioral mapping study performed in a quaternary intensive care unit (ICU) in Melbourne, Australia. Observations were collected every 10 minutes for 8 hours between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm with the highest level of physical activity, patient location, and persons present at the bedside recorded. Two thousand fifty observations were collected across 8 days. Patients spent more than 7 hours in bed (median [interquartile range] of 100% [69%-100%]) participating in little or no activity for approximately 7 hours of the day (median [interquartile range] 96% [76%-96%]). Outside rehabilitation, no activities associated with ambulation were undertaken. Patients who were ventilated at the time of observation compared with those who were not were less likely to be out of bed (98% reduction in odds). Patients spent up to 30% of their time alone. Outside rehabilitation, patients in ICU are inactive and spend approximately one-third of the 8-hour day alone. Strategies to increase physical activity levels in ICU are required. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Spatiotemporal activity patterns detected from single cell measurements from behaving animals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Villa, Alessandro E. P.; Tetko, Igor V.

1999-03-01

Precise temporal patterning of activity within and between neurons has been predicted on theoretical grounds, and found in the spike trains of neurons recorded from anesthetized and conscious animals, in association with sensor stimuli and particular phases of task performance. However, the functional significance of such patterning in the generation of behavior has not been confirmed. We recorded from multiple single neurons in regions of rat auditory cortex during the waiting period of a Go/NoGo task. During this time the animal waited for an auditory signal with high cognitive load. Of note is the fact that neural activity during the period analyzed was essentially stationary, with no event related variability in firing. Detected patterns therefore provide a measure of brain state that could not be addressed by standard methods relying on analysis of changes in mean discharge rate. The possibility is discussed that some patterns might reflect a preset bias to a particular response, formed in the waiting period. Others patterns might reflect a state of prior preparation of appropriate neural assemblies for analyzing a signal that is expected but of unknown behavioral valence.

Patterns of productive activity engagement among older adults in urban China.

PubMed

Liu, Huiying; Lou, Wei Qun

2016-12-01

This study aims to identify patterns of productive activity engagement among older adults in urban China. Once patterns are identified, we further explore how a set of individual characteristics is associated with these patterns. Using data from the 2011 baseline survey of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), we performed a latent class analysis (LCA) on a national representative sample of adults aged 60 years and over ( N  = 3019). A specified range of productive activity indicators that fit the context of urban China was used for performing LCA (including working, grandchildren's care, parental care, spousal care, informal helping, and formal volunteering). A multinomial logistic regression was used to assess whether individual characteristics are associated with the identified patterns. The results indicated that a four-class model fit the data well, with the interpretable set of classes: spouse carer (51.2 %), working grandparents (21.7 %), multifaceted contributor (16.6 %), and light-engaged volunteer (10.5 %). Age, gender, education, number of children, proximity with the nearest child, household composition and functional status contributed to differentiating these classes. This study captured the reality of productive engagement among older adults by drawing attention to how multiple productive activities intersect in later-life stages. Our findings have implications for policy-makers, health care practitioners, and community advocates to develop programs that facilitate this aging population in assuming meaningful productive activities.

Novel use patterns of Salvia divinorum: unobtrusive observation using YouTube™.

PubMed

Casselman, Ivan; Heinrich, Michael

2011-12-08

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE AND AIMS: The traditional use of the Hallucinogenic sage, Salvia divinorum has been of ethnopharmalogical interest for some time. This plant, endemic to Oaxaca Mexico and traditionally used by the Mazatec, is now utilized worldwide for its psychoactive effects. This use demonstrates a novel use pattern which is distinctly different from Mazatec use. This study offers a new methodology to study emerging global plant use and assesses the users' experience with it. The aim of this research was to develop a new methodology to collect and analyze archived data on the World Wide Web, specifically videos which depict Salvia divinorum use. The basis of the methodology for this project was unobtrusive observation which allows the researcher to observe without influencing the event which is being observed. Qualitative, ethnographic data was used in conjunction with quantitative meta data collected by a customized web crawler programed to archive YouTube™ data. Using this methodology enabled us to understand reported uses and the users' experiences as expressed on the World Wide Web. The main result of this research was the documentation of a distinct, novel use pattern of Salvia divinorum which has developed outside of Oaxaca; a use pattern which differs in a number of ways from traditional, Mazatec use. The majority of the YouTube™ videos analyzed were found to present indications of a positive Salvia divinorum experience. This result highlighted the contradiction between ethnographic data and what is reported by the media. Finally the representation of Salvia divinorum on YouTube™ (and by inference the WWW as a whole) is a growing phenomena. While anthropological and more specifically medico-anthropological research has, for many years, embraced the dynamics of cultures, until recently, ethnopharmalogical research has generally focused on 'traditional' plant use, failing to capture the dynamic elements of plant/human interaction and

Lung Ultrasound Pattern Is Normal during the Last Gestational Weeks: An Observational Pilot Study.

PubMed

Arbeid, Erik; Demi, Alessio; Brogi, Etrusca; Gori, Elisa; Giusto, Teresa; Soldati, Gino; Vetrugno, Luigi; Giunta, Francesco; Forfori, Francesco

2017-01-01

The normal lung ultrasound (US) pattern during a regular pregnancy has not been evaluated extensively in the current literature. Pregnancy-related changes in the respiratory tract affect maternal predisposition to several respiratory complications; consequently, it is important to differentiate between a physiologic pattern during pregnancy and a pathologic lung pattern, due to respiratory failure. The goal of our study was to assess the normal US lung pattern in women without known comorbidities in the last weeks of pregnancy. We conducted a prospective cross-sectional observational pilot study. Chest wall was examined in 8 areas, 1 scan for each area with women in supine position. One hundred fifty parturients were enrolled during the 36th-38th gestational weeks. None of the participants showed pleural effusion, pneumothorax or lung consolidation. None presented an interstitial syndrome US pattern. One hundred thirteen participants out of 150 (75%) showed A-lines in all the regions. The remaining 25% showed 1 or 2 B-lines in at least 3 regions. Only 2 participants showed 2 positive regions also. We found that, in the majority of the women examined, the lung US pattern matches the physiological pattern in non-pregnant patients. Lung US assessment is a feasible and a helpful diagnostic tool during pregnancy. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Characterization of atypical language activation patterns in focal epilepsy.

PubMed

Berl, Madison M; Zimmaro, Lauren A; Khan, Omar I; Dustin, Irene; Ritzl, Eva; Duke, Elizabeth S; Sepeta, Leigh N; Sato, Susumu; Theodore, William H; Gaillard, William D

2014-01-01

Functional magnetic resonance imaging is sensitive to the variation in language network patterns. Large populations are needed to rigorously assess atypical patterns, which, even in neurological populations, are a minority. We studied 220 patients with focal epilepsy and 118 healthy volunteers who performed an auditory description decision task. We compared a data-driven hierarchical clustering approach to the commonly used a priori laterality index (LI) threshold (LI < 0.20 as atypical) to classify language patterns within frontal and temporal regions of interest. We explored (n = 128) whether IQ varied with different language activation patterns. The rate of atypical language among healthy volunteers (2.5%) and patients (24.5%) agreed with previous studies; however, we found 6 patterns of atypical language: a symmetrically bilateral, 2 unilaterally crossed, and 3 right dominant patterns. There was high agreement between classification methods, yet the cluster analysis revealed novel correlations with clinical features. Beyond the established association of left-handedness, early seizure onset, and vascular pathology with atypical language, cluster analysis identified an association of handedness with frontal lateralization, early seizure onset with temporal lateralization, and left hemisphere focus with a unilateral right pattern. Intelligence quotient was not significantly different among patterns. Language dominance is a continuum; however, our results demonstrate meaningful thresholds in classifying laterality. Atypical language patterns are less frequent but more variable than typical language patterns, posing challenges for accurate presurgical planning. Language dominance should be assessed on a regional rather than hemispheric basis, and clinical characteristics should inform evaluation of atypical language dominance. Reorganization of language is not uniformly detrimental to language functioning. © 2014 American Neurological Association.

Pattern, growth, and aging in aggregation kinetics of a Vicsek-like active matter model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Das, Subir K.

2017-01-01

Via molecular dynamics simulations, we study kinetics in a Vicsek-like phase-separating active matter model. Quantitative results, for isotropic bicontinuous pattern, are presented on the structure, growth, and aging. These are obtained via the two-point equal-time density-density correlation function, the average domain length, and the two-time density autocorrelation function. Both the correlation functions exhibit basic scaling properties, implying self-similarity in the pattern dynamics, for which the average domain size exhibits a power-law growth in time. The equal-time correlation has a short distance behavior that provides reasonable agreement between the corresponding structure factor tail and the Porod law. The autocorrelation decay is a power-law in the average domain size. Apart from these basic similarities, the overall quantitative behavior of the above-mentioned observables is found to be vastly different from those of the corresponding passive limit of the model which also undergoes phase separation. The functional forms of these have been quantified. An exceptionally rapid growth in the active system occurs due to fast coherent motion of the particles, mean-squared-displacements of which exhibit multiple scaling regimes, including a long time ballistic one.

Activity pattern of medium and large sized mammals and density estimates of Cuniculus paca (Rodentia: Cuniculidae) in the Brazilian Pampa.

PubMed

Leuchtenberger, C; de Oliveira, Ê S; Cariolatto, L P; Kasper, C B

2018-02-22

Between July 2014 and April 2015, we conducted weekly inventories of the circadian activity patterns of mammals in Passo Novo locality, municipality of Alegrete, southern Brazil. The vegetation is comprised by a grassy-woody steppe (grassland). We used two camera traps alternately located on one of four 1 km transects, each separated by 1 km. We classified the activity pattern of species by the percentage of photographic records taken in each daily period. We identify Cuniculus paca individuals by differences in the patterns of flank spots. We then estimate the density 1) considering the area of riparian forest present in the sampling area, and 2) through capture/recapture analysis. Cuniculus paca, Conepatus chinga and Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris were nocturnal, Cerdocyon thous had a crepuscular/nocturnal pattern, while Mazama gouazoubira was cathemeral. The patterns of circadian activity observed for medium and large mammals in this Pampa region (southern grasslands) may reflect not only evolutionary, biological and ecological affects, but also human impacts not assessed in this study. We identified ten individuals of C. paca through skin spot patterns during the study period, which were recorded in different transects and months. The minimum population density of C. paca was 3.5 individuals per km2 (resident animals only) and the total density estimates varied from 7.1 to 11.8 individuals per km2, when considering all individuals recorded or the result of the capture/recapture analysis, respectively.

Visual brain activity patterns classification with simultaneous EEG-fMRI: A multimodal approach.

PubMed

Ahmad, Rana Fayyaz; Malik, Aamir Saeed; Kamel, Nidal; Reza, Faruque; Amin, Hafeez Ullah; Hussain, Muhammad

2017-01-01

Classification of the visual information from the brain activity data is a challenging task. Many studies reported in the literature are based on the brain activity patterns using either fMRI or EEG/MEG only. EEG and fMRI considered as two complementary neuroimaging modalities in terms of their temporal and spatial resolution to map the brain activity. For getting a high spatial and temporal resolution of the brain at the same time, simultaneous EEG-fMRI seems to be fruitful. In this article, we propose a new method based on simultaneous EEG-fMRI data and machine learning approach to classify the visual brain activity patterns. We acquired EEG-fMRI data simultaneously on the ten healthy human participants by showing them visual stimuli. Data fusion approach is used to merge EEG and fMRI data. Machine learning classifier is used for the classification purposes. Results showed that superior classification performance has been achieved with simultaneous EEG-fMRI data as compared to the EEG and fMRI data standalone. This shows that multimodal approach improved the classification accuracy results as compared with other approaches reported in the literature. The proposed simultaneous EEG-fMRI approach for classifying the brain activity patterns can be helpful to predict or fully decode the brain activity patterns.

Activity patterns of adult Anoplophora glabripennis in China

Treesearch

D. R. Lance; B. Wang; Z. Xu; V. C. Mastro; J. A. Francese; J. Li; Y. Luo

2003-01-01

Activity patterns of adult Asian longhorned beetles (ALB), Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky) were monitored in a shelterbelt of Populus and Ulmus spp. in Ningxia A. R., P. R. of China. Trees were searched daily at each of four time periods (0800-1100, 1100-1300, 1400-1600, and 1700-1900 hours) on each of 18...

Infiltration pattern in a regolith-fractured bedrock profile: field observation of a dye stain pattern

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Jae Gon; Lee, Gyoo Ho; Lee, Jin-Soo; Chon, Chul-Min; Kim, Tack Hyun; Ha, Kyoochul

2006-02-01

We examined the infiltration pattern of water in a regolith-bedrock profile consisting of two overburdens (OB1 and OB2), a buried rice paddy soil (PS), two texturally distinctive weathered materials (WM1 and WM2) and a fractured sedimentary rock (BR), using a Brilliant Blue FCF dye tracer. A black-coloured coating in conducting fractures in WM1, WM2 and BR was analysed by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The dye tracer penetrated to greater than 2 m depth in the profile. The macropore flow and saturated interflow were the major infiltration patterns in the profile. Macropore flow and saturated interflow were observed along fractures in WM1, WM2 and BR and at the dipping interfaces of PS-WM1, PS-WM2 and PS-BR respectively. Heterogeneous matrix flow occurred in upper overburden (OB1) and PS. Compared with OB1, the coarser textured OB2 acted as a physical barrier for vertical flow of water. The PS with low bulk density and many fine roots was another major conducting route of water in the profile. Manganese oxide and iron oxide were positively identified in the black coating material and had low crystallinity and high surface area, indicating their high reactivity with conducting contaminants.

Analysis of the access patterns at GSFC distributed active archive center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Theodore; Bedet, Jean-Jacques

1996-01-01

The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) has been operational for more than two years. Its mission is to support existing and pre Earth Observing System (EOS) Earth science datasets, facilitate the scientific research, and test Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) concepts. Over 550,000 files and documents have been archived, and more than six Terabytes have been distributed to the scientific community. Information about user request and file access patterns, and their impact on system loading, is needed to optimize current operations and to plan for future archives. To facilitate the management of daily activities, the GSFC DAAC has developed a data base system to track correspondence, requests, ingestion and distribution. In addition, several log files which record transactions on Unitree are maintained and periodically examined. This study identifies some of the users' requests and file access patterns at the GSFC DAAC during 1995. The analysis is limited to the subset of orders for which the data files are under the control of the Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM) Unitree. The results show that most of the data volume ordered was for two data products. The volume was also mostly made up of level 3 and 4 data and most of the volume was distributed on 8 mm and 4 mm tapes. In addition, most of the volume ordered was for deliveries in North America although there was a significant world-wide use. There was a wide range of request sizes in terms of volume and number of files ordered. On an average 78.6 files were ordered per request. Using the data managed by Unitree, several caching algorithms have been evaluated for both hit rate and the overhead ('cost') associated with the movement of data from near-line devices to disks. The algorithm called LRU/2 bin was found to be the best for this workload, but the STbin algorithm also worked well.

Co-activation patterns in resting-state fMRI signals.

PubMed

Liu, Xiao; Zhang, Nanyin; Chang, Catie; Duyn, Jeff H

2018-02-08

The brain is a complex system that integrates and processes information across multiple time scales by dynamically coordinating activities over brain regions and circuits. Correlations in resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) signals have been widely used to infer functional connectivity of the brain, providing a metric of functional associations that reflects a temporal average over an entire scan (typically several minutes or longer). Not until recently was the study of dynamic brain interactions at much shorter time scales (seconds to minutes) considered for inference of functional connectivity. One method proposed for this objective seeks to identify and extract recurring co-activation patterns (CAPs) that represent instantaneous brain configurations at single time points. Here, we review the development and recent advancement of CAP methodology and other closely related approaches, as well as their applications and associated findings. We also discuss the potential neural origins and behavioral relevance of CAPs, along with methodological issues and future research directions in the analysis of fMRI co-activation patterns. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Age-related differences in muscle activity patterns during walking in healthy individuals.

PubMed

Van Criekinge, Tamaya; Saeys, Wim; Hallemans, Ann; Van de Walle, Patricia; Vereeck, Luc; De Hertogh, Willem; Truijen, Steven

2018-05-26

To examine how muscle activity over the entire gait cycle changes with increasing age. Electromyography data of the erector spinae, rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, biceps femoris, tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius muscles were collected by an instrumented gait analysis during over ground walking in healthy adults aged between 20 and 89 years. Participants were categorized per decade (n = 105, 15 per decade, decades 3-9). Normalized integrated linear envelopes of the electromyographic signal were calculated for one stride. A one way ANOVA using spm1d statistics explored the differences between age groups, followed by a post hoc analysis. While initiation of decline commenced at the age of 60 for erector spinae and tibialis anterior, age-related changes are most pronounced after the age of 80. Concerning timing of muscle activity, subjects in decade 7-9 had prolonged activity and/or early activity of the erector spinae, vastus lateralis, biceps femoris, tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius compared to other decades. Regarding amplitude of muscle activity, decreased peak amplitudes of the erector spinae, rectus femoris, vastus lateralis and gastrocnemius were observed in decades 7-9 compared to other decades. Both timing and amplitude of muscle activation patterns need to be considered to understand the aging process. Regarding the erector spinae, tibialis anterior and vastus lateralis, a decrease in muscle activation coincides with prolonged activity, compared to the gastrocnemius where decreased muscle activation is associated with early activation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterizing Longitudinal Patterns of Physical Activity in Mid-Adulthood Using Latent Class Analysis: Results From a Prospective Cohort Study

PubMed Central

Silverwood, Richard J.; Nitsch, Dorothea; Pierce, Mary; Kuh, Diana; Mishra, Gita D.

2011-01-01

The authors aimed to describe how longitudinal patterns of physical activity during mid-adulthood (ages 31–53 years) can be characterized using latent class analysis in a population-based birth cohort study, the Medical Research Council’s 1946 National Survey of Health and Development. Three different types of physical activity—walking, cycling, and leisure-time physical activity—were analyzed separately using self-reported data collected from questionnaires between 1977 and 1999; 3,847 study members were included in the analysis for one or more types of activity. Patterns of activity differed by sex, so stratified analyses were conducted. Two walking latent classes were identified representing low (52.8% of males in the cohort, 33.5% of females) and high (47.2%, 66.5%) levels of activity. Similar low (91.4%, 82.1%) and high (8.6%, 17.9%) classes were found for cycling, while 3 classes were identified for leisure-time physical activity: “low activity” (46.2%, 48.2%), “sports and leisure activity” (31.0%, 35.3%), and “gardening and do-it-yourself activities” (22.8%, 16.5%). The classes were reasonably or very well separated, with the exception of walking in females. Latent class analysis was found to be a useful tool for characterizing longitudinal patterns of physical activity, even when the measurement instrument differs slightly across ages, which added value in comparison with observed activity at a single age. PMID:22074812

Female pheromones modulate flight muscle activation patterns during preflight warm-up.

PubMed

Crespo, José G; Vickers, Neil J; Goller, Franz

2013-08-01

At low ambient temperature Helicoverpa zea male moths engage in warm-up behavior prior to taking flight in response to an attractive female pheromone blend. Male H. zea warm up at a faster rate when sensing the attractive pheromone blend compared with unattractive blends or blank controls (Crespo et al. 2012), but the mechanisms involved in this olfactory modulation of the heating rate during preflight warm-up are unknown. Here, we test three possible mechanisms for increasing heat production: 1) increased rate of muscle contraction; 2) reduction in mechanical movement by increased overlap in activation of the antagonistic flight muscles; and 3) increased activation of motor units. To test which mechanisms play a role, we simultaneously recorded electrical activation patterns of the main flight muscles (dorsolongitudinal and dorsoventral muscles), wing movement, and thoracic temperature in moths exposed to both the attractive pheromone blend and a blank control. Results indicate that the main mechanism responsible for the observed increase in thoracic heating rate with pheromone stimulation is the differential activation of motor units during each muscle contraction cycle in both antagonistic flight muscles. This additional activation lengthens the contracted state within each cycle and thus accounts for the greater heat production. Interestingly, the rate of activation (frequency of contraction cycles) of motor units, which is temperature dependent, did not vary between treatments. This result suggests that the activation rate is determined by a temperature-dependent oscillator, which is not affected by the olfactory stimulus, but activation of motor units is modulated during each cycle.

Female pheromones modulate flight muscle activation patterns during preflight warm-up

PubMed Central

Vickers, Neil J.; Goller, Franz

2013-01-01

At low ambient temperature Helicoverpa zea male moths engage in warm-up behavior prior to taking flight in response to an attractive female pheromone blend. Male H. zea warm up at a faster rate when sensing the attractive pheromone blend compared with unattractive blends or blank controls (Crespo et al. 2012), but the mechanisms involved in this olfactory modulation of the heating rate during preflight warm-up are unknown. Here, we test three possible mechanisms for increasing heat production: 1) increased rate of muscle contraction; 2) reduction in mechanical movement by increased overlap in activation of the antagonistic flight muscles; and 3) increased activation of motor units. To test which mechanisms play a role, we simultaneously recorded electrical activation patterns of the main flight muscles (dorsolongitudinal and dorsoventral muscles), wing movement, and thoracic temperature in moths exposed to both the attractive pheromone blend and a blank control. Results indicate that the main mechanism responsible for the observed increase in thoracic heating rate with pheromone stimulation is the differential activation of motor units during each muscle contraction cycle in both antagonistic flight muscles. This additional activation lengthens the contracted state within each cycle and thus accounts for the greater heat production. Interestingly, the rate of activation (frequency of contraction cycles) of motor units, which is temperature dependent, did not vary between treatments. This result suggests that the activation rate is determined by a temperature-dependent oscillator, which is not affected by the olfactory stimulus, but activation of motor units is modulated during each cycle. PMID:23699056

Muscular patterns and activation levels of auxiliary breathing muscles and thorax movement in classical singing.

PubMed

Pettersen, Viggo

2005-01-01

The aim of this paper is to present an overview of the findings in seven studies exploring muscular patterns and muscle activation levels in selected muscles by classical singers. In addition, the relationship of these muscles to thorax (TX) movement was investigated. Loading levels and respiratory phasing of upper trapezius (TR), sternocleidomastoideus (STM) and the scalenes (SC) were investigated in vocalization tasks with variation in vocal loudness and pitch. Further, muscle activity in the posterior neck (PN) was investigated in inhalation and phonation and, finally, TR, intercostal (INT), lateral abdominal (OBL) and anterior abdominal (RC) muscle loading in student and professional singers was examined. Muscle activity was recorded by use of an ambulatory four-channel monitoring system (Physiometer PHY 400, Premed, Norway). TX movement was traced with two strain gauge sensors (RES-117) placed around the upper TX and lower TX. A phasing of upper TR activity to INT and OBL activity was discovered, all muscles supporting the expiration phase. During phonation, TR contributes in the compression of the upper TX, thus serving as an accessory muscle of expiration. TR activity is reduced with short breathing cycles and is mostly inactive in simplified speaking tasks. During phonation, professional opera singers activate the expiratory-phased TR, INT, OBL and RC muscles to higher levels than student singers do. STM and SC show correlated activity patterns during inhalation and phonation by classical singers. During demanding singing, expiratory-phased STM and SC activity peaks produce a counterforce to the compression of upper TX at high pitches. As breathing demands are lowered, STM and SC activity are reduced and attain inspiratory phasing. Substantial muscle activity is observed in PN during inhalation and phonation. EMG biofeedback performed on TR and STM have a secondary effect of lowering EMG activity in PN. (c) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel

Children's Recess Physical Activity: Movement Patterns and Preferences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woods, Amelia Mays; Graber, Kim C.; Daum, David Newman

2012-01-01

The benefits of recess can be reaped by all students regardless of socioeconomic status, race, or gender and at relatively little cost. The purpose of this study was to examine physical activity (PA) variables related to the recess PA patterns of third and fourth grade children and the social preferences and individuals influencing their PA…

Physical activity levels and patterns of 11-14 year-old Turkish adolescents.

PubMed

Kin-Isler, Ayse; Asci, F Hulya; Altintas, Atakan; Guven-Karahan, Bengu

2009-01-01

This study examined age and gender differences in physical activity levels and various physical activity patterns of 11-14-year-old Turkish adolescents and also determined if these differ between genders. Six hundred and fifty girls and 666 boys between the ages of 11 and 14 years constituted the sample of this study. Participants self-reported physical activity levels and patterns were determined by a Weekly Activity Checklist. A 2 x 4 (Gender x Age) MANOVA revealed overall significant main effect of gender and age on the physical activity level of adolescents; however, gender x age interaction effect was not significant. The findings indicated an interaction effect was not significant. The findings indicated an age-related decline in physical activity level, an increase in participation in low activities, and a decrease in participation in moderate and vigorous activities in 11-14-year-old Turkish adolescents. In addition it was found that boys were more active than girls and participated more in moderate and vigorous activities.

Development and Initial Validation of the Activity Patterns Scale in Patients With Chronic Pain.

PubMed

Esteve, Rosa; Ramírez-Maestre, Carmen; Peters, Madelon L; Serrano-Ibáñez, Elena R; Ruíz-Párraga, Gema T; López-Martínez, Alicia E

2016-04-01

Several self-report measures were used to identify 6 activity patterns in chronic pain patients: pain avoidance, activity avoidance, task-contingent persistence, excessive persistence, pain-contingent persistence, and pacing. Instruments for assessing pacing should include 3 pacing behaviors (breaking tasks into smaller tasks, taking frequent short rests, slowing down), each of which relate to a single goal (increasing activity levels, conserving energy for valued activities, and reducing pain). This article presents the Activity Patterns Scale (APS), which assesses these 6 activity patterns. Study 1 included 291 participants with chronic pain, and tested 3 structures using confirmatory factor analyses. The structure with the best fit had 8 factors corresponding to the hypothesized scales. High correlations in the expected direction were found between the APS subscales and the "Patterns of Activity Measure-Pain." Study 2 included 111 patients with chronic pain, and aimed at examining the association between the APS subscales and adjustment to pain. It was found that that activity avoidance was associated with daily functioning and impairment. Negative affect was positively associated with activity avoidance and excessive persistence, and negatively associated with task-contingent persistence, which was also positively associated with positive affect. This study showed that the APS is a valid and reliable instrument for clinical practice and research. This article presents a valid and reliable instrument to assess activity patterns in patients with chronic pain. The findings suggest that avoidance, persistence, and pacing are multidimensional constructs. Distinguishing between these dimensions sheds light on previous contradictory results and has direct clinical implications regarding recommending the most advisable activity patterns. Copyright © 2016 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Monitoring activity patterns and trends of older adults.

PubMed

Virone, G; Sixsmith, A

2008-01-01

This paper presents a pattern mining model developed for the continuous monitoring of high level activities and home-based behaviors for functional and cognitive status assessment with ambient assisted living systems such as in the EU-funded SOPRANO project. Motivating older people to engage in regular physical exercise is a key task of SOPRANO to improve health status and executive functions. A case study has been elaborated through software simulations to show how physical everyday life activity such as walking or sitting could be assessed and controlled for a better health lifestyle using the model.

Actigraphy-Derived Daily Rest-Activity Patterns and Body Mass Index in Community-Dwelling Adults.

PubMed

Cespedes Feliciano, Elizabeth M; Quante, Mirja; Weng, Jia; Mitchell, Jonathan A; James, Peter; Marinac, Catherine R; Mariani, Sara; Redline, Susan; Kerr, Jacqueline; Godbole, Suneeta; Manteiga, Alicia; Wang, Daniel; Hipp, J Aaron

2017-12-01

To examine associations between 24-hour rest-activity patterns and body mass index (BMI) among community-dwelling US adults. Rest-activity patterns provide a field method to study exposures related to circadian rhythms. Adults (N = 578) wore an actigraph on their nondominant wrist for 7 days. Intradaily variability and interdaily stability (IS), M10 (most active 10-hours), L5 (least active 5-hours), and relative amplitude (RA) were derived using nonparametric rhythm analysis. Mesor, acrophase, and amplitude were calculated from log-transformed count data using the parametric cosinor approach. Participants were 80% female and mean (standard deviation) age was 52 (15) years. Participants with higher BMI had lower values for magnitude, RA, IS, total sleep time (TST), and sleep efficiency. In multivariable analyses, less robust 24-hour rest-activity patterns as represented by lower RA were consistently associated with higher BMI: comparing the bottom quintile (least robust) to the top quintile (most robust 24-hour rest-activity pattern) of RA, BMI was 3-kg/m2 higher (p = .02). Associations were similar in magnitude to an hour less of TST (1-kg/m2 higher BMI) or a 10% decrease in sleep efficiency (2-kg/m2 higher BMI), and independent of age, sex, race, education, and the duration of rest and/or activity. Lower RA, reflecting both higher night activity and lower daytime activity, was associated with higher BMI. Independent of the duration of rest or activity during the day or night, 24-hour rest, and activity patterns from actigraphy provide aggregated measures of activity that associate with BMI in community-dwelling adults. © Sleep Research Society 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Sleep Research Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com.

Decay Pattern of Pygmy States Observed in Neutron-Rich Ne26

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gibelin, J.; Beaumel, D.; Motobayashi, T.; Blumenfeld, Y.; Aoi, N.; Baba, H.; Elekes, Z.; Fortier, S.; Frascaria, N.; Fukuda, N.; Gomi, T.; Ishikawa, K.; Kondo, Y.; Kubo, T.; Lima, V.; Nakamura, T.; Saito, A.; Satou, Y.; Scarpaci, J.-A.; Takeshita, E.; Takeuchi, S.; Teranishi, T.; Togano, Y.; Vinodkumar, A. M.; Yanagisawa, Y.; Yoshida, K.

2008-11-01

Coulomb excitation of the exotic neutron-rich nucleus Ne26 on a Pb208 target was measured at 58MeV/u in order to search for low-lying E1 strength above the neutron emission threshold. This radioactive beam experiment was carried out at the RIKEN Accelerator Research Facility. Using the invariant mass method in the Ne25+n channel, we observe a sizable amount of E1 strength between 6 and 10 MeV excitation energy. By performing a multipole decomposition of the differential cross section, a reduced dipole transition probability of B(E1)=0.49±0.16e2fm2 is deduced, corresponding to 4.9±1.6% of the Thomas-Reiche-Kuhn sum rule. For the first time, the decay pattern of low-lying strength in a neutron-rich nucleus is measured. The extracted decay pattern is not consistent with several mean-field theory descriptions of the pygmy states.

Females and males are highly similar in language performance and cortical activation patterns during verb generation.

PubMed

Allendorfer, Jane B; Lindsell, Christopher J; Siegel, Miriam; Banks, Christi L; Vannest, Jennifer; Holland, Scott K; Szaflarski, Jerzy P

2012-10-01

To test the existence of sex differences in cortical activation during verb generation when performance is controlled for. Twenty male and 20 female healthy adults underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using a covert block-design verb generation task (BD-VGT) and its event-related version (ER-VGT) that allowed for intra-scanner recordings of overt responses. Task-specific activations were determined using the following contrasts: BD-VGT covert generation>finger-tapping; ER-VGT overt generation>repetition; ER-VGT overt>covert generation. Lateral cortical regions activated during each contrast were used for calculating language lateralization index scores. Voxelwise regressions were used to determine sex differences in activation, with and without controlling for performance. Each brain region showing male/female activation differences for ER-VGT overt generation>repetition (isolating noun-verb association) was defined as a region of interest (ROI). For each subject, the signal change in each ROI was extracted, and the association between ER-VGT activation related to noun-verb association and performance was assessed separately for each sex. Males and females performed similarly on language assessments, had similar patterns of language lateralization, and exhibited similar activation patterns for each fMRI task contrast. Regression analysis controlling for overt intra-scanner performance either abolished (BD-VGT) or reduced (ER-VGT) the observed differences in activation between sexes. The main difference between sexes occurred during ER-VGT processing of noun-verb associations, where males showed greater activation than females in the right middle/superior frontal gyrus (MFG/SFG) and the right caudate/anterior cingulate gyrus (aCG) after controlling for performance. Better verb generation performance was associated with increased right caudate/aCG activation in males and with increased right MFG/SFG activation in females. Males and females exhibit

Network properties of interstitial cells of Cajal affect intestinal pacemaker activity and motor patterns, according to a mathematical model of weakly coupled oscillators.

PubMed

Wei, Ruihan; Parsons, Sean P; Huizinga, Jan D

2017-03-01

What is the central question of this study? What are the effects of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) network perturbations on intestinal pacemaker activity and motor patterns? What is the main finding and its importance? Two-dimensional modelling of the ICC pacemaker activity according to a phase model of weakly coupled oscillators showed that network properties (coupling strength between oscillators, frequency gradient and frequency noise) strongly influence pacemaker network activity and subsequent motor patterns. The model explains motor patterns observed in physiological conditions and provides predictions and testable hypotheses for effects of ICC loss and frequency modulation on the motor patterns. Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) are the pacemaker cells of gut motility and are associated with motility disorders. Interstitial cells of Cajal form a network, but the contributions of its network properties to gut physiology and dysfunction are poorly understood. We modelled an ICC network as a two-dimensional network of weakly coupled oscillators with a frequency gradient and showed changes over time in video and graphical formats. Model parameters were obtained from slow-wave-driven contraction patterns in the mouse intestine and pacemaker slow-wave activities from the cat intestine. Marked changes in propagating oscillation patterns (including changes from propagation to non-propagating) were observed by changing network parameters (coupling strength between oscillators, the frequency gradient and frequency noise), which affected synchronization, propagation velocity and occurrence of dislocations (termination of an oscillation). Complete uncoupling of a circumferential ring of oscillators caused the proximal and distal section to desynchronize, but complete synchronization was maintained with only a single oscillator connecting the sections with high enough coupling. The network of oscillators could withstand loss; even with 40% of oscillators lost randomly

Unraveling dynamics of human physical activity patterns in chronic pain conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paraschiv-Ionescu, Anisoara; Buchser, Eric; Aminian, Kamiar

2013-06-01

Chronic pain is a complex disabling experience that negatively affects the cognitive, affective and physical functions as well as behavior. Although the interaction between chronic pain and physical functioning is a well-accepted paradigm in clinical research, the understanding of how pain affects individuals' daily life behavior remains a challenging task. Here we develop a methodological framework allowing to objectively document disruptive pain related interferences on real-life physical activity. The results reveal that meaningful information is contained in the temporal dynamics of activity patterns and an analytical model based on the theory of bivariate point processes can be used to describe physical activity behavior. The model parameters capture the dynamic interdependence between periods and events and determine a `signature' of activity pattern. The study is likely to contribute to the clinical understanding of complex pain/disease-related behaviors and establish a unified mathematical framework to quantify the complex dynamics of various human activities.

Visual Circuit Development Requires Patterned Activity Mediated by Retinal Acetylcholine Receptors

PubMed Central

Burbridge, Timothy J.; Xu, Hong-Ping; Ackman, James B.; Ge, Xinxin; Zhang, Yueyi; Ye, Mei-Jun; Zhou, Z. Jimmy; Xu, Jian; Contractor, Anis; Crair, Michael C.

2014-01-01

SUMMARY The elaboration of nascent synaptic connections into highly ordered neural circuits is an integral feature of the developing vertebrate nervous system. In sensory systems, patterned spontaneous activity before the onset of sensation is thought to influence this process, but this conclusion remains controversial largely due to the inherent difficulty recording neural activity in early development. Here, we describe novel genetic and pharmacological manipulations of spontaneous retinal activity, assayed in vivo, that demonstrate a causal link between retinal waves and visual circuit refinement. We also report a de-coupling of downstream activity in retinorecipient regions of the developing brain after retinal wave disruption. Significantly, we show that the spatiotemporal characteristics of retinal waves affect the development of specific visual circuits. These results conclusively establish retinal waves as necessary and instructive for circuit refinement in the developing nervous system and reveal how neural circuits adjust to altered patterns of activity prior to experience. PMID:25466916

Analysis of X-ray observations of the 15 June 1973 flare in active region NOAA 131

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krall, K. R.; Reichmann, E. J.; Wilson, R. M.; Henze, W., Jr.; Smith, J. B., Jr.

1978-01-01

Observations and analyses of the 1B/M3 flare of 15 June, 1973 in active region NOAA 131 (McMath 12379) are presented. The X-ray observations, consisting of broadband photographs and proportional counter data from the Skylab/ATM NASA-MSFC/Aerospace S-056 experiment, are used to infer temperatures, emission measures, and densities for the flaring plasma. The peak temperature from the spatially resolved photographs is 25,000,000 K, while the temperature from the full-disk proportional counter data is approximately 15,000,000 K. The density is 3 times 10 to the 10th/cu cm. The X-ray flare emission appears to come primarily from two low-lying curvilinear features lying perpendicular to and centered on the line where the photospheric longitudinal magnetic field is zero. Similarities in the preflare and postflare X-ray emission patterns indicate that no large-scale relaxation of the coronal magnetic configuration was observed. Also discussed are H-alpha and magnetic field observations of the flare and the active region. Finally, results of numerical calculations, including thermal conduction, radiative loss, and chromospheric evaporation, are in qualitative agreement with the decay phase observations.

Physical activity patterns in nonobese and obese children assessed using minute-by-minute accelerometry.

PubMed

Page, A; Cooper, A R; Stamatakis, E; Foster, L J; Crowne, E C; Sabin, M; Shield, J P H

2005-09-01

To determine the levels and patterns of physical activity in a sample of obese (> or =99th percentile body mass index (BMI)) and nonobese (<99th percentile BMI) children. Cross-sectional study. Children were recruited from schools in Bristol and from the childhood obesity clinic, Bristol Royal Hospital for Children. Children were instructed in the use of the accelerometer either while at school or in the clinic, and wore the instrument while carrying out their normal daily activities for 7 days. A total of 133 children (mean age 10.5+/-0.8 y). In all 11 (16.9%) of the 65 girls and 14 (20.6%) of the 68 boys were classified as obese (above the 99th percentile for BMI and corresponding to projected adult BMI of 30). Objectively measured physical activity volume, intensity and pattern. Obese children were significantly less physically active overall than their nonobese counterparts (31,844+/-13,200 vs 41,844+/-10,430 counts/h; 95% confidence interval 4407 to 15592; P=0.001). Similarly the obese children spent less time in physical activity of moderate or greater intensity than the nonobese children (9.9+/-3.9 vs 12.9+/-4.2 min/h; 95% confidence interval 1.15 to 4.80; P=0.002). Hourly patterns of activity indicated a tendency in obese children to be less active than nonobese children at times when activity was more likely to be determined by free choice, particularly outside of school time. Obese children demonstrated patterns of physical activity that may have contributed to and are likely to sustain their obesity. Minute-by-minute accelerometry is a valuable tool to investigate physical activity patterns in obese children. It can identify periods when intervention to increase activity may be most appropriate and provide an evidence base for specific exercise prescription in primary and secondary care.

Cognitive and metacognitive activity in mathematical problem solving: prefrontal and parietal patterns.

PubMed

Anderson, John R; Betts, Shawn; Ferris, Jennifer L; Fincham, Jon M

2011-03-01

Students were taught an algorithm for solving a new class of mathematical problems. Occasionally in the sequence of problems, they encountered exception problems that required that they extend the algorithm. Regular and exception problems were associated with different patterns of brain activation. Some regions showed a Cognitive pattern of being active only until the problem was solved and no difference between regular or exception problems. Other regions showed a Metacognitive pattern of greater activity for exception problems and activity that extended into the post-solution period, particularly when an error was made. The Cognitive regions included some of parietal and prefrontal regions associated with the triple-code theory of (Dehaene, S., Piazza, M., Pinel, P., & Cohen, L. (2003). Three parietal circuits for number processing. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 20, 487-506) and associated with algebra equation solving in the ACT-R theory (Anderson, J. R. (2005). Human symbol manipulation within an 911 integrated cognitive architecture. Cognitive science, 29, 313-342. Metacognitive regions included the superior prefrontal gyrus, the angular gyrus of the triple-code theory, and frontopolar regions.

Nocturnal activity patterns of northern myotis (Myotis septentrionalis) during the maternity season in West Virginia (USA)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, J.B.; Edwards, J.W.; Ford, W.M.

2011-01-01

Nocturnal activity patterns of northern myotis (Myotis septentrionalis) at diurnal roost trees remain largely uninvestigated. For example, the influence of reproductive status, weather, and roost tree and surrounding habitat characteristics on timing of emergence, intra-night activity, and entrance at their roost trees is poorly known. We examined nocturnal activity patterns of northern myotis maternity colonies during pregnancy and lactation at diurnal roost trees situated in areas that were and were not subjected to recent prescribed fires at the Fernow Experimental Forest, West Virginia from 2007 to 2009. According to exit counts and acoustic data, northern myotis colony sizes were similar between reproductive periods and roost tree settings. However, intra-night activity patterns differed slightly between reproductive periods and roost trees in burned and non-burned areas. Weather variables poorly explained variation in activity patterns during pregnancy, but precipitation and temperature were negatively associated with activity patterns during lactation. ?? Museum and Institute of Zoology PAS.

Patterns of Spontaneous Local Network Activity in Developing Cerebral Cortex: Relationship to Adult Cognitive Function.

PubMed

Peinado, Alejandro; Abrams, Charles K

2015-01-01

mechanism that could explain the observed differences in early spontaneous activity patterns.

Spiral crack patterns observed for melt-grown spherulites of poly(L-lactic acid) upon quenching.

PubMed

Matsuda, Futoshi; Sobajima, Takamasa; Irie, Satoshi; Sasaki, Takashi

2016-04-01

In this paper, we demonstrate the characteristic spiral cracking that appears on the surface of melt-grown poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) spherulites with relatively large sizes (greater than 0.4mm in diameter). The crack occurs via thermal shrinkage upon quenching after crystallization. Although concentric cracks on polymer spherulites have been found to occur in quite a few studies, spiral crack patterns have never been reported so far. The present spiral crack was observed for thick spherulites (> 10 μm), whereas the concentric crack pattern was frequently observed for thin spherulites (typically 5 μm). The present PLLA spherulites exhibited a non-banded structure with no apparent structural periodicity at least on the scale of the spiral pitch, and thus no direct correlation between the crack pattern and the spherulitic structure was suggested. The spiral was revealed to be largely Archimedean of which the spiral pitch increases with an increase in the thickness of the spherulite. This may be interpreted in terms of a classical mechanical model for a thin layer with no delamination from the substrate.

Autogenic training alters cerebral activation patterns in fMRI.

PubMed

Schlamann, Marc; Naglatzki, Ryan; de Greiff, Armin; Forsting, Michael; Gizewski, Elke R

2010-10-01

Cerebral activation patterns during the first three auto-suggestive phases of autogenic training (AT) were investigated in relation to perceived experiences. Nineteen volunteers trained in AT and 19 controls were studied with fMRI during the first steps of autogenic training. FMRI revealed activation of the left postcentral areas during AT in those with experience in AT, which also correlated with the level of AT experience. Activation of prefrontal and insular cortex was significantly higher in the group with experience in AT while insular activation was correlated with number years of simple relaxation exercises. Specific activation in subjects experienced in AT may represent a training effect. Furthermore, the correlation of insular activation suggests that these subjects are different from untrained subjects in emotional processing or self-awareness.

Patterns of cytochrome oxidase activity in the visual cortex of a South American opossum (Didelphis marsupialis aurita).

PubMed

Martinich, S; Rosa, M G; Rocha-Miranda, C E

1990-01-01

The normal pattern of cytochrome oxidase (CO) activity in the posterior cortical areas of the South American opossum (Didelphis marsupialis aurita) was assessed both in horizontal sections of flattened cortices and in transversal cortical sections. The tangential distribution of CO activity was uniformly high in the striate cortex. In the peristriate region alternating bands of dense and weak staining occupied all the cortical layers with the exception of layer I. This observation suggests the existence of a functional segregation of visual processing in the peristriate cortex of the opossum similar to that present in phylogenetically more recent groups.

Dampened regulates the activating potency of Bicoid and the embryonic patterning outcome in Drosophila

PubMed Central

Liu, Junbo; Ma, Jun

2014-01-01

The Drosophila morphogen gradient of Bicoid (Bcd) initiates anterior-posterior (AP) patterning, but it is poorly understood how its ability to activate a target gene may impact this process. Here we report an F-box protein, Dampened (Dmpd) as a nuclear co-factor of Bcd that can enhance its activating potency. We establish a quantitative platform to specifically investigate two parameters of a Bcd target gene response, expression amplitude and boundary position. We show that embryos lacking Dmpd have a reduced amplitude of Bcd-activated hunchback (hb) expression at a critical time of development. This is due to a reduced Bcd-dependent transcribing probability. This defect is faithfully propagated further downstream of the AP patterning network to alter the spatial characteristics of even-skipped (eve) stripes. Thus, unlike another Bcd-interacting F-box protein Fates-shifted (Fsd), which controls AP patterning through regulating the Bcd gradient profile, Dmpd achieves its patterning role through regulating the activating potency of Bcd. PMID:24336107

Diagnosis and characterization of mania: Quantifying increased energy and activity in the human behavioral pattern monitor

PubMed Central

Perry, William; McIlwain, Meghan; Kloezeman, Karen; Henry, Brook L.; Minassian, Arpi

2016-01-01

Increased energy or activity is now an essential feature of the mania of Bipolar Disorder (BD) according to DSM-5. This study examined whether objective measures of increased energy can differentiate manic BD individuals and provide greater diagnostic accuracy compared to rating scales, extending the work of previous studies with smaller samples. We also tested the relationship between objective measures of energy and rating scales. 50 hospitalized manic BD patients were compared to healthy subjects (HCS, n=39) in the human Behavioral Pattern Monitor (hBPM) which quantifies motor activity and goal-directed behavior in an environment containing novel stimuli. Archival hBPM data from 17 schizophrenia patients were used in sensitivity and specificity analyses. Manic BD patients exhibited higher motor activity than HCS and higher novel object interactions. hBPM activity measures were not correlated with observer-rated symptoms, and hBPM activity was more sensitive in accurately classifying hospitalized BD subjects than observer ratings. Although the findings can only be generalized to inpatient populations, they suggest that increased energy, particularly specific and goal-directed exploration, is a distinguishing feature of BD mania and is best quantified by objective measures of motor activity. A better understanding is needed of the biological underpinnings of this cardinal feature. PMID:27138818

Chapter 12: Daily Patterns of Marbled Murrelet Activity at Inland Sites

Treesearch

Nancy L. Naslund; Brian P. O’Donnell

1995-01-01

Patterns in the daily activity of Marbled Murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) at inland sites has been studied throughout their range from California to Alaska. Murrelets are most active at inland sites around dawn, and to a lesser degree, at dusk. Throughout their range, peak levels of activity (detections) occur in the hour around dawn, but...

SPATIALLY AND SPECTRALLY RESOLVED OBSERVATIONS OF A ZEBRA PATTERN IN A SOLAR DECIMETRIC RADIO BURST

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen Bin; Bastian, T. S.; Gary, D. E.

2011-07-20

We present the first interferometric observation of a zebra-pattern radio burst with simultaneous high spectral ({approx}1 MHz) and high time (20 ms) resolution. The Frequency-Agile Solar Radiotelescope Subsystem Testbed (FST) and the Owens Valley Solar Array (OVSA) were used in parallel to observe the X1.5 flare on 2006 December 14. By using OVSA to calibrate the FST, the source position of the zebra pattern can be located on the solar disk. With the help of multi-wavelength observations and a nonlinear force-free field extrapolation, the zebra source is explored in relation to the magnetic field configuration. New constraints are placed onmore » the source size and position as a function of frequency and time. We conclude that the zebra burst is consistent with a double-plasma resonance model in which the radio emission occurs in resonance layers where the upper-hybrid frequency is harmonically related to the electron cyclotron frequency in a coronal magnetic loop.« less

Fitness Profiles and Activity Patterns of Entering College Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pierce, Edgar F.; And Others

1992-01-01

Entering college students were evaluated for performance on maximal oxygen consumption, body composition, muscle endurance, muscle strength, and joint flexibility tests to determine the relationship of physical activity patterns to fitness levels. Results supported previous research indicating reduced fitness levels in young adults. (SM)

Connectivity, excitability and activity patterns in neuronal networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

le Feber, Joost; Stoyanova, Irina I.; Chiappalone, Michela

2014-06-01

Extremely synchronized firing patterns such as those observed in brain diseases like epilepsy may result from excessive network excitability. Although network excitability is closely related to (excitatory) connectivity, a direct measure for network excitability remains unavailable. Several methods currently exist for estimating network connectivity, most of which are related to cross-correlation. An example is the conditional firing probability (CFP) analysis which calculates the pairwise probability (CFPi,j) that electrode j records an action potential at time t = τ, given that electrode i recorded a spike at t = 0. However, electrode i often records multiple spikes within the analysis interval, and CFP values are biased by the on-going dynamic state of the network. Here we show that in a linear approximation this bias may be removed by deconvoluting CFPi,j with the autocorrelation of i (i.e. CFPi,i), to obtain the single pulse response (SPRi,j)—the average response at electrode j to a single spike at electrode i. Thus, in a linear system SPRs would be independent of the dynamic network state. Nonlinear components of synaptic transmission, such as facilitation and short term depression, will however still affect SPRs. Therefore SPRs provide a clean measure of network excitability. We used carbachol and ghrelin to moderately activate cultured cortical networks to affect their dynamic state. Both neuromodulators transformed the bursting firing patterns of the isolated networks into more dispersed firing. We show that the influence of the dynamic state on SPRs is much smaller than the effect on CFPs, but not zero. The remaining difference reflects the alteration in network excitability. We conclude that SPRs are less contaminated by the dynamic network state and that mild excitation may decrease network excitability, possibly through short term synaptic depression.

Physical Activity Patterns among U.S. Adults with Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chiu, Chung-Yi; An, Ruopeng

2016-01-01

Purpose: To characterize physical activity patterns among people with disabilities using data from a nationally representative health survey. Method: Individual-level data came from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2011 survey. Pearson's chi-squared tests were conducted to assess the difference in the proportion distribution of…

Documenting Western Burrowing Owl Reproduction and Activity Patterns Using Motion-Activated Cameras

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hall, Derek B.; Greger, Paul D.

We used motion-activated cameras to monitor the reproduction and patterns of activity of the Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) above ground at 45 burrows in south-central Nevada during the breeding seasons of 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2005. The 37 broods, encompassing 180 young, raised over the four years represented an average of 4.9 young per successful breeding pair. Young and adult owls were detected at the burrow entrance at all times of the day and night, but adults were detected more frequently during afternoon/early evening than were young. Motion-activated cameras require less effort to implement than other techniques. Limitations include photographingmore » only a small percentage of owl activity at the burrow; not detecting the actual number of eggs, young, or number fledged; and not being able to track individual owls over time. Further work is also necessary to compare the accuracy of productivity estimates generated from motion-activated cameras with other techniques.« less

Digital holographic tomography method for 3D observation of domain patterns in ferroelectric single crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mokrý, Pavel; Psota, Pavel; Steiger, Kateřina; Václavík, Jan; Vápenka, David; Doleček, Roman; Vojtíšek, Petr; Sládek, Juraj; Lédl, Vít.

2016-11-01

We report on the development and implementation of the digital holographic tomography for the three-dimensio- nal (3D) observations of the domain patterns in the ferroelectric single crystals. Ferroelectric materials represent a group of materials, whose macroscopic dielectric, electromechanical, and elastic properties are greatly in uenced by the presence of domain patterns. Understanding the role of domain patterns on the aforementioned properties require the experimental techniques, which allow the precise 3D measurements of the spatial distribution of ferroelectric domains in the single crystal. Unfortunately, such techniques are rather limited at this time. The most frequently used piezoelectric atomic force microscopy allows 2D observations on the ferroelectric sample surface. Optical methods based on the birefringence measurements provide parameters of the domain patterns averaged over the sample volume. In this paper, we analyze the possibility that the spatial distribution of the ferroelectric domains can be obtained by means of the measurement of the wavefront deformation of the transmitted optical wave. We demonstrate that the spatial distribution of the ferroelectric domains can be determined by means of the measurement of the spatial distribution of the refractive index. Finally, it is demonstrated that the measurements of wavefront deformations generated in ferroelectric polydomain systems with small variations of the refractive index provide data, which can be further processed by means of the conventional tomographic methods.

Recurrence analysis of ant activity patterns

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

In this study, we used recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) and recurrence plots (RPs) to compare the movement activity of individual workers of three ant species, as well as a gregarious beetle species. RQA and RPs quantify the number and duration of recurrences of a dynamical system, including a detailed quantification of signals that could be stochastic, deterministic, or both. First, we found substantial differences between the activity dynamics of beetles and ants, with the results suggesting that the beetles have quasi-periodic dynamics and the ants do not. Second, workers from different ant species varied with respect to their dynamics, presenting degrees of predictability as well as stochastic signals. Finally, differences were found among minor and major caste of the same (dimorphic) ant species. Our results underscore the potential of RQA and RPs in the analysis of complex behavioral patterns, as well as in general inferences on animal behavior and other biological phenomena. PMID:29016648

Millimeter wavelength observations of solar active regions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kundu, M. R.

1973-01-01

Polarization properties of active regions at 9 mm are discussed, and the observed degree of polarization is used to obtain an estimate of chromospheric magnetic fields. Also discussed is the polarization structure at 9 mm of an active region that produced a minor flare around 1900 UT on September 28, 1971. Total power observations indicate that new regions develop, or weak regions intensify at millimeter wavelengths as a result of bursts at distant sites. The spectra of the peak flux density of moderately strong bursts observed at 9 mm show a sharp drop toward the shorter millimeter wavelengths. The weak bursts at 3.5 mm are manifest mainly as heating phenomena.

Observing Consistency in Online Communication Patterns for User Re-Identification

PubMed Central

Venter, Hein S.

2016-01-01

Comprehension of the statistical and structural mechanisms governing human dynamics in online interaction plays a pivotal role in online user identification, online profile development, and recommender systems. However, building a characteristic model of human dynamics on the Internet involves a complete analysis of the variations in human activity patterns, which is a complex process. This complexity is inherent in human dynamics and has not been extensively studied to reveal the structural composition of human behavior. A typical method of anatomizing such a complex system is viewing all independent interconnectivity that constitutes the complexity. An examination of the various dimensions of human communication pattern in online interactions is presented in this paper. The study employed reliable server-side web data from 31 known users to explore characteristics of human-driven communications. Various machine-learning techniques were explored. The results revealed that each individual exhibited a relatively consistent, unique behavioral signature and that the logistic regression model and model tree can be used to accurately distinguish online users. These results are applicable to one-to-one online user identification processes, insider misuse investigation processes, and online profiling in various areas. PMID:27918593

Observing Consistency in Online Communication Patterns for User Re-Identification.

PubMed

Adeyemi, Ikuesan Richard; Razak, Shukor Abd; Salleh, Mazleena; Venter, Hein S

2016-01-01

Comprehension of the statistical and structural mechanisms governing human dynamics in online interaction plays a pivotal role in online user identification, online profile development, and recommender systems. However, building a characteristic model of human dynamics on the Internet involves a complete analysis of the variations in human activity patterns, which is a complex process. This complexity is inherent in human dynamics and has not been extensively studied to reveal the structural composition of human behavior. A typical method of anatomizing such a complex system is viewing all independent interconnectivity that constitutes the complexity. An examination of the various dimensions of human communication pattern in online interactions is presented in this paper. The study employed reliable server-side web data from 31 known users to explore characteristics of human-driven communications. Various machine-learning techniques were explored. The results revealed that each individual exhibited a relatively consistent, unique behavioral signature and that the logistic regression model and model tree can be used to accurately distinguish online users. These results are applicable to one-to-one online user identification processes, insider misuse investigation processes, and online profiling in various areas.

Mechanochemical pattern formation in simple models of active viscoelastic fluids and solids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alonso, Sergio; Radszuweit, Markus; Engel, Harald; Bär, Markus

2017-11-01

The cytoskeleton of the organism Physarum polycephalum is a prominent example of a complex active viscoelastic material wherein stresses induce flows along the organism as a result of the action of molecular motors and their regulation by calcium ions. Experiments in Physarum polycephalum have revealed a rich variety of mechanochemical patterns including standing, traveling and rotating waves that arise from instabilities of spatially homogeneous states without gradients in stresses and resulting flows. Herein, we investigate simple models where an active stress induced by molecular motors is coupled to a model describing the passive viscoelastic properties of the cellular material. Specifically, two models for viscoelastic fluids (Maxwell and Jeffrey model) and two models for viscoelastic solids (Kelvin-Voigt and Standard model) are investigated. Our focus is on the analysis of the conditions that cause destabilization of spatially homogeneous states and the related onset of mechano-chemical waves and patterns. We carry out linear stability analyses and numerical simulations in one spatial dimension for different models. In general, sufficiently strong activity leads to waves and patterns. The primary instability is stationary for all active fluids considered, whereas all active solids have an oscillatory primary instability. All instabilities found are of long-wavelength nature reflecting the conservation of the total calcium concentration in the models studied.

Distributed Patterns of Brain Activity that Lead to Forgetting

PubMed Central

Öztekin, Ilke; Badre, David

2011-01-01

Proactive interference (PI), in which irrelevant information from prior learning disrupts memory performance, is widely viewed as a major cause of forgetting. However, the hypothesized spontaneous recovery (i.e., automatic retrieval) of interfering information presumed to be at the base of PI remains to be demonstrated directly. Moreover, it remains unclear at what point during learning and/or retrieval interference impacts memory performance. In order to resolve these open questions, we employed a machine-learning algorithm to identify distributed patterns of brain activity associated with retrieval of interfering information that engenders PI and causes forgetting. Participants were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging during an item recognition task. We induced PI by constructing sets of three consecutive study lists from the same semantic category. The classifier quantified the magnitude of category-related activity at encoding and retrieval. Category-specific activity during retrieval increased across lists, consistent with the category information becoming increasingly available and producing interference. Critically, this increase was correlated with individual differences in forgetting and the deployment of frontal lobe mechanisms that resolve interference. Collectively, these findings suggest that distributed patterns of brain activity pertaining to the interfering information during retrieval contribute to forgetting. The prefrontal cortex mediates the relationship between the spontaneous recovery of interfering information at retrieval and individual differences in memory performance. PMID:21897814

Seasonal patterns of oral antihistamine and intranasal corticosteroid purchases from Australian community pharmacies: a retrospective observational study.

PubMed

Carney, A Simon; Price, David B; Smith, Pete K; Harvey, Richard; Kritikos, Vicky; Bosnic-Anticevich, Sinthia Z; Christian, Louise; Skinner, Derek A; Carter, Victoria; Durieux, Alice Ms

2017-01-01

To explore patterns in the purchase of prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) oral antihistamines (OAHs) and intranasal corticosteroids (INCSs) by patients, from pharmacies in different geographical regions of Australia. Retrospective observational study using a database containing anonymous pharmacy transaction data from 20.0% of the pharmacies in Australia that link doctor prescriptions and OTC information. Pharmacy purchases of at least one prescription or OTC rhinitis treatment during 2013 and 2014 were assessed. In total, 4,247,193 prescription and OTC rhinitis treatments were purchased from 909 pharmacies over 12 months. Of treatments purchased, 75.9% were OAHs and 16.6% were INCSs. OTC purchases of both treatments exceeded purchases through prescription. OTC OAHs purchasing patterns were seasonal and almost identical in the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, and New South Wales, and similar seasonal patterns for OTC INCSs were noted in most regions except for South Australia and Tasmania. Prescription purchasing patterns of both OAHs and INCSs remained unchanged throughout the year in most regions. This large-scale retrospective observational study identified seasonal purchasing patterns of OTC and prescription OAHs and INCSs in a real-world setting. It highlighted that seasonality only affects OTC purchasing patterns of OAHs and INCSs across Australia and that practitioner prescribing remains unchanged, suggesting that it is only for persistent disease.

Seasonal patterns of oral antihistamine and intranasal corticosteroid purchases from Australian community pharmacies: a retrospective observational study

PubMed Central

Carney, A Simon; Price, David B; Smith, Pete K; Harvey, Richard; Kritikos, Vicky; Bosnic-Anticevich, Sinthia Z; Christian, Louise; Skinner, Derek A; Carter, Victoria; Durieux, Alice MS

2017-01-01

Purpose To explore patterns in the purchase of prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) oral antihistamines (OAHs) and intranasal corticosteroids (INCSs) by patients, from pharmacies in different geographical regions of Australia. Patients and methods Retrospective observational study using a database containing anonymous pharmacy transaction data from 20.0% of the pharmacies in Australia that link doctor prescriptions and OTC information. Pharmacy purchases of at least one prescription or OTC rhinitis treatment during 2013 and 2014 were assessed. Results In total, 4,247,193 prescription and OTC rhinitis treatments were purchased from 909 pharmacies over 12 months. Of treatments purchased, 75.9% were OAHs and 16.6% were INCSs. OTC purchases of both treatments exceeded purchases through prescription. OTC OAHs purchasing patterns were seasonal and almost identical in the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, and New South Wales, and similar seasonal patterns for OTC INCSs were noted in most regions except for South Australia and Tasmania. Prescription purchasing patterns of both OAHs and INCSs remained unchanged throughout the year in most regions. Conclusion This large-scale retrospective observational study identified seasonal purchasing patterns of OTC and prescription OAHs and INCSs in a real-world setting. It highlighted that seasonality only affects OTC purchasing patterns of OAHs and INCSs across Australia and that practitioner prescribing remains unchanged, suggesting that it is only for persistent disease. PMID:28919832

Active Commuting Patterns at a Large, Midwestern College Campus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bopp, Melissa; Kaczynski, Andrew; Wittman, Pamela

2011-01-01

Objective: To understand patterns and influences on active commuting (AC) behavior. Participants: Students and faculty/staff at a university campus. Methods: In April-May 2008, respondents answered an online survey about mode of travel to campus and influences on commuting decisions. Hierarchical regression analyses predicted variance in walking…

Classification of atrophic mucosal patterns on Blue LASER Imaging for endoscopic diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori-related gastritis: A retrospective, observational study.

PubMed

Nishikawa, Yoshiyuki; Ikeda, Yoshio; Murakami, Hidehiro; Hori, Shin-Ichiro; Hino, Kaori; Sasaki, Chise; Nishikawa, Megumi

2018-01-01

Atrophic gastritis can be classified according to characteristic mucosal patterns observed by Blue LASER Imaging (BLI) in a medium-range to distant view. To facilitate the endoscopic diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori (HP)-related gastritis, we investigated whether atrophic mucosal patterns correlated with HP infection based on the image interpretations of three endoscopists blinded to clinical features. This study included 441 patients diagnosed as having atrophic gastritis by upper gastrointestinal endoscopy at Nishikawa Gastrointestinal Clinic between April 1, 2015 and March 31, 2016. The presence/absence of HP infection was not taken into consideration. Endoscopy was performed using a Fujifilm EG-L580NW scope. Atrophic mucosal patterns observed by BLI were classified into Spotty, Cracked and Mottled. Image interpretation results were that 89, 122 and 228 patients had the Spotty, Cracked and Mottled patterns, respectively, and 2 patients an undetermined pattern. Further analyses were performed on 439 patients, excluding the 2 with undetermined patterns. The numbers of patients testing negative/positive for HP infection in the Spotty, Cracked and Mottled pattern groups were 12/77, 105/17, and 138/90, respectively. The specificity, positive predictive value and positive likelihood ratio for endoscopic diagnosis with positive HP infection based on the Spotty pattern were 95.3%, 86.5% and 8.9, respectively. In all patients with the Spotty pattern before HP eradication, the Cracked pattern was observed on subsequent post-eradication endoscopy. The Spotty pattern may represent the presence of HP infection, the Cracked pattern, a post-inflammatory change as seen after HP eradication, and the Mottled pattern, intestinal metaplasia.

Empathy and feedback processing in active and observational learning.

PubMed

Rak, Natalia; Bellebaum, Christian; Thoma, Patrizia

2013-12-01

The feedback-related negativity (FRN) and the P300 have been related to the processing of one's own and other individuals' feedback during both active and observational learning. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the role of trait-empathic responding with regard to the modulation of the neural correlates of observational learning in particular. Thirty-four healthy participants completed an active and an observational learning task. On both tasks, the participants' aim was to maximize their monetary gain by choosing from two stimuli the one that showed the higher probability of reward. Participants gained insight into the stimulus-reward contingencies according to monetary feedback presented after they had made an active choice or by observing the choices of a virtual partner. Participants showed a general improvement in learning performance on both learning tasks. P200, FRN, and P300 amplitudes were larger during active, as compared with observational, learning. Furthermore, nonreward elicited a significantly more negative FRN than did reward in the active learning task, while only a trend was observed for observational learning. Distinct subcomponents of trait cognitive empathy were related to poorer performance and smaller P300 amplitudes for observational learning only. Taken together, both the learning performance and event-related potentials during observational learning are affected by different aspects of trait cognitive empathy, and certain types of observational learning may actually be disrupted by a higher tendency to understand and adopt other people's perspectives.

Long-term magnetic activity in close binary systems. I. Patterns of color variations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Messina, S.

2008-03-01

Aims:This is the first of a series of papers in which we present the results of a long-term photometric monitoring project carried out at Catania Astrophysical Observatory aimed at studying magnetic activity in late-type components of close binary systems, its dependence on global stellar parameters, and its evolution on different time scales from days to years. In this first paper, we present the complete observation dataset and new results of an investigation into the origin of brightness and color variations observed in the well-known magnetically active close binary stars: AR Psc, VY Ari, UX Ari, V711 Tau, EI Eri, V1149 Ori, DH Leo, HU Vir, RS CVn, V775 Her, AR Lac, SZ Psc, II Peg and BY Dra Methods: About 38 000 high-precision photoelectric nightly observations in the U, B and V filters are analysed. Correlation and regression analyses of the V magnitude vs. U-B and B-V color variations are carried out and a comparison with model variations for a grid of active region temperature and filling factor values is also performed. Results: We find the existence of two different patterns of color variation. Eight stars in our sample: BY Dra, VY Ari, V775 Her, II Peg, V1149 Ori, HU Vir, EI Eri and DH Leo become redder when they become fainter, as is expected from the presence of active regions consisting of cool spots. The other six stars show the opposite behaviour, i.e. they become bluer when they become fainter. For V711 Tau this behaviour could be explained by the increased relative U- and B-flux contribution by the earlier-type component of the binary system when the cooler component becomes fainter. On the other hand, for AR Psc, UX Ari, RS CVn, SZ Psc and AR Lac the existence of hot photospheric faculae must be invoked. We also found that in single-lined and double-lined binary stars in which the fainter component is inactive or much less active the V magnitude is correlated to B-V and U-B color variations in more than 60% of observation seasons. The correlation

Daily Weather and Children's Physical Activity Patterns.

PubMed

Remmers, Teun; Thijs, Carel; Timperio, Anna; Salmon, J O; Veitch, Jenny; Kremers, Stef P J; Ridgers, Nicola D

2017-05-01

Understanding how the weather affects physical activity (PA) may help in the design, analysis, and interpretation of future studies, especially when investigating PA across diverse meteorological settings and with long follow-up periods. The present longitudinal study first aims to examine the influence of daily weather elements on intraindividual PA patterns among primary school children across four seasons, reflecting day-to-day variation within each season. Second, we investigate whether the influence of weather elements differs by day of the week (weekdays vs weekends), gender, age, and body mass index. PA data were collected by ActiGraph accelerometers for 1 wk in each of four school terms that reflect each season in southeast Australia. PA data from 307 children (age range 8.7-12.8 yr) were matched to daily meteorological variables obtained from the Australian Government's Bureau of Meteorology (maximum temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, day length, and rainfall). Daily PA patterns and their association with weather elements were analyzed using multilevel linear mixed models. Temperature was the strongest predictor of moderate and vigorous PA, followed by solar radiation and humidity. The relation with temperature was curvilinear, showing optimum PA levels at temperatures between 20°C and 22°C. Associations between weather elements on PA did not differ by gender, child's age, or body mass index. This novel study focused on the influence of weather elements on intraindividual PA patterns in children. As weather influences cannot be controlled, knowledge of its effect on individual PA patterns may help in the design of future studies, interpretation of their results, and translation into PA promotion.

Association of dietary pattern and physical activity level with triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio among adults in Jiangsu, China: a cross-sectional study with sex-specific differences.

PubMed

Lyu, Shurong; Su, Jian; Xiang, Quanyong; Wu, Ming

2014-08-01

Our study aims to explore the association between dietary patterns and physical activity levels (PAL) with a triglyceride-to-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG/HDL-C) ratio, and to examine whether the association is sex dependent among Chinese adults. In this cross-sectional study, data were collected through questionnaires, anthropometric measurement, and biochemical tests. Four food patterns ("meat," "healthy," "high-energy," and "traditional Chinese") were established through factor analysis. Physical activity level was categorized as "active," "moderate," and "inactive." Logistic regression models were used to determine the associations between food patterns and PAL with TG/HDL-C ratio. Compared with quartile 1, quartiles 2 and 3 of meat pattern among men were found to be associated with lower risk of high TG/HDL-C ratio (the highest quartile of TG/HDL-C ratio). Similar decreased risk of high TG/HDL-C ratio was also observed in the highest quartile 4 of healthy pattern among women. Active PAL was protective against high TG/HDL-C ratio among both men (odds ratio [OR], 0.69; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.55-0.86) and women (OR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.62-0.96). Although no statistically significant interaction was observed, we found that individuals with active PAL and low healthy diet had a similar OR with those with inactive PAL and high healthy diet (0.62 vs 0.68). In conclusion, dietary patterns were associated with TG/HDL-C ratio in a sex-specific way, and active PAL was consistently related to decreased risk of high TG/HDL-C ratio across genders. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Patterning of sympathetic nerve activity in response to vestibular stimulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kerman, I. A.; McAllen, R. M.; Yates, B. J.

2000-01-01

Growing evidence suggests a role for the vestibular system in regulation of autonomic outflow during postural adjustments. In the present paper we review evidence for the patterning of sympathetic nerve activity elicited by vestibular stimulation. In response to electrical activation of vestibular afferents, firing of sympathetic nerves located throughout the body is altered. However, activity of the renal nerve is most sensitive to vestibular inputs. In contrast, high-intensity simultaneous activation of cutaneous and muscle inputs elicits equivalent changes in firing of the renal, superior mesenteric and lumbar colonic nerves. Responses of muscle vasoconstrictor (MVC) efferents to vestibular stimulation are either inhibitory (Type I) or are comprised of a combination of excitation and inhibition (Type II). Interestingly, single MVC units located in the hindlimb exhibited predominantly Type I responses while those located in the forelimb and face exhibited Type II responses. Furthermore, brachial and femoral arterial blood flows were dissociated in response to vestibular stimulation, such that brachial vascular resistance increased while femoral resistance decreased. These studies demonstrate that vestibulosympathetic reflexes are patterned according to both the anatomical location and innervation target of a particular sympathetic nerve, and can lead to distinct changes in local blood flow.

Physical activity levels and torso orientations of hospitalized patients at risk of developing a pressure injury: an observational study.

PubMed

Chaboyer, Wendy; Mills, Peter M; Roberts, Shelley; Latimer, Sharon

2015-02-01

Pressure injury guidelines recommend regular repositioning yet patients' mobility and repositioning patterns are unknown. An observational study using activity monitors was undertaken to describe the 24 h activity patterns of 84 hospitalized patients at risk of developing a pressure injury. The vast majority of participants' time was spent in the sedentary activity range (94% ± 3%) followed by the light range (5% ± 4 %). Patients changed their posture a median of 94 (interquartile range 48) time in the 24-h period (range 11-154), or ≈ 3.8 times per hour. Although a main focus for pressure injury prevention has been on repositioning, this study shows that patients with restricted mobility are actually moving quite often. Therefore, it might be appropriate to focus more attention on other pressure injury prevention strategies such as adequate nutrition, appropriate support surfaces and good skin care. © 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Specific Diurnal EMG Activity Pattern Observed in Occlusal Collapse Patients: Relationship between Diurnal Bruxism and Tooth Loss Progression

PubMed Central

Kawakami, Shigehisa; Kumazaki, Yohei; Manda, Yosuke; Oki, Kazuhiro; Minagi, Shogo

2014-01-01

Aim The role of parafunctional masticatory muscle activity in tooth loss has not been fully clarified. This study aimed to reveal the characteristic activity of masseter muscles in bite collapse patients while awake and asleep. Materials and Methods Six progressive bite collapse patients (PBC group), six age- and gender-matched control subjects (MC group), and six young control subjects (YC group) were enrolled. Electromyograms (EMG) of the masseter muscles were continuously recorded with an ambulatory EMG recorder while patients were awake and asleep. Diurnal and nocturnal parafunctional EMG activity was classified as phasic, tonic, or mixed using an EMG threshold of 20% maximal voluntary clenching. Results Highly extended diurnal phasic activity was observed only in the PBC group. The three groups had significantly different mean diurnal phasic episodes per hour, with 13.29±7.18 per hour in the PBC group, 0.95±0.97 per hour in the MC group, and 0.87±0.98 per hour in the YC group (p<0.01). ROC curve analysis suggested that the number of diurnal phasic episodes might be used to predict bite collapsing tooth loss. Conclusion Extensive bite loss might be related to diurnal masticatory muscle parafunction but not to parafunction during sleep. Clinical Relevance: Scientific rationale for study Although mandibular parafunction has been implicated in stomatognathic system breakdown, a causal relationship has not been established because scientific modalities to evaluate parafunctional activity have been lacking. Principal findings This study used a newly developed EMG recording system that evaluates masseter muscle activity throughout the day. Our results challenge the stereotypical idea of nocturnal bruxism as a strong destructive force. We found that diurnal phasic masticatory muscle activity was most characteristic in patients with progressive bite collapse. Practical implications The incidence of diurnal phasic contractions could be used for the prognostic

Evolution of Muscle Activity Patterns Driving Motions of the Jaw and Hyoid during Chewing in Gnathostomes

PubMed Central

Konow, Nicolai; Herrel, Anthony; Ross, Callum F.; Williams, Susan H.; German, Rebecca Z.; Sanford, Christopher P. J.; Gintof, Chris

2011-01-01

Although chewing has been suggested to be a basal gnathostome trait retained in most major vertebrate lineages, it has not been studied broadly and comparatively across vertebrates. To redress this imbalance, we recorded EMG from muscles powering anteroposterior movement of the hyoid, and dorsoventral movement of the mandibular jaw during chewing. We compared muscle activity patterns (MAP) during chewing in jawed vertebrate taxa belonging to unrelated groups of basal bony fishes and artiodactyl mammals. Our aim was to outline the evolution of coordination in MAP. Comparisons of activity in muscles of the jaw and hyoid that power chewing in closely related artiodactyls using cross-correlation analyses identified reorganizations of jaw and hyoid MAP between herbivores and omnivores. EMG data from basal bony fishes revealed a tighter coordination of jaw and hyoid MAP during chewing than seen in artiodactyls. Across this broad phylogenetic range, there have been major structural reorganizations, including a reduction of the bony hyoid suspension, which is robust in fishes, to the acquisition in a mammalian ancestor of a muscle sling suspending the hyoid. These changes appear to be reflected in a shift in chewing MAP that occurred in an unidentified anamniote stem-lineage. This shift matches observations that, when compared with fishes, the pattern of hyoid motion in tetrapods is reversed and also time-shifted relative to the pattern of jaw movement. PMID:21705368

Effects of age, season, gender and urban-rural status on time-activity: CanadianHuman Activity Pattern Survey 2 (CHAPS 2).

PubMed

Matz, Carlyn J; Stieb, David M; Davis, Karelyn; Egyed, Marika; Rose, Andreas; Chou, Benedito; Brion, Orly

2014-02-19

Estimation of population exposure is a main component of human health risk assessment for environmental contaminants. Population-level exposure assessments require time-activity pattern distributions in relation to microenvironments where people spend their time. Societal trends may have influenced time-activity patterns since previous Canadian data were collected 15 years ago. The Canadian Human Activity Pattern Survey 2 (CHAPS 2) was a national survey conducted in 2010-2011 to collect time-activity information from Canadians of all ages. Five urban and two rural locations were sampled using telephone surveys. Infants and children, key groups in risk assessment activities, were over-sampled. Survey participants (n = 5,011) provided time-activity information in 24-hour recall diaries and responded to supplemental questionnaires concerning potential exposures to specific pollutants, dwelling characteristics, and socio-economic factors. Results indicated that a majority of the time was spent indoors (88.9%), most of which was indoors at home, with limited time spent outdoors (5.8%) or in a vehicle (5.3%). Season, age, gender and rurality were significant predictors of time activity patterns. Compared to earlier data, adults reported spending more time indoors at home and adolescents reported spending less time outdoors, which could be indicative of broader societal trends. These findings have potentially important implications for assessment of exposure and risk. The CHAPS 2 data also provide much larger sample sizes to allow for improved precision and are more representative of infants, children and rural residents.

Effects of Age, Season, Gender and Urban-Rural Status on Time-Activity: Canadian Human Activity Pattern Survey 2 (CHAPS 2)

PubMed Central

Matz, Carlyn J.; Stieb, David M.; Davis, Karelyn; Egyed, Marika; Rose, Andreas; Chou, Benedito; Brion, Orly

2014-01-01

Estimation of population exposure is a main component of human health risk assessment for environmental contaminants. Population-level exposure assessments require time-activity pattern distributions in relation to microenvironments where people spend their time. Societal trends may have influenced time-activity patterns since previous Canadian data were collected 15 years ago. The Canadian Human Activity Pattern Survey 2 (CHAPS 2) was a national survey conducted in 2010–2011 to collect time-activity information from Canadians of all ages. Five urban and two rural locations were sampled using telephone surveys. Infants and children, key groups in risk assessment activities, were over-sampled. Survey participants (n = 5,011) provided time-activity information in 24-hour recall diaries and responded to supplemental questionnaires concerning potential exposures to specific pollutants, dwelling characteristics, and socio-economic factors. Results indicated that a majority of the time was spent indoors (88.9%), most of which was indoors at home, with limited time spent outdoors (5.8%) or in a vehicle (5.3%). Season, age, gender and rurality were significant predictors of time activity patterns. Compared to earlier data, adults reported spending more time indoors at home and adolescents reported spending less time outdoors, which could be indicative of broader societal trends. These findings have potentially important implications for assessment of exposure and risk. The CHAPS 2 data also provide much larger sample sizes to allow for improved precision and are more representative of infants, children and rural residents. PMID:24557523

Development of coherent neuronal activity patterns in mammalian cortical networks: common principles and local hetereogeneity.

PubMed

Egorov, Alexei V; Draguhn, Andreas

2013-01-01

Many mammals are born in a very immature state and develop their rich repertoire of behavioral and cognitive functions postnatally. This development goes in parallel with changes in the anatomical and functional organization of cortical structures which are involved in most complex activities. The emerging spatiotemporal activity patterns in multi-neuronal cortical networks may indeed form a direct neuronal correlate of systemic functions like perception, sensorimotor integration, decision making or memory formation. During recent years, several studies--mostly in rodents--have shed light on the ontogenesis of such highly organized patterns of network activity. While each local network has its own peculiar properties, some general rules can be derived. We therefore review and compare data from the developing hippocampus, neocortex and--as an intermediate region--entorhinal cortex. All cortices seem to follow a characteristic sequence starting with uncorrelated activity in uncoupled single neurons where transient activity seems to have mostly trophic effects. In rodents, before and shortly after birth, cortical networks develop weakly coordinated multineuronal discharges which have been termed synchronous plateau assemblies (SPAs). While these patterns rely mostly on electrical coupling by gap junctions, the subsequent increase in number and maturation of chemical synapses leads to the generation of large-scale coherent discharges. These patterns have been termed giant depolarizing potentials (GDPs) for predominantly GABA-induced events or early network oscillations (ENOs) for mostly glutamatergic bursts, respectively. During the third to fourth postnatal week, cortical areas reach their final activity patterns with distinct network oscillations and highly specific neuronal discharge sequences which support adult behavior. While some of the mechanisms underlying maturation of network activity have been elucidated much work remains to be done in order to fully

Observations on quality senior health business: success patterns and policy implications.

PubMed

Yang, Ya-Ting; Hsu, Yi-Hsin Elsa; Chen, Ya-Mei; Su, Shyi; Chang, Yao-Mao; Iqbal, Usman; Yujiro, Handa; Lin, Neng-Pai

2016-04-01

Population ageing is a global issue that affects almost every country. Most ageing researches focused on demand side and studies related to supply side were relatively scarce. This study selected quality enterprises focus on ageing health and analysed their patterns on providing quality services successfully. Our study selected quality senior health enterprises and explored their success patterns through face-to-face semi-structured in-depth interviews with CEO of each enterprise in 2013. Thirty-three quality senior health enterprises in Taiwan. Thirty-three CEO's of enterprises were interviewed individually. None. Core values and vision, historical development, organization structure, services/products provided, delivering channels, customer relationships and further development strategies. Our results indicated success patterns for senior enterprises that there were meeting diversified lifestyles and substitutive needs for the elderly and their caregivers, providing a total solution for actual/virtual integration and flexible one-stop shopping services. We classified these enterprises by used degree of clicks-and-mortar of services and residing situation of the elderly. Industry characteristics and policy implications were summarized. Our observations will serve as a primary evidenced base for enterprises developing their senior market, and also for opening dialogue between customers and enterprises to facilitate valuable opportunities for co-creation between the supply and demand sides. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care; all rights reserved.

Striped aeolian bedforms: a novel longitudinal pattern observed in ripples and megaripples on Earth and Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gough, T. R.; Hugenholtz, C.; Barchyn, T.; Martin, R. L.

2017-12-01

Striped aeolian bedforms (SABs) are a previously undocumented longitudinal pattern consisting of streamwise corridors of ripples or megaripples separated by corridors containing smaller bedforms. Similar patterns of spanwise variations in bed texture and/or bed topography are observed in water flumes. SABs have been observed in satellite imagery at sites in Peru, Iran, California, the Puna region of northwestern Argentina, and on Mars. The spanwise periodicity varies from <1-3 m at a coastal site in California up to 15 m for gravel-mantled megaripples in Argentina. To understand formative mechanisms, we performed field measurements of surface sediment texture at these sites. Using both manual and automated image-based grain size analysis, we found that median grain size was larger on the ripples and megaripples than on the intervening corridors containing smaller bedforms. This result is consistent with fluvial stripes, for which it is suggested that instability-driven streamwise vortices produce lateral sediment transport and sorting. We found no consistent evidence upwind of the SAB patterns to indicate topographic seeding is necessary. Therefore, we hypothesize that SABs are a self-organized bedform pattern that develops from secondary (lateral) transport of sediment in mixed sediment deposits. We also hypothesize that the development and maintenance of SABs requires unimodal wind regimes.

Bias in the Determination of Temporal Activity Patterns of Syntopic Peromyscus in the Southern Appalachians

Treesearch

Norman G. Hicks; Michael A. Menzel; Joshua Laerm

1998-01-01

We compared inferred activity patterns of two syntopic rodents, Peromyscus Zeucopus and P. maniculatus, in western North Carolina. Activity patterns were derived from capture-frequency data obtained from Sherman live-traps equipped with digital timers following different trapping protocols. We tested the hypothesis that no...

User Activity Recognition in Smart Homes Using Pattern Clustering Applied to Temporal ANN Algorithm.

PubMed

Bourobou, Serge Thomas Mickala; Yoo, Younghwan

2015-05-21

This paper discusses the possibility of recognizing and predicting user activities in the IoT (Internet of Things) based smart environment. The activity recognition is usually done through two steps: activity pattern clustering and activity type decision. Although many related works have been suggested, they had some limited performance because they focused only on one part between the two steps. This paper tries to find the best combination of a pattern clustering method and an activity decision algorithm among various existing works. For the first step, in order to classify so varied and complex user activities, we use a relevant and efficient unsupervised learning method called the K-pattern clustering algorithm. In the second step, the training of smart environment for recognizing and predicting user activities inside his/her personal space is done by utilizing the artificial neural network based on the Allen's temporal relations. The experimental results show that our combined method provides the higher recognition accuracy for various activities, as compared with other data mining classification algorithms. Furthermore, it is more appropriate for a dynamic environment like an IoT based smart home.

User Activity Recognition in Smart Homes Using Pattern Clustering Applied to Temporal ANN Algorithm

PubMed Central

Bourobou, Serge Thomas Mickala; Yoo, Younghwan

2015-01-01

This paper discusses the possibility of recognizing and predicting user activities in the IoT (Internet of Things) based smart environment. The activity recognition is usually done through two steps: activity pattern clustering and activity type decision. Although many related works have been suggested, they had some limited performance because they focused only on one part between the two steps. This paper tries to find the best combination of a pattern clustering method and an activity decision algorithm among various existing works. For the first step, in order to classify so varied and complex user activities, we use a relevant and efficient unsupervised learning method called the K-pattern clustering algorithm. In the second step, the training of smart environment for recognizing and predicting user activities inside his/her personal space is done by utilizing the artificial neural network based on the Allen’s temporal relations. The experimental results show that our combined method provides the higher recognition accuracy for various activities, as compared with other data mining classification algorithms. Furthermore, it is more appropriate for a dynamic environment like an IoT based smart home. PMID:26007738

Diagnosis and characterization of mania: Quantifying increased energy and activity in the human behavioral pattern monitor.

PubMed

Perry, William; McIlwain, Meghan; Kloezeman, Karen; Henry, Brook L; Minassian, Arpi

2016-06-30

Increased energy or activity is now an essential feature of the mania of Bipolar Disorder (BD) according to DSM-5. This study examined whether objective measures of increased energy can differentiate manic BD individuals and provide greater diagnostic accuracy compared to rating scales, extending the work of previous studies with smaller samples. We also tested the relationship between objective measures of energy and rating scales. 50 hospitalized manic BD patients were compared to healthy subjects (HCS, n=39) in the human Behavioral Pattern Monitor (hBPM) which quantifies motor activity and goal-directed behavior in an environment containing novel stimuli. Archival hBPM data from 17 schizophrenia patients were used in sensitivity and specificity analyses. Manic BD patients exhibited higher motor activity than HCS and higher novel object interactions. hBPM activity measures were not correlated with observer-rated symptoms, and hBPM activity was more sensitive in accurately classifying hospitalized BD subjects than observer ratings. Although the findings can only be generalized to inpatient populations, they suggest that increased energy, particularly specific and goal-directed exploration, is a distinguishing feature of BD mania and is best quantified by objective measures of motor activity. A better understanding is needed of the biological underpinnings of this cardinal feature. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Idiosyncratic Brain Activation Patterns Are Associated with Poor Social Comprehension in Autism

PubMed Central

Tyszka, J. Michael; Adolphs, Ralph; Kennedy, Daniel P.

2015-01-01

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) features profound social deficits but neuroimaging studies have failed to find any consistent neural signature. Here we connect these two facts by showing that idiosyncratic patterns of brain activation are associated with social comprehension deficits. Human participants with ASD (N = 17) and controls (N = 20) freely watched a television situation comedy (sitcom) depicting seminaturalistic social interactions (“The Office”, NBC Universal) in the scanner. Intersubject correlations in the pattern of evoked brain activation were reduced in the ASD group—but this effect was driven entirely by five ASD subjects whose idiosyncratic responses were also internally unreliable. The idiosyncrasy of these five ASD subjects was not explained by detailed neuropsychological profile, eye movements, or data quality; however, they were specifically impaired in understanding the social motivations of characters in the sitcom. Brain activation patterns in the remaining ASD subjects were indistinguishable from those of control subjects using multiple multivariate approaches. Our findings link neurofunctional abnormalities evoked by seminaturalistic stimuli with a specific impairment in social comprehension, and highlight the need to conceive of ASD as a heterogeneous classification. PMID:25855192

High-resolution Observation of Moving Magnetic Features in Active Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Qin; Deng, Na; Jing, Ju; Wang, Haimin

2017-08-01

Moving magnetic features (MMFs) are small photospheric magnetic elements that emerge and move outward toward the boundary of moat regions mostly during a sunspot decaying phase, in a serpent wave-like magnetic topology. Studies of MMFs and their classification (e.g., unipolar or bipolar types) strongly rely on the high spatiotemporal-resolution observation of photospheric magnetic field. In this work, we present a detailed observation of a sunspot evolution in NOAA active region (AR) 12565, using exceptionally high resolution Halpha images from the 1.6 New Solar telescope (NST) at Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) and the UV images from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). The spectropolarimetric measurements of photospheric magnetic field are obtained from the NST Near InfraRed Imaging Spectropolarimeter (NIRIS) at Fe I 1.56 um line. We investigate the horizontal motion of the classified MMFs and discuss the clustering patterns of the geometry and motion of the MMFs. We estimate the rate of flux generation by appearance of MMFs and the role MMFs play in sunspot decaying phase. We also study the interaction between the MMFs and the existing magnetic field features and its response to Ellerman bombs and IRIS bombs respectively at higher layers.

Evidence for Widespread Cooling in an Active Region Observed with the SDO Atmospheric Imaging Assembly

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Viall, Nicholeen M.; Klimchuk, James A.

2012-01-01

A well known behavior of EUV light curves of discrete coronal loops is that the peak intensities of cooler channels or spectral lines are reached at progressively later times. This time lag is understood to be the result of hot coronal loop plasma cooling through these lower respective temperatures. However, loops typically comprise only a minority of the total emission in active regions. Is this cooling pattern a common property of active region coronal plasma, or does it only occur in unique circumstances, locations, and times? The new SDO/AIA data provide a wonderful opportunity to answer this question systematically for an entire active region. We measure the time lag between pairs of SDO/AIA EUV channels using 24 hours of images of AR 11082 observed on 19 June 2010. We find that there is a time-lag signal consistent with cooling plasma, just as is usually found for loops, throughout the active region including the diffuse emission between loops for the entire 24 hour duration. The pattern persists consistently for all channel pairs and choice of window length within the 24 hour time period, giving us confidence that the plasma is cooling from temperatures of greater than 3 MK, and sometimes exceeding 7 MK, down to temperatures lower than approx. 0.8 MK. This suggests that the bulk of the emitting coronal plasma in this active region is not steady; rather, it is dynamic and constantly evolving. These measurements provide crucial constraints on any model which seeks to describe coronal heating.

Emergence of a New Norovirus GII.4 Variant and Changes in the Historical Biennial Pattern of Norovirus Outbreak Activity in Alberta, Canada, from 2008 to 2013

PubMed Central

Hasing, Maria E.; Preiksaitis, Jutta K.; Tellier, Raymond; Honish, Lance; Senthilselvan, Ambikaipakan; Pang, Xiaoli L.

2013-01-01

The public health impact of the emergence of new norovirus (NoV) strains is uncertain. A biennial pattern of alternating quiescent and epidemic levels of NoV outbreak activity associated with the emergence of new GII.4 variants was observed in Alberta, Canada, between July 2000 and June 2008. In this study, NoV genogroup I (GI) and GII strains isolated from 710 outbreak specimens in Alberta between July 2008 and January 2013 were characterized to update historical data. The seasonality and annual variation in NoV outbreak burden were analyzed over a 10-year period (July 2002 to June 2012). We found that GII.4-2006b had persisted as the predominant variant over three observation periods (July 2006 to June 2009) during which the biennial NoV outbreak pattern continued. The emergence of GII.4-2010 (winter 2009) was not associated with increased outbreak activity, and outbreak activity between July 2009 and June 2012 when GII.4-2010 predominated (67.5 to 97.7%) did not follow a biennial pattern. GII.4-2012 first emerged in Alberta in September 2011 and became predominant in observation period July 2012 to June 2013. NoV GI, relatively rare in past years, had a higher activity level (37.3%) as represented by GI.6 and GI.7 in the winter of 2012 to 2013. A higher proportion of GI outbreaks occurred in non-health care facility settings compared to GII. Our study suggests that factors other than new variants emergence contribute to the levels of NoV outbreak activity in Alberta. PMID:23637302

Pattern formation in superdiffusion Oregonator model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Fan; Yan, Jia; Liu, Fu-Cheng; He, Ya-Feng

2016-10-01

Pattern formations in an Oregonator model with superdiffusion are studied in two-dimensional (2D) numerical simulations. Stability analyses are performed by applying Fourier and Laplace transforms to the space fractional reaction-diffusion systems. Antispiral, stable turing patterns, and travelling patterns are observed by changing the diffusion index of the activator. Analyses of Floquet multipliers show that the limit cycle solution loses stability at the wave number of the primitive vector of the travelling hexagonal pattern. We also observed a transition between antispiral and spiral by changing the diffusion index of the inhibitor. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11205044 and 11405042), the Research Foundation of Education Bureau of Hebei Province, China (Grant Nos. Y2012009 and ZD2015025), the Program for Young Principal Investigators of Hebei Province, China, and the Midwest Universities Comprehensive Strength Promotion Project.

Large-Scale Patterns in a Minimal Cognitive Flocking Model: Incidental Leaders, Nematic Patterns, and Aggregates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barberis, Lucas; Peruani, Fernando

2016-12-01

We study a minimal cognitive flocking model, which assumes that the moving entities navigate using the available instantaneous visual information exclusively. The model consists of active particles, with no memory, that interact by a short-ranged, position-based, attractive force, which acts inside a vision cone (VC), and lack velocity-velocity alignment. We show that this active system can exhibit—due to the VC that breaks Newton's third law—various complex, large-scale, self-organized patterns. Depending on parameter values, we observe the emergence of aggregates or millinglike patterns, the formation of moving—locally polar—files with particles at the front of these structures acting as effective leaders, and the self-organization of particles into macroscopic nematic structures leading to long-ranged nematic order. Combining simulations and nonlinear field equations, we show that position-based active models, as the one analyzed here, represent a new class of active systems fundamentally different from other active systems, including velocity-alignment-based flocking systems. The reported results are of prime importance in the study, interpretation, and modeling of collective motion patterns in living and nonliving active systems.

Large-Scale Patterns in a Minimal Cognitive Flocking Model: Incidental Leaders, Nematic Patterns, and Aggregates.

PubMed

Barberis, Lucas; Peruani, Fernando

2016-12-09

We study a minimal cognitive flocking model, which assumes that the moving entities navigate using the available instantaneous visual information exclusively. The model consists of active particles, with no memory, that interact by a short-ranged, position-based, attractive force, which acts inside a vision cone (VC), and lack velocity-velocity alignment. We show that this active system can exhibit-due to the VC that breaks Newton's third law-various complex, large-scale, self-organized patterns. Depending on parameter values, we observe the emergence of aggregates or millinglike patterns, the formation of moving-locally polar-files with particles at the front of these structures acting as effective leaders, and the self-organization of particles into macroscopic nematic structures leading to long-ranged nematic order. Combining simulations and nonlinear field equations, we show that position-based active models, as the one analyzed here, represent a new class of active systems fundamentally different from other active systems, including velocity-alignment-based flocking systems. The reported results are of prime importance in the study, interpretation, and modeling of collective motion patterns in living and nonliving active systems.

Detection of recurrent activation patterns across focal seizures: Application to seizure onset zone identification.

PubMed

Vila-Vidal, Manel; Principe, Alessandro; Ley, Miguel; Deco, Gustavo; Tauste Campo, Adrià; Rocamora, Rodrigo

2017-06-01

We introduce a method that quantifies the consistent involvement of intracranially monitored regions in recurrent focal seizures. We evaluated the consistency of two ictal spectral activation patterns (mean power change and power change onset time) in intracranial recordings across focal seizures from seven patients with clinically marked seizure onset zone (SOZ). We examined SOZ discrimination using both patterns in different frequency bands and periods of interest. Activation patterns were proved to be consistent across more than 80% of recurrent ictal epochs. In all patients, whole-seizure mean activations were significantly higher for SOZ than non-SOZ regions (P<0.05) while activation onset times were significantly lower for SOZ than for non-SOZ regions (P<0.001) in six patients. Alpha-beta bands (8-20Hz) achieved the highest patient-average effect size on the whole-seizure period while gamma band (20-70Hz) achieved the highest discrimination values between SOZ and non-SOZ sites near seizure onset (0-5s). Consistent spectral activation patterns in focal epilepsies discriminate the SOZ with high effect sizes upon appropriate selection of frequency bands and activation periods. The present method may be used to improve epileptogenic identification as well as pinpoint additional regions that are functionally altered during ictal events. Copyright © 2017 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Kin-Aggregations Explain Chaotic Genetic Patchiness, a Commonly Observed Genetic Pattern, in a Marine Fish.

PubMed

Selwyn, Jason D; Hogan, J Derek; Downey-Wall, Alan M; Gurski, Lauren M; Portnoy, David S; Heath, Daniel D

2016-01-01

The phenomenon of chaotic genetic patchiness is a pattern commonly seen in marine organisms, particularly those with demersal adults and pelagic larvae. This pattern is usually associated with sweepstakes recruitment and variable reproductive success. Here we investigate the biological underpinnings of this pattern in a species of marine goby Coryphopterus personatus. We find that populations of this species show tell-tale signs of chaotic genetic patchiness including: small, but significant, differences in genetic structure over short distances; a non-equilibrium or "chaotic" pattern of differentiation among locations in space; and within locus, within population deviations from the expectations of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE). We show that despite having a pelagic larval stage, and a wide distribution across Caribbean coral reefs, this species forms groups of highly related individuals at small spatial scales (<10 metres). These spatially clustered family groups cause the observed deviations from HWE and local population differentiation, a finding that is rarely demonstrated, but could be more common than previously thought.

Examination of Children's Recess Physical Activity Patterns Using the Activities for Daily Living-Playground Participation (ADL-PP) Instrument

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stellino, Megan Babkes; Sinclair, Christina

2014-01-01

Thorough assessment of children's physical activity is essential to efficacious interventions to reduce childhood obesity prevalence. The purpose of this study was to examine children's recess physical activity (RPA) patterns of behavior using the Activities of Daily Living-Playground Participation (ADL-PP: Watkinson et al., 2001) instrument.…

Effect of long-term bedrest on lower leg muscle activation patterns during quiet standing.

PubMed

Miyoshi, T; Sato, T; Sekiguchi, H; Yamanaka, K; Miyazaki, M; Igawa, S; Komeda, T; Nakazawa, K; Yano, H

2001-07-01

It has been well known that balance instabilities after long-term exposure to microgravity (e.g., Anderson et al. 1986) or bedrest (BR) can be related to alterations and/or adaptations to postural control strategies. Little is known, however, how the reduced muscular activity affects the activation pattern of the lower limb muscles during quiet standing (QS). The purpose of this study was to investigate whether or not any changes in the lower limb muscle activation patterns during QS would occur after BR.

Synaptic activation patterns of the perirhinal-entorhinal inter-connections.

PubMed

de Villers-Sidani, E; Tahvildari, B; Alonso, A

2004-01-01

Ample neuropsychological evidence supports the role of rhinal cortices in memory. The perirhinal cortex (PRC) represents one of the main conduits for the bi-directional flow of information between the entorhinal-hippocampal network and the cortical mantle, a process essential in memory formation. However, despite anatomical evidence for a robust reciprocal connectivity between the perirhinal and entorhinal cortices, neurophysiological understanding of this circuitry is lacking. We now present the results of a series of electrophysiological experiments in rats that demonstrate robust synaptic activation patterns of the perirhinal-entorhinal inter-connections. First, using silicon multi-electrode arrays placed under visual guidance in vivo we performed current source density (CSD) analysis of lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC) responses to PRC stimulation, which demonstrated a current sink in layers II-III of the LEC with a latency consistent with monosynaptic activation. To further substantiate and extend this conclusion, we developed a PRC-LEC slice preparation where CSD analysis also revealed a current sink in superficial LEC layers in response to PRC stimulation. Importantly, intracellular recording of superficial LEC layer neurons confirmed that they receive a major monosynaptic excitatory input from the PRC. Finally, CSD analysis of the LEC to PRC projection in vivo also allowed us to document robust feedback synaptic activation of PRC neurons to deep LEC layer activation. We conclude that a clear bidirectional pattern of synaptic interactions exists between the PRC and LEC that would support a dynamic flow of information subserving memory function in the temporal lobe.

Sciencing with Mother Goose: Observation Activities with Chicken Little.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Angus, Carolyn

1996-01-01

Provides sample observation activities to accompany the nursery tale of Chicken Little. Includes five activities that involve the skills of observing, communicating, comparing, ordering, and categorizing to engage students in hands-on science. (DDR)

Improved Volitional Recall of Motor-Imagery-Related Brain Activation Patterns Using Real-Time Functional MRI-Based Neurofeedback.

PubMed

Bagarinao, Epifanio; Yoshida, Akihiro; Ueno, Mika; Terabe, Kazunori; Kato, Shohei; Isoda, Haruo; Nakai, Toshiharu

2018-01-01

Motor imagery (MI), a covert cognitive process where an action is mentally simulated but not actually performed, could be used as an effective neurorehabilitation tool for motor function improvement or recovery. Recent approaches employing brain-computer/brain-machine interfaces to provide online feedback of the MI during rehabilitation training have promising rehabilitation outcomes. In this study, we examined whether participants could volitionally recall MI-related brain activation patterns when guided using neurofeedback (NF) during training. The participants' performance was compared to that without NF. We hypothesized that participants would be able to consistently generate the relevant activation pattern associated with the MI task during training with NF compared to that without NF. To assess activation consistency, we used the performance of classifiers trained to discriminate MI-related brain activation patterns. Our results showed significantly higher predictive values of MI-related activation patterns during training with NF. Additionally, this improvement in the classification performance tends to be associated with the activation of middle temporal gyrus/inferior occipital gyrus, a region associated with visual motion processing, suggesting the importance of performance monitoring during MI task training. Taken together, these findings suggest that the efficacy of MI training, in terms of generating consistent brain activation patterns relevant to the task, can be enhanced by using NF as a mechanism to enable participants to volitionally recall task-related brain activation patterns.

Task 1, Fractal characteristics of drainage patterns observed in the Appalachian Valley and Ridge and Plateau provinces

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wilson, T.; Dominic, J.; Halverson, J.

1996-04-10

Drainage patterns observed in the Appalachian Valley and Ridge and Plateau provinces exhibit distinctly different patterns. The patterns appear to be controlled by varying influences of local structural and lithologic variability. Drainage patterns in the Valley and Ridge study area can be classified as a combination of dendritic and trellis arrangements. The patterns vary over short distances in both the strike and dip directions. In the Granny Creek area of the Appalachian Plateau drainage patterns are predominantly dendritic. The possibility that these drainage patterns have fractal characteristics was evaluated by box-counting. Results obtained from box counting do not yield amore » well defined fractal regime in either areas. In the Valley and Ridge a space-filling, or random regime (D=2) is observed for boxes with side-lengths of 300 meters and greater. Below 300 meters, large changes in D occur between consecutively smaller box sizes. From side lengths of 300 to 150m, 150 to 75m, and 75 to 38m, D is measured at 1.77, 1.39, and 1.08 respectively. For box sizes less than 38m the fractal dimension is 1 or less. While the l0g-log response of the box counting data is nonlinear and does not define a fractal regime, the curves offer the possibility of characterizing non-fractal patterns. The rate at which D drops outside the random regime correlates to drainage density. D in areas with a smaller density of drainage segments fell toward saturation (D=1) more abruptly. The break-away point from the random regime and the transition to the saturated regime may provide useful information about the relative lengths of stream segments.« less

Activity Patterns of Eurasian Lynx Are Modulated by Light Regime and Individual Traits over a Wide Latitudinal Range

PubMed Central

Heurich, Marco; Hilger, Anton; Küchenhoff, Helmut; Andrén, Henrik; Bufka, Luděk; Krofel, Miha; Mattisson, Jenny; Odden, John; Persson, Jens; Rauset, Geir R.; Schmidt, Krzysztof; Linnell, John D. C.

2014-01-01

The activity patterns of most terrestrial animals are regarded as being primarily influenced by light, although other factors, such as sexual cycle and climatic conditions, can modify the underlying patterns. However, most activity studies have been limited to a single study area, which in turn limit the variability of light conditions and other factors. Here we considered a range of variables that might potentially influence the activity of a large carnivore, the Eurasian lynx, in a network of studies conducted with identical methodology in different areas spanning latitudes from 49°7′N in central Europe to 70°00′N in northern Scandinavia. The variables considered both light conditions, ranging from a day with a complete day–night cycle to polar night and polar day, as well as individual traits of the animals. We analysed activity data of 38 individual free-ranging lynx equipped with GPS-collars with acceleration sensors, covering more than 11,000 lynx days. Mixed linear additive models revealed that the lynx activity level was not influenced by the daily daylight duration and the activity pattern was bimodal, even during polar night and polar day. The duration of the active phase of the activity cycle varied with the widening and narrowing of the photoperiod. Activity varied significantly with moonlight. Among adults, males were more active than females, and subadult lynx were more active than adults. In polar regions, the amplitude of the lynx daily activity pattern was low, likely as a result of the polycyclic activity pattern of their main prey, reindeer. At lower latitudes, the basic lynx activity pattern peaked during twilight, corresponding to the crepuscular activity pattern of the main prey, roe deer. Our results indicated that the basic activity of lynx is independent of light conditions, but is modified by both individual traits and the activity pattern of the locally most important prey. PMID:25517902

LEISURE ACTIVITY PATTERNS AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS WITH OVERWEIGHT: A PROSPECTIVE STUDY AMONG ADOLESCENTS

PubMed Central

Lajunen, Hanna-Reetta; Keski-Rahkonen, Anna; Pulkkinen, Lea; Rose, Richard J.; Rissanen, Aila; Kaprio, Jaakko

2009-01-01

We examined longitudinal associations between individual leisure activities (television viewing, video viewing, computer games, listening to music, board games, musical instrument playing, reading, arts, crafts, socializing, clubs or scouts, sports, outdoor activities) and being overweight using logistic regression and latent class analysis in a cohort of Finnish twins responding to self-report questionnaires at 11–12 (N=5184), 14, and 17 years. We also studied activity patterns (“Active and sociable”, “Active but less sociable”, “Passive but sociable”, “Passive and solitary”) thought to represent different lifestyles. Among boys, activity patterns did not predict becoming overweight, but sports and playing an instrument reduced the risk and arts and listening to music increased it. Among girls, few individual leisure activities predicted becoming overweight. However, girls in the “Passive and solitary” cluster carried the greatest risk of becoming overweight in late adolescence. Studying leisure activities related to overweight may help focus specific interventions on high risk groups. PMID:19345989

a Multidisciplinary Analytical Framework for Studying Active Mobility Patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orellana, D.; Hermida, C.; Osorio, P.

2016-06-01

Intermediate cities are urged to change and adapt their mobility systems from a high energy-demanding motorized model to a sustainable low-motorized model. In order to accomplish such a model, city administrations need to better understand active mobility patterns and their links to socio-demographic and cultural aspects of the population. During the last decade, researchers have demonstrated the potential of geo-location technologies and mobile devices to gather massive amounts of data for mobility studies. However, the analysis and interpretation of this data has been carried out by specialized research groups with relatively narrow approaches from different disciplines. Consequently, broader questions remain less explored, mainly those relating to spatial behaviour of individuals and populations with their geographic environment and the motivations and perceptions shaping such behaviour. Understanding sustainable mobility and exploring new research paths require an interdisciplinary approach given the complex nature of mobility systems and their social, economic and environmental impacts. Here, we introduce the elements for a multidisciplinary analytical framework for studying active mobility patterns comprised of three components: a) Methodological, b) Behavioural, and c) Perceptual. We demonstrate the applicability of the framework by analysing mobility patterns of cyclists and pedestrians in an intermediate city integrating a range of techniques, including: GPS tracking, spatial analysis, auto-ethnography, and perceptual mapping. The results demonstrated the existence of non-evident spatial behaviours and how perceptual features affect mobility. This knowledge is useful for developing policies and practices for sustainable mobility planning.

Patterns of myopigenic activities with age, gender and ethnicity in Sydney schoolchildren.

PubMed

French, Amanda N; Morgan, Ian G; Mitchell, Paul; Rose, Kathryn A

2013-05-01

To examine the patterns of myopigenic activity (high near work, low time outdoors) in children growing up in Sydney, Australia, by age, ethnicity and gender. The Sydney Adolescent Vascular and Eye Study (SAVES) re-examined children from the two age cohorts (6 and 12 years at baseline) from the Sydney Myopia Study (SMS). At 5-6 year follow-up, 863 in the younger cohort and 1196 in the older cohort had complete refraction data. Cycloplegic autorefraction (cyclopentolate 1%; Canon RK-F1) was measured at baseline and follow-up. Children who became myopic (≤-0.50 dioptres spherical equivalent refraction) were those classified as non-myopic at baseline and myopic at follow-up. A detailed questionnaire was administered to measure weekly activities, including time spent outdoors and near work at both baseline and follow-up examination. Overall, 128 (14.8%) children in the younger cohort and 210 (17.6%) in the older cohort became myopic. At follow-up, for both cohorts, children had significantly reduced the amount of time spent outdoors (younger cohort, p = 0.001, older cohort, p < 0.0001) and increased near work time (younger cohort, p < 0.0001, older cohort, p = 0.006). Children of East Asian ethnicity spent significantly less time outdoors by more than 7 h per week (both cohorts at baseline and follow-up, all p < 0.0001) and more time in near work activities by close to 3 h compared to European Caucasian children at all ages examined (both cohorts at baseline and follow-up all, p < 0.03). The average pattern of activity for girls differed from that of boys in a similar way (both cohorts at baseline and follow-up all, p < 0.0001). The two independent samples of 12 year-old children provided by follow-up in the younger cohort and baseline in the older cohort gave very similar answers to the questionnaire, with significant differences only evident for computer use (p = 0.001) and books read (p < 0.0001). Answers to the activity questionnaire were very similar in the two

School and class-level variations and patterns of physical activity: a multilevel analysis of Danish high school students.

PubMed

Steenholt, Carina Bjørnskov; Pisinger, Veronica Sofie Clara; Danquah, Ida Høgstedt; Tolstrup, Janne Schurmann

2018-02-14

There is limited knowledge of physical activity (PA) patterns among high school students. High schools plays an important role as context for the students, but it is uncertain to what extent schools influence student participation in PA during leisure time. The purpose of this study is to describe patterns of PA and assess variations between schools and classes in PA, in a large cohort of Danish high school students. Self-reported cross-sectional data came from The Danish National Youth Study, comprising a total of 70,674 students attending 119 different schools and 3213 classes. Multilevel logistic regressions were applied to evaluate the association between socio-demographic variables and patterns of PA, and to assess the impact of schools and classes on PA measures. Students whose parents have achieved a lower level of education, older students and girls of perceived ethnic minority generally participated less in several forms of PA during leisure time. Substantial variations between schools were observed in terms of participation in PA at school during leisure time and in terms of use of active transportation to and from school. The school-level accounted for 9% (intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.09 (95% CI: 0.06-0.11)) and 8% (ICC = 0.08 (95% CI: 0.07-0.11)) of the variation for participation in PA during leisure time and active transportation. Overall, students whose parents achieved a lower level of education, older students and girls of perceived ethnic minority represent vulnerable groups in relation to participation in several forms of PA during leisure time. The ICCs indicate that schools, in particular, have the potential to influence participation in PA at school during leisure time and active transportation to and from school. Thus, high schools should encourage and facilitate activities aimed at engaging students in PA during leisure time as well as encourage active transportation.

Daily and seasonal activity patterns in the eastern gray squirrel

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bland, M.E.

1977-03-01

The daily and seasonal activity patterns of the eastern gray squirrel were investigated between July 1, 1971 and September 16, 1972. Seasonal variations existed in the amount of time per day squirrels were active, the time of onset and cessation of activity, and the size of home range. Squirrels were most active in the fall and spring and least active in the winter. Two peaks in activity (morning and evening) with a mid-day resting period were characteristic of the summer activity pattern. During the winter one brief period of activity occurred during the warm mid-day hours. In the fall themore » time of onset of activity was consistent and occurred 20 to 30 minutes before sunrise. Cessation of activity was also regular and took place 20 to 30 minutes after sunset. Times of onset and cessation of activity were irregular during the winter and summer with onset usually occurring after sunrise and cessation before sunset. Home range size was smallest in winter and largest in late spring and late summer. Male and female range sizes were similar in fall and winter but in the spring and summer ranges of males exceeded those of females. During winter one night nest location was used per given two week period and daytime activity was restricted to the area around the den site. In spring, summer, and fall each squirrel used between two and three nest locations per two week period and squirrels traveled considerable distance from the den site. Hardwood and cedar forests were heavily utilized by the squirrels with approximately 53 percent of the locations occurring in hardwood forests and 38 percent in cedar forests. Correlations between the amount of time per day squirrels were active and various abiotic and biotic factors were made. Snow cover and/or extremely cold temperatures during the winter and early spring curtailed movement, and rainy weather in summer decreased activity. The availability of acorns in the autumn and the appearance of food in the spring increased

Breathing pattern and breathlessness in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: An observational study.

PubMed

Olukogbon, Kasope L; Thomas, Paul; Colasanti, Ricardo; Hope-Gill, Ben; Williams, Edgar Mark

2016-02-01

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is characterized by progressive decline in lung function and increasing dyspnoea. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship among IPF, pulmonary function, resting tidal breathing patterns and level of breathlessness. Thirty-one participants with IPF and 17 matched healthy controls underwent lung function testing, followed by a 2-min period of resting tidal breathing. The IPF cohort was stratified according to disease severity, based on their forced vital capacity and diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide. In comparison to the healthy controls, the IPF cohort showed a higher tidal volume, VT , of 0.22 L (P = 0.026) and a raised minute ventilation in the severest IPF group, while no differences in the timing of inspiration or expiration were observed. In the IPF cohort, the ratio of VT to forced vital capacity was around 15% higher. These changes corresponded with an increase in the self-reported sensation of breathlessness. Those with IPF increased their depth of breathing with worsening disease severity, with IPF-induced changes in pulmonary function and breathlessness associated with an altered tidal breathing pattern. © 2015 Asian Pacific Society of Respirology.

Complementary Gli activity mediates early patterning of the mouse visual system.

PubMed

Furimsky, Marosh; Wallace, Valerie A

2006-03-01

The Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling pathway plays a key role in the development of the vertebrate central nervous system, including the eye. This pathway is mediated by the Gli transcription factors (Gli1, Gli2, and Gli3) that differentially activate and repress the expression of specific downstream target genes. In this study, we investigated the roles of the three vertebrate Glis in mediating midline Shh signaling in early ocular development. We examined the ocular phenotypes of Shh and Gli combination mutant mouse embryos and monitored proximodistal and dorsoventral patterning by the expression of specific eye development regulatory genes using in situ hybridization. We show that midline Shh signaling relieves the repressor activity of Gli3 adjacent to the midline and then promotes eye pattern formation through the nonredundant activities of all three Gli proteins. Gli3, in particular, is required to specify the dorsal optic stalk and to define the boundary between the optic stalk and the optic cup.

Multifunctional spaces in slum settlements and their relation to activity pattern case study of Kampung Sangkrah, Surakarta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shobirin, Abyzhar; Ramadhanty, Almira Husna; Hardiana, Ana

2018-02-01

Surakarta is a rapidly urbanized city and it causes the limitation of the availability of land within its urban area. This entangled problem is resulting in the development of slum settlements that spread across the city. One of the slum concentration areas is located on Pepe riverbanks downstream area that belongs to Kampung Sangkrah administrative boundaries. Slum settlements are characterized as a densely-populated area lacking of, or absence of, open space. This condition forces slum inhabitants to effectively use their available spaces, even multi-functionally. This research aims to observe how slum inhabitants multi-functionally use the spaces around their houses and determine the typology of multifunctional space and also the factors that influence it. To understand this phenomenon, this research used activity pattern perspectives. The scope of observation covers in-house (internal) space utilizations and neighborhood-level (external) space utilization. The data used for this research were collected primarily through site observations and interviews, using sampling to conduct data collection for in-house activities and space utilization. The analysis was conducted using descriptive method qualitatively. The research concluded that there are three types of multifunctional space utilization within slum settlements, and the utilization of spaces, whether internal or external utilization also varies depending on the inhabitants' economic-related activities.

Patterns recognition of electric brain activity using artificial neural networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Musatov, V. Yu.; Pchelintseva, S. V.; Runnova, A. E.; Hramov, A. E.

2017-04-01

An approach for the recognition of various cognitive processes in the brain activity in the perception of ambiguous images. On the basis of developed theoretical background and the experimental data, we propose a new classification of oscillating patterns in the human EEG by using an artificial neural network approach. After learning of the artificial neural network reliably identified cube recognition processes, for example, left-handed or right-oriented Necker cube with different intensity of their edges, construct an artificial neural network based on Perceptron architecture and demonstrate its effectiveness in the pattern recognition of the EEG in the experimental.

Continuous High Frequency Activity: A peculiar SEEG pattern related to specific brain regions

PubMed Central

Melani, Federico; Zelmann, Rina; Mari, Francesco; Gotman, Jean

2015-01-01

Objective While visually marking the high frequency oscillations in the stereo-EEG of epileptic patients, we observed a continuous/semicontinuous activity in the ripple band (80–250 Hz), which we defined continuous High Frequency Activity (HFA). We aim to analyze in all brain regions the occurrence and significance of this particular pattern. Methods Twenty patients implanted in mesial temporal and neocortical areas were studied. One minute of slow-wave sleep was reviewed. The background was classified as continuous/semicontinuous, irregular, or sporadic based on the duration of the fast oscillations. Each channel was classified as inside/outside the seizure onset zone (SOZ) or a lesion. Results The continuous/semicontinuous HFA occurred in 54 of the 790 channels analyzed, with a clearly higher prevalence in hippocampus and occipital lobe. No correlation was found with the SOZ or lesions. In the occipital lobe the continuous/semicontinuous HFA was present independently of whether eyes were open or closed. Conclusions We describe what appears to be a new physiological High Frequency Activity, independent of epileptogenicity, present almost exclusively in the hippocampus and occipital cortex but independent of the alpha rhythm. Significance The continuous HFA may be an intrinsic characteristic of specific brain regions, reflecting a particular type of physiological neuronal activity. PMID:23768436

Soil Landscape Pattern Changes in Response to Rural Anthropogenic Activity across Tiaoxi Watershed, China

PubMed Central

Xiao, Rui; Jiang, Diwei; Christakos, George; Fei, Xufeng; Wu, Jiaping

2016-01-01

Soil sealing (loss of soil resources due to extensive land covering for the purpose of house building, road construction etc.) and subsequent soil landscape pattern changes constitute typical environmental problems in many places worldwide. Previous studies concentrated on soil sealing in urbanized regions, whereas rural areas have not been given sufficient attention. Accordingly, this paper studies soil landscape pattern dynamics (i.e., landscape pattern changes in response to rural anthropogenic activities) in the Tiaoxi watershed (Zhejiang province, eastern China), in which surface sealing is by far the predominant component of human forcing with respect to environmental change. A novel approach of quantifying the impacts of rural anthropogenic activities on soil resources is presented. Specifically, quantitative relationships were derived between five soil landscape pattern metrics (patch density, edge density, shape index, Shannon’s diversity index and aggregation index) and three rural anthropogenic activity indicators (anthropogenic activity intensity, distance to towns, and distance to roads) at two landscape block scales (3 and 5 km) between 1985 and 2010. The results showed that the Tiaoxi watershed experienced extensive rural settlement expansion and high rates of soil sealing. Soil landscapes became more fragmented, more irregular, more isolated, and less diverse. Relationships between soil landscape pattern changes and rural anthropogenic activities differed with the scale (spatial and temporal) and variable considered. In particular, the anthropogenic activity intensity was found to be the most important indicator explaining social development intensity, whereas the other two proximity indicators had a significant impact at certain temporal interval. In combination with scale effects, spatial dependency (correlation) was shown to play a key role that should be carefully taken into consideration in any relevant environmental study. Overall, the

Soil Landscape Pattern Changes in Response to Rural Anthropogenic Activity across Tiaoxi Watershed, China.

PubMed

Xiao, Rui; Jiang, Diwei; Christakos, George; Fei, Xufeng; Wu, Jiaping

2016-01-01

Soil sealing (loss of soil resources due to extensive land covering for the purpose of house building, road construction etc.) and subsequent soil landscape pattern changes constitute typical environmental problems in many places worldwide. Previous studies concentrated on soil sealing in urbanized regions, whereas rural areas have not been given sufficient attention. Accordingly, this paper studies soil landscape pattern dynamics (i.e., landscape pattern changes in response to rural anthropogenic activities) in the Tiaoxi watershed (Zhejiang province, eastern China), in which surface sealing is by far the predominant component of human forcing with respect to environmental change. A novel approach of quantifying the impacts of rural anthropogenic activities on soil resources is presented. Specifically, quantitative relationships were derived between five soil landscape pattern metrics (patch density, edge density, shape index, Shannon's diversity index and aggregation index) and three rural anthropogenic activity indicators (anthropogenic activity intensity, distance to towns, and distance to roads) at two landscape block scales (3 and 5 km) between 1985 and 2010. The results showed that the Tiaoxi watershed experienced extensive rural settlement expansion and high rates of soil sealing. Soil landscapes became more fragmented, more irregular, more isolated, and less diverse. Relationships between soil landscape pattern changes and rural anthropogenic activities differed with the scale (spatial and temporal) and variable considered. In particular, the anthropogenic activity intensity was found to be the most important indicator explaining social development intensity, whereas the other two proximity indicators had a significant impact at certain temporal interval. In combination with scale effects, spatial dependency (correlation) was shown to play a key role that should be carefully taken into consideration in any relevant environmental study. Overall, the

Leisure time physical activity in Saudi Arabia: prevalence, pattern and determining factors.

PubMed

Amin, Tarek Tawfik; Al Khoudair, Ali Salah; Al Harbi, Mohammad Abdulwahab; Al Ali, Ahmed Radi

2012-01-01

Identification of reliable predictors of leisure time physical activity (LTPA) will enable healthcare providers to intervene and change the patterns of LTPA in the population to improve community health. The objectives of this study were to determine prevalence and pattern of LTPA among adult Saudis aged 18-65 years, and to define the socio-demographic determinants that correlate with LTPA in Al-Hassa, Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study of 2176 adult Saudis attending urban and rural primary health care centers were selected using a multistage proportionate sampling method. Participants were personally interviewed to gather information regarding socio-demographics, physical activity pattern using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). Physical activity (PA) in each domain was expressed in metabolic equivalents (METs). The median total METs minutes/week for LTPA for both genders was 256, higher for men (636 METs minutes/week) compared to women (249 METs minutes/week). Overall, only 19.8% of the total PA was derived from LTPA. Of the sampled population 50.0% reported doing no leisure activity. Using the cut off of 600 METs-minutes/day or 150 minutes of moderate intensity over 5 or more days/week, only 21.0% of the included sample were considered as being sufficiently active and 10.4% were in the high active category with beneficial health effects. Multivariate regression analysis showed that male, younger age (<35 years), absence of chronic disease conditions and moderate level of total PA were significant predictors for being active in the LTPA domain. The prevalence and intensity of LTPA among the included sample demonstrated low levels. Nearly 80% of the included sample population did not achieve the recommended LTPA level with beneficial health effects. Female gender, urban residence and associated chronic diseases correlated with a low LTPA.

Real-time observation of X-ray diffraction patterns with the Lixiscope

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chung, D. Y.; Tsang, T.; Yin, L. I.; Anderson, J. R.

1981-01-01

The feasibility of the Lixiscope (Low Intensity X-ray Imaging Scope) is demonstrated for real-time observation of transmission Laue patterns. Making use of the high-gain capability of microchannel plate (MCP) visible-light image intensifier tubes, X-ray images are converted to visible-light images by a scintillator. Pb discs are taped to the center of the Lixiscope input face, and crystal samples are held on a goniometer stage with modeling clay. With a compact size to facilitate off axis viewing, and real-time viewing to allow instantaneous response, the Lixiscope may prove useful in dynamic studies of the effects of plastic flows, stresses, high pressures, and low temperatures.

Movement preparation and execution: differential functional activation patterns after traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Gooijers, Jolien; Beets, Iseult A M; Albouy, Genevieve; Beeckmans, Kurt; Michiels, Karla; Sunaert, Stefan; Swinnen, Stephan P

2016-09-01

subcortical (left cerebellum crus II) areas (P's < 0.05). Moreover, a significant interaction effect between Feedback Condition and Group in the primary motor area (bilaterally) (P < 0.001), the cerebellum (left) (P < 0.001) and caudate (left) (P < 0.05), revealed that controls showed less overlap of activation patterns accompanying the two feedback conditions than patients with traumatic brain injury (i.e. decreased neural differentiation). In sum, our findings point towards poorer predictive control in traumatic brain injury patients in comparison to controls. Moreover, irrespective of the feedback condition, overactivations were observed in traumatically brain injured patients during movement execution, pointing to more controlled processing of motor task performance. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Prescribing Patterns of Drugs in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS): An Observational Study

PubMed Central

Rao, Shobitha; Chogtu, Bharti

2015-01-01

Introduction: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is characterized by acute respiratory failure and is associated with wide range of clinical disorders. Controversy prevails over the pharmacological intervention in this disease. The aim of the study was to observe the prescribing pattern of drugs in patients with ARDS managed at a tertiary care hospital. Materials and Methods: This observational study was conducted at tertiary care hospital in India. Data of patients admitted from January 2010 to December 2012 was collected. Patients aged more than 18 years admitted in ICU, who were diagnosed to have ARDS during the study period, were included. A total of 150 patients of ARDS were selected. Data was collected as per the pre designed proforma and it included patients’ age, gender, clinical disorders precipitating ARDS, prescribing pattern of drugs and outcome. The data of the subjects was collected till discharge from hospital or death. Results: Infection was the cause of ARDS in 81.3% (n=122) of subjects. Antibiotics were prescribed in all the subjects and beta-lactams were prescribed in 97.3% (n=146). 41.3% (n=62) were prescribed corticosteroids, 39.3% (n=59) diuretics and 89.3% (n=134) intravenous fluids. Conclusion: The outcome of patients on different pharmacological treatment did not show any statistically significant difference. PMID:25859465

Physical Activity Patterns and Psychological Correlates of Physical Activity among Singaporean Primary, Secondary, and Junior College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, C. K. John; Koh, K. T.; Biddle, Stuart J. H.; Liu, W. C.; Chye, Stefanie

2011-01-01

The purpose of this research was to examine physical activity patterns and psychological correlates of physical activity among primary, secondary, and junior college students in Singapore. A sample of 3,333 school students aged 10 to 18 years took part in the study. Results showed that the younger students had significantly higher physical…

Modifying patterns of movement in people with low back pain -does it help? A systematic review.

PubMed

Laird, Robert A; Kent, Peter; Keating, Jennifer L

2012-09-07

Physiotherapy for people with low back pain frequently includes assessment and modification of lumbo-pelvic movement. Interventions commonly aim to restore normal movement and thereby reduce pain and improve activity limitation. The objective of this systematic review was to investigate: (i) the effect of movement-based interventions on movement patterns (muscle activation, lumbo-pelvic kinematics or postural patterns) of people with low back pain (LBP), and (ii) the relationship between changes in movement patterns and subsequent changes in pain and activity limitation. MEDLINE, Cochrane Central, EMBASE, AMI, CINAHL, Scopus, AMED, ISI Web of Science were searched from inception until January 2012. Randomised controlled trials or controlled clinical trials of people with LBP were eligible for inclusion. The intervention must have been designed to influence (i) muscle activity patterns, (ii) lumbo-pelvic kinematic patterns or (iii) postural patterns, and included measurement of such deficits before and after treatment, to allow determination of the success of the intervention on the lumbo-pelvic movement. Twelve trials (25% of retrieved studies) met the inclusion criteria. Two reviewers independently identified, assessed and extracted data. The PEDro scale was used to assess method quality. Intervention effects were described using standardised differences between group means and 95% confidence intervals. The included trials showed inconsistent, mostly small to moderate intervention effects on targeted movement patterns. There was considerable heterogeneity in trial design, intervention type and outcome measures. A relationship between changes to movement patterns and improvements in pain or activity limitation was observed in one of six studies on muscle activation patterns, one of four studies that examined the flexion relaxation response pattern and in two of three studies that assessed lumbo-pelvic kinematics or postural characteristics. Movement

Neighborhood walkability, income, and hour-by-hour physical activity patterns.

PubMed

Arvidsson, Daniel; Eriksson, Ulf; Lönn, Sara Larsson; Sundquist, Kristina

2013-04-01

This study aimed to investigate both the mean daily physical activity and the hour-by-hour physical activity patterns across the day using accelerometry and how they are associated with neighborhood walkability and individual income. Moderate physical activity (MPA) was assessed by accelerometry in 2252 adults in the city of Stockholm, Sweden. Neighborhood walkability (residential density, street connectivity, and land use mix) was objectively assessed within 1000m network buffers around the participants' residence and individual income was self-reported. Living in a high walkability neighborhood was associated with more mean daily MPA compared with living in a low walkability neighborhood on weekdays and weekend days. Hour-by-hour analyses showed that this association appeared mainly in the afternoon/early evening during weekdays, whereas it appeared across the middle of the day during weekend days. Individual income was associated with mean daily MPA on weekend days. On weekdays, the hour-by-hour analyses showed that high income was associated with more MPA around noon and in late afternoon/early evening, whereas low income was associated with more MPA at the hours before noon and in the early afternoon. During the weekend, high income was more consistently associated with higher MPA. Hour-by-hour accelerometry physical activity patterns provides a more comprehensive picture of the associations between neighborhood walkability and individual income and physical activity and the variability of these associations across the day.

Obstetrician practice patterns and recommendations for physical activity during pregnancy.

PubMed

Evenson, Kelly R; Pompeii, Lisa A

2010-09-01

Many women do not attain minimum American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommendations for physical activity during pregnancy. This study assessed the self-reported practice patterns and recommendations of 384 obstetricians working in Texas through a mailed survey on physical activity during pregnancy. The most common exercise elements routinely collected from pregnant women included types of exercise (81%), history of exercise before pregnancy (79%), and frequency of exercise (76%). Fewer obstetricians collected duration (68%) or intensity (69%) of exercise. The percentage of obstetricians recommending avoidance of nine household activities and exercises (including lifting groceries, starting a new exercise program, or participating in walking, jogging, or bicycling) was significantly higher with each successive trimester. Most obstetricians agreed that pregnant women would gain some benefit from mild exercise (99.5%), but fewer agreed that moderate (74%) or vigorous exercise (6%) would be beneficial. Sixty-two percent of obstetricians reported that women who have never exercised could begin an exercise program during pregnancy. Almost all participants agreed that physical activity might make a woman feel more energetic (98%) and improve her labor and delivery (89%), but fewer agreed that exercise during pregnancy causes lower weight babies (23%) or could trigger labor (18%). Dissemination of current recommendations and discussion about the benefits and risks of physical activity during pregnancy, such as through continuing education, appear warranted. Future research could address the causes of disparities between self-reported practice patterns and current ACOG guidelines.

Friendship Characteristics and Activity Patterns of Adolescents with an Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuo, Melissa H.; Orsmond, Gael I.; Cohn, Ellen S.; Coster, Wendy J.

2013-01-01

This study compared perceptions of adolescents' friendships between adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their parents, examined factors associated with friendship qualities, and investigated the adolescents' reports on the activities they did with friends and how activity patterns differed by gender. Ninety-one…

Pattern formation in the iodate-sulfite-thiosulfate reaction-diffusion system.

PubMed

Liu, Haimiao; Pojman, John A; Zhao, Yuemin; Pan, Changwei; Zheng, Juhua; Yuan, Ling; Horváth, Attila K; Gao, Qingyu

2012-01-07

Sodium polyacrylate-induced pH pattern formation and starch-induced iodine pattern formation were investigated in the iodate-sulfite-thiosulfate (IST) reaction in a one-side fed disc gel reactor (OSFR). As binding agents of the autocatalyst of hydrogen ions or iodide ions, different content of sodium polyacrylate or starch has induced various types of pattern formation. We observed pH pulses, striped patterns, mixed spots and stripes, and hexagonal spots upon increasing the content of sodium polyacrylate and observed iodine pulses, branched patterns, and labyrinthine patterns upon increasing the starch content in the system. Coexistence of a pH front and an iodine front was also studied in a batch IST reaction-diffusion system. Both pH and iodine front instabilities were observed in the presence of sodium polyacrylate, i.e., cellular fronts and transient Turing structures resulting from the decrease in diffusion coefficients of activators. The mechanism of multiple feedback may explain the different patterns in the IST reaction-diffusion system.

The influence of ICT on the activity patterns of children with physical disabilities outside school.

PubMed

Lidström, H; Ahlsten, G; Hemmingsson, H

2011-05-01

To investigate the outside school activity patterns of children with physical disabilities, and specifically their information and communication technology (ICT) usage compared with that of non-disabled children. In addition, the aim was to investigate the children's opinions on computer use and the associations between their use of the Internet and their interaction with peers. Questionnaire on activities outside school, answered by 215 children and youths with physical disabilities, mean age 12 years 10 months, attending mainstream schools. For group comparisons with non-disabled children, data from the survey 'Kids and Media' were used. In the analysis, two sets of activity patterns were identified, depending on whether the child was disabled or not and on the gender of the child. A higher proportion of children with physical disabilities were engaged in ICT activities, while non-disabled children tended to be engaged in a broader range of activities outside school. The activity pattern was more uniform for boys and girls with disabilities than for their non-disabled peers. Use of the Internet was positively associated with peer interaction. Outside school, the activity patterns of children and youths with physical disabilities seem to be characterized by a focus on ICT activities, which enable children to compensate for their impairment because it suits all. In addition, digital skills developed outside school engage children with physical disabilities, giving them increased access to society and for educational purposes. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Dietary patterns and risk of colorectal adenoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.

PubMed

Godos, J; Bella, F; Torrisi, A; Sciacca, S; Galvano, F; Grosso, G

2016-12-01

Current evidence suggests that dietary patterns may play an important role in colorectal cancer risk. The present study aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies exploring the association between dietary patterns and colorectal adenomas (a precancerous condition). Pubmed and EMBASE electronic databases were systematically searched to retrieve eligible studies. Only studies exploring the risk or association with colorectal adenomas for the highest versus lowest category of exposure to a posteriori dietary patterns were included in the quantitative analysis. Random-effects models were applied to calculate relative risks (RRs) of colorectal adenomas for high adherence to healthy or unhealthy dietary patterns. Statistical heterogeneity and publication bias were explored. Twelve studies were reviewed. Three studies explored a priori dietary patterns using scores identifying adherence to the Mediterranean, Paleolithic and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet and reported an association with decreased colorectal adenoma risk. Two studies tested the association with colorectal adenomas between a posteriori dietary patterns showing lower odds of disease related to plant-based compared to meat-based dietary patterns. Seven studies identified 23 a posteriori dietary patterns and the analysis revealed that higher adherence to healthy and unhealthy dietary patterns was significantly associated risk of colorectal adenomas (RR = 0.81, 95% confidence interval = 0.71, 0.94 and RR = 1.24, 95% confidence interval = 1.13, 1.35, respectively) with no evidence of heterogeneity or publication bias. The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis indicate that dietary patterns may be associated with the risk of colorectal adenomas. © 2016 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

Time Use Patterns between Maintenance, Subsistence and Leisure Activities: A Case Study in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hui-fen, Zhou; Zhen-shan, Li; Dong-qian, Xue; Yang, Lei

2012-01-01

The Chinese government conducted its first time use survey of the activities of Chinese individuals in 2008. Activities were classified into three broad types, maintenance activities, subsistence activities and leisure activities. Time use patterns were defined by an individuals' time spent on maintenance, subsistence and leisure activities each…

Comparison of Observed Spatio-temporal Aftershock Patterns with Earthquake Simulator Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kroll, K.; Richards-Dinger, K. B.; Dieterich, J. H.

2013-12-01

Due to the complex nature of faulting in southern California, knowledge of rupture behavior near fault step-overs is of critical importance to properly quantify and mitigate seismic hazards. Estimates of earthquake probability are complicated by the uncertainty that a rupture will stop at or jump a fault step-over, which affects both the magnitude and frequency of occurrence of earthquakes. In recent years, earthquake simulators and dynamic rupture models have begun to address the effects of complex fault geometries on earthquake ground motions and rupture propagation. Early models incorporated vertical faults with highly simplified geometries. Many current studies examine the effects of varied fault geometry, fault step-overs, and fault bends on rupture patterns; however, these works are limited by the small numbers of integrated fault segments and simplified orientations. The previous work of Kroll et al., 2013 on the northern extent of the 2010 El Mayor-Cucapah rupture in the Yuha Desert region uses precise aftershock relocations to show an area of complex conjugate faulting within the step-over region between the Elsinore and Laguna Salada faults. Here, we employ an innovative approach of incorporating this fine-scale fault structure defined through seismological, geologic and geodetic means in the physics-based earthquake simulator, RSQSim, to explore the effects of fine-scale structures on stress transfer and rupture propagation and examine the mechanisms that control aftershock activity and local triggering of other large events. We run simulations with primary fault structures in state of California and northern Baja California and incorporate complex secondary faults in the Yuha Desert region. These models produce aftershock activity that enables comparison between the observed and predicted distribution and allow for examination of the mechanisms that control them. We investigate how the spatial and temporal distribution of aftershocks are affected by

PATTERNS OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AMONG AMERICAN INDIAN CHILDREN: AN ASSESSMENT OF BARRIERS AND SUPPORT

PubMed Central

Thompson, Janice L.; Davis, Sally M.; Gittelsohn, Joel; Going, Scott; Becenti, Alberta; Metcalfe, Lauve; Stone, Elaine; Harnack, Lisa; Ring, Kim

2016-01-01

Estimates indicate that 10% to 50% of American Indian and non-Indian children in the U.S. are obese, defined as a body mass index ≥ 95th percentile of the NHANES II reference data. Pathways is a two-phase, multi-site study to develop and test a school-based obesity prevention program in American Indian schoolchildren in grades three through five. During Phase I feasibility prior to initiation of the Pathways trial, data were collected related to physical activity patterns, and the supports of, and barriers to, physical activity. Nine schools from communities representing six different tribal groups participated in this study. Multiple measures were used for data collection including direct observation, paired child interviews, and in-depth interviews and focus groups with adults. Students completed the self-administered Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors (KAB) survey, and a Physical Activity Questionnaire (PAQ). Barriers to physical activity at schools included a lack of facilities, equipment, and trained staff persons for PE. Adults were not consistently active with their children, but they were highly supportive of their children’s activity level. Children reported a strong enjoyment of physical activity and strong peer support to be physically active. Weather conditions, safety concerns, and homework/chores were common barriers to physical activity reported by children and adult caregivers. The information was used to design culturally and age-appropriate, practical interventions including the five physical activity programs for schoolchildren in the Pathways study. PMID:11759094

Physical activity patterns in morbidly obese and normal-weight women.

PubMed

Kwon, Soyang; Mohammad, Jamal; Samuel, Isaac

2011-01-01

To compare physical activity patterns between morbidly obese and normal-weight women. Daily physical activity of 18 morbidly obese and 7 normal-weight women aged 30-58 years was measured for 2 days using the Intelligent Device for Energy Expenditure and Activity (IDEEA) device. The obese group spent about 2 hr/day less standing and 30 min/day less walking than did the normal-weight group. Time spent standing (standing time) was positively associated with time spent walking (walking time). Age- and walking time-adjusted standing time did not differ according to weight status. Promoting standing may be a strategy to increase walking.

Modality-independent representations of small quantities based on brain activation patterns.

PubMed

Damarla, Saudamini Roy; Cherkassky, Vladimir L; Just, Marcel Adam

2016-04-01

Machine learning or MVPA (Multi Voxel Pattern Analysis) studies have shown that the neural representation of quantities of objects can be decoded from fMRI patterns, in cases where the quantities were visually displayed. Here we apply these techniques to investigate whether neural representations of quantities depicted in one modality (say, visual) can be decoded from brain activation patterns evoked by quantities depicted in the other modality (say, auditory). The main finding demonstrated, for the first time, that quantities of dots were decodable by a classifier that was trained on the neural patterns evoked by quantities of auditory tones, and vice-versa. The representations that were common across modalities were mainly right-lateralized in frontal and parietal regions. A second finding was that the neural patterns in parietal cortex that represent quantities were common across participants. These findings demonstrate a common neuronal foundation for the representation of quantities across sensory modalities and participants and provide insight into the role of parietal cortex in the representation of quantity information. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Lateralization of brain activity pattern during unilateral movement in Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Wu, Tao; Hou, Yanan; Hallett, Mark; Zhang, Jiarong; Chan, Piu

2015-05-01

We investigated the lateralization of brain activity pattern during performance of unilateral movement in drug-naïve Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with only right hemiparkinsonian symptoms. Functional MRI was obtained when the subjects performed strictly unilateral right hand movement. A laterality index was calculated to examine the lateralization. Patients had decreased activity in the left putamen and left supplementary motor area, but had increased activity in the right primary motor cortex, right premotor cortex, left postcentral gyrus, and bilateral cerebellum. The laterality index was significantly decreased in PD patients compared with controls (0.41 ± 0.14 vs. 0.84 ± 0.09). The connectivity from the left putamen to cortical motor regions and cerebellum was decreased, while the interactions between the cortical motor regions, cerebellum, and right putamen were increased. Our study demonstrates that in early PD, the lateralization of brain activity during unilateral movement is significantly reduced. The dysfunction of the striatum-cortical circuit, decreased transcallosal inhibition, and compensatory efforts from cortical motor regions, cerebellum, and the less affected striatum are likely reasons contributing to the reduced motor lateralization. The disruption of the lateralized brain activity pattern might be a reason underlying some motor deficits in PD, like mirror movements or impaired bilateral motor coordination. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Differences in resting metabolic rate and physical activity patterns in lean and overweight/obese pregnant women

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Energy requirements vary during pregnancy due to changes in physical activity (PA) and maternal fat stores. This study measured resting metabolic rate (RMR) and PA patterns in healthy lean and overweight/obese (OW) pregnant women. RMR was measured using indirect calorimetry (MOXUS), activity pattern...

Evaluation of diet pattern and weight gain in postmenopausal women enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

It is unclear which of four popular contemporary diet patterns is best for weight maintenance among postmenopausal women. Four dietary patterns were characterised among postmenopausal women aged 49-81 years (mean 63.6 (sd 7.4) years) from the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study: (1) a low-...

Identification of a rhythmic firing pattern in the enteric nervous system that generates rhythmic electrical activity in smooth muscle.

PubMed

Spencer, Nick J; Hibberd, Timothy J; Travis, Lee; Wiklendt, Lukasz; Costa, Marcello; Hu, Hongzhen; Brookes, Simon J; Wattchow, David A; Dinning, Phil G; Keating, Damien J; Sorensen, Julian

2018-05-28

The enteric nervous system (ENS) contains millions of neurons essential for organization of motor behaviour of the intestine. It is well established the large intestine requires ENS activity to drive propulsive motor behaviours. However, the firing pattern of the ENS underlying propagating neurogenic contractions of the large intestine remains unknown. To identify this, we used high resolution neuronal imaging with electrophysiology from neighbouring smooth muscle. Myoelectric activity underlying propagating neurogenic contractions along murine large intestine (referred to as colonic migrating motor complexes, CMMCs) consisted of prolonged bursts of rhythmic depolarizations at a frequency of ∼2 Hz. Temporal coordination of this activity in the smooth muscle over large spatial fields (∼7mm, longitudinally) was dependent on the ENS. During quiescent periods between neurogenic contractions, recordings from large populations of enteric neurons, in mice of either sex, revealed ongoing activity. The onset of neurogenic contractions was characterized by the emergence of temporally synchronized activity across large populations of excitatory and inhibitory neurons. This neuronal firing pattern was rhythmic and temporally synchronized across large numbers of ganglia at ∼2 Hz. ENS activation preceded smooth muscle depolarization, indicating rhythmic depolarizations in smooth muscle were controlled by firing of enteric neurons. The cyclical emergence of temporally coordinated firing of large populations of enteric neurons represents a unique neural motor pattern outside the central nervous system. This is the first direct observation of rhythmic firing in the ENS underlying rhythmic electrical depolarizations in smooth muscle. The pattern of neuronal activity we identified underlies the generation of CMMCs. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT How the enteric nervous system (ENS) generates neurogenic contractions of smooth muscle in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract has been a long

Recognition and classification of oscillatory patterns of electric brain activity using artificial neural network approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pchelintseva, Svetlana V.; Runnova, Anastasia E.; Musatov, Vyacheslav Yu.; Hramov, Alexander E.

2017-03-01

In the paper we study the problem of recognition type of the observed object, depending on the generated pattern and the registered EEG data. EEG recorded at the time of displaying cube Necker characterizes appropriate state of brain activity. As an image we use bistable image Necker cube. Subject selects the type of cube and interpret it either as aleft cube or as the right cube. To solve the problem of recognition, we use artificial neural networks. In our paper to create a classifier we have considered a multilayer perceptron. We examine the structure of the artificial neural network and define cubes recognition accuracy.

Associations between dietary patterns, physical activity (leisure-time and occupational) and television viewing in middle-aged French adults.

PubMed

Charreire, Hélène; Kesse-Guyot, Emmanuelle; Bertrais, Sandrine; Simon, Chantal; Chaix, Basile; Weber, Christiane; Touvier, Mathilde; Galan, Pilar; Hercberg, Serge; Oppert, Jean-Michel

2011-03-01

Diet and physical activity are considered to be major components of a healthy lifestyle. However, few studies have examined in detail the relationships between specific types of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and diet in adults. The objective of the present study was to assess differential relationships between dietary patterns, leisure-time and occupational physical activities and time spent watching television (TV), as an indicator of sedentary behaviour, in middle-aged French subjects. We performed a cross-sectional analysis using data from 1359 participants in the SUpplémentation en VItamines et Minéraux AntioXydants study, who completed a detailed physical activity questionnaire and at least six 24 h dietary records. Sex-specific dietary patterns were derived using factor analysis; their relationships with leisure-time and occupational physical activities and TV viewing were assessed using ANCOVA, after adjustment for age, educational level and smoking status. Three dietary patterns were identified in each sex. After adjustment for potential confounders, leisure-time physical activity was positively associated with a 'healthy' food pattern in both men (P for trend < 0·01) and women (P for trend < 0·03) and negatively associated with an 'alcohol/meat' pattern in men (P for trend < 0·01). TV viewing was positively associated with a 'convenience' pattern in men and with a 'alcohol-appetiser' pattern in women. In conclusion, identification of relationships between dietary patterns, physical activity and sedentary behaviour can enable identification of different types of lifestyle and should help to target at-risk groups in nutrition prevention programmes.

Evolution in the lineament patterns associated to strong earthquakes revealed by satellite observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soto-Pinto, C. A.; Arellano-Baeza, A. A.; Ouzounov, D. P.

2011-12-01

We study the temporal evolution of the stress patterns in the crust by using high-resolution (10-300 m) satellite images from MODIS and ASTER satellite sensors. We are able to detect some changes in density and orientation of lineaments preceding earthquake events. A lineament is generally defined as a straight or a somewhat curved feature in the landscape visible in a satellite image as an aligned sequence of pixels of a contrasting intensity compared to the background. The system of lineaments extracted from the satellite images is not identical to the geological lineaments; nevertheless, it generally reflects the structure of the faults and fractures in the Earth's crust. Our analysis has shown that the system of lineaments is very dynamical, and the significant number of lineaments appeared approximately one month before an earthquake, while one month after the earthquake the lineament configuration returned to its initial state. These features were not observed in the test areas that are free of any seismic activity in that period (null hypothesis). We have designed a computational prototype capable to detect lineament evolution and to utilize both ASTER and MODIS satellite L1/L2. We will demonstrate the first successful test results for several Mw> 5 earthquakes in Chile, Peru, China, and California (USA).

Acute caffeine administration effect on brain activation patterns in mild cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Haller, Sven; Montandon, Marie-Louise; Rodriguez, Cristelle; Moser, Dominik; Toma, Simona; Hofmeister, Jeremy; Sinanaj, Indrit; Lovblad, Karl-Olof; Giannakopoulos, Panteleimon

2014-01-01

Previous studies showed that acute caffeine administration enhances task-related brain activation in elderly individuals with preserved cognition. To explore the effects of this widely used agent on cognition and brain activation in early phases of cognitive decline, we performed a double-blinded, placebo-controlled functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study during an n-back working memory task in 17 individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) compared to 17 age-matched healthy controls (HC). All individuals were regular caffeine consumers with an overnight abstinence and given 200 mg caffeine versus placebo tablets 30 minutes before testing. Analyses included assessment of task-related activation (general linear model), functional connectivity (tensorial-independent component analysis, TICA), baseline perfusion (arterial spin labeling, ASL), grey matter density (voxel-based morphometry, VBM), and white matter microstructure (tract-based spatial statistics, TBSS). Acute caffeine administration induced a focal activation of the prefrontal areas in HC with a more diffuse and posteromedial activation pattern in MCI individuals. In MCI, TICA documented a significant caffeine-related enhancement in the prefrontal cortex, supplementary motor area, ventral premotor and parietal cortex as well as the basal ganglia and cerebellum. The absence of significant group differences in baseline ASL perfusion patterns supports a neuronal rather than a purely vascular origin of these differences. The VBM and TBSS analyses excluded potentially confounding differences in grey matter density and white matter microstructure between MCI and HC. The present findings suggest a posterior displacement of working memory-related brain activation patterns after caffeine administration in MCI that may represent a compensatory mechanism to counterbalance a frontal lobe dysfunction.

Cortical Activation Patterns Evoked by Temporally Asymmetric Sounds and Their Modulation by Learning

PubMed Central

Horikawa, Junsei

2017-01-01

When complex sounds are reversed in time, the original and reversed versions are perceived differently in spectral and temporal dimensions despite their identical duration and long-term spectrum-power profiles. Spatiotemporal activation patterns evoked by temporally asymmetric sound pairs demonstrate how the temporal envelope determines the readout of the spectrum. We examined the patterns of activation evoked by a temporally asymmetric sound pair in the primary auditory field (AI) of anesthetized guinea pigs and determined how discrimination training modified these patterns. Optical imaging using a voltage-sensitive dye revealed that a forward ramped-down natural sound (F) consistently evoked much stronger responses than its time-reversed, ramped-up counterpart (revF). The spatiotemporal maximum peak (maxP) of F-evoked activation was always greater than that of revF-evoked activation, and these maxPs were significantly separated within the AI. Although discrimination training did not affect the absolute magnitude of these maxPs, the revF-to-F ratio of the activation peaks calculated at the location where hemispheres were maximally activated (i.e., F-evoked maxP) was significantly smaller in the trained group. The F-evoked activation propagated across the AI along the temporal axis to the ventroanterior belt field (VA), with the local activation peak within the VA being significantly larger in the trained than in the naïve group. These results suggest that the innate network is more responsive to natural sounds of ramped-down envelopes than their time-reversed, unnatural sounds. The VA belt field activation might play an important role in emotional learning of sounds through its connections with amygdala. PMID:28451640

The erosion behaviour of biologically active sewer sediment deposits: observations from a laboratory study.

PubMed

Banasiak, Robert; Verhoeven, Ronny; De Sutter, Renaat; Tait, Simon

2005-12-01

The erosion behaviour of various fine-grained sediment deposits has been investigated in laboratory experiments. This work mainly focused on tests using sewer sediment in which strong biochemical reactions were observed during the deposit formation period. A small number of initial tests were conducted in which the deposits were made from mixtures of "clean" mineral and organic sediments. The erosion behaviour observed in these tests was compared with the erosion characteristics for sediments taken from deposits in a sewer. The impact of the biological processes on physical properties such as bulk density, water content, deposit structure and the erosive behaviour as a function of bed shear stress are quantified and discussed. Based on these observations it is believed that bio-processes weaken the strength of the in-pipe sediment deposits. A significantly weaker sediment surface layer was observed during deposition under quiescent oxygen-rich conditions. This resulted in a deposit with low shear strength which may be a cause of a first foul flush of suspended sediment when flow rates were increased. Comparison between tests with sewer sediments and the artificial representative surrogates suggested that the deposits of the later did not correctly simulate the depositional development and the resultant erosion patterns observed with the more bio-active sewer sediment.

Identification of abnormal motor cortex activation patterns in children with cerebral palsy by functional near-infrared spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khan, Bilal; Tian, Fenghua; Behbehani, Khosrow; Romero, Mario I.; Delgado, Mauricio R.; Clegg, Nancy J.; Smith, Linsley; Reid, Dahlia; Liu, Hanli; Alexandrakis, George

2010-05-01

We demonstrate the utility of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as a tool for physicians to study cortical plasticity in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Motor cortex activation patterns were studied in five healthy children and five children with CP (8.4+/-2.3 years old in both groups) performing a finger-tapping protocol. Spatial (distance from center and area difference) and temporal (duration and time-to-peak) image metrics are proposed as potential biomarkers for differentiating abnormal cortical activation in children with CP from healthy pediatric controls. In addition, a similarity image-analysis concept is presented that unveils areas that have similar activation patterns as that of the maximum activation area, but are not discernible by visual inspection of standard activation images. Metrics derived from the images presenting areas of similarity are shown to be sensitive identifiers of abnormal activation patterns in children with CP. Importantly, the proposed similarity concept and related metrics may be applicable to other studies for the identification of cortical activation patterns by fNIRS.

Classifying Human Activity Patterns from Smartphone Collected GPS data: a Fuzzy Classification and Aggregation Approach.

PubMed

Wan, Neng; Lin, Ge

2016-12-01

Smartphones have emerged as a promising type of equipment for monitoring human activities in environmental health studies. However, degraded location accuracy and inconsistency of smartphone-measured GPS data have limited its effectiveness for classifying human activity patterns. This study proposes a fuzzy classification scheme for differentiating human activity patterns from smartphone-collected GPS data. Specifically, a fuzzy logic reasoning was adopted to overcome the influence of location uncertainty by estimating the probability of different activity types for single GPS points. Based on that approach, a segment aggregation method was developed to infer activity patterns, while adjusting for uncertainties of point attributes. Validations of the proposed methods were carried out based on a convenient sample of three subjects with different types of smartphones. The results indicate desirable accuracy (e.g., up to 96% in activity identification) with use of this method. Two examples were provided in the appendix to illustrate how the proposed methods could be applied in environmental health studies. Researchers could tailor this scheme to fit a variety of research topics.

Early patterns of commercial activity in graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shapira, Philip; Youtie, Jan; Arora, Sanjay

2012-03-01

Graphene, a novel nanomaterial consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms, has attracted significant attention due to its distinctive properties, including great strength, electrical and thermal conductivity, lightness, and potential benefits for diverse applications. The commercialization of scientific discoveries such as graphene is inherently uncertain, with the lag time between the scientific development of a new technology and its adoption by corporate actors revealing the extent to which firms are able to absorb knowledge and engage in learning to implement applications based on the new technology. From this perspective, we test for the existence of three different corporate learning and activity patterns: (1) a linear process where patenting follows scientific discovery; (2) a double-boom phenomenon where corporate (patenting) activity is first concentrated in technological improvements and then followed by a period of technology productization; and (3) a concurrent model where scientific discovery in publications occurs in parallel with patenting. By analyzing corporate publication and patent activity across country and application lines, we find that, while graphene as a whole is experiencing concurrent scientific development and patenting growth, country- and application-specific trends offer some evidence of the linear and double-boom models.

The relationship between the lizard eye and associated bony features: a cautionary note for interpreting fossil activity patterns.

PubMed

Hall, Margaret I

2009-06-01

Activity pattern, the time of day when an animal is active, is associated with ecology. There are two major activity patterns: diurnal (awake during the day in a photopic environment) and nocturnal (awake at night in a scotopic environment). Lizards exhibit characteristic eye shapes associated with activity pattern, with scotopic-adapted lizard eyes optimized for visual sensitivity with large corneal diameters relative to their eye axial lengths, and photopic-adapted lizards optimized for visual acuity, with larger axial lengths of the eye relative to their corneal diameters. This study: (1) quantifies the relationship between the lizard eye and its associated bony anatomy (the orbit, sclerotic ring, and associated skull widths); (2) investigates how activity pattern is reflected in that bony anatomy; and (3) determines if it is possible to reliably interpret activity pattern for a lizard that does not have the soft tissue available for study, specifically, for a fossil. Knowledge of extinct lizards' activity patterns would be useful in making paleoecological interpretations. Here, 96 scotopic- and photopic-adapted lizard species are analyzed in a phylogenetic context. Although there is a close relationship between the lepidosaur eye and associated bony anatomy, based on these data activity pattern cannot be reliably interpreted for bony-only specimens, such as a fossil, possibly because of the limited ossification of the lepidosaur skull. Caution should be exercised when utilizing lizard bony anatomy to interpret light-level adaptation, either for a fossil lizard or as part of an extant phylogenetic bracket to interpret other extinct animals with sclerotic rings, such as dinosaurs. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Activity patterns of serotonin neurons underlying cognitive flexibility

PubMed Central

Matias, Sara; Lottem, Eran; Dugué, Guillaume P; Mainen, Zachary F

2017-01-01

Serotonin is implicated in mood and affective disorders. However, growing evidence suggests that a core endogenous role is to promote flexible adaptation to changes in the causal structure of the environment, through behavioral inhibition and enhanced plasticity. We used long-term photometric recordings in mice to study a population of dorsal raphe serotonin neurons, whose activity we could link to normal reversal learning using pharmacogenetics. We found that these neurons are activated by both positive and negative prediction errors, and thus report signals similar to those proposed to promote learning in conditions of uncertainty. Furthermore, by comparing the cue responses of serotonin and dopamine neurons, we found differences in learning rates that could explain the importance of serotonin in inhibiting perseverative responding. Our findings show how the activity patterns of serotonin neurons support a role in cognitive flexibility, and suggest a revised model of dopamine–serotonin opponency with potential clinical implications. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.20552.001 PMID:28322190

Consistency of a lumbar movement pattern across functional activities in people with low back pain.

PubMed

Marich, Andrej V; Hwang, Ching-Ting; Salsich, Gretchen B; Lang, Catherine E; Van Dillen, Linda R

2017-05-01

Limitation in function is a primary reason people with low back pain seek medical treatment. Specific lumbar movement patterns, repeated throughout the day, have been proposed to contribute to the development and course of low back pain. Varying the demands of a functional activity test may provide some insight into whether people display consistent lumbar movement patterns during functional activities. Our purpose was to examine the consistency of the lumbar movement pattern during variations of a functional activity test in people with low back pain and back-healthy people. 16 back-healthy adults and 32 people with low back pain participated. Low back pain participants were classified based on the level of self-reported functional limitations. Participants performed 5 different conditions of a functional activity test. Lumbar excursion in the early phase of movement was examined. The association between functional limitations and early phase lumbar excursion for each test condition was examined. People with low back pain and high levels of functional limitation demonstrated a consistent pattern of greater early phase lumbar excursion across test conditions (p<0.05). For each test condition, the amount of early phase lumbar excursion was associated with functional limitation (r=0.28-0.62). Our research provides preliminary evidence that people with low back pain adopt consistent movement patterns during the performance of functional activities. Our findings indicate that the lumbar spine consistently moves more readily into its available range in people with low back pain and high levels of functional limitation. How the lumbar spine moves during a functional activity may contribute to functional limitations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Decoding negative affect personality trait from patterns of brain activation to threat stimuli.

PubMed

Fernandes, Orlando; Portugal, Liana C L; Alves, Rita de Cássia S; Arruda-Sanchez, Tiago; Rao, Anil; Volchan, Eliane; Pereira, Mirtes; Oliveira, Letícia; Mourao-Miranda, Janaina

2017-01-15

Pattern recognition analysis (PRA) applied to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been used to decode cognitive processes and identify possible biomarkers for mental illness. In the present study, we investigated whether the positive affect (PA) or negative affect (NA) personality traits could be decoded from patterns of brain activation in response to a human threat using a healthy sample. fMRI data from 34 volunteers (15 women) were acquired during a simple motor task while the volunteers viewed a set of threat stimuli that were directed either toward them or away from them and matched neutral pictures. For each participant, contrast images from a General Linear Model (GLM) between the threat versus neutral stimuli defined the spatial patterns used as input to the regression model. We applied a multiple kernel learning (MKL) regression combining information from different brain regions hierarchically in a whole brain model to decode the NA and PA from patterns of brain activation in response to threat stimuli. The MKL model was able to decode NA but not PA from the contrast images between threat stimuli directed away versus neutral with a significance above chance. The correlation and the mean squared error (MSE) between predicted and actual NA were 0.52 (p-value=0.01) and 24.43 (p-value=0.01), respectively. The MKL pattern regression model identified a network with 37 regions that contributed to the predictions. Some of the regions were related to perception (e.g., occipital and temporal regions) while others were related to emotional evaluation (e.g., caudate and prefrontal regions). These results suggest that there was an interaction between the individuals' NA and the brain response to the threat stimuli directed away, which enabled the MKL model to decode NA from the brain patterns. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence that PRA can be used to decode a personality trait from patterns of brain activation during emotional contexts

Comportment and Communication Patterns among Hospitalist Physicians: Insight Gleaned Through Observation.

PubMed

Kotwal, Susrutha; Torok, Haruka; Khaliq, Waseem; Landis, Regina; Howell, Eric; Wright, Scott

2015-08-01

By 2014, there were more than 40,000 hospitalists delivering the majority of inpatient care in US hospitals. No empiric research has characterized hospitalist comportment and communication patterns as they care for patients. The chiefs of hospital medicine at five different hospitals were asked to identify their best hospitalists. These hospitalists were watched during their routine clinical care of patients. An observation tool was developed that focused on elements believed to be associated with excellent comportment and communication. One observer watched the physicians, taking detailed quantitative and qualitative field notes. A total of 26 hospitalists were shadowed. The mean age of the physicians was 38 years, and their average experience in hospital medicine was 6 years. The hospitalists were observed for a mean of 5 hours, during which time they saw an average of 7 patients (patient encounters observed N = 181). Physicians spent an average of 11 minutes with each patient. There was large variation in the extent to which desirable behaviors were performed. For example, most physicians (76%) started encounters with an open-ended question, and relatively few (30%) attempted to integrate nonmedical content into conversation with patients. This study represents a first step in trying to characterize comportment and communication in hospital medicine. Because hospitalists spend only a small proportion of their clinical time in direct patient care, it is imperative that excellent comportment and communication are clearly defined and established as a goal for every encounter.

The Effect of Increasing Volume of Exercise on Activation Pattern of Vastus Medialis and Lateralis and its Correlation With Anterior Knee Pain in Karate Elites

PubMed Central

Safar Cherati, Afsaneh; Lotfian, Sara; Jamshidi, Aliashraf; Sanjari, Mohammad Ali; Razi, Mohammad

2016-01-01

Background The effects of exercise volume on the pattern of muscle activity is one of the most important factors in training management and injury risk reduction. In the lower limb, the quadriceps muscle which plays a determining role in performing the stance and other karate techniques could be injured in intensive exercise and may induce anterior knee pain in athletes. Objectives The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between training volume and muscle activity of vastus medialis and vastus lateralis and its association with anterior knee pain in karate elites. Patients and Methods Male and female athletes from national junior and cadet karate team (14 to 18 years) were invited to participate in the study at the beginning and the end of the training camps. Studies involved measurement of electromyographic muscle activity of vastus medialis and vastus lateralis in both lower extremities with surface electromyography device and assessment of movement by electrogoniometery. Muscle activity was recorded in three tests of dachi, walking up and walking down stairs. Simultaneously, anterior knee pain was evaluated using visual analogue scale and anterior knee pain scale questionnaire. Results Eight athletes of a total number of 23 reported increased ratings of pain in their right knees. No differences in muscle activity were observed in tests of Dachi and stairs between the groups with and without pain. Comparing Dachi task pattern at the beginning and end of training camps, there was no significant difference in pattern of biomechanical movement; however, reducing the amount of muscle activity in early and late phases of tasks was observed in electromyographic assessment. Conclusions The results showed that performing the same task after a six-week training period, less muscle activity was required in all phases in two groups of tasks, including karate-specific movement (dachi) and activities of daily living (up or down stairs). PMID:27826403

The Effect of Increasing Volume of Exercise on Activation Pattern of Vastus Medialis and Lateralis and its Correlation With Anterior Knee Pain in Karate Elites.

PubMed

Safar Cherati, Afsaneh; Lotfian, Sara; Jamshidi, Aliashraf; Sanjari, Mohammad Ali; Razi, Mohammad

2016-09-01

The effects of exercise volume on the pattern of muscle activity is one of the most important factors in training management and injury risk reduction. In the lower limb, the quadriceps muscle which plays a determining role in performing the stance and other karate techniques could be injured in intensive exercise and may induce anterior knee pain in athletes. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between training volume and muscle activity of vastus medialis and vastus lateralis and its association with anterior knee pain in karate elites. Male and female athletes from national junior and cadet karate team (14 to 18 years) were invited to participate in the study at the beginning and the end of the training camps. Studies involved measurement of electromyographic muscle activity of vastus medialis and vastus lateralis in both lower extremities with surface electromyography device and assessment of movement by electrogoniometery. Muscle activity was recorded in three tests of dachi, walking up and walking down stairs. Simultaneously, anterior knee pain was evaluated using visual analogue scale and anterior knee pain scale questionnaire. Eight athletes of a total number of 23 reported increased ratings of pain in their right knees. No differences in muscle activity were observed in tests of Dachi and stairs between the groups with and without pain. Comparing Dachi task pattern at the beginning and end of training camps, there was no significant difference in pattern of biomechanical movement; however, reducing the amount of muscle activity in early and late phases of tasks was observed in electromyographic assessment. The results showed that performing the same task after a six-week training period, less muscle activity was required in all phases in two groups of tasks, including karate-specific movement (dachi) and activities of daily living (up or down stairs).

The nocturnal bottleneck and the evolution of activity patterns in mammals.

PubMed

Gerkema, Menno P; Davies, Wayne I L; Foster, Russell G; Menaker, Michael; Hut, Roelof A

2013-08-22

In 1942, Walls described the concept of a 'nocturnal bottleneck' in placental mammals, where these species could survive only by avoiding daytime activity during times in which dinosaurs were the dominant taxon. Walls based this concept of a longer episode of nocturnality in early eutherian mammals by comparing the visual systems of reptiles, birds and all three extant taxa of the mammalian lineage, namely the monotremes, marsupials (now included in the metatherians) and placentals (included in the eutherians). This review describes the status of what has become known as the nocturnal bottleneck hypothesis, giving an overview of the chronobiological patterns of activity. We review the ecological plausibility that the activity patterns of (early) eutherian mammals were restricted to the night, based on arguments relating to endothermia, energy balance, foraging and predation, taking into account recent palaeontological information. We also assess genes, relating to light detection (visual and non-visual systems) and the photolyase DNA protection system that were lost in the eutherian mammalian lineage. Our conclusion presently is that arguments in favour of the nocturnal bottleneck hypothesis in eutherians prevail.

The nocturnal bottleneck and the evolution of activity patterns in mammals

PubMed Central

Gerkema, Menno P.; Davies, Wayne I. L.; Foster, Russell G.; Menaker, Michael; Hut, Roelof A.

2013-01-01

In 1942, Walls described the concept of a ‘nocturnal bottleneck’ in placental mammals, where these species could survive only by avoiding daytime activity during times in which dinosaurs were the dominant taxon. Walls based this concept of a longer episode of nocturnality in early eutherian mammals by comparing the visual systems of reptiles, birds and all three extant taxa of the mammalian lineage, namely the monotremes, marsupials (now included in the metatherians) and placentals (included in the eutherians). This review describes the status of what has become known as the nocturnal bottleneck hypothesis, giving an overview of the chronobiological patterns of activity. We review the ecological plausibility that the activity patterns of (early) eutherian mammals were restricted to the night, based on arguments relating to endothermia, energy balance, foraging and predation, taking into account recent palaeontological information. We also assess genes, relating to light detection (visual and non-visual systems) and the photolyase DNA protection system that were lost in the eutherian mammalian lineage. Our conclusion presently is that arguments in favour of the nocturnal bottleneck hypothesis in eutherians prevail. PMID:23825205

EMG patterns during assisted walking in the exoskeleton.

PubMed

Sylos-Labini, Francesca; La Scaleia, Valentina; d'Avella, Andrea; Pisotta, Iolanda; Tamburella, Federica; Scivoletto, Giorgio; Molinari, Marco; Wang, Shiqian; Wang, Letian; van Asseldonk, Edwin; van der Kooij, Herman; Hoellinger, Thomas; Cheron, Guy; Thorsteinsson, Freygardur; Ilzkovitz, Michel; Gancet, Jeremi; Hauffe, Ralf; Zanov, Frank; Lacquaniti, Francesco; Ivanenko, Yuri P

2014-01-01

Neuroprosthetic technology and robotic exoskeletons are being developed to facilitate stepping, reduce muscle efforts, and promote motor recovery. Nevertheless, the guidance forces of an exoskeleton may influence the sensory inputs, sensorimotor interactions and resulting muscle activity patterns during stepping. The aim of this study was to report the muscle activation patterns in a sample of intact and injured subjects while walking with a robotic exoskeleton and, in particular, to quantify the level of muscle activity during assisted gait. We recorded electromyographic (EMG) activity of different leg and arm muscles during overground walking in an exoskeleton in six healthy individuals and four spinal cord injury (SCI) participants. In SCI patients, EMG activity of the upper limb muscles was augmented while activation of leg muscles was typically small. Contrary to our expectations, however, in neurologically intact subjects, EMG activity of leg muscles was similar or even larger during exoskeleton-assisted walking compared to normal overground walking. In addition, significant variations in the EMG waveforms were found across different walking conditions. The most variable pattern was observed in the hamstring muscles. Overall, the results are consistent with a non-linear reorganization of the locomotor output when using the robotic stepping devices. The findings may contribute to our understanding of human-machine interactions and adaptation of locomotor activity patterns.

Effects of Individual Health Topic Familiarity on Activity Patterns During Health Information Searches

PubMed Central

Moriyama, Koichi; Fukui, Ken–ichi; Numao, Masayuki

2015-01-01

Background Non-medical professionals (consumers) are increasingly using the Internet to support their health information needs. However, the cognitive effort required to perform health information searches is affected by the consumer’s familiarity with health topics. Consumers may have different levels of familiarity with individual health topics. This variation in familiarity may cause misunderstandings because the information presented by search engines may not be understood correctly by the consumers. Objective As a first step toward the improvement of the health information search process, we aimed to examine the effects of health topic familiarity on health information search behaviors by identifying the common search activity patterns exhibited by groups of consumers with different levels of familiarity. Methods Each participant completed a health terminology familiarity questionnaire and health information search tasks. The responses to the familiarity questionnaire were used to grade the familiarity of participants with predefined health topics. The search task data were transcribed into a sequence of search activities using a coding scheme. A computational model was constructed from the sequence data using a Markov chain model to identify the common search patterns in each familiarity group. Results Forty participants were classified into L1 (not familiar), L2 (somewhat familiar), and L3 (familiar) groups based on their questionnaire responses. They had different levels of familiarity with four health topics. The video data obtained from all of the participants were transcribed into 4595 search activities (mean 28.7, SD 23.27 per session). The most frequent search activities and transitions in all the familiarity groups were related to evaluations of the relevancy of selected web pages in the retrieval results. However, the next most frequent transitions differed in each group and a chi-squared test confirmed this finding (P<.001). Next, according to the

Active listening in medical consultations: development of the Active Listening Observation Scale (ALOS-global).

PubMed

Fassaert, Thijs; van Dulmen, Sandra; Schellevis, François; Bensing, Jozien

2007-11-01

Active listening is a prerequisite for a successful healthcare encounter, bearing potential therapeutic value especially in clinical situations that require no specific medical intervention. Although generally acknowledged as such, active listening has not been studied in depth. This paper describes the development of the Active Listening Observation Scale (ALOS-global), an observation instrument measuring active listening and its validation in a sample of general practice consultations for minor ailments. Five hundred and twenty-four videotaped general practice consultations involving minor ailments were observed with the ALOS-global. Hypotheses were tested to determine validity, incorporating patients' perception of GPs' affective performance, GPs' verbal attention, patients' self-reported anxiety level and gender differences. The final 7-item ALOS-global had acceptable inter- and intra-observer agreement. Factor analysis revealed one homogeneous dimension. The scalescore was positively related to verbal attention measured by RIAS, to patients' perception of GPs' performance and to their pre-visit anxiety level. Female GPs received higher active listening scores. The results of this study are promising concerning the psychometric properties of the ALOS-global. More research is needed to confirm these preliminary findings. After establishing how active listening differentiates between health professionals, the ALOS-global may become a valuable tool in feedback and training aimed at increasing listening skills.

Dietary behaviour and socioeconomic position: the role of physical activity patterns.

PubMed

Finger, Jonas D; Tylleskär, Thorkild; Lampert, Thomas; Mensink, Gert B M

2013-01-01

The positive association between education level and health outcomes can be partly explained by dietary behaviour. We investigated the associations between education and several indices of food intake and potential influencing factors, placing special emphasis on physical-activity patterns, using a representative sample of the German adult population. The German National Health Interview and Examination Survey 1998 (GNHIES98) involved 7,124 participants aged between 18 and 79. Complete information on the exposure (education) and outcome (nutrition) variables was available for 6,767 persons. The associations between 'education' and indices of 'sugar-rich food', 'fat-rich food', 'fruit-and-vegetable' and 'alcohol' intake were analysed separately for men and women using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Odds ratios (OR) of education level on nutrition outcomes were calculated and adjusted for age, region (former East/West Germany), occupation, income and other influencing factors such as physical activity indicators. Men and women with only a primary education had a more frequent intake of sugar-rich and fat-rich foods and a less frequent intake of fruit and vegetables and alcohol than people with a tertiary education. 'Physical work activity' partly explained the associations between education and sugar-rich food intake. The interference with physical work activity was stronger among men than women. No significant associations between education and energy-dense food intake were observed in the retirement-age group of persons aged 65+ and among persons with low energy expenditure. In Germany, adults with a low level of education report that they consume energy-dense foods more frequently - and fruit and vegetables and alcohol less frequently - than adults with a high education level. High levels of physical work activity among adults with a low education level may partly explain why they consume more energy-dense foods.

Acidic digestion in a teleost: postprandial and circadian pattern of gastric pH, pepsin activity, and pepsinogen and proton pump mRNAs expression.

PubMed

Yúfera, Manuel; Moyano, Francisco J; Astola, Antonio; Pousão-Ferreira, Pedro; Martínez-Rodríguez, Gonzalo

2012-01-01

Two different modes for regulation of stomach acid secretion have been described in vertebrates. Some species exhibit a continuous acid secretion maintaining a low gastric pH during fasting. Others, as some teleosts, maintain a neutral gastric pH during fasting while the hydrochloric acid is released only after the ingestion of a meal. Those different patterns seem to be closely related to specific feeding habits. However, our recent observations suggest that this acidification pattern could be modified by changes in daily feeding frequency and time schedule. The aim of this study was to advance in understanding the regulation mechanisms of stomach digestion and pattern of acid secretion in teleost fish. We have examined the postprandial pattern of gastric pH, pepsin activity, and mRNA expression for pepsinogen and proton pump in white seabream juveniles maintained under a light/dark 12/12 hours cycle and receiving only one morning meal. The pepsin activity was analyzed according to the standard protocol buffering at pH 2 and using the actual pH measured in the stomach. The results show how the enzyme precursor is permanently available while the hydrochloric acid, which activates the zymogen fraction, is secreted just after the ingestion of food. Results also reveal that analytical protocol at pH 2 notably overestimates true pepsin activity in fish stomach. The expression of the mRNA encoding pepsinogen and proton pump exhibited almost parallel patterns, with notable increases during the darkness period and sharp decreases just before the morning meal. These results indicate that white seabream uses the resting hours for recovering the mRNA stock that will be quickly used during the feeding process. Our data clearly shows that both daily illumination pattern and feeding time are involved at different level in the regulation of the secretion of digestive juices.

Patterns of cerebral activation during lexical and phonological reading in Portuguese.

PubMed

Senaha, M L H; Martin, M G M; Amaro, E; Campi, C; Caramelli, P

2005-12-01

According to the concepts of cognitive neuropsychology, there are two principal routes of reading processing: a lexical route, in which global reading of words occurs and a phonological route, responsible for the conversion of the graphemes into their respective phonemes. In the present study, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to investigate the patterns of cerebral activation in lexical and phonological reading by 13 healthy women with a formal educational level greater than 11 years. Participants were submitted to a silent reading task containing three types of stimuli: real words (irregular and foreign words), nonwords and illegitimate graphic stimuli. An increased number of activated voxels were identified by fMRI in the word reading (lexical processing) than in the nonword reading (phonological processing) task. In word reading, activation was greater than for nonwords in the following areas: superior, middle and inferior frontal gyri, and bilateral superior temporal gyrus, right cerebellum and the left precentral gyrus, as indicated by fMRI. In the reading of nonwords, the activation was predominant in the right cerebellum and in the left superior temporal gyrus. The results of the present study suggest the existence of differences in the patterns of cerebral activation during lexical and phonological reading, with greater involvement of the right hemisphere in reading words than nonwords.

Mouse Visual Neocortex Supports Multiple Stereotyped Patterns of Microcircuit Activity

PubMed Central

Sadovsky, Alexander J.

2014-01-01

Spiking correlations between neocortical neurons provide insight into the underlying synaptic connectivity that defines cortical microcircuitry. Here, using two-photon calcium fluorescence imaging, we observed the simultaneous dynamics of hundreds of neurons in slices of mouse primary visual cortex (V1). Consistent with a balance of excitation and inhibition, V1 dynamics were characterized by a linear scaling between firing rate and circuit size. Using lagged firing correlations between neurons, we generated functional wiring diagrams to evaluate the topological features of V1 microcircuitry. We found that circuit connectivity exhibited both cyclic graph motifs, indicating recurrent wiring, and acyclic graph motifs, indicating feedforward wiring. After overlaying the functional wiring diagrams onto the imaged field of view, we found properties consistent with Rentian scaling: wiring diagrams were topologically efficient because they minimized wiring with a modular architecture. Within single imaged fields of view, V1 contained multiple discrete circuits that were overlapping and highly interdigitated but were still distinct from one another. The majority of neurons that were shared between circuits displayed peri-event spiking activity whose timing was specific to the active circuit, whereas spike times for a smaller percentage of neurons were invariant to circuit identity. These data provide evidence that V1 microcircuitry exhibits balanced dynamics, is efficiently arranged in anatomical space, and is capable of supporting a diversity of multineuron spike firing patterns from overlapping sets of neurons. PMID:24899701

[Physical activity, screen time and sleep patterns in Chilean girls].

PubMed

Aguilar, M M; Vergara, F A; Velásquez, E J A; García-Hermoso, A

2015-11-01

Physical activity (PA), screen time (ST), and sleep are modifiable lifestyle habits for health. The objectives of this study were: a) to examine the association between PA, ST, and both, on sleep patterns; and b) to determine the influence of PA and ST on sleep problems in Chilean girls. The study involved 196 children (12.2 years). Patterns and sleep problems were assessed using the Spanish version of the Sleep Self-Report, and the PA through the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQ-A), both in Castilian. The ST was assessed using several questions about television, game console and computer use. The ST recommendation (2h a day) was exceeded by 63.2% of the girls. In general, the most active girls (last quartile) that did not exceed the recommendations of ST reported higher sleep quality and total score values compared to those who did not meet both. The logistic regression analysis showed that girls who did not meet both habits were more likely to have sleep quality (odds ratio=17.8, P=.018), and general sleep problems (odds ratio=7.85, P=.025). Parents need to set limits on sedentary leisure time and encourage more active habits, as sleep is a parameter closely linked to a better health profile in youth. Copyright © 2014 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Sleep pattern and locomotor activity are impaired by doxorubicin in non-tumor-bearing rats.

PubMed

Lira, Fabio Santos; Esteves, Andrea Maculano; Pimentel, Gustavo Duarte; Rosa, José Cesar; Frank, Miriam Kannebley; Mariano, Melise Oliveira; Budni, Josiane; Quevedo, João; Santos, Ronaldo Vagner Dos; de Mello, Marco Túlio

2016-01-01

We sought explore the effects of doxorubicin on sleep patterns and locomotor activity. To investigate these effects, two groups were formed: a control group and a Doxorubicin (DOXO) group. Sixteen rats were randomly assigned to either the control or DOXO groups. The sleep patterns were examined by polysomnographic recording and locomotor activity was evaluated in an open-field test. In the light period, the total sleep time and slow wave sleep were decreased, while the wake after sleep onset and arousal were increased in the DOXO group compared with the control group (p<0.05). In the dark period, the total sleep time, arousal, and slow wave sleep were increased, while the wake after sleep onset was decreased in the DOXO group compared with the control group (p<0.05). Moreover, DOXO induced a decrease of crossing and rearing numbers when compared control group (p<0.05). Therefore, our results suggest that doxorubicin induces sleep pattern impairments and reduction of locomotor activity.

Trunk and Hip Muscle Activation Patterns Are Different During Walking in Young Children With and Without Cerebral Palsy