Validating self-reported mobile phone use in adults using a newly developed smartphone application.

PubMed

Goedhart, Geertje; Kromhout, Hans; Wiart, Joe; Vermeulen, Roel

2015-11-01

Interpretation of epidemiological studies on health effects from mobile phone use is hindered by uncertainties in the exposure assessment. We used a newly developed smartphone application (app) to validate self-reported mobile phone use and behaviour among adults. 107 participants (mean age 41.4 years) in the Netherlands either downloaded the software app on their smartphone or were provided with a study smartphone for 4 weeks. The app recorded the number and duration of calls, text messages, data transfer, laterality and hands-free use. Self-reported mobile phone use was collected before using the app and after 6 months through an interviewer-administered questionnaire. The geometric mean ratios (GMR, 95% CI) and Spearman correlations (r) of self-reported (after 6 months) versus recorded number and duration of calls were: GMR=0.65 (0.53 to 0.80), r=0.53; and GMR=1.11 (0.86 to 1.42), r=0.57 respectively. Participants held the phone on average for 86% of the total call time near the head. Self-reported right side users held the phone for 70.7% of the total call time on the right side of the head, and left side users for 66.2% on the left side of the head. The percentage of total call time that the use of hands-free devices (headset, speaker mode, Bluetooth) was recorded increased with increasing frequency of reported hands-free device usage. The observed recall errors and precision of reported laterality and hands-free use can be used to quantify and improve radiofrequency exposure models based on self-reported mobile phone use. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Poland syndrome with bilateral features: case description with review of the literature.

PubMed

Baban, Anwar; Torre, Michele; Bianca, Sebastiano; Buluggiu, Anna; Rossello, Mario Igor; Calevo, Maria Grazia; Valle, Maura; Ravazzolo, Roberto; Jasonni, Vincenzo; Lerone, Margherita

2009-07-01

Poland syndrome (PS) has been described as unilateral pectoral muscle deficiency variably associated with ipsilateral thoracic and upper limb anomalies. Bilateral hypoplasia/aplasia of the pectoralis muscle and upper limb defects in association with variable thoracic muscles, chest wall deformities and lower limb defects have been infrequently reported in the literature. We report on a 3(1/2)-year-old girl with clinical features consisting in bilateral asymmetric pectoral muscle defects (complete agenesis on the left side and agenesis of the sternocostal head on the right side), nipple hypoplasia, left rib defect, and right hand symbrachydactyly. In this study, we reviewed the bilateral features present in our patient and those described in the literature. Hypotheses explaining bilateral features in PS are reviewed.

Mouth asymmetry in the textbook example of scale-eating cichlid fish is not a discrete dimorphism after all

PubMed Central

Kusche, Henrik; Lee, Hyuk Je; Meyer, Axel

2012-01-01

Individuals of the scale-eating cichlid fish, Perissodus microlepis, from Lake Tanganyika tend to have remarkably asymmetric heads that are either left-bending or right-bending. The ‘left’ morph opens its mouth markedly towards the left and preferentially feeds on the scales from the right-hand side of its victim fish, and the ‘right’ morph bites scales from the victims’ left-hand side. This striking dimorphism made these fish a textbook example of their astonishing degree of ecological specialization and as one of the few known incidences of negative frequency-dependent selection acting on an asymmetric morphological trait, where left and right forms are equally frequent within a species. We investigated the degree and the shape of the frequency distribution of head asymmetry in P. microlepis to test whether the variation conforms to a discrete dimorphism, as generally assumed. In both adult and juvenile fish, mouth asymmetry appeared to be continuously and unimodally distributed with no clear evidence for a discrete dimorphism. Mixture analyses did not reveal evidence of a discrete or even strong dimorphism. These results raise doubts about previous claims, as reported in textbooks, that head variation in P. microlepis represents a discrete dimorphism of left- and right-bending forms. Based on extensive field sampling that excluded ambiguous (i.e. symmetric or weakly asymmetric) individual adults, we found that left and right morphs occur in equal abundance in five populations. Moreover, mate pairing for 51 wild-caught pairs was random with regard to head laterality, calling into question reports that this laterality is maintained through disassortative mating. PMID:23055070

The Prisoners of War Experiences and Survival

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-04-01

hand roundhouse swings. As they concentrated more and became more tired, the hand slowly became a fist. It was not long before the left side of my...the microphone, the crowd became a mob as they pushed among the prisoners, grabbing their neck, punching, kicking , and hitting the POWs with bottles and...rocks. One POW would be holding up his buddy, who had just been hit in the stomach or kicked in the groin and was unable to walk, and the next moment

Gap compression/extension mechanism of bacterial flagellar hook as the molecular universal joint.

PubMed

Furuta, Tadaomi; Samatey, Fadel A; Matsunami, Hideyuki; Imada, Katsumi; Namba, Keiichi; Kitao, Akio

2007-03-01

Bacterial flagellar hook acts as a molecular universal joint, transmitting torque produced by the flagellar basal body, a rotary motor, to the flagellar filament. The hook forms polymorphic supercoil structures and can be considered as an assembly of 11 circularly arranged protofilaments. We investigated the molecular mechanism of the universal joint function of the hook by a approximately two-million-atom molecular dynamics simulation. On the inner side of the supercoil, protein subunits are highly packed along the protofilament and no gaps remain for further compression, whereas subunits are slightly separated and are hydrogen bonded through one layer of water molecules on the outer side. As for the intersubunit interactions between protofilaments, subunits are packed along the 6-start helix in a left-handed supercoil whereas they are highly packed along the 5-start helix in a right-handed supercoil. We conclude that the supercoiled structures of the hook in the left- and right-handed forms make maximal use of the gaps between subunits, which we call "gap compression/extension mechanism". Mutual sliding of subunits at the subunit interface accompanying rearrangements of intersubunit hydrogen bonds is interpreted as a mechanism to allow continuous structural change of the hook during flagellar rotation at low energy cost.

GraDit: graph-based data repair algorithm for multiple data edits rule violations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ode Zuhayeni Madjida, Wa; Gusti Bagus Baskara Nugraha, I.

2018-03-01

Constraint-based data cleaning captures data violation to a set of rule called data quality rules. The rules consist of integrity constraint and data edits. Structurally, they are similar, where the rule contain left hand side and right hand side. Previous research proposed a data repair algorithm for integrity constraint violation. The algorithm uses undirected hypergraph as rule violation representation. Nevertheless, this algorithm can not be applied for data edits because of different rule characteristics. This study proposed GraDit, a repair algorithm for data edits rule. First, we use bipartite-directed hypergraph as model representation of overall defined rules. These representation is used for getting interaction between violation rules and clean rules. On the other hand, we proposed undirected graph as violation representation. Our experimental study showed that algorithm with undirected graph as violation representation model gave better data quality than algorithm with undirected hypergraph as representation model.

Diffusion tensor imaging and diffusion tensor imaging-fibre tractograph depict the mechanisms of Broca-like and Wernicke-like conduction aphasia.

PubMed

Song, Xinjie; Dornbos, David; Lai, Zongli; Zhang, Yumei; Li, Tieshan; Chen, Hongyan; Yang, Zhonghua

2011-06-01

Conduction aphasia is usually considered a result of damage of the arcuate fasciculus, which is subjacent to the parietal portion of the supra-marginal gyrus and the upper part of the insula. It is important to stress that many features of conduction aphasia relate to a cortical deficit, more than a pure disconnection mechanism. In this study, we explore the mechanism of Broca-like and Wernicke-like conduction aphasia by using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and diffusion tensor imaging-fibre tractograph (DT-FT). We enrolled five Broca-like conduction aphasia cases, five Wernicke-like aphasia conduction cases and 10 healthy volunteers residing in Beijing and speaking Mandarin. All are right handed. We analyzed the arcuate fasciculus, Broca's areas and Wernicke's areas by DTI and measured fractional anisotrogy (FA). The results of left and right hemispheres were compared in both conduction aphasia cases and volunteers. Then the results of the conduction aphasia cases were compared with those of volunteers. The fibre construction of Broca's and Wernicke's areas was also compared by DTI-FT. The FA occupied by the identified connective pathways (Broca's area, Wernicke's area and the arcuate fasciculus) in the left hemisphere was larger than that in the right hemisphere in the control group (P<0.05). Among Broca-like conduction aphasia cases, the FA of the left Broca's area was smaller than that of the right mirror side (P<0.05), and the FA of the left anterior segment of the arcuate fasciculus was smaller than that of right mirror side (P<0.05). On the other hand, among Wernicke-like conduction aphasia patients, the FA of the left Wernicke's area was smaller than that of right mirror side (P<0.05), and the FA of left posterior segment of arcuate fasciculus was smaller than that of right mirror side (P<0.05). Conduction aphasia results from not only arcuate fasciculus destruction, but also from disruption of the associated cortical areas. Along different segments of the arcuate fasciculus, the characteristics of language disorders of conduction aphasia were different. A lesion involving Broca's area and the anterior segments of the arcuate fasciculus would lead to Broca-like conduction aphasia, whereas a lesion involved Wernicke's area and posterior segments of the arcuate fasciculus would lead to Wernicke-like conduction aphasia.

Physical risk factors identification based on body sensor network combined to videotaping.

PubMed

Vignais, Nicolas; Bernard, Fabien; Touvenot, Gérard; Sagot, Jean-Claude

2017-11-01

The aim of this study was to perform an ergonomic analysis of a material handling task by combining a subtask video analysis and a RULA computation, implemented continuously through a motion capture system combining inertial sensors and electrogoniometers. Five workers participated to the experiment. Seven inertial measurement units, placed on the worker's upper body (pelvis, thorax, head, arms, forearms), were implemented through a biomechanical model of the upper body to continuously provide trunk, neck, shoulder and elbow joint angles. Wrist joint angles were derived from electrogoniometers synchronized with the inertial measurement system. Worker's activity was simultaneously recorded using video. During post-processing, joint angles were used as inputs to a computationally implemented ergonomic evaluation based on the RULA method. Consequently a RULA score was calculated at each time step to characterize the risk of exposure of the upper body (right and left sides). Local risk scores were also computed to identify the anatomical origin of the exposure. Moreover, the video-recorded work activity was time-studied in order to classify and quantify all subtasks involved into the task. Results showed that mean RULA scores were at high risk for all participants (6 and 6.2 for right and left sides respectively). A temporal analysis demonstrated that workers spent most part of the work time at a RULA score of 7 (right: 49.19 ± 35.27%; left: 55.5 ± 29.69%). Mean local scores revealed that most exposed joints during the task were elbows, lower arms, wrists and hands. Elbows and lower arms were indeed at a high level of risk during the total time of a work cycle (100% for right and left sides). Wrist and hands were also exposed to a risky level for much of the period of work (right: 82.13 ± 7.46%; left: 77.85 ± 12.46%). Concerning the subtask analysis, subtasks called 'snow thrower', 'opening the vacuum sealer', 'cleaning' and 'storing' have been identified as the most awkward for right and left sides given mean RULA scores and percentages of time spent at risky levels. Results analysis permitted to suggest ergonomic recommendations for the redesign of the workstation. Contributions of the proposed innovative system dedicated to physical ergonomic assessment are further discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

VIEW OF BEDROOM 2 SHOWING DOOR TO HALLWAY AND CLOSET ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

VIEW OF BEDROOM 2 SHOWING DOOR TO HALLWAY AND CLOSET ON LEFT HAND SIDE. VIEW FACING NORTH - Camp H.M. Smith and Navy Public Works Center Manana Title VII (Capehart) Housing, Three-Bedroom Single-Family Type 9, Birch Circle, Elm Drive, Elm Circle, and Date Drive, Pearl City, Honolulu County, HI

VIEW THROUGH DECORATIVE GRILLE OF LIVING ROOM, WITH SLIDING DOORS ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

VIEW THROUGH DECORATIVE GRILLE OF LIVING ROOM, WITH SLIDING DOORS ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE. VIEW FACING NORTH - Camp H.M. Smith and Navy Public Works Center Manana Title VII (Capehart) Housing, Three-Bedroom Single-Family Type 9, Birch Circle, Elm Drive, Elm Circle, and Date Drive, Pearl City, Honolulu County, HI

Right up There: Hemispatial and Hand Asymmetries of Altitudinal Pseudoneglect

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suavansri, Ketchai; Falchook, Adam D.; Williamson, John B.; Heilman, Kenneth M.

2012-01-01

Background: Pseudoneglect is a normal left sided spatial bias observed with attempted bisections of horizontal lines and a normal upward bias observed with attempted bisections of vertical lines. Horizontal pseudoneglect has been attributed to right hemispheric dominance for the allocation of attention. The goal of this study was to test the…

78 FR 70242 - Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter France Helicopters

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-25

...). SUMMARY: We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Eurocopter (Eurocopter) France Model... proposed AD is prompted by the jamming of the left-hand (LH) side of the fuel shut-off and general cut-off.... Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New...

77 FR 19059 - Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Airplanes

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-30

...;Prices of new books are listed in the first FEDERAL REGISTER issue of each #0;week. #0; #0; #0; #0;#0...). ACTION: Final rule; request for comments. SUMMARY: We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for...) 47 on the left- and right-hand sides for cracks, and repairing the cracks if necessary. This AD was...

Flooding in Southern Russia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

Over the past two weeks, heavy rains have inundated southern Russia, giving rise to floods that killed up to 83 people and drove thousands from their homes. This false-color image acquired on June 23, 2002, by the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Terra satellite shows some of the worst flooding. The Black Sea is the dark patch in the lower left-hand corner. The city of Krasnodor, Russia, which was one of the cities hardest hit, sits on the western edge of the larger lake on the left side of the image, and Stavropol, which lost more lives than any other city, sits just east of the small cluster of lakes on the right-hand side of the image. Normally, the rivers and smaller lakes in this image cannot even be seen clearly on MODIS imagery. In this false-color image, the ground is green and blue and water is black or dark brown. Clouds come across as pink and white. Credit: Image courtesy Jesse Allen, NASA GSFC, based on data provided by the MODIS Rapid Response System.

Extending the eigCG algorithm to nonsymmetric Lanczos for linear systems with multiple right-hand sides

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

Abdel-Rehim, A M; Stathopoulos, Andreas; Orginos, Kostas

2014-08-01

The technique that was used to build the EigCG algorithm for sparse symmetric linear systems is extended to the nonsymmetric case using the BiCG algorithm. We show that, similarly to the symmetric case, we can build an algorithm that is capable of computing a few smallest magnitude eigenvalues and their corresponding left and right eigenvectors of a nonsymmetric matrix using only a small window of the BiCG residuals while simultaneously solving a linear system with that matrix. For a system with multiple right-hand sides, we give an algorithm that computes incrementally more eigenvalues while solving the first few systems andmore » then uses the computed eigenvectors to deflate BiCGStab for the remaining systems. Our experiments on various test problems, including Lattice QCD, show the remarkable ability of EigBiCG to compute spectral approximations with accuracy comparable to that of the unrestarted, nonsymmetric Lanczos. Furthermore, our incremental EigBiCG followed by appropriately restarted and deflated BiCGStab provides a competitive method for systems with multiple right-hand sides.« less

A long-lasting improvement of tactile extinction after galvanic vestibular stimulation: two Sham-stimulation controlled case studies.

PubMed

Kerkhoff, Georg; Hildebrandt, Helmut; Reinhart, Stefan; Kardinal, Mareike; Dimova, Violeta; Utz, Kathrin S

2011-01-01

Sensory extinction is frequent and often persistent after brain damage. Previous studies have shown the transient influence of sensory stimulation on tactile extinction. In the present two case studies we investigated whether subliminal galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) modulates tactile extinction. GVS induces polarity-specific changes in cerebral excitability in the vestibular cortices and adjacent cortical areas in the temporo-parietal cortex via polarization of the vestibular nerves. Two patients (DL, CJ) with left-sided tactile extinction due to chronic (5 vs. 6 (1/2) years lesion age) right-hemisphere lesions (right fronto-parietal in DL, right frontal and discrete parietal in CJ) were examined. Both showed normal tactile sensitivity to light touch and yielded 90-100% correct identifications in unilateral tactile stimulations for both hands. In Baseline investigations without GVS and Sham-GVS both showed stable left-sided tactile extinction rates of 40-55% (DL) and 49-72% (CJ). In contrast, one session of right-cathodal GVS (intensity: 0.6 mA, duration: 20 min) permanently improved tactile identification of identical stimuli, while a second session with left-cathodal GVS significantly reduced left-sided extinction rates for different stimuli in DL. Patient CJ's left-sided tactile extinction was significantly improved by left-cathodal GVS (0.5 mA, 20 min) for different stimuli, while right-cathodal GVS induced a significant reduction for identical materials. In contrast, Sham-stimulation was ineffective. Improvements remained stable for at least 1 year (DL) resp. 3 weeks (CJ). Control experiments ruled out improvements in tactile extinction merely by retesting. In conclusion, chronic tactile extinction may be permanently improved by GVS in a polarity-specific way. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Space-based bias of covert visual attention in complex regional pain syndrome.

PubMed

Bultitude, Janet H; Walker, Ian; Spence, Charles

2017-09-01

See Legrain (doi:10.1093/awx188) for a scientific commentary on this article. Some patients with complex regional pain syndrome report that movements of the affected limb are slow, more effortful, and lack automaticity. These symptoms have been likened to the syndrome that sometimes follows brain injury called hemispatial neglect, in which patients exhibit attentional impairments and problems with movements affecting the contralesional side of the body and space. Psychophysical testing of patients with complex regional pain syndrome has found evidence for spatial biases when judging visual targets distanced at 2 m, but not in directions that indicate reduced attention to the affected side. In contrast, when judging visual or tactile stimuli presented on their own body surface, or pictures of hands and feet within arm's reach, patients with complex regional pain syndrome exhibited a bias away from the affected side. What is not yet known is whether patients with complex regional pain syndrome only have biased attention for bodily-specific information in the space within arm's reach, or whether they also show a bias for information that is not associated with the body, suggesting a more generalized attention deficit. Using a temporal order judgement task, we found that patients with complex regional pain syndrome processed visual stimuli more slowly on the affected side (relative to the unaffected side) when the lights were projected onto a blank surface (i.e. when no bodily information was visible), and when the lights were projected onto the dorsal surfaces of their uncrossed hands. However, with the arms crossed (such that the left and right lights projected onto the right and left hands, respectively), patients' responses were no different than controls. These results provide the first demonstration of a generalized attention bias away from the affected side of space in complex regional pain syndrome patients that is not specifically related to bodily information. They also suggest a separate and additional bias of visual attention away from the affected hand. The strength of attention bias was predicted by scores on a self-report measure of body perception distortion; but not by pain intensity, time since diagnosis, or affected body side (left or right). At an individual level, those patients whose upper limbs were most affected had a higher incidence of inattention than those whose lower limbs were most affected. However, at a group level, affected limb (upper or lower) did not predict bias magnitude; nor did three measures designed to assess possible asymmetries in the distribution of movements across space. It is concluded that inattention in near space in complex regional pain syndrome may arise in parallel with a distorted perception of the body.10.1093/brain/awx152_video1awx152media15495542665001. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain.

Lateralization of the human mirror neuron system.

PubMed

Aziz-Zadeh, Lisa; Koski, Lisa; Zaidel, Eran; Mazziotta, John; Iacoboni, Marco

2006-03-15

A cortical network consisting of the inferior frontal, rostral inferior parietal, and posterior superior temporal cortices has been implicated in representing actions in the primate brain and is critical to imitation in humans. This neural circuitry may be an evolutionary precursor of neural systems associated with language. However, language is predominantly lateralized to the left hemisphere, whereas the degree of lateralization of the imitation circuitry in humans is unclear. We conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging study of imitation of finger movements with lateralized stimuli and responses. During imitation, activity in the inferior frontal and rostral inferior parietal cortex, although fairly bilateral, was stronger in the hemisphere ipsilateral to the visual stimulus and response hand. This ipsilateral pattern is at variance with the typical contralateral activity of primary visual and motor areas. Reliably increased signal in the right superior temporal sulcus (STS) was observed for both left-sided and right-sided imitation tasks, although subthreshold activity was also observed in the left STS. Overall, the data indicate that visual and motor components of the human mirror system are not left-lateralized. The left hemisphere superiority for language, then, must be have been favored by other types of language precursors, perhaps auditory or multimodal action representations.

Ultra-weak photon emission of hands in aging prediction.

PubMed

Zhao, Xin; van Wijk, Eduard; Yan, Yu; van Wijk, Roeland; Yang, Huanming; Zhang, Yan; Wang, Jian

2016-09-01

Aging has been one of the several topics intensely investigated during recent decades. More scientists have been scrutinizing mechanisms behind the human aging process. Ultra-weak photon emission is known as one type of spontaneous photon emission that can be detected with a highly sensitive single photon counting photomultiplier tube (PMT) from the surface of human bodies. It may reflect the body's oxidative damage. Our aim was to examine whether ultra-weak photon emission from a human hand is able to predict one's chronological age. Sixty subjects were recruited and grouped by age. We examined four areas of each hand: palm side of fingers, palm side of hand, dorsum side of fingers, and dorsum side of hand. Left and right hand were measured synchronously with two independent PMTs. Mean strength and Fano factor values of photon counts were utilized to compare the UPE patterns of males and females of different age groups. Subsequently, we utilized UPE data from the most sensitive PMT to develop an age prediction model. We randomly picked 49 subjects to construct the model, whereas the remaining 11 subjects were utilized for validation. The results demonstrated that the model was a good regression compared to the observed values (Pearson's r=0.6, adjusted R square=0.4, p=9.4E-7, accuracy=49/60). Further analysis revealed that the average difference between the chronological age and predicted age was only 7.6±0.8years. It was concluded that this fast and non-invasive photon technology is sufficiently promising to be developed for the estimation of biological aging. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

How propeller suction is the dominant factor for ship accidents at shallow water conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Acar, Dursun; Alpar, Bedri; Ozeren, Sinan

2017-04-01

The laminar flow comes to the fore with the disappearance of the several other directions in the internal displacements in the water current. Due to the dominant speed direction during the straightforward motion of the ship, the underwater hull is associated with the continuous flow of laminar currents. The open marine environment acts as a compressible liquid medium because of the presence of many variables about water volume overflow boundaries where the ship is associated. Layers of water rising over the sea surface due to ship's body and the propeller's water push provides loss of liquid lifting force for the ship. These situations change the well-known sea-floor morphology and reliable depth limits, and lead to probable accidents. If the ship block coefficient for the front side is 0.7 or higher, the "squat" will be more on the bow, because the associated factor "displacement volume" causes to the low-pressure environment due to large and rapid turbulence. Thus, the bow sinks further, which faced with liquid's weaker lift force. The vessels Gerardus Mercator, Queen Elizabeth and Costa Concordia had accidents because of unified reasons of squat, fast water mass displacement by hull push and propeller suction interaction. In the case of water mass displacement from the bow side away, that accident occurred in 2005 by the vessel Gerardus Mercator with excessive longitudinal trim angularity in the shallow water. The vessel Costa Concordia (2012), voluminous water displaced from the rear left side was an important factor because of the sharp manoeuvre of that the captain made before the accident. Observations before the accident indicate that full-speed sharp turn provided listed position for the ship from left (port side) in the direction of travel before colliding and then strike a rock on the sloping side of the seabed. The reason why the ship drifted to the left depends mainly the water discharge occurred at the left side of the hull during left-hand rudder control. Additionally the second water drainage from the shallow ridge area by the propeller's left-directed suction created a shallower environment. Similar situation for example collision of two ships during their side by side forward motions; their positions will be approached and listed to each other more same as downslope movement because of the shared area's water level collapse occur more by two propeller's suction.

Asymptotics in Time, Temperature and Size for Optimization by Simulated Annealing: Theory, Practice and Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-01-19

following theorem from the Perron - Frobenius theory of nonnegative matrices. Theorem 2.2 : [1] Consider an irreducible Markov chain with transition...us suppose to the contrary that both expressions are nonnegative . Then max ,01v,,= max /3,1v,,> max 3OV,,= max /3,0V max i,01v,,, -A.,. A’ ,, A.i. A...induction. For k 1, from (20) we see that (22) /3, 8 ,, _-30,A V(). Clearly, the left-hand side of (22) is nonnegative , implying that the right-hand

Diffractive-refractive optics: X-ray splitter.

PubMed

Hrdý, Jaromír

2010-01-01

The possibility of splitting a thin (e.g. undulator) X-ray beam based on diffraction-refraction effects is discussed. The beam is diffracted from a crystal whose diffracting surface has the shape of a roof with the ridge lying in the plane of diffraction. The crystal is cut asymmetrically. One half of the beam impinges on the left-hand part of the roof and the other half impinges on the right-hand side of the roof. Owing to refraction the left part of the beam is deviated to the left whereas the right part is deviated to the right. The device proposed consists of two channel-cut crystals with roof-like diffraction surfaces; the crystals are set in a dispersive position. The separation of the beams after splitting is calculated at a distance of 10 m from the crystals for various asymmetry and inclination angles. It is shown that such a splitting may be utilized for long beamlines. Advantages and disadvantages of this method are discussed.

Hemispheric mechanisms controlling voluntary and spontaneous facial expressions.

PubMed

Gazzaniga, M S; Smylie, C S

1990-01-01

The capacity of each disconnected cerebral hemisphere to control a variety of facial postures was examined in three split-brain patients. The dynamics of facial posturing were analyzed in 30-msec optical disc frames that were generated off videotape recordings of each patient's response to lateralized stimuli. The results revealed that commands presented to the left hemisphere effecting postures of the lower facial muscles showed a marked asymmetry, with the right side of the face sometimes responding up to 180 msec before the left side of the face. Commands presented to the right hemisphere elicited a response only if the posture involved moving the upper facial muscles. Spontaneous postures filmed during free conversation were symmetrical. The results suggest that while either hemisphere can generate spontaneous facial expressions only the left hemisphere is efficient at generating voluntaly expressions. This contrasts sharply with the fact that both hemispheres can carry out a wide variety of other voluntary movements with the hand and foot.

Constraints on grip selection in hemiparetic cerebral palsy: effects of lesional side, end-point accuracy, and context.

PubMed

Steenbergen, Bert; Meulenbroek, Ruud G J; Rosenbaum, David A

2004-04-01

This study was concerned with selection criteria used for grip planning in adolescents with left or right hemiparetic cerebral palsy. In the first experiment, we asked participants to pick up a pencil and place the tip in a pre-defined target region. We varied the size of the target to test the hypothesis that increased end-point precision demands would favour the use of a grip that affords end-state comfort. In the second experiment, we studied grip planning in three task contexts that were chosen to let us test the hypothesis that a more functional task context would likewise promote the end-state comfort effect. When movements were performed with the impaired hand, we found that participants with right hemiparesis (i.e., left brain damage) aimed for postural comfort at the start rather than at the end of the object-manipulation phase in both experiments. By contrast, participants with left hemiparesis (i.e., right brain damage) did not favour a particular selection criterion with the impaired hand in the first experiment, but aimed for postural comfort at the start in the second experiment. When movements were performed with the unimpaired hand, grip selection criteria again differed for right and left hemiparetic participants. Participants with right hemiparesis did not favour a particular selection criterion with the unimpaired hand in the first experiment and only showed the end-state comfort effect in the most functional tasks of the second experiment. By contrast, participants with left hemiparesis showed the end-state comfort effect in all conditions of both experiments. These data suggest that the left hemisphere plays a special role in action planning, as has been recognized before, and that one of the deficits accompanying left brain damage is a deficit in forward movement planning, which has not been recognized before. Our findings have both theoretical and clinical implications.

Human handedness and asymmetry of the motor cortical silent period.

PubMed

Priori, A; Oliviero, A; Donati, E; Callea, L; Bertolasi, L; Rothwell, J C

1999-10-01

We performed transcranial magnetic stimulation of the motor cortex in 22 left-handed and 25 right-handed subjects during active contraction of a small hand muscle. Motor evoked potentials had the same latency, amplitude and threshold on both sides of the body, whilst the silent period duration was shorter in the dominant hand. Silent periods elicited by nerve and brainstem stimulation were the same in both hands. Since the latter part of the cortical silent period is due mainly to withdrawal of corticospinal input to spinal motoneurones, we speculate that the results are compatible with the suggestion that tonic contractions of the non-dominant hand are associated with a greater involvement of the corticospinal tract than those of the dominant hand. It also seems likely that there is an asymmetry in the excitability of cortical inhibitory mechanisms with those responsible for the cortical silent period being less excitable in the dominant motor cortex.

Effect of muscle relaxation in the foot on simultaneous muscle contraction in the contralateral hand.

PubMed

Kato, Kouki; Kanosue, Kazuyuki

2016-10-28

We investigated the effects of foot muscle relaxation and contraction on muscle activities in the hand on both ipsilateral and contralateral sides. The subjects sat in an armchair with hands in the pronated position. They were able to freely move their right/left hand and foot. They performed three tasks for both ipsilateral (right hand and right foot) and contralateral limb coordination (left hand and right foot for a total of six tasks). These tasks involved: (1) wrist extension from a flexed (resting) position, (2) wrist extension with simultaneous ankle dorsiflexion from a plantarflexed (resting) position, and (3) wrist extension with simultaneous ankle relaxation from a dorsiflexed position. The subjects performed each task as fast as possible after hearing the start signal. Reaction time for the wrist extensor contraction (i.e. the degree to which it preceded the motor reaction time), as observed in electromyography (EMG), became longer when it was concurrently done with relaxation of the ankle dorsiflexor. Also, the magnitude of EMG activity became smaller, as compared with activity when wrist extensor contraction was done alone or with contraction of the ankle dorsiflexor. These effects were observed not only for the ipsilateral hand, but also for the contralateral hand. Our findings suggest that muscle relaxation in one limb interferes with muscle contraction in both the ipsilateral and contralateral limbs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

A right-handed signalling pathway drives heart looping in vertebrates

PubMed Central

Ocaña, Oscar H.; Coskun, Hakan; Minguillón, Carolina; Murawala, Prayag; Tanaka, Elly M.; Galcerán, Joan; Muñoz-Chapuli, Ramón; Nieto, M. Angela

2017-01-01

The majority of animals show external bilateral symmetry, precluding the observation of multiple internal left-right (L/R) asymmetries that are fundamental for organ packaging and function1,2. In vertebrates, left identity is mediated by the left-specific Nodal-Pitx2 axis that is repressed on the right-hand side by the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) inducer Snail13,4. Despite some existing evidence3,5, it remains unclear whether an equivalent instructive pathway provides right-hand specific information to the embryo. Here we show that in zebrafish, BMP mediates the L/R asymmetric activation of another EMT inducer, Prrx1a, in the lateral plate mesoderm (LPM) with higher levels on the right. Prrx1a drives L/R differential cell movements towards the midline leading to a leftward displacement of the cardiac posterior pole through an actomyosin-dependent mechanism. Downregulation of Prrx1a prevents heart looping and leads to mesocardia. Two parallel and mutually repressed pathways, respectively driven by Nodal and BMP on the left and right LPM, converge on the asymmetric activation of Pitx2 and Prrx1, two transcription factors that integrate left and right information to govern heart morphogenesis. This mechanism is conserved in the chicken embryo and, in the mouse, Snail1 fulfills the role played by Prrx1 in fish and chick. Thus, a differential L/R EMT produces asymmetric cell movements and forces, more prominent from the right, that drive heart laterality in vertebrates. PMID:28880281

Optical illusion alters M1 excitability after mirror therapy: a TMS study.

PubMed

Läppchen, C H; Ringer, T; Blessin, J; Seidel, G; Grieshammer, S; Lange, R; Hamzei, F

2012-11-01

The contralesional primary motor cortex (M1) has been suggested to be involved in the motor recovery after mirror therapy, but whether the ipsilesional M1 is influenced by the contralesional M1 via transcallosal interhemispheric inhibition (IHI) is still unclear. The present study investigated the change of IHI as well as the intracortical inhibition and intracortical facilitation of both M1 induced by training in a mirror with the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). In this 2 × 2 factorial design (time × group), healthy subjects exercised standardized motor skills with their right hand on four consecutive days. Either a mirror (mirror group) or a board (control group) was positioned between their hands. Before and after training TMS was applied along with training tests of both hands. Tests were the same motor skills exercised daily by both groups. Tests of the untrained left hand improved significantly more in the mirror group than in the control group after training (P = 0.02) and showed a close correlation with an increase of intracortical inhibition of M1(left). IHI did not show any difference between investigation time points and groups. The present study confirms the previous suggestion of the involvement of the "contralesional" left-side (ipsilateral to the hand behind the mirror) M1 after mirror therapy, which is not mediated by IHI. Even with the same motor skill training (both groups performed same motor skills) but with different visual information, different networks are involved in training-induced plasticity.

Golf hand prosthesis performance of transradial amputees.

PubMed

Carey, Stephanie L; Wernke, Matthew M; Lura, Derek J; Kahle, Jason T; Dubey, Rajiv V; Highsmith, M Jason

2015-06-01

Typical upper limb prostheses may limit sports participation; therefore, specialized terminal devices are often needed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of transradial amputees to play golf using a specialized terminal device. Club head speed, X-factor, and elbow motion of two individuals with transradial amputations using an Eagle Golf terminal device were compared to a non-amputee during a golf swing. Measurements were collected pre/post training with various stances and grips. Both prosthesis users preferred a right-handed stance initially; however, after training, one preferred a left-handed stance. The amputees had slower club head speeds and a lower X-factor compared to the non-amputee golfer, but increased their individual elbow motion on the prosthetic side after training. Amputees enjoyed using the device, and it may provide kinematic benefits indicated by the increase in elbow flexion on the prosthetic side. The transradial amputees were able to swing a golf club with sufficient repetition, form, and velocity to play golf recreationally. Increased elbow flexion on the prosthetic side suggests a potential benefit from using the Eagle Golf terminal device. Participating in recreational sports can increase amputees' health and quality of life. © The International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics 2014.

75 FR 69606 - Airworthiness Directives; Fokker Services B.V. Model F.28 Mark 0070 and 0100 Airplanes

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-15

... LH (left-hand) MLG downlock actuator. * * * Based on the quantity and location of the ice, it is considered highly likely that the ice had formed between the upper end of the downlock actuator and the upper... departure airport. Ice in this location prevents the actuator from turning freely relative to the upper side...

VIEW OF DINING ROOM WITH SLIDING DOORS IN CLOSED POSITION. ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

VIEW OF DINING ROOM WITH SLIDING DOORS IN CLOSED POSITION. WINDOWS ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE HAVE VIEWS INTO THE CARPORT. VIEW FACING NORTH - Camp H.M. Smith and Navy Public Works Center Manana Title VII (Capehart) Housing, Three-Bedroom Single-Family Type 9, Birch Circle, Elm Drive, Elm Circle, and Date Drive, Pearl City, Honolulu County, HI

Compound measure of hand-foot-eye preference masked opposite turning behavior in healthy right-handers and non-right-handers: technical comment on Mohr et al. (2003).

PubMed

Mohr, C; Bracha, H S

2004-10-01

A previous article reported opposite turning behavior in right-handers and non-right-handers (C. Mohr. T. Landis, H. S. Bracha, & P. Brugger, 2003). This observation appears contradictory to the 1st study on long-term spontaneous turning behavior in healthy participants (H. S. Bracha, D. J. Seitz, J. Otemaa, & S. D. Click, 1987). These latter authors found a complex interaction between hemispheric dominance, preferred turning side, and sex. C. Mohr et al. (2003) argued that the differentiation of the population in hemisphere-dominant groups by a compound measure of hand-foot-eye preference might have masked their recent finding. Thus, this commentary presents a reanalysis of the original data set (H. S. Bracha et al., 1987). Replicating recent observation, right-handers preferred left-sided turns; and non-righthanders, right-sided turns. This replication strengthens the proposition that handedness and turning behavior might depend on interhemispheric dopamine asymmetries. Copyright 2004 APA.

GROWTH DISTURBANCES IN BONE AFTER X IRRADIATION AND RADIUM IRRADIATION FOR HEMANGIOMATA IN CHILDHOOD (in German)

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

Weiss, J.; Gregl, A.

1961-08-01

A number of injuries from radiation treatment of hemangiomata have been reported in the literature; two additional instances are reported here. The left hand of a 9-monthold child was treated for hemangiomata by exposure to 480 mg-hr of Ra. This was followed by skin necrosis with poor healing, and a permanent flexion of the wrist toward the radial side. At age 13, corrective surgery was required. The wrist was scarred on the thumb side, and the flexion formed almost a right angle. The left underarm on the ulnar side was shortened by 4 cm, the reach was shortened by 3.5more » cm, arsi the ball of the thumb was atrophied by 2 cm. The thumb was shortened by 1.7 cm, and the middle and forefinger were each shortened by 0.5 cm. The skeleta1 injuries visualized by x ray showed hypoplasia and shortening of the radius. The radial epiphysis was displaced. The distal end of the ulna was raised and bent. The os naviculare was stunted, the os multangulum was completely missing, and there was hypoplasia of metacarpal I. A satisfactory correction was made by partial resection of the ulna and osteotomy of the radius with 90 deg traction on the peripheral fragments. The patient reported that the hand became occupationally useful. In the second case, hemangioma on the right hand of an 18-month-old child was exposed to five x-ray treatments of 700 r each. After about seven months radial abduction increased at the right wrist. X ray showed 3.5-cm shortening of the right radius, with the epiphysis turned approximates 30 deg toward the radius side. The metaphysis was abnormal and partly sclerotic. The epiphysial trabeculae were coarsened. The wrist bones were hypoplastic. The radius was straightened and the ulna was shortened by osteotomy. (BBB)« less

A new numerical approach for uniquely solvable exterior Riemann-Hilbert problem on region with corners

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zamzamir, Zamzana; Murid, Ali H. M.; Ismail, Munira

2014-06-01

Numerical solution for uniquely solvable exterior Riemann-Hilbert problem on region with corners at offcorner points has been explored by discretizing the related integral equation using Picard iteration method without any modifications to the left-hand side (LHS) and right-hand side (RHS) of the integral equation. Numerical errors for all iterations are converge to the required solution. However, for certain problems, it gives lower accuracy. Hence, this paper presents a new numerical approach for the problem by treating the generalized Neumann kernel at LHS and the function at RHS of the integral equation. Due to the existence of the corner points, Gaussian quadrature is employed which avoids the corner points during numerical integration. Numerical example on a test region is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of this formulation.

A Comparative Theoretical and Computational Study on Robust Counterpart Optimization: I. Robust Linear Optimization and Robust Mixed Integer Linear Optimization

PubMed Central

Li, Zukui; Ding, Ran; Floudas, Christodoulos A.

2011-01-01

Robust counterpart optimization techniques for linear optimization and mixed integer linear optimization problems are studied in this paper. Different uncertainty sets, including those studied in literature (i.e., interval set; combined interval and ellipsoidal set; combined interval and polyhedral set) and new ones (i.e., adjustable box; pure ellipsoidal; pure polyhedral; combined interval, ellipsoidal, and polyhedral set) are studied in this work and their geometric relationship is discussed. For uncertainty in the left hand side, right hand side, and objective function of the optimization problems, robust counterpart optimization formulations induced by those different uncertainty sets are derived. Numerical studies are performed to compare the solutions of the robust counterpart optimization models and applications in refinery production planning and batch process scheduling problem are presented. PMID:21935263

Differences in Brain Adaptive Functional Reorganization in Right and Left Total Brachial Plexus Injury Patients.

PubMed

Feng, Jun-Tao; Liu, Han-Qiu; Xu, Jian-Guang; Gu, Yu-Dong; Shen, Yun-Dong

2015-09-01

Total brachial plexus avulsion injury (BPAI) results in the total functional loss of the affected limb and induces extensive brain functional reorganization. However, because the dominant hand is responsible for more cognitive-related tasks, injuries on this side induce more adaptive changes in brain function. In this article, we explored the differences in brain functional reorganization after injuries in unilateral BPAI patients. We applied resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning to 10 left and 10 right BPAI patients and 20 healthy control subjects. The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), which is a resting-state index, was calculated for all patients as an indication of the functional activity level of the brain. Two-sample t-tests were performed between left BPAI patients and controls, right BPAI patients and controls, and between left and right BPAI patients. Two-sample t-tests of the ALFF values revealed that right BPAIs induced larger scale brain reorganization than did left BPAIs. Both left and right BPAIs elicited a decreased ALFF value in the right precuneus (P < 0.05, Alphasim corrected). In addition, right BPAI patients exhibited increased ALFF values in a greater number of brain regions than left BPAI patients, including the inferior temporal gyrus, lingual gyrus, calcarine sulcus, and fusiform gyrus. Our results revealed that right BPAIs induced greater extents of brain functional reorganization than left BPAIs, which reflected the relatively more extensive adaptive process that followed injuries of the dominant hand. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A newborn with unilateral limb enlargement.

PubMed

Sharma, Shanel; Maino, Anna P F; Husain, Shad M; Adams, Gill G W

2012-03-01

On routine neonatal examination, a newborn term male was noted to have unilateral enlargement of the right lower limb, loose thickened red skin over the palm and widening of all the fingers on the right hand. His body was pinker and warmer on the right side compared with the left and he had a right undescended testicle and hypoplastic scrotum. Radiological examination of the lower limbs demonstrated the enlargement of the soft tissue of the right lower limb compared to the left (Fig. 1). Therefore, the diagnosis was unclear from this constellation of findings and an ophthalmic assessment was requested.

Grip force coordination during bimanual tasks in unilateral cerebral palsy.

PubMed

Islam, Mominul; Gordon, Andrew M; Sköld, Annika; Forssberg, Hans; Eliasson, Ann-Christin

2011-10-01

The aim of the study was to investigate coordination of fingertip forces during an asymmetrical bimanual task in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP). Twelve participants (six males, six females; mean age 14y 4mo, SD 3.3y; range 9-20y;) with unilateral CP (eight right-sided, four left-sided) and 15 age-matched typically developing participants (five males, 10 females; mean age 14y 3mo, SD 2.9y; range 9-18y,) were included. Participants were instructed to hold custom-made grip devices in each hand and place one device on top of the other. The grip force and load force were recorded simultaneously in both hands. Temporal coordination between the two hands was impaired in the participants with CP (compared with that in typically developing participants), that is they initiated the task by decreasing grip force in the releasing hand before increasing the force in the holding hand. The grip force increase in the holding hand was also smaller in participants with CP (involved hand/non-dominant hand releasing, p<0.001; non-involved hand/dominant hand releasing, p=0.007), indicating deficient scaling of force amplitude. The impairment was greater when participants with CP used their non-involved hand as the holding hand. Temporal coordination and scaling of fingertip forces were impaired in both hands in participants with CP. The non-involved hand was strongly affected by activity in the involved hand, which may explain why children with unilateral CP prefer to use only one hand during tasks that are typically performed with both hands. © The Authors. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology © 2011 Mac Keith Press.

Use of contrast echocardiography in diagnosis of anomalous connection of right superior vena cava to left atrium.

PubMed Central

Truman, A T; Rao, P S; Kulangara, R J

1980-01-01

A 4-month-old infant with cyanosis but without other abnormal cardiac findings is presented in whom the diagnosis of anomalous systemic venous connection to the left atrium was made by contrast echocardiography. The diagnosis was later confirmed by cardiac catheterisation and selective cineangiography. When saline was injected into a vein on the dorsum of each hand while echocardiographically recording the cardiac structures, the left atrium, left ventricle, and aorta were opacified without visualisation of the right ventricle. Similar study with injection into the right foot produced opacification of the right ventricle without visualisation of the left-sided structures. These data suggested normal drainage of the inferior vena cava with anomalous connection of the superior vena cava to the left atrium. A review of the previously reported cases of anomalous connection of the right superior vena cava to the left atrium is presented together with the possible embryological origin of this anomaly. Images PMID:7459157

Left/right judgement does not influence the effect of mirror therapy after stroke.

PubMed

Lundquist, Camilla B; Nielsen, Jørgen F

2014-01-01

To investigate the correlation between left/right judgement and the effect of mirror therapy (MT). A partial aim was to describe adverse effects of MT. This prospective follow-up study included 36 stroke patients, mean time since stroke was 33 d, SD 23. Left/right judgement is the ability to judge a pictured hand as belonging to one side of the body or the other. In this study, left/right judgement was established before the onset of MT by asking the patient to recognise left and right hands in photographs. Patients were tested before and after the intervention with the motor assessment scale (MAS) and two-point discrimination (2PD). The correlation between left/right judgement and the change of effect measured on the MAS and 2PD were tested by Spearman's rank correlation. The ability to perform left/right judgement before the onset of MT had no significant correlation with change of effect measured on the MAS and 2PD (rho -0.169, p = 0.363 and rho = -0.227, p = 0.219). Thirty-one patients completed the intervention without adverse effects. Left/right judgement does not influence the effect of MT. There seems to be no reason to test the ability to perform left/right judgement before the onset of MT. MT is an intervention without major adverse effects. Implications for Rehabilitation Mirror therapy (MT) is a method for treating sensory and motor disturbances post-stroke. It is important to clarify whether the ability to perform left/right judgement influences the effect of MT. In this study, left/right judgement does not influence the effect of MT. Based on the results of this study, testing and training left/right judgement before commencing MT cannot be recommended.

33 CFR 207.300 - Ohio River, Mississippi River above Cairo, Ill., and their tributaries; use, administration, and...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... District Engineer and market by signs and/or flashing red lights installed in conspicuous and appropriate... structures located on the left-hand side (facing downstream) of the river and a black can-type buoy for such... buoy of appropriate type and color (red nun or black can buoy) until covered by a depth of water equal...

33 CFR 207.300 - Ohio River, Mississippi River above Cairo, Ill., and their tributaries; use, administration, and...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... District Engineer and market by signs and/or flashing red lights installed in conspicuous and appropriate... structures located on the left-hand side (facing downstream) of the river and a black can-type buoy for such... buoy of appropriate type and color (red nun or black can buoy) until covered by a depth of water equal...

Prism adaptation in alternately exposed hands.

PubMed

Redding, Gordon M; Wallace, Benjamin

2013-08-01

We assessed intermanual transfer of the proprioceptive realignment aftereffects of prism adaptation in right-handers by examining alternate target pointing with the two hands for 40 successive trials, 20 with each hand. Adaptation for the right hand was not different as a function of exposure sequence order or postexposure test order, in contrast with adaptation for the left hand. Adaptation was greater for the left hand when the right hand started the alternate pointing than when the sequence of target-pointing movements started with the left hand. Also, the largest left-hand adaptation appeared when that hand was tested first after exposure. Terminal error during exposure varied in cycles for the two hands, converging on zero when the right hand led, but no difference appeared between the two hands when the left hand led. These results suggest that transfer of proprioceptive realignment occurs from the right to the left hand during both exposure and postexposure testing. Such transfer reflects the process of maintaining spatial alignment between the two hands. Normally, the left hand appears to be calibrated with the right-hand spatial map, and when the two hands are misaligned, the left-hand spatial map is realigned with the right-hand spatial map.

KSC-07pd0158

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-01-23

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The right-hand orbital maneuvering system pod is being delivered to Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2 for installation on the orbiter Endeavour. The orbital maneuvering system/reaction control system left- and right-hand pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Each pod is fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum. Each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. The orbiter is being prepared for its first launch in just over four years. The vehicle has undergone an extensive modification period, including the addition of all of the return-to-flight safety upgrades added to both Discovery and Atlantis. Endeavour is targeted for launch of mission STS-118 on June 28. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

KSC-07pd0159

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-01-23

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The right-hand orbital maneuvering system pod is driven past the Vehicle Assembly Building on its way to Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2 for installation on the orbiter Endeavour. The orbital maneuvering system/reaction control system left- and right-hand pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Each pod is fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum. Each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. The orbiter is being prepared for its first launch in just over four years. The vehicle has undergone an extensive modification period, including the addition of all of the return-to-flight safety upgrades added to both Discovery and Atlantis. Endeavour is targeted for launch of mission STS-118 on June 28. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Feeling socially powerless makes you more prone to bumping into things on the right and induces leftward line bisection error.

PubMed

Wilkinson, David; Guinote, Ana; Weick, Mario; Molinari, Rosanna; Graham, Kylee

2010-12-01

Social power affects the manner in which people view themselves and act toward others, a finding that has attracted broad interest from the social and political sciences. However, there has been little interest from those within cognitive neuroscience. Here, we demonstrate that the effects of power extend beyond social interaction and invoke elementary spatial biases in behavior consistent with preferential hemispheric activation. In particular, participants who felt relatively powerless, compared with those who felt more powerful, were more likely to bisect horizontal lines to the left of center, and bump into the right-hand (as opposed to the left-hand) side when walking through a narrow passage. These results suggest that power induces hemispheric differences in visuomotor behavior, indicating that this ubiquitous phenomenon affects not only how we interact with one another, but also how we interact with the physical world.

Effect of horizontal pick and place locations on shoulder kinematics.

PubMed

Könemann, R; Bosch, T; Kingma, I; Van Dieën, J H; De Looze, M P

2015-01-01

In this study the effects of horizontal bin locations in an order picking workstation on upper arm elevation, trunk inclination and hand use were investigated. Eight subjects moved (self-paced) light or heavy products (0.2 and 3.0 kg) from a central product bin to an inner or outer order bin (at 60 or 150 cm) on the left or right side of the workstation, while movements were recorded. The outer compared to inner bin location resulted in more upper arm elevation and trunk inclination per work cycle, both in terms of number of peak values and in terms of time integrals of angles (which is a dose measure over time). Considering the peak values and time integrals per minute (instead of per work cycle), these effects are reduced, due to the higher cycle times for outer bins. Hand use (left, right or both) was not affected by order bin locations.

Auditory cortical activation and plasticity after cochlear implantation measured by PET using fluorodeoxyglucose.

PubMed

Łukaszewicz-Moszyńska, Zuzanna; Lachowska, Magdalena; Niemczyk, Kazimierz

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate possible relationships between duration of cochlear implant use and results of positron emission tomography (PET) measurements in the temporal lobes performed while subjects listened to speech stimuli. Other aspects investigated were whether implantation side impacts significantly on cortical representations of functions related to understanding speech (ipsi- or contralateral to the implanted side) and whether any correlation exists between cortical activation and speech therapy results. Objective cortical responses to acoustic stimulation were measured, using PET, in nine cochlear implant patients (age range: 15 to 50 years). All the patients suffered from bilateral deafness, were right-handed, and had no additional neurological deficits. They underwent PET imaging three times: immediately after the first fitting of the speech processor (activation of the cochlear implant), and one and two years later. A tendency towards increasing levels of activation in areas of the primary and secondary auditory cortex on the left side of the brain was observed. There was no clear effect of the side of implantation (left or right) on the degree of cortical activation in the temporal lobe. However, the PET results showed a correlation between degree of cortical activation and speech therapy results.

Auditory cortical activation and plasticity after cochlear implantation measured by PET using fluorodeoxyglucose

PubMed Central

Łukaszewicz-Moszyńska, Zuzanna; Lachowska, Magdalena; Niemczyk, Kazimierz

2014-01-01

Summary The purpose of this study was to evaluate possible relationships between duration of cochlear implant use and results of positron emission tomography (PET) measurements in the temporal lobes performed while subjects listened to speech stimuli. Other aspects investigated were whether implantation side impacts significantly on cortical representations of functions related to understanding speech (ipsi- or contralateral to the implanted side) and whether any correlation exists between cortical activation and speech therapy results. Objective cortical responses to acoustic stimulation were measured, using PET, in nine cochlear implant patients (age range: 15 to 50 years). All the patients suffered from bilateral deafness, were right-handed, and had no additional neurological deficits. They underwent PET imaging three times: immediately after the first fitting of the speech processor (activation of the cochlear implant), and one and two years later. A tendency towards increasing levels of activation in areas of the primary and secondary auditory cortex on the left side of the brain was observed. There was no clear effect of the side of implantation (left or right) on the degree of cortical activation in the temporal lobe. However, the PET results showed a correlation between degree of cortical activation and speech therapy results. PMID:25306122

Accuracy of algorithms to predict accessory pathway location in children with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome.

PubMed

Wren, Christopher; Vogel, Melanie; Lord, Stephen; Abrams, Dominic; Bourke, John; Rees, Philip; Rosenthal, Eric

2012-02-01

The aim of this study was to examine the accuracy in predicting pathway location in children with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome for each of seven published algorithms. ECGs from 100 consecutive children with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome undergoing electrophysiological study were analysed by six investigators using seven published algorithms, six of which had been developed in adult patients. Accuracy and concordance of predictions were adjusted for the number of pathway locations. Accessory pathways were left-sided in 49, septal in 20 and right-sided in 31 children. Overall accuracy of prediction was 30-49% for the exact location and 61-68% including adjacent locations. Concordance between investigators varied between 41% and 86%. No algorithm was better at predicting septal pathways (accuracy 5-35%, improving to 40-78% including adjacent locations), but one was significantly worse. Predictive accuracy was 24-53% for the exact location of right-sided pathways (50-71% including adjacent locations) and 32-55% for the exact location of left-sided pathways (58-73% including adjacent locations). All algorithms were less accurate in our hands than in other authors' own assessment. None performed well in identifying midseptal or right anteroseptal accessory pathway locations.

Awake right hemisphere brain surgery.

PubMed

Hulou, M Maher; Cote, David J; Olubiyi, Olutayo I; Smith, Timothy R; Chiocca, E Antonio; Johnson, Mark D

2015-12-01

We report the indications and outcomes of awake right hemispheric brain surgery, as well as a rare patient with crossed aphasia. Awake craniotomies are often performed to protect eloquent cortex. We reviewed the medical records for 35 of 96 patients, in detail, who had awake right hemisphere brain operations. Intraoperative cortical mapping of motor and/or language function was performed in 29 of the 35 patients. A preoperative speech impairment and left hand dominance were the main indicators for awake right-sided craniotomies in patients with right hemisphere lesions. Four patients with lesion proximity to eloquent areas underwent awake craniotomies without cortical mapping. In addition, one patient had a broncho-pulmonary fistula, and another had a recent major cardiac procedure that precluded awake surgery. An eloquent cortex representation was identified in 14 patients (48.3%). Postoperatively, seven of 17 patients (41.1%) who presented with weakness, experienced improvements in their motor functions, 11 of 16 (68.7%) with seizures became seizure-free, and seven of nine (77.7%) with moderate to severe headaches and one of two with a visual field deficit improved significantly. There were also improvements in speech and language functions in all patients who presented with speech difficulties. A right sided awake craniotomy is an excellent option for left handed patients, or those with right sided cortical lesions that result in preoperative speech impairments. When combined with intraoperative cortical mapping, both speech and motor function can be well preserved. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sex differences and bilateral asymmetry in dermatoglyphic pattern elements on the fingertips.

PubMed

Bener, A

1979-01-01

In the present paper, 539 Polish families and 999 individuals (515 males and 484 females) were analysed to determine whether asymmetry of dermatoglyphic patter elements on the fingertips of ulnar and radial loops in genetically controlled. And we enquire whether the body is bilaterally asymmetrical. We have found the asymmetry between right and left hand fingertips for ulnar and radial loops, for each digit and between the two sexes. The differences between the sexes is small. The bimanual difference in dermatoglyphic pattern elements between hands, right minus left, has been used as a measure of asymmetry. The mean and variance difference for males is not significantly different from the mean and variance for females. An investigation was also made of correlations between relatives for bimanual differences, right minus left. We may conclude from these results that the asymmetry of dermatoglphic pattern elements on fingertips of ulnar and radial loops has little hereditary component. Finally, the results of this work show that the dermatoglyphic pattern elements on fingertips of ulnar and radial loops on each side of the body are inherited.

Relationship between directionality and orientation in drawings by young children and adults.

PubMed

Taguchi, Masanori; Noma, Yutaka

2005-08-01

The present study examined the relationship between directionality of drawing movements and the orientation of drawn products in right-handed adults and young children for 27 Japanese kindergartners and 29 Japanese university students who were asked to draw with each hand fishes in side view and circles from several starting points. Significant values of chi2 for distributions of frequencies of orientation of the fish drawings and the direction of circular drawing movement indicated that adult right-handers drawing the fish facing to the left tended to draw a circle clock-wise when they drew with the dominant hand, while there was no such significant relationship in young children's drawings. This result may suggest that the reading and writing habits may be implicated in the direction of drawing movements with the dominant hand, and this directional bias of drawing movement in the dominant hand can appear in the orientation of finished drawings.

Effect of acupuncture at right Hoku point on the bilateral vibration-induced finger flexion reflex in man.

PubMed

Takakura, N; Kanamaru, A; Sibuya, M; Homma, I

1992-01-01

Vibration applied to the volar side of the finger tip has been reported to induce finger flexion reflex. Acupuncture is reported to inhibit this vibration-induced finger flexion reflex (VFR) in the ipsilateral hand. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of unilateral acupuncture in the hand on VFR in both hands. As no systematic study on the relationship between VFR and the force of voluntary contraction with no vibration (Initial Force: IF) has been reported, this relationship was studied prior to the present study on acupuncture. VFR was induced by mechanical vibration on the volar side of the middle finger tip with 10 g to 500 g IF. With approximately 300 g IF, VFR was consistent. Therefore, approximately 300 g IF was applied for VFR induction to study the effect of acupuncture on VFR. A stainless steel needle was inserted into the right Hoku point and remained inserted (in-situ technique) for 10 minutes. VFR in both hands was significantly decreased by acupuncture at the right Hoku point (% control force of VFR: right, 67.8%; left, 74.6%). The present results suggest that acupuncture in the unilateral hand influences the bilateral reflex arc of VFR.

Parallel machine architecture for production rule systems

DOEpatents

Allen, Jr., John D.; Butler, Philip L.

1989-01-01

A parallel processing system for production rule programs utilizes a host processor for storing production rule right hand sides (RHS) and a plurality of rule processors for storing left hand sides (LHS). The rule processors operate in parallel in the recognize phase of the system recognize -Act Cycle to match their respective LHS's against a stored list of working memory elements (WME) in order to find a self consistent set of WME's. The list of WME is dynamically varied during the Act phase of the system in which the host executes or fires rule RHS's for those rules for which a self-consistent set has been found by the rule processors. The host transmits instructions for creating or deleting working memory elements as dictated by the rule firings until the rule processors are unable to find any further self-consistent working memory element sets at which time the production rule system is halted.

Theoretical Study of Operational Limits of High-Speed Quantum Dot Lasers

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-09

esc − vLn,captnL − b1 BnL pL, (1) b1 ∂pL ∂ t = p L QW τLp,esc − vLp,capt pL − b1 BnL pL, (2) for free holes and electrons on the right-hand side of...on the left- hand side of the OCL can be written as follows: pLQW τp,esc = vLp,capt pL + b1 BnL pL. (28) Substituting pLQW/τp,esc−vLp,capt pL = b1 BnL ...pL in (6), we have B2Dn L QW p L QW + b1 BnL pL = wLp,tunn pL,QW1 NS fp − wLp,tunn NS(1 − fp)pLQW. (29) As seen from (29), bimolecular recombination

Crossed Aphasia in a Patient with Anaplastic Astrocytoma of the Non-Dominant Hemisphere.

PubMed

Prater, Stephanie; Anand, Neil; Wei, Lawrence; Horner, Neil

2017-09-01

Aphasia describes a spectrum of speech impairments due to damage in the language centers of the brain. Insult to the inferior frontal gyrus of the dominant cerebral hemisphere results in Broca's aphasia - the inability to produce fluent speech. The left cerebral hemisphere has historically been considered the dominant side, a characteristic long presumed to be related to a person's "handedness". However, recent studies utilizing fMRI have shown that right hemispheric dominance occurs more frequently than previously proposed and despite a person's handedness. Here we present a case of a right-handed patient with Broca's aphasia caused by a right-sided brain tumor. This is significant not only because the occurrence of aphasia in right-handed-individuals with right hemispheric brain damage (so-called "crossed aphasia") is unusual but also because such findings support dissociation between hemispheric linguistic dominance and handedness.

Pentadiagonal alternating-direction-implicit finite-difference time-domain method for two-dimensional Schrödinger equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tay, Wei Choon; Tan, Eng Leong

2014-07-01

In this paper, we have proposed a pentadiagonal alternating-direction-implicit (Penta-ADI) finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method for the two-dimensional Schrödinger equation. Through the separation of complex wave function into real and imaginary parts, a pentadiagonal system of equations for the ADI method is obtained, which results in our Penta-ADI method. The Penta-ADI method is further simplified into pentadiagonal fundamental ADI (Penta-FADI) method, which has matrix-operator-free right-hand-sides (RHS), leading to the simplest and most concise update equations. As the Penta-FADI method involves five stencils in the left-hand-sides (LHS) of the pentadiagonal update equations, special treatments that are required for the implementation of the Dirichlet's boundary conditions will be discussed. Using the Penta-FADI method, a significantly higher efficiency gain can be achieved over the conventional Tri-ADI method, which involves a tridiagonal system of equations.

Vibration therapy of the plantar fascia improves spasticity of the lower limbs of a patient with fetal-type Minamata disease in the chronic stage.

PubMed

Usuki, Fusako; Tohyama, Satsuki

2011-10-11

The authors present a novel treatment for spasticity using a hand-held vibration massager. A fetal-type Minamata disease patient showing spasticity of lower limbs had direct application of vibratory stimuli to the right plantar fascia and to the left hamstring. After the treatment for 1 year, the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) of the lower limbs was improved from three (right > left) to two (right < left). After then, direct application of the same method with the left plantar fascia improved the MAS of the left lower limb to two (right = left). The increased deep tendon reflexes had diminished and markedly positive Babinski's sign had also decreased to slightly positive on both sides. This method is so simple that patients can treat themselves at home. The authors think that direct application of vibratory stimuli to the plantar fascia is valuable to patients with neurologic disorders, particularly those who cannot receive more invasive treatments.

Vibration therapy of the plantar fascia improves spasticity of the lower limbs of a patient with fetal-type Minamata disease in the chronic stage

PubMed Central

Usuki, Fusako; Tohyama, Satsuki

2011-01-01

The authors present a novel treatment for spasticity using a hand-held vibration massager. A fetal-type Minamata disease patient showing spasticity of lower limbs had direct application of vibratory stimuli to the right plantar fascia and to the left hamstring. After the treatment for 1 year, the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) of the lower limbs was improved from three (right > left) to two (right < left). After then, direct application of the same method with the left plantar fascia improved the MAS of the left lower limb to two (right = left). The increased deep tendon reflexes had diminished and markedly positive Babinski’s sign had also decreased to slightly positive on both sides. This method is so simple that patients can treat themselves at home. The authors think that direct application of vibratory stimuli to the plantar fascia is valuable to patients with neurologic disorders, particularly those who cannot receive more invasive treatments. PMID:22675016

Shoulder and hip roll changes during 200-m front crawl swimming.

PubMed

Psycharakis, Stelios G; Sanders, Ross H

2008-12-01

To determine accurately the magnitude and changes in shoulder roll (SR) and hip roll (HR) throughout a 200-m maximum front crawl swim and whether SR and HR were associated with swimming velocity (V). Bilateral roll asymmetries and timing differences between SR and HR were also investigated. Ten male swimmers of national/international level performed a maximum 200-m front crawl swim. Performance was recorded with four below- and two above-water synchronized cameras and four nonbreathing stroke cycles (SC) were analyzed (one for each 50 m). SR and HR were calculated separately. Swimmers rolled their shoulders significantly more than their hips (P < 0.001). V generally decreased during the test, and HR was significantly higher in SC4 than in SC1 (P = 0.001). SR had a negative and significant correlation with V in each SC (-0.663

Finite Difference Model of a Four-Electrode Conductivity Measurement System

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-05-27

for an infinite half space with electrodes placed on the air/media boundary : 1 Less...8) The left hand side of Equation (8) can be converted to a surface integral using Green’s theorem : − � ∇ ∙ �σ���∇ϕ...adjacent to a boundary between two conductivities. The discretized solutions for each face are summed to comprise the surface integral: − � σ

Software Design Strategies for Multidisciplinary Computational Fluid Dynamics

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-07-01

on the left-hand-side of Figure 3. The resulting unstructured grid system does a good job of representing the flowfield locally around the solid... Laboratory [16–19]. It uses Cartesian block structured grids, which lead to a substantially more efficient computational execution compared to the...including blade sectional lift and pitching moment. These Helios-computed airloads show good agreement with the experimental data. Many of the

Pose and Wind Estimation for Autonomous Parafoils

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

Communications GT Georgia Institute of Technology IDVD Inverse Dynamics in the Virtual Domain IMU inertial measurement unit INRIA Institut National de Recherche en...sensor. The method used is a nonlinear estimator that combines the visual sensor measurements with those of an inertial measurement unit ( IMU ) on... isolated on the left side of the equation. On the other hand, when the measurement equation of (3.27) is implemented, the probabil- 58 ity

STS-44 Mission Specialist (MS) Runco floats on OV-104's middeck

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

STS-44 Mission Specialist (MS) Mario Runco, Jr, wearing communications kit assembly headset (HDST), freefloats on the middeck of Atlantis, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 104. HDST interface unit (HIU) is strapped to Runco's thigh. Note that his back is against the middeck ceiling, his feet at the port side wall, and his left hand at the forward lockers. Runco is also wearing a United States Navy t-shirt.

Echocardiographic characteristics of the criss-cross heart.

PubMed

Yang, Ya-Li; Wang, Xin-Fang; Cheng, Tsung O; Xie, Ming-Xing; Lü, Qing; He, Lin; Lu, Xiao-Fang; Wang, Jing; Li, Ling; Anderson, Robert H

2010-04-15

To assess the ultrasonic characteristics of the criss-cross heart, and explore the value of echocardiography in the diagnosis of this rare congenital cardiac defect. We reviewed the echocardiographic findings in 4 patients having criss-crossed atrioventricular connections at our hospital, and compared the findings with observations at surgery in 3 of the patients. In all 4 patients, there was usual atrial arrangement, right hand ventricular topology, and concordant atrioventricular connections. The inlet components of the ventricular mass, however, crossed such that the apical component of the morphologically right ventricle was situated anteriorly and superiorly, and extended to the left relative to the apex of the morphologically left ventricle. The ventriculo-arterial connections were concordant in 1 patient, double outlet from the morphologically right ventricle in 2, and discordant in the other. In all 4 patients, it proved impossible to obtain the standard 4-chamber view showing simultaneously all four chambers and both atrioventricular valves. A series of apical 4-chamber or subcostal coronal views, obtained by tilting the transducer from posterior to anterior, demonstrate initially the connection of the left-sided left atrium and the right-sided left ventricle through the mitral valve. More anterior angulation of the transducer then showed the right-sided right atrium to be connected to the left-sided right ventricle through the tricuspid valve, confirming the presence of twisted atrioventricular connections. Color Doppler imaging displayed the crossing of the atrioventricular connections without mixing of the streams. Short-axis views across the ventricular mass confirmed that the right ventricle was superior, anterior, and to the left of the left ventricle, and demonstrated the horizontal position of the ventricular septum. When viewed subcostally, the distance between the tricuspid valve and the orifice of the inferior vena cava was significantly increased relative to normal findings. The echocardiographic findings were confirmed during surgical interventions in 3 patients, apart from the failure to diagnose one instance of persistent patency of the left superior vena cava. The failure to obtain a characteristic 4-chamber view in any cut was diagnostic for recognition of the criss-crossed atrioventricular junctions. Transthoracic echocardiography provides definitive images of this rare arrangement, and accurately defines the associated cardiac abnormalities. Copyright 2009. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Left-hand dominance in children: Prevalence and maternal stereotypes in a South-east Nigerian city.

PubMed

Uwaezuoke, Samuel N; Eke, Christopher B; Nwobi, Emmanuel A

2015-01-01

The objectives of the study are to estimate the prevalence of left-hand dominance among children of selected mothers in an urban city and to determine the mothers' stereotypes about left-handedness. A cross-sectional study of mothers (N = 222) selected by systematic random sampling was done. The mothers were interviewed with structured questionnaires. Data were analyzed with appropriate descriptive statistics on SPSS. The estimated prevalence of left-hand dominance in their children was 7.52%. A left-handed mother was more likely to have a left-handed child. A substantial number of the mothers held negative stereotypes about left-hand dominance and showed a good knowledge about other types of handedness with a significant difference in the responses between right-handers and left-handers. The prevalence of left-hand dominance in their children supports previous reports which show that left-handedness usually occurs in less than 10% of the population. The mothers' negative stereotypes signify the likelihood of stigmatizing the children with this hand dominance.

Dissociated language functions: a matter of atypical language lateralization or cerebral plasticity?

PubMed

Acioly, Marcus Andre; Gharabaghi, Alireza; Zimmermann, Christoph; Erb, Michael; Heckl, Stefan; Tatagiba, Marcos

2014-01-01

The left hemisphere is generally considered to harbor language functions. Atypical cortical language lateralization is mainly demonstrated in left-handed and ambidextrous individuals, whereas dissociated language functions have been reported in association with brain injuries as a part of the reorganization process. We present a thoughtful discussion on the underlying mechanisms of dissociated language functions through an illustrative case of dissociated expressive language. A 31-year-old left-handed woman presented with a recurrent left frontal glioma. Preoperative language functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) panel revealed right-sided dominance for two different language tasks (verbal fluency and visual naming), and the word chain task demonstrated maximal activation in the left hemisphere at the posterior margin of the tumor. The patient was operated on awake to assess language functions intraoperatively. Preoperative fMRI findings were confirmed revealing a task-specific dissociation of expressive language functions. Surgical resection was taken to the functional boundaries. Postoperatively, no language dysfunction occurred. Dissociated language functions are prone to occur in long-standing lesions. Different patterns of dissociation may be encountered due to interindividual particularities and cerebral plasticity. The presented patient is unique by demonstrating new insight into expressive language dissociation, emphasizing the role of a preoperative language fMRI panel and the capability of intraoperative language mapping for identifying special language networks. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Preventable wheelchair-related thermal injury.

PubMed

Bull, William; Priebe, Michael; Dillig, Gina; Dado, Diane

2006-01-01

Wheelchair-related injuries are common, and with proper reporting of injuries, advanced technologic support may offer new ways to prevent those injuries. Case REPORT AND FINDINGS: A man with tetraplegia who retains only minimal use of his right hand experienced a right-sided armrest malfunction of his wheelchair resulting in his wheelchair controls being out of reach. This left him stranded in the sun for almost 2 hours in 86 degrees F weather. During that time, he developed full thickness sunburns of his left forearm and deep partial thickness burns of the left fingertips where they were in contact with the left armrest. This patient's full thickness burns could have been prevented if his motorized wheelchair had back-up communication in the event of a malfunction. Technology developers must realize the need for such systems. Health care professionals must advocate for a higher standard of safety and report injuries related to wheelchair malfunction.

Peripheral, functional and postural asymmetries related to the preferred chewing side in adults with natural dentition.

PubMed

Rovira-Lastra, B; Flores-Orozco, E I; Ayuso-Montero, R; Peraire, M; Martinez-Gomis, J

2016-04-01

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the preferred chewing side and whether chewing side preference is related to peripheral, functional or postural lateral preferences. One hundred and forty-six adults with natural dentition performed three masticatory assays, each consisting of five trials of chewing three pieces of silicon placed into a latex bag for 20 cycles, either freestyle or unilaterally on the right- or left-hand side. Occlusal contact area in the intercuspal position, maximum bite force, masticatory performance and cycle duration were measured and the lateral asymmetry of these variables was calculated. Laterality tests were performed to determine handedness, footedness, earedness and eyedness as functional preferences, and hand-clasping, arm-folding and leg-crossing as postural lateral preferences. The preferred chewing side was determined using three different methods: assessment of the first chewing cycle for each trial, calculation of the asymmetry index from all cycles and application of a visual analogue scale. Bivariate relationship and multiple linear regression analyses were performed. Among unilateral chewers, 77% of them preferred the right side for chewing. The factors most closely related to the preferred chewing side were asymmetry of bite force, asymmetry of masticatory performance and earedness, which explained up to 16% of the variance. Although several functional or postural lateral preferences seem to be related to the preferred chewing side, peripheral factors such as asymmetry of bite force and of masticatory performance are the most closely related to the preferred chewing side in adults with natural dentition. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

What Is the Role of Manual Preference in Hand-Digit Mapping During Finger Counting? A Study in a Large Sample of Right- and Left-Handers.

PubMed

Zago, Laure; Badets, Arnaud

2016-01-01

The goal of the present study was to test whether there is a relationship between manual preference and hand-digit mapping in 369 French adults with similar numbers of right- and left-handers. Manual laterality was evaluated with the finger tapping test to evaluate hand motor asymmetry, and the Edinburgh handedness inventory was used to assess manual preference strength (MPS) and direction. Participants were asked to spontaneously "count on their fingers from 1 to 10" without indications concerning the hand(s) to be used. The results indicated that both MPS and hand motor asymmetry affect the hand-starting preference for counting. Left-handers with a strong left-hand preference (sLH) or left-hand motor asymmetry largely started to count with their left hand (left-starter), while right-handers with a strong right-hand preference (sRH) or right-hand motor asymmetry largely started to count with their right hand (right-starter). Notably, individuals with weak MPS did not show a hand-starting preference. These findings demonstrated that manual laterality contributes to finger counting directionality. Lastly, the results showed a higher proportion of sLH left-starter individuals compared with sRH right-starters, indicating an asymmetric bias of MPS on hand-starting preference. We hypothesize that the higher proportion of sLH left-starters could be explained by the congruence between left-to-right hand-digit mapping and left-to-right mental number line representation that has been largely reported in the literature. Taken together, these results indicate that finger-counting habits integrate biological and cultural information. © The Author(s) 2015.

Speech-independent production of communicative gestures: evidence from patients with complete callosal disconnection.

PubMed

Lausberg, Hedda; Zaidel, Eran; Cruz, Robyn F; Ptito, Alain

2007-10-01

Recent neuropsychological, psycholinguistic, and evolutionary theories on language and gesture associate communicative gesture production exclusively with left hemisphere language production. An argument for this approach is the finding that right-handers with left hemisphere language dominance prefer the right hand for communicative gestures. However, several studies have reported distinct patterns of hand preferences for different gesture types, such as deictics, batons, or physiographs, and this calls for an alternative hypothesis. We investigated hand preference and gesture types in spontaneous gesticulation during three semi-standardized interviews of three right-handed patients and one left-handed patient with complete callosal disconnection, all with left hemisphere dominance for praxis. Three of them, with left hemisphere language dominance, exhibited a reliable left-hand preference for spontaneous communicative gestures despite their left hand agraphia and apraxia. The fourth patient, with presumed bihemispheric language representation, revealed a consistent right-hand preference for gestures. All four patients displayed batons, tosses, and shrugs more often with the left hand/shoulder, but exhibited a right hand preference for pantomime gestures. We conclude that the hand preference for certain gesture types cannot be predicted by hemispheric dominance for language or by handedness. We found distinct hand preferences for specific gesture types. This suggests a conceptual specificity of the left and right hand gestures. We propose that left hand gestures are related to specialized right hemisphere functions, such as prosody or emotion, and that they are generated independently of left hemisphere language production. Our findings challenge the traditional neuropsychological and psycholinguistic view on communicative gesture production.

Changes in cortical, cerebellar and basal ganglia representation after comprehensive long term unilateral hand motor training.

PubMed

Walz, A D; Doppl, K; Kaza, E; Roschka, S; Platz, T; Lotze, M

2015-02-01

We were interested in motor performance gain after unilateral hand motor training and associated changes of cerebral and cerebellar movement representation tested with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) before and after training. Therefore, we trained the left hand of strongly right-handed healthy participants with a comprehensive training (arm ability training, AAT) over two weeks. Motor performance was tested for the trained and non-trained hand before and after the training period. Functional imaging was performed for the trained and the non-trained hand separately and comprised force modulation with the fist, sequential finger movements and a fast writing task. After the training period the performance gain of tapping movements was comparable for both hand sides, whereas the motor performance for writing showed a higher training effect for the trained hand. fMRI showed a reduction of activation in supplementary motor, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, parietal cortical areas and lateral cerebellar areas during sequential finger movements over time. During left hand writing lateral cerebellar hemisphere also showed reduced activation, while activation of the anterior cerebellar hemisphere was increased. An initially high anterior cerebellar activation magnitude was a predictive value for high training outcome of finger tapping and visual guided movements. During the force modulation task we found increased activation in the striate. Overall, a comprehensive long-term training of the less skillful hand in healthy participants resulted in relevant motor performance improvements, as well as an intermanual learning transfer differently pronounced for the type of movement tested. Whereas cortical motor area activation decreased over time, cerebellar anterior hemisphere and striatum activity seem to represent increasing resources after long-term motor training. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Distinctive laterality of neural networks supporting action understanding in left- and right-handed individuals: An EEG coherence study.

PubMed

Kelly, Rachel; Mizelle, J C; Wheaton, Lewis A

2015-08-01

Prior work has demonstrated that perspective and handedness of observed actions can affect action understanding differently in right and left-handed persons, suggesting potential differences in the neural networks underlying action understanding between right and left-handed individuals. We sought to evaluate potential differences in these neural networks using electroencephalography (EEG). Right- and left-handed participants observed images of tool-use actions from egocentric and allocentric perspectives, with right- and left-handed actors performing the actions. Participants judged the outcome of the observed actions, and response accuracy and latency were recorded. Behaviorally, the highest accuracy and shortest latency was found in the egocentric perspective for right- and left-handed observers. Handedness of subject showed an effect on accuracy and latency also, where right-handed observers were faster to respond than left-handed observers, but on average were less accurate. Mu band (8-10 Hz) cortico-cortical coherence analysis indicated that right-handed observers have coherence in the motor dominant left parietal-premotor networks when looking at an egocentric right or allocentric left hands. When looking in an egocentric perspective at a left hand or allocentric right hand, coherence was lateralized to right parietal-premotor areas. In left-handed observers, bilateral parietal-premotor coherence patterns were observed regardless of actor handedness. These findings suggest that the cortical networks involved in understanding action outcomes are dependent on hand dominance, and notably right handed participants seem to utilize motor systems based on the limb seen performing the action. The decreased accuracy for right-handed participants on allocentric images could be due to asymmetrical lateralization of encoding action and motoric dominance, which may interfere with translating allocentric limb action outcomes. Further neurophysiological studies will determine the specific processes of how left- and right-handed participants understand actions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Digit ratio (2D:4D) and hand preference for writing in the BBC Internet Study.

PubMed

Manning, J T; Peters, M

2009-09-01

The ratio of the length of the second to the fourth digit (2D:4D) may be negatively correlated with prenatal testosterone. Hand preference has been linked with prenatal testosterone and 2D:4D. Here we show that 2D:4D is associated with hand preference for writing in a large internet sample (n>170,000) in which participants self-reported their finger lengths. We replicated a significant association between right 2D:4D and writing hand preference (low right 2D:4D associated with left hand preference) as well as a significant correlation between writing hand preference and the difference between left and right 2D:4D or Dr-l (low Dr-l associated with left hand preference). A new significant correlation between left 2D:4D and writing hand preference was also shown (high left 2D:4D associated with left hand preference). There was a clear interaction between writing hand preference and 2D:4D: The left 2D:4D was significantly larger than the right 2D:4D in male and female left-handed writers, and the right hand 2D:4D was significantly larger than the left hand 2D:4D in male and female right-handed writers.

The Presentation Location of the Reference Stimuli Affects the Left-Side Bias in the Processing of Faces and Chinese Characters

PubMed Central

Li, Chenglin; Cao, Xiaohua

2017-01-01

For faces and Chinese characters, a left-side processing bias, in which observers rely more heavily on information conveyed by the left side of stimuli than the right side of stimuli, has been frequently reported in previous studies. However, it remains unclear whether this left-side bias effect is modulated by the reference stimuli's location. The present study adopted the chimeric stimuli task to investigate the influence of the presentation location of the reference stimuli on the left-side bias in face and Chinese character processing. The results demonstrated that when a reference face was presented in the left visual field of its chimeric images, which are centrally presented, the participants showed a preference higher than the no-bias threshold for the left chimeric face; this effect, however, was not observed in the right visual field. This finding indicates that the left-side bias effect in face processing is stronger when the reference face is in the left visual field. In contrast, the left-side bias was observed in Chinese character processing when the reference Chinese character was presented in either the left or right visual field. Together, these findings suggest that although faces and Chinese characters both have a left-side processing bias, the underlying neural mechanisms of this left-side bias might be different. PMID:29018391

The Presentation Location of the Reference Stimuli Affects the Left-Side Bias in the Processing of Faces and Chinese Characters.

PubMed

Li, Chenglin; Cao, Xiaohua

2017-01-01

For faces and Chinese characters, a left-side processing bias, in which observers rely more heavily on information conveyed by the left side of stimuli than the right side of stimuli, has been frequently reported in previous studies. However, it remains unclear whether this left-side bias effect is modulated by the reference stimuli's location. The present study adopted the chimeric stimuli task to investigate the influence of the presentation location of the reference stimuli on the left-side bias in face and Chinese character processing. The results demonstrated that when a reference face was presented in the left visual field of its chimeric images, which are centrally presented, the participants showed a preference higher than the no-bias threshold for the left chimeric face; this effect, however, was not observed in the right visual field. This finding indicates that the left-side bias effect in face processing is stronger when the reference face is in the left visual field. In contrast, the left-side bias was observed in Chinese character processing when the reference Chinese character was presented in either the left or right visual field. Together, these findings suggest that although faces and Chinese characters both have a left-side processing bias, the underlying neural mechanisms of this left-side bias might be different.

Infrared Spectroscopy with a Cavity Ring-Down Spectrometer

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-08-01

excitation source wavelength. This relationship is the Beer - Lambert law that describes electromagnetic radiation spectroscopy: (2) We can...absorption coefficient on the right. The modified Beer - Lambert law in Eq. 6 is used in the numerical analysis of data collected by the CRDS. The...take Beer - Lambert and express the fraction of transmitted light (I/I0) on the left-hand side of Eq. 2 as a function of time. This expression is

Classification of ictal and seizure-free HRV signals with focus on lateralization of epilepsy.

PubMed

Behbahani, Soroor; Dabanloo, Nader Jafarnia; Nasrabadi, Ali Motie; Dourado, Antonio

2016-01-01

Epileptic onsets often affect the autonomic function of the body during a seizure, whether it is in ictal, interictal or post-ictal periods. The different effects of localization and lateralization of seizures on heart rate variability (HRV) emphasize the importance of autonomic function changes in epileptic patients. On the other hand, the detection of seizures is of primary interests in evaluating the epileptic patients. In the current paper, we analyzed the HRV signal to develop a reliable offline seizure-detection algorithm to focus on the effects of lateralization on HRV. We assessed the HRV during 5-min segments of continuous electrocardiogram (ECG) recording with a total number of 170 seizures occurred in 16 patients, composed of 86 left-sided and 84 right-sided focus seizures. Relatively high and low-frequency components of the HRV were computed using spectral analysis. Poincaré parameters of each heart rate time series considered as non-linear features. We fed these features to the Support Vector Machines (SVMs) to find a robust classification method to classify epileptic and non-epileptic signals. Leave One Out Cross-Validation (LOOCV) approach was used to demonstrate the consistency of the classification results. Our obtained classification accuracy confirms that the proposed scheme has a potential in classifying HRV signals to epileptic and non-epileptic classes. The accuracy rates for right-sided and left-sided focus seizures were obtained as 86.74% and 79.41%, respectively. The main finding of our study is that the patients with right-sided focus epilepsy showed more reduction in parasympathetic activity and more increase in sympathetic activity. It can be a marker of impaired vagal activity associated with increased cardiovascular risk and arrhythmias. Our results suggest that lateralization of the seizure onset zone could exert different influences on heart rate changes. A right-sided seizure would cause an ictal tachycardia whereas a left-sided seizure would result in an ictal bradycardia.

Hemispheric specialization in affective responses, cerebral dominance for language, and handedness: Lateralization of emotion, language, and dexterity.

PubMed

Costanzo, Elsa Yolanda; Villarreal, Mirta; Drucaroff, Lucas Javier; Ortiz-Villafañe, Manuel; Castro, Mariana Nair; Goldschmidt, Micaela; Wainsztein, Agustina Edith; Ladrón-de-Guevara, María Soledad; Romero, Carlos; Brusco, Luis Ignacio; Camprodon, Joan A; Nemeroff, Charles; Guinjoan, Salvador Martín

2015-07-15

Hemispheric specialization in affective responses has received little attention in the literature. This is a fundamental variable to understand circuit dynamics of networks subserving emotion. In this study we put to test a modified "valence" hypothesis of emotion processing, considering that sadness and happiness are processed by each hemisphere in relation to dominance for language and handedness. Mood induction and language activation during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were used in 20 right-handed and 20 nonright-handed subjects, focusing on interconnected regions known to play critical roles in affective responses: subgenual cingulate cortex, amygdala, and anterior insular cortex. We observed a consistent relationship between lateralization of affective processing, motor dexterity, and language in individuals with clear right-handedness. Sadness induces a greater activation of right-hemisphere cortical structures in right-handed, left-dominant individuals, which is not evident in nonright-handed subjects who show no consistent hemispheric dominance for language. In anterior insula, right-handed individuals displayed reciprocal activation of either hemisphere depending upon mood valence, whereas amygdala activation was predominantly left-sided regardless of mood valence. Nonright-handed individuals exhibited less consistent brain lateralization of affective processing regardless of language and motor dexterity lateralization. In contrast with traditional views on emotion processing lateralization, hemispheric specialization in affective responses is not a unitary process but is specific to the brain structure being activated. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The accuracy, precision and sustainability of different techniques for tablet subdivision: breaking by hand and the use of tablet splitters or a kitchen knife.

PubMed

van Riet-Nales, Diana A; Doeve, Myrthe E; Nicia, Agnes E; Teerenstra, Steven; Notenboom, Kim; Hekster, Yechiel A; van den Bemt, Bart J F

2014-05-15

Tablets are frequently subdivided to lower the dose, to facilitate swallowing by e.g. children or older people or to save costs. Splitting devices are commonly used when hand breaking is difficult or painful. Three techniques for tablet subdivision were investigated: hand breaking, tablet splitter, kitchen knife. A best case drug (paracetamol), tablet (round, flat, uncoated, 500 mg) and operator (24-year student) were applied. Hundred tablets were subdivided by hand and by three devices of each of the following types: Fit & Healthy, Health Care Logistics, Lifetime, PillAid, PillTool, Pilomat tablet splitter; Blokker kitchen knife. The intra and inter device accuracy, precision and sustainability were investigated. The compliance to (adapted) regulatory requirements was investigated also. The accuracy and precision of hand broken tablets was 104/97% resp. 2.8/3.2% (one part per tablet considered; parts right/left side operator). The right/left accuracies of the splitting devices varied between 60 and 133%; the precisions 4.0 and 29.6%. The devices did not deteriorate over 100-fold use. Only hand broken tablets complied with all regulatory requirements. Health care professionals should realize that tablet splitting may result in inaccurate dosing. Authorities should undertake appropriate measures to assure good function of tablet splitters and, where feasible, to reduce the need for their use. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Individual performance and leader's laterality in interactive contests.

PubMed

Mukherjee, Satyam

2017-05-01

Left-handedness is known to provide an intrinsic and tactical advantage at top level in many sports involving interactive contests. Again, most of the renowned leaders of the world are known to have been left-handed. Leadership plays an important role in politics, sports and mentorship. In this paper we show that Cricket captains who bat left-handed have a strategic advantage over the right-handed captains in One Day International (ODI) and Test matches. The present study involving 46 left-handed captains and 148 right-handed captains in ODI matches, reveal a strong relation between leader's laterality and team member performance, demonstrating the critical importance of left-handedness and successful leadership. The odds for superior batting performance in an ODI match under left-handed captains are 89% higher than the odds under right-handed captains. Our study shows that left-handed captains are more successful in extracting superior performance from the batsmen and bowlers in ODI and Test matches; perhaps indicating left-handed leaders are better motivators as leaders when compared to right-handed captains.

Is the side with the best masticatory performance selected for chewing?

PubMed

Rovira-Lastra, Bernat; Flores-Orozco, Elan Ignacio; Salsench, Juan; Peraire, Maria; Martinez-Gomis, Jordi

2014-12-01

This study assessed the degree of relationship between masticatory laterality and lateral asymmetry of masticatory performance using silicon pieces enclosed in a latex bag. Forty-two young adults with natural dentition participated in this cross-sectional, observational study. They performed four different masticatory assays, each consisting of five trials of chewing three pieces of silicon for 20 cycles. In one assay, they were asked to masticate unbagged silicon free-style, whilst in the three other assays they were asked to masticate bagged silicon free-style, unilaterally on the right-hand side and unilaterally on the left-hand side. The preferred chewing side was determined by calculating the asymmetry index for both the free-style assays. Masticatory performance was determined by sieving the silicon particles and the cycle duration was also recorded. Data were analysed using independent samples or paired t-test and linear regression. Masticatory function using the bagged silicon was similar to that using the unbagged silicon. A significant and positive relationship was observed between the preferred chewing side expressed as the asymmetry index and the side with better masticatory performance. Alternate unilateral chewers demonstrated better masticatory performance than unilateral chewers. However, when free-style and unilateral chewing were compared for each subject, unilateral chewing was found to be as efficient as - or even more efficient than - free-style chewing. There is a positive association between the preferred chewing side and the more efficient side. Alternate unilateral mastication per se does not promote better masticatory performance than consistently unilateral mastication. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Left-sided strokes are more often recognized than right-sided strokes: the Rotterdam study.

PubMed

Portegies, Marileen L P; Selwaness, Mariana; Hofman, Albert; Koudstaal, Peter J; Vernooij, Meike W; Ikram, M Arfan

2015-01-01

Left-sided strokes are reported to be more common than right-sided strokes, but it is unknown whether they occur more often or are simply recognized more easily by clinicians. In a large unselected community-dwelling population, we examined the frequency of clinical left- and right-sided strokes and transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) and compared it with the frequency of left- and right-sided infarcts on MRI. This study was conducted within the population-based Rotterdam Study. Between 1990 and 2012, 13 894 participants were followed up for first-ever stroke and TIA. MRI scans were performed within a random subgroup of 5081 persons and were rated for the presence of supratentorial cortical and lacunar infarcts. We compared frequencies of left- and right-sided strokes, TIAs, or MRI infarcts using binomial and Fisher exact tests. After a mean follow-up of 9.6 (±6.0) years, 1252 patients had a stroke, of which 704 were ischemic, and 799 participants had a TIA. Within the subgroup with MRI, we identified 673 infarcts. Ischemic strokes were more frequently left-sided (57.7%; 95% confidence interval, 53.7-61.6) than right-sided, similar to TIAs (57.8% left-sided; 53.4-62.3). In contrast, we found no left-right difference in distribution of infarcts on MRI (51.9% left-sided; 48.1-55.6). Clinical ischemic strokes and TIAs are more frequently left-sided than right-sided, whereas this difference is not present for infarcts on MRI. This suggests that left-sided strokes and TIAs are more easily recognized. Consequently, there should be more attention for symptoms of right-sided strokes and TIAs. © 2014 American Heart Association, Inc.

Hand movements with a phase structure and gestures that depict action stem from a left hemispheric system of conceptualization.

PubMed

Helmich, I; Lausberg, H

2014-10-01

The present study addresses the previously discussed controversy on the contribution of the right and left cerebral hemispheres to the production and conceptualization of spontaneous hand movements and gestures. Although it has been shown that each hemisphere contains the ability to produce hand movements, results of left hemispherically lateralized motor functions challenge the view of a contralateral hand movement production system. To examine hemispheric specialization in hand movement and gesture production, ten right-handed participants were tachistoscopically presented pictures of everyday life actions. The participants were asked to demonstrate with their hands, but without speaking what they had seen on the drawing. Two independent blind raters evaluated the videotaped hand movements and gestures employing the Neuropsychological Gesture Coding System. The results showed that the overall frequency of right- and left-hand movements is equal independent of stimulus lateralization. When hand movements were analyzed considering their Structure, the presentation of the action stimuli to the left hemisphere resulted in more hand movements with a phase structure than the presentation to the right hemisphere. Furthermore, the presentation to the left hemisphere resulted in more right and left-hand movements with a phase structure, whereas the presentation to the right hemisphere only increased contralateral left-hand movements with a phase structure as compared to hand movements without a phase structure. Gestures that depict action were primarily displayed in response to stimuli presented in the right visual field than in the left one. The present study shows that both hemispheres possess the faculty to produce hand movements in response to action stimuli. However, the left hemisphere dominates the production of hand movements with a phase structure and gestures that depict action. We therefore conclude that hand movements with a phase structure and gestures that represent action stem from a left hemispheric system of conceptualization.

Memorization of Sequences of Movements of the Right or the Left Hand by Right- and Left-Handers: Vector Coding.

PubMed

Bobrova, E V; Bogacheva, I N; Lyakhovetskii, V A; Fabinskaja, A A; Fomina, E V

2017-01-01

In order to test the hypothesis of hemisphere specialization for different types of information coding (the right hemisphere, for positional coding; the left one, for vector coding), we analyzed the errors of right and left-handers during a task involving the memorization of sequences of movements by the left or the right hand, which activates vector coding by changing the order of movements in memorized sequences. The task was first performed by the right or the left hand, then by the opposite hand. It was found that both'right- and left-handers use the information about the previous movements of the dominant hand, but not of the non-dom" inant one. After changing the hand, right-handers use the information about previous movements of the second hand, while left-handers do not. We compared our results with the data of previous experiments, in which positional coding was activated, and concluded that both right- and left-handers use vector coding for memorizing the sequences of their dominant hands and positional coding for memorizing the sequences of non-dominant hand. No similar patterns of errors were found between right- and left-handers after changing the hand, which suggests that in right- and left-handersthe skills are transferred in different ways depending on the type of coding.

Role of hand dominance in mapping preferences for emotional-valence words to keypress responses.

PubMed

Song, Xiaolei; Chen, Jing; Proctor, Robert W

2017-10-01

When a crossed-hands placement (right hand presses left key; left hand presses right key) is used in a two-choice spatial reaction task, the mapping of left stimulus to left key and right stimulus to right key yields faster responses than the opposite mapping. In contrast, de la Vega, Dudschig, De Filippis, Lachmair, and Kaup (2013) reported that when right-handed individuals classified words as having positive or negative affect, there was a benefit for mapping positive affect to the right hand (left key) and negative affect to the left hand (right key). The goal of the present study was to replicate and extend this seemingly distinct finding. Experiment 1 duplicated the design of that study without including nonword "no-go" trials but including a condition in which participants performed with an uncrossed hand placement. Results corroborated the benefit for mapping positive to the right hand and negative to the left hand with the hands crossed, and this benefit was as large as that obtained with the hands uncrossed. Experiment 2 confirmed the importance of the dominant/subordinate hand distinction with left-handed participants, and Experiment 3 showed, with right-handed participants, that it does not depend on which limb is placed over the other. The results verify that the mapping advantage for positive→right/negative→left is indeed due to the distinction between dominant and subordinate hands. Possible reasons for the difference between these results and those obtained with spatial-location stimuli are considered. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated external defibrillation training on the left or the right side - a randomized simulation study.

PubMed

Stærk, Mathilde; Bødtker, Henrik; Lauridsen, Kasper G; Løfgren, Bo

2017-01-01

Correct placement of the left automated external defibrillator (AED) electrode is rarely achieved. AED electrode placement is predominantly illustrated and trained with the rescuer sitting on the right side of the patient. Placement of the AED electrodes from the left side of the patient may result in a better overview of and access to the left lateral side of the thorax. This study aimed to investigate if training in automated external defibrillation on the left side compared to the right side of a manikin improves left AED electrode placement. Laypeople attending basic life support training were randomized to learn automated external defibrillation from the left or right side of a manikin. After course completion, participants used an AED and placed AED electrodes in a simulated cardiac arrest scenario. In total, 40 laypersons were randomized to AED training on the left (n=19 [missing data =1], 63% female, mean age: 47.3 years) and right (n=20, 75% female, mean age: 48.7 years) sides of a manikin. There was no difference in left AED electrode placement when trained on the left or right side: the mean (SD) distances to the recommended left AED electrode position were 5.9 (2.1) cm vs 6.9 (2.2) cm ( p =0.15) and to the recommended right AED electrode position were 2.6 (1.5) cm vs 1.8 (0.8) cm ( p =0.06), respectively. Training in automated external defibrillation on the left side of a manikin does not improve left AED electrode placement compared to training on the right side.

Sensorimotor performance and function in people with osteoarthritis of the hand: A case-control comparison.

PubMed

Magni, Nicoló Edoardo; McNair, Peter John; Rice, David Andrew

2018-04-01

To determine whether hand left/right judgements, tactile acuity, and body perception are impaired in people with hand OA. To examine the relationships between left right judgements, tactile acuity and hand pain. To explore the relationships between sensorimotor measures (left/right judgements and tactile acuity) and measures of hand function in people with hand OA. Twenty patients with symptomatic hand OA and 19 healthy pain-free controls undertook a hand left/right judgment task, a control left/right judgement task, two-point discrimination (TPD) threshold testing (assessing tactile acuity), a neglect-like symptoms questionnaire (assessing body perception) and several established measures of hand function. Neglect-like symptoms were experienced more frequently in the hand OA group (P < 0.05). People with hand OA were slower (P < 0.05) and less accurate (P < 0.05) in the hand left/right judgement task when compared to healthy controls, with no significant difference in the control task. Significant associations were found between hand left/right judgement reaction time and pain intensity (P < 0.05) and accuracy and pain intensity (P < 0.05). TPD was not different between groups, and no correlation was found between TPD and left/right judgement performance. No association was found between left/right judgement performance and measures of hand function (all P > 0.05). However, TPD (tactile acuity) was related to several measures of hand function (all P < 0.05). People with hand OA had more frequent neglect-like symptoms and were slower and less accurate compared to healthy controls at hand left/right judgments, which was indicative of disrupted working body schema. Future studies may wish to examine whether interventions targeting sensorimotor dysfunction are effective at reducing pain and improving hand function and dexterity in people with hand OA. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparative analysis of brain EEG signals generated from the right and left hand while writing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sardesai, Neha; Jamali Mahabadi, S. E.; Meng, Qinglei; Choa, Fow-Sen

2016-05-01

This paper provides a comparative analysis of right handed people and left handed people when they write with both their hands. Two left handed and one right handed subject were asked to write their respective names on a paper using both, their left and right handed, and their brain signals were measured using EEG. Similarly, they were asked to perform simple mathematical calculations using both their hand. The data collected from the EEG from writing with both hands is compared. It is observed that though it is expected that the right brain only would contribute to left handed writing and vice versa, it is not so. When a right handed person writes with his/her left hand, the initial instinct is to go for writing with the right hand. Hence, both parts of the brain are active when a subject writes with the other hand. However, when the activity is repeated, the brain learns to expect to write with the other hand as the activity is repeated and then only the expected part of the brain is active.

Structural similarity between β(3)-peptides synthesized from β(3)-homo-amino acids and aspartic acid monomers.

PubMed

Ahmed, Sahar; Sprules, Tara; Kaur, Kamaljit

2014-07-01

Formation of stable secondary structures by oligomers that mimic natural peptides is a key asset for enhanced biological response. Here we show that oligomeric β(3)-hexapeptides synthesized from L-aspartic acid monomers (β(3)-peptides 1, 5a, and 6) or homologated β(3)-amino acids (β(3)-peptide 2), fold into similar stable 14-helical secondary structures in solution, except that the former form right-handed 14-helix and the later form left-handed 14-helix. β(3)-Peptides from L-Asp monomers contain an additional amide bond in the side chains that provides opportunities for more hydrogen bonding. However, based on the NMR solution structures, we found that β(3)-peptide from L-Asp monomers (1) and from homologated amino acids (2) form similar structures with no additional side-chain interactions. These results suggest that the β(3)-peptides derived from L-Asp are promising peptide-mimetics that can be readily synthesized using L-Asp monomers as well as the right-handed 14-helical conformation of these β(3)-peptides (such as 1 and 6) may prove beneficial in the design of mimics for right-handed α-helix of α-peptides. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Increased functional connectivity between cortical hand areas and praxis network associated with training-related improvements in non-dominant hand precision drawing.

PubMed

Philip, Benjamin A; Frey, Scott H

2016-07-01

Chronic forced use of the non-dominant left hand yields substantial improvements in the precision and quality of writing and drawing. These changes may arise from increased access by the non-dominant (right) hemisphere to dominant (left) hemisphere mechanisms specialized for end-point precision control. To evaluate this prediction, 22 healthy right-handed adults underwent resting state functional connectivity (FC) MRI scans before and after 10 days of training on a left hand precision drawing task. 89% of participants significantly improved left hand speed, accuracy, and smoothness. Smoothness gains were specific to the trained left hand and persistent: 6 months after training, 71% of participants exhibited above-baseline movement smoothness. Contrary to expectations, we found no evidence of increased FC between right and left hemisphere hand areas. Instead, training-related improvements in left hand movement smoothness were associated with increased FC between both sensorimotor hand areas and a left-lateralized parieto-prefrontal network implicated in manual praxis. By contrast, skill retention at 6 months was predicted by changes including decreased FC between the representation of the trained left hand and bilateral sensorimotor, parietal, and premotor cortices, possibly reflecting consolidation and a disengagement of early learning processes. These data indicate that modest amounts of training (<200min total) can induce substantial, persistent improvements the precision and quality of non-dominant hand control in healthy adults, supported by strengthened connectivity between bilateral sensorimotor hand areas and a left-lateralized parieto-prefrontal praxis network. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Difference of motor overflow depending on the impaired or unimpaired hand in stroke patients.

PubMed

Kim, Yushin; Kim, Woo-Sub; Shim, Jae Kun; Suh, Dong Won; Kim, TaeYeong; Yoon, BumChul

2015-02-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the patterns of contralateral motor overflow (i.e. mirror movement) between the homologous body parts on the right and left side, in stroke patients during single-finger and multi-finger maximum force production tasks. Forty subjects, including stroke (n=20) and normal subjects (n=20), participated in this study. The stroke subjects maximally pressed force sensors with their fingers in a flexed position using a single (index, middle, ring, or little) or all fingers (all 4 fingers) using the impaired (IH) or unimpaired (UIH) hand, while the non-patient subjects used their right hands for the same tasks. The maximal voluntary forces in the ipsilateral and unintended pressing forces of each contralateral finger were recorded during the tasks. The magnitude of motor overflow to the contralateral side was calculated using the index of contralateral independence (CI). During the single finger tasks, the finger CI was significantly decreased in the UIH (91%) compared with that in the IH (99%) or normal hands (99%). Likewise, the multiple finger tasks showed that the CI was significantly lower in the UIH (84%) compared with that in the IH (96%) or normal hands (99%). However, the maximal forces were significantly lower in the IH relative to those in the UIH and normal hands. These data demonstrate that stroke patients have greater motor overflow from the UIH to the IH. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Hemispheric Asymmetry of Visual Cortical Response by Means of Functional Transcranial Doppler

PubMed Central

Roje-Bedeković, Marina; Lovrenčić-Huzjan, Arijana; Bosnar-Puretić, Marijana; Šerić, Vesna; Demarin, Vida

2012-01-01

We assessed the visual evoked response and investigated side-to-side differences in mean blood flow velocities (MBFVs) by means of functional transcranial Doppler (fTCD) in 49 right-handed patients with severe internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis and 30 healthy volunteers, simultaneously in both posterior cerebral arteries (PCAs) using 2 MHz probes, successively in the dark and during the white light stimulation. Statistically significant correlation (P = 0.001) was shown in healthy and in patients (P < 0.05) between MBFV in right PCA in physiological conditions and MBFV in right PCA during the white light stimulation and in the dark. The correlation between MBVF in right PCA and contralateral left PCA was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The correlation between ipsilateral left PCA was significantly higher than the one with contralateral right PCA (P < 0.05). There is a clear trend towards the lateralisation of the visual evoked response in the right PCA. PMID:22135771

Asymmetric balance control between legs for quiet but not for perturbed stance.

PubMed

Vieira, Osvaldo; Coelho, Daniel Boari; Teixeira, Luis Augusto

2014-10-01

Interlateral performance asymmetry in upright balance control was evaluated in this investigation by comparing unipedal stance on the right versus the left leg. Participants were healthy young adults, hand-foot congruent preference for the right body side. Balance performance was evaluated in unperturbed quiet stance and in the recovery of balance stability following a mechanical perturbation induced by unexpected load release. Evaluation was made under availability of full sensory information, and under deprivation of vision combined with distortion of sensory inputs from the feet soles. Results from perturbed posture revealed that muscular response latency and postural sway were symmetric between the legs. Unipedal stance was more stable when the body was supported on the right as compared with the left leg. No interaction was found between leg and sensory condition. Our findings are interpreted as resulting from specialization of the sensorimotor system controlling the right leg for continuous low-magnitude postural adjustments, while corrections to large-scale stance sway are symmetrically controlled between body sides.

Automated external defibrillation training on the left or the right side – a randomized simulation study

PubMed Central

Stærk, Mathilde; Bødtker, Henrik; Lauridsen, Kasper G; Løfgren, Bo

2017-01-01

Background Correct placement of the left automated external defibrillator (AED) electrode is rarely achieved. AED electrode placement is predominantly illustrated and trained with the rescuer sitting on the right side of the patient. Placement of the AED electrodes from the left side of the patient may result in a better overview of and access to the left lateral side of the thorax. This study aimed to investigate if training in automated external defibrillation on the left side compared to the right side of a manikin improves left AED electrode placement. Methods Laypeople attending basic life support training were randomized to learn automated external defibrillation from the left or right side of a manikin. After course completion, participants used an AED and placed AED electrodes in a simulated cardiac arrest scenario. Results In total, 40 laypersons were randomized to AED training on the left (n=19 [missing data =1], 63% female, mean age: 47.3 years) and right (n=20, 75% female, mean age: 48.7 years) sides of a manikin. There was no difference in left AED electrode placement when trained on the left or right side: the mean (SD) distances to the recommended left AED electrode position were 5.9 (2.1) cm vs 6.9 (2.2) cm (p=0.15) and to the recommended right AED electrode position were 2.6 (1.5) cm vs 1.8 (0.8) cm (p=0.06), respectively. Conclusion Training in automated external defibrillation on the left side of a manikin does not improve left AED electrode placement compared to training on the right side. PMID:29066936

Different distal-proximal movement balances in right- and left-hand writing may hint at differential premotor cortex involvement.

PubMed

Potgieser, A R E; de Jong, B M

2011-12-01

Right-handed people generally write with their right hand. Language expressed in script is thus performed with the hand also preferred for skilled motor tasks. This may suggest an efficient functional interaction between the language area of Broca and the adjacent ventral premotor cortex (PMv) in the left (dominant) hemisphere. Pilot observations suggested that distal movements are particularly implicated in cursive writing with the right hand and proximal movements in left-hand writing, which generated ideas concerning hemisphere-specific roles of PMv and dorsal premotor cortex (PMd). Now we examined upper-limb movements in 30 right-handed participants during right- and left-hand writing, respectively. Quantitative description of distal and proximal movements demonstrated a significant difference between movements in right- and left-hand writing (p<.001, Wilcoxon signed-rank test). A Distal Movement Excess (DME) characterized writing with the right hand, while proximal and distal movements similarly contributed to left-hand writing. Although differences between non-language drawings were not tested, we propose that the DME in right-hand writing may reflect functional dominance of PMv in the left hemisphere. More proximal movements in left-hand writing might be related to PMd dominance in right-hemisphere motor control, logically implicated in spatial visuomotor transformations as seen in reaching. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Now You Feel both: Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation Induces Lasting Improvements in the Rehabilitation of Chronic Tactile Extinction

PubMed Central

Schmidt, Lena; Utz, Kathrin S.; Depper, Lena; Adams, Michaela; Schaadt, Anna-Katharina; Reinhart, Stefan; Kerkhoff, Georg

2013-01-01

Tactile extinction is frequent, debilitating, and often persistent after brain damage. Currently, there is no treatment available for this disorder. In two previous case studies we showed an influence of galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) on tactile extinction. Here, we evaluated in further patients the immediate and lasting effects of GVS on tactile extinction. GVS is known to induce polarity-specific changes in cerebral excitability in the vestibular cortices and adjacent cortical areas. Tactile extinction was examined with the Quality Extinction Test (QET) where subjects have to discriminate six different tactile fabrics in bilateral, double simultaneous stimulations on their dorsum of hands with identical or different tactile fabrics. Twelve patients with stable left-sided tactile extinction after unilateral right-hemisphere lesions were divided into two groups. The GVS group (N = 6) performed the QET under six different experimental conditions (two Baselines, Sham-GVS, left-cathodal/right-anodal GVS, right-cathodal/left-anodal GVS, and a Follow-up test). The second group of patients with left-sided extinction (N = 6) performed the QET six times repetitively, but without receiving GVS (control group). Both right-cathodal/left-anodal as well as left-cathodal/right-anodal GVS (mean: 0.7 mA) improved tactile identification of identical and different stimuli in the experimental group. These results show a generic effect of GVS on tactile extinction, but not in a polarity-specific way. These observed effects persisted at follow-up. Sham-GVS had no significant effect on extinction. In the control group, no significant improvements were seen in the QET after the six measurements of the QET, thus ruling out test repetition effects. In conclusion, GVS improved bodily awareness permanently for the contralesional body side in patients with tactile extinction and thus offers a novel treatment option for these patients. PMID:23519604

Development of a Computer-Aided Diagnosis System for Early Detection of Masses Using Retrospectively Detected Cancers on Prior Mammograms

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-06-01

Hadjiiski, and N. Petrick, "Computerized nipple identification for multiple image analysis in computer-aided diagnosis," Medical Physics 31, 2871...candidates, 3 identification of suspicious objects, 4 feature extraction and analysis, and 5 FP reduc- tion by classification of normal tissue...detection of microcalcifi- cations on digitized mammograms.41 An illustration of a La- placian decomposition tree is shown on the left-hand side of Fig. 4

An Overview of Acoustic Detection Analysis.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-01-01

PL(r) and NL are typically determined from publica - tions that give geographic and seasonal values for these parameters. The left-hand side of the...In Seguridad hence) 14 p., Oct 1980, AD A092 733 wiorthwstern University, Evanston, IL PP 297 - Classified PP 3o9 Bowes, Marianne, Brchling, Frank P...Siultaneous PP 36 Determination of Income and Employment in United States-- U’NeIll, Thomas, Řool ltv riels for the Na.y," I oc., Mexico Border

An Unsteady Preconditioning Scheme Based on Convective-Upwind Split-Pressure (CUSP) Artificial Dissipation

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-07

this can have a disastrous effect on convergence rate. Even if steady state is obtained for low Mach number flows (after many iterations ), the results...rally lead do a diagonally dominant left-hand-side matrix, which causes stability problems for implicit Gauss - Seidel schemes. For this reason, matrix... convergence at the stagnation point. The iterations for each airfoil is also reported in Fig. 2. Without preconditioning, dramatic efficiency problems are seen

Magnetic elliptical polarization of Schumann resonances

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sentman, D. D.

1987-01-01

Measurements of orthogonal, horizontal components of the magnetic field in the ELF range obtained during September 1985 show that the Schumann resonance eigenfrequencies determined separately for the north-south and east-west magnetic components differ by as much as 0.5 Hz, suggesting that the underlying magnetic signal is not linearly polarized at such times. The high degree of magnetic ellipticity found suggests that the side multiplets of the Schumann resonances corresponding to azimuthally inhomogeneous normal modes are strongly excited in the highly asymmetric earth-ionosphere cavity. The dominant sense of polarization over the measurement passband is found to be right-handed during local daylight hours, and to be left-handed during local nighttime hours.

Cultural and Environmental Pressure against Left-Hand Preference in Urban and Semi-Urban Malawi

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zverev, Y. P.

2006-01-01

The study assessed views of teachers, pupils and their guardians on left-hand preference. Seventy-five percent of the responders indicated that the left hand should not be preferred for habitual activities and 87.6% of them indicated that left-handers should be forced to change the hand. Gender had significant effect on the view on left hand…

Affect, affective disorder and schizophrenia. A neuropsychological investigation of right hemisphere function.

PubMed

David, A S; Cutting, J C

1990-04-01

Performance on a happy-sad chimeric face test was used to examine the role of right hemisphere activation in positive and negative affect, both normal and abnormal, as well as in schizophrenia. This test is known to elicit a left-sided perceptual bias in right-handed normal subjects. Happy and sad mood in normals did not influence the perceptual bias. Depression and mania were associated with reduced and increased biases respectively, while schizophrenics showed no bias to either side. Possible explanations are right hemisphere hyperfunction in mania, moderate relative hypofunction in depression, and severe relative hypofunction in schizophrenia. The marked difference between mania and schizophrenia supports distinct pathophysiologies underlying the two conditions.

Improving sub-grid scale accuracy of boundary features in regional finite-difference models

USGS Publications Warehouse

Panday, Sorab; Langevin, Christian D.

2012-01-01

As an alternative to grid refinement, the concept of a ghost node, which was developed for nested grid applications, has been extended towards improving sub-grid scale accuracy of flow to conduits, wells, rivers or other boundary features that interact with a finite-difference groundwater flow model. The formulation is presented for correcting the regular finite-difference groundwater flow equations for confined and unconfined cases, with or without Newton Raphson linearization of the nonlinearities, to include the Ghost Node Correction (GNC) for location displacement. The correction may be applied on the right-hand side vector for a symmetric finite-difference Picard implementation, or on the left-hand side matrix for an implicit but asymmetric implementation. The finite-difference matrix connectivity structure may be maintained for an implicit implementation by only selecting contributing nodes that are a part of the finite-difference connectivity. Proof of concept example problems are provided to demonstrate the improved accuracy that may be achieved through sub-grid scale corrections using the GNC schemes.

Knowledge-based approach to video content classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yu; Wong, Edward K.

2001-01-01

A framework for video content classification using a knowledge-based approach is herein proposed. This approach is motivated by the fact that videos are rich in semantic contents, which can best be interpreted and analyzed by human experts. We demonstrate the concept by implementing a prototype video classification system using the rule-based programming language CLIPS 6.05. Knowledge for video classification is encoded as a set of rules in the rule base. The left-hand-sides of rules contain high level and low level features, while the right-hand-sides of rules contain intermediate results or conclusions. Our current implementation includes features computed from motion, color, and text extracted from video frames. Our current rule set allows us to classify input video into one of five classes: news, weather, reporting, commercial, basketball and football. We use MYCIN's inexact reasoning method for combining evidences, and to handle the uncertainties in the features and in the classification results. We obtained good results in a preliminary experiment, and it demonstrated the validity of the proposed approach.

Knowledge-based approach to video content classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yu; Wong, Edward K.

2000-12-01

A framework for video content classification using a knowledge-based approach is herein proposed. This approach is motivated by the fact that videos are rich in semantic contents, which can best be interpreted and analyzed by human experts. We demonstrate the concept by implementing a prototype video classification system using the rule-based programming language CLIPS 6.05. Knowledge for video classification is encoded as a set of rules in the rule base. The left-hand-sides of rules contain high level and low level features, while the right-hand-sides of rules contain intermediate results or conclusions. Our current implementation includes features computed from motion, color, and text extracted from video frames. Our current rule set allows us to classify input video into one of five classes: news, weather, reporting, commercial, basketball and football. We use MYCIN's inexact reasoning method for combining evidences, and to handle the uncertainties in the features and in the classification results. We obtained good results in a preliminary experiment, and it demonstrated the validity of the proposed approach.

Programming of left hand exploits task set but that of right hand depends on recent history.

PubMed

Tang, Rixin; Zhu, Hong

2017-07-01

There are many differences between the left hand and the right hand. But it is not clear if there is a difference in programming between left hand and right hand when the hands perform the same movement. In current study, we carried out two experiments to investigate whether the programming of two hands was equivalent or they exploited different strategies. In the first experiment, participants were required to use one hand to grasp an object with visual feedback or to point to the center of one object without visual feedback on alternate trials, or to grasp an object without visual feedback and to point the center of one object with visual feedback on alternating trials. They then performed the tasks with the other hand. The result was that previous pointing task affected current grasping when it was performed by the left hand, but not the right hand. In experiment 2, we studied if the programming of the left (or right) hand would be affected by the pointing task performed on the previous trial not only by the same hand, but also by the right (or left) hand. Participants pointed and grasped the objects alternately with two hands. The result was similar with Experiment 1, i.e., left-hand grasping was affected by right-hand pointing, whereas right-hand grasping was immune from the interference from left hand. Taken together, the results suggest that when open- and closed-loop trials are interleaved, motor programming of grasping with the right hand was affected by the nature of the online feedback on the previous trial only if it was a grasping trial, suggesting that the trial-to-trial transfer depends on sensorimotor memory and not on task set. In contrast, motor programming of grasping with the left hand can use information about the nature of the online feedback on the previous trial to specify the parameters of the movement, even when the type of movement that occurred was quite different (i.e., pointing) and was performed with the right hand. This suggests that trial-to-trial transfer with the left hand depends on some sort of carry-over of task set for dealing with the availability of visual feedback.

Analysis of consonant /s/ and syllables in Malay language using electropalatography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zin, Syatirah Mat; Suhaimi, Fatanah M.; Noor, Siti Noor Fazliah Mohd; Ismail, Nurul Iffah; Zali, Nurulakma

2016-12-01

During articulation and speech, tongue is in contact with hard palate. This contact can be measured using an Electropalatography (EPG). EPG is widely used for speech therapy among subjects having cleft palate, congenital aglossia, and phonemic paraphasic disorder, and also for language analysis and therapy. This study aims to analyse the production of /s/ and syllables by a Malay adult speaker using the Reading EPG palate with 62 electrodes that are built to match the tongue-palate contact. The vowel used in this study are /a/, /i/ and /u/. Data was analysed using Articulate Assist 1.18 software. There are four parts of palate zones, namely alveolar, post-alveolar, palatal and velar. In this study, there are three normal Malay-speaking adults with age ranging from 30 to 35 years old (mean age of 32 years). In the production of /s/, the percentage contact for subject 1 is 16% at the left side and 32% at the right side. For subject 2, there is 39% in the left side and 32% in the right side. Subject 3 has 13% contact in the left side and 29% in the right side. In the production of /as/ percentage contact is 19% at the left side and 29% at the right side for subject 1.19% at the left side and 16% at the right side for subject 2. While subject 3 has 23% contact at the left side and 35% at the right side. In the production of /is/, subject 1 has shown 32% at both side, 3% at the left side and 10 at the right side for subject 2, and 19% at the left side and 32% at the right side for subject 3. In the production of /us/, percentage contact for left and right side are 42% and 26% for subject 1. Subject 2 showed a symmetrical contact at both side whereas subject 3 has 16% at the left side and 26% at the right side. Results indicate that combination of consonant /s/ with different vowels produce different tongue and palate contacts patttern.

Agraphia of the left hand with dysfunction of the left superior parietal region without callosal lesions.

PubMed

Kinno, Ryuta; Ohashi, Hideaki; Mori, Yukiko; Shiromaru, Azusa; Ono, Kenjiro

2018-03-01

A 28-year-old right-handed man noticed weakness in his legs, three days after an ephedrine overdose. Initial brain magnetic resonance imaging showed lesions in the parietal regions bilaterally. Computed tomography angiography showed segmental and multifocal vasoconstriction of the cerebral arteries. After treatment, clinical and radiological findings resolved, suggesting the patient had reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome with posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome. However, he had residual agraphia of the left hand. Language testing revealed no difficulties in oral expression, auditory comprehension, understanding of written language, or writing with the right hand. I-123 iodoamphetamine single-photon emission computed tomography showed residual dysfunction in the left superior parietal lobule. There were no apparent signs of other disconnection syndromes or neuroimaging abnormalities in the corpus callosum. We diagnosed left-hand agraphia due to left parietal dysfunction. Our case suggests that left superior parietal dysfunction without callosal lesions is a possible cause of left-hand agraphia. Neural mechanisms for writing with the right or left hand may be separable at the cortical level.

[Memorization of Sequences of Movements of the Right and the Left Hand by Right- and Left-Handers].

PubMed

Bobrova, E V; Bogacheva, I N; Lyakhovetskii, V A; Fabinskaja, A A; Fomina, E V

2015-01-01

We analyzed the errors of right- and left-handers when performing memorized sequences by the left or the right hand during the task which activates positional coding: after 6-10 times the order of movements changed (the positions remained the same during all task). The task was first performed by one ("initial") hand, and then by another one ("continuing"); there were 2 groups of right-handers and 2 groups of left-handers. It was found that the pattern of errors during the task performance by the initial hand is similar in right- and left-handers both for the dominant and non-dominant hand. The information about the previous positions after changing the order of elements is used in the sequences for subdominant hands and not used in the sequences for dominant ones. After changing the hand, right- and left-handers show different patterns of errors ("non-symmetrical"). Thus, the errors of right- and left-handers are "symmetrical" at the early stages of task performance, while the transfer of this motor skill in right-and left-handers occurs in different ways.

Left-right asymmetry of biophoton emission from hemiparesis patients.

PubMed

Jung, Hyun-Hee; Woo, Won-Myung; Yang, Joon-Mo; Choi, Chunho; Lee, Jonghan; Yoon, Gilwon; Yang, Jong S; Lee, Sungmuk; Soh, Kwang-Sup

2003-05-01

Left-right biophoton asymmetry from the palm and the dorsum of hands from 7 Korean hemiparesis patients were studied. There is a strong tendency that the left-hemiparesis patients emit more biophotons from the right than the left hands, while the right-hemiparesis patient emits more from the left hand. Acupuncture treatment reduces dramatically the left-right asymmetry of biophoton emission rates. However there is no systematic difference for the patients in the emission rates from the palm and the dorsum of hands.

Microstructural asymmetry of the corticospinal tracts predicts right-left differences in circle drawing skill in right-handed adolescents.

PubMed

Angstmann, Steffen; Madsen, Kathrine Skak; Skimminge, Arnold; Jernigan, Terry L; Baaré, William F C; Siebner, Hartwig Roman

2016-12-01

Most humans show a strong preference to use their right hand, but strong preference for the right hand does not necessarily imply a strong right-left asymmetry in manual proficiency (i.e., dexterity). Here we tested the hypothesis that intra-individual asymmetry of manual proficiency would be reflected in microstructural differences between the right and left corticospinal tract (CST) in a cohort of 52 right-handed typically-developing adolescents (11-16 years). Participants were asked to fluently draw superimposed circles with their right dominant and left non-dominant hand. Temporal regularity of circle drawing movements was assessed for each hand using a digitizing tablet. Although all participants were right-handed, there was substantial inter-individual variation regarding the relative right-hand advantage for fluent circle drawing. All subjects underwent whole-brain diffusion tensor imaging at 3 Tesla. The right and left CST were defined as regions-of-interest and mean fractional anisotropy (FA) and diffusivity values were calculated for right and left CST. On average, mean FA values were higher in the left CST relative to right CST. The degree of right-left FA asymmetry showed a linear relationship with right-left asymmetry in fluent circle drawing after correction for age and gender. The higher the mean FA values were in the left dominant CST relative to the right non-dominant CST, the stronger was the relative right-hand advantage for regular circle drawing. These findings show that right-left differences in manual proficiency are highly variable in right-handed adolescents and that this variation is associated with a right-left microstructural asymmetry of the CST.

Mirror writing in 5- to 6-year-old children: The preferred hand is not the explanation.

PubMed

Fischer, Jean-Paul; Koch, Anne-Marie

2016-01-01

Non-pathological, spontaneous mirror writing, whether complete or partial, has long been associated with writing with the left hand and attributed to the fact that abductive writing, which most people find easier, is from right to left when people write with their left hand. However, recent research suggests another explanation: children who do not know the orientation of the letters and digits may apply an implicit right-writing rule which causes them to invert mainly left-oriented characters (e.g., J, 3). But would left-hand writers apply such a rule? The present study examines the relationship between these two explanations of mirror writing and asks whether they coexist in children who write with their left hand. Is the abductive writing explanation specific to mirror writing by left-hand writers and the implicit right-writing rule specific to right-hand writers? A comparison of 59 children who wrote with their left hand and 59 children who wrote with their right hand (matched for age and school experience) provided clear evidence against the abductive-writing explanation and in favour of the right-writing rule for both groups. Therefore, spontaneous mirror writing in typical 5- to 6-year-olds does not seem to be a function of preferred writing hand.

Adding transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation to visual scanning training does not enhance treatment effect on hemispatial neglect: a randomized, controlled, double-blind study.

PubMed

Seniów, Joanna; Polanowska, Katarzyna; Leśniak, Marcin; Członkowska, Anna

2016-12-01

Left-sided transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) increases right hemispheric activity, which may improve the rehabilitative outcome of hemispatial neglect. To examine the behavioral effect of electrical stimulation of the nerve afferents of the left hand during early neuropsychological rehabilitation of post-stroke patients with hemispatial neglect. This randomized, controlled, double-blind study included 29 patients (enrolled in the experimental or control group) with left hemispatial neglect after right hemispheric stroke. For 3 weeks, patients received 15 therapeutic sessions involving TENS (active or sham) with a mesh glove applied on the entire left hand during the first 30 minutes of a 45-minute conventional visual scanning training (VST). Signs of hemispatial neglect were assessed using a psychometric test before and after treatment. Univariate analysis of covariance revealed that differences between the control and experimental groups were not significant after treatment (F(1, 22) = 0.294, P = 0.593) when adjusted for pre-treatment scores and time since stroke onset. This suggested that electrical stimulation failed to mitigate the severity of hemispatial neglect symptoms. Our study did not provide evidence of the effectiveness of TENS when added to VST during early rehabilitation for patients with post-stroke hemispatial neglect. Other techniques (applied alone or together) should be sought to improve recovery in this population.

Spectroscopic sampling of the left side of long-TE spin echoes: a free lunch?

PubMed

Mulkern, Robert V; Balasubramanian, Mukund

2018-04-01

Use of spectroscopically-acquired spin echoes typically involves Fourier transformation of the right side of the echo while largely neglecting the left side. For sufficiently long echo times, the left side may have enough spectral resolution to offer some utility. Since the acquisition of this side is "free", we deemed it worthy of attention and investigated the spectral properties and information content of this data. Theoretical expressions for left- and right-side spectra were derived assuming Lorentzian frequency distributions. For left-side spectra, three regimes were identified based upon the relative magnitudes of reversible and irreversible transverse relaxation rates, R 2 ' and R 2 , respectively. Point-resolved spectroscopy (PRESS) data from muscle, fat deposit and bone marrow were acquired at 1.5 T to test aspects of the theoretical expressions. For muscle water or methylene marrow resonances, left-side signals were substantially or moderately larger than right-side signals but were similar in magnitude for muscle choline and creatine resonances. Left- versus right-side spectral-peak amplitude ratios depend sensitively on the relative values of R 2 and R 2 ' , which can be estimated given this ratio and a right-side linewidth measurement. Left-side spectra can be used to augment signal-to-noise and to estimate spectral R 2 and R 2 ' values under some circumstances.

Are consumers aware of top-bottom but not of left-right inferences? Implications for shelf space positions.

PubMed

Valenzuela, Ana; Raghubir, Priya

2015-09-01

We propose that the horizontal and vertical position of an item on a display is a source of information that individuals use to make judgments. Six experiments using 1 × 5 or 5 × 5 displays show that consumers judge that products placed at the bottom (vs. top) and on the left-hand (vs. middle and right-hand) side of a display are less expensive and of lower quality (Study 1a using a bar display, Study 1b using wine, and Study 1c using Swatch watches). Results support the claim that verticality effects (top-bottom) are attenuated when participants are less involved with the decision task (Study 2 using Swatch watches and chocolates) and when they are exposed to information that questions the diagnosticity of using vertical position as a cue (Study 3 using wine). However, the horizontality (left-right) effect is robust to both of these manipulations. Horizontality effects are exacerbated for participants primed with a number line (Study 4 also using wine), suggesting that exposure to the number line (where higher numbers are on the right) is a possible antecedent of the horizontality effect. The verticality effects may, on the other hand, reflect people's retail experience of seeing higher priced products on higher shelves, which leads to their forming a similar expectation. The paper concludes with a discussion of theoretical implications for visual information processing as well as practical implications for retail management. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

[Visual art, creativity and dementia].

PubMed

Serrano, C; Allegri, R F; Martelli, M; Taragano, F; Rinalli, P

2005-01-01

Visual art is an expression of neurological function and how it organizes and interprets perception. The art is predominantly in the right hemisphere, in contrast, the left side, have inhibitory effects on artistic expression. In normal subjects, inhibitory and excitatory mechanisms could interact in a complex harmony, reflecting a paradoxical functional facilitation. Brain diseases such as dementia could change this harmony and then, alter the artistic abilities. Evaluate the art expression in the degenerative diseases. Artistic abilities of 3 painters with degenerative diseases were assessment. Patient 1: A 83 - year old right handed female, diagnosis: Alzheimer's disease. Artistic description: low productivity, simplified versions of earlier and alteration of the visuospatial organization. Patient 2: A 78-year-old right handed female, diagnosis: Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA); Artistic description: oversimplified drawings which maintaining overall spatial organization, without impair artistic skills. Patient 3: A 68 year-old right handed woman, diagnosis: Fronto-Temporal Dementia (FTD). Artistic description: Increased artistic activity, originality, freedom, utilization of intense colours with perseverative and repetitive copying of similar paintings of her own work. Visual art in Alzheimer's disease is a consequence of visuospatial and constructive disabilities. In contrast, the conservation of this cognitive functions and left asymmetrical involved, in FTD and PPA respectively, suggest artistic preservation, independently of the language injury. The disproportionate functional prevalence of the right over the left could lead to a release of novelty - seeking in art and can contribute to emergent creativity. These observations suggest an organization for art in the brain and proposed bases for further investigations in dementias.

Developmental vision determines the reference frame for the multisensory control of action.

PubMed

Röder, Brigitte; Kusmierek, Anna; Spence, Charles; Schicke, Tobias

2007-03-13

Both animal and human studies suggest that action goals are defined in external coordinates regardless of their sensory modality. The present study used an auditory-manual task to test whether the default use of such an external reference frame is innately determined or instead acquired during development because of the increasing dominance of vision over manual control. In Experiment I, congenitally blind, late blind, and age-matched sighted adults had to press a left or right response key depending on the bandwidth of pink noise bursts presented from either the left or right loudspeaker. Although the spatial location of the sounds was entirely task-irrelevant, all groups responded more efficiently with uncrossed hands when the sound was presented from the same side as the responding hand ("Simon effect"). This effect reversed with crossed hands only in the congenitally blind: They responded faster with the hand that was located contralateral to the sound source. In Experiment II, the instruction to the participants was changed: They now had to respond with the hand located next to the sound source. In contrast to Experiment I ("Simon-task"), this task required an explicit matching of the sound's location with the position of the responding hand. In Experiment II, the congenitally blind participants showed a significantly larger crossing deficit than both the sighted and late blind adults. This pattern of results implies that developmental vision induces the default use of an external coordinate frame for multisensory action control; this facilitates not only visual but also auditory-manual control.

Specific to Whose Body? Perspective-Taking and the Spatial Mapping of Valence

PubMed Central

Kominsky, Jonathan F.; Casasanto, Daniel

2013-01-01

People tend to associate the abstract concepts of “good” and “bad” with their fluent and disfluent sides of space, as determined by their natural handedness or by experimental manipulation (Casasanto, 2011). Here we investigated influences of spatial perspective taking on the spatialization of “good” and “bad.” In the first experiment, participants indicated where a schematically drawn cartoon character would locate “good” and “bad” stimuli. Right-handers tended to assign “good” to the right and “bad” to the left side of egocentric space when the character shared their spatial perspective, but when the character was rotated 180° this spatial mapping was reversed: good was assigned to the character’s right side, not the participant’s. The tendency to spatialize valence from the character’s perspective was stronger in the second experiment, when participants were shown a full-featured photograph of the character. In a third experiment, most participants not only spatialized “good” and “bad” from the character’s perspective, they also based their judgments on a salient attribute of the character’s body (an injured hand) rather than their own body. Taking another’s spatial perspective encourages people to compute space-valence mappings using an allocentric frame of reference, based on the fluency with which the other person could perform motor actions with their right or left hand. When people reason from their own spatial perspective, their judgments depend, in part, on the specifics of their bodies; when people reason from someone else’s perspective, their judgments may depend on the specifics of the other person’s body, instead. PMID:23717296

Right-sided dominance of the bilateral vestibular system in the upper brainstem and thalamus.

PubMed

Dieterich, Marianne; Kirsch, V; Brandt, T

2017-10-01

MRI diffusion tensor imaging tractography was performed on the bilateral vestibular brainstem pathways, which run from the vestibular nuclei via the paramedian and posterolateral thalamic subnuclei to the parieto-insular vestibular cortex. Twenty-one right-handed healthy subjects participated. Quantitative analysis revealed a rope-ladder-like system of vestibular pathways in the brainstem with crossings at pontine and mesencephalic levels. Three structural types of right-left fiber distributions could be delineated: (1) evenly distributed pathways at the lower pontine level from the vestibular nuclei to the pontine crossing, (2) a moderate, pontomesencephalic right-sided lateralization between the pontine and mesencephalic crossings, and (3) a further increase of the right-sided lateralization above the mesencephalic crossing leading to the thalamic vestibular subnuclei. The increasing lateralization along the brainstem was the result of an asymmetric number of pontine and mesencephalic crossing fibers which was higher for left-to-right crossings. The dominance of the right vestibular meso-diencephalic circuitry in right-handers corresponds to the right-hemispheric dominance of the vestibular cortical network. The structural asymmetry apparent in the upper brainstem might be interpreted in relation to the different functions of the vestibular system depending on their anatomical level: a symmetrical sensorimotor reflex control of eye, head, and body mediated by the lower brainstem; a lateralized right-sided upper brainstem-thalamic function as part of the dominant right-sided cortical/subcortical vestibular system that enables a global percept of body motion and orientation in space.

A Study Of Facial Asymmetries By The Stereometric Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crete, N.; Deloison, Y.; Mollard, R.

1980-07-01

In order to determine the part played in facial dissymmetry observed on a living person by the various constitutive elements of the cephalic tip (the soft parts - skin, muscles and the underlying bone structure) we undertook, using a biostereometric method, to evaluate asymmetries between homologous right and left dimensions on a living person's face and on a skeleton. While in an individual, a marked degree of facial dissymmetry can sometimes be observed; average differences between the right and left sides of the face may nethertheless balance out, and remain slight. Conventional anthropometrics techniques do not show up such slight values. With a view to securing a higher degree of accuracy, study of the stereometric technique of measurements. Using this technique, quasi imperceptible differences between the right and the left sides of the face on a living person as well as on a skeleton, together with variations in the orientation or angulation of anatomical segments in a three-dimensional space can be measured. We were thus able to detect, in a number of dry skulls, average differences of approxi-mately a millimetre between the two sides of the face which cannot be attributed to back of accuracy in measurements. Although statistically the difference are not always significant, the para-metric values of facial dimensions are invariably greater for the left side. On the other hand, for the sample of living subjects as a whole, the differences between homologous distances are not statistically significant. But it may be that, on a living subject, the experimenter is inclined to take measurements that are susceptible of symmetrization (for instance, the nasion in the median sagittal plane) whereas on a dry skull anatomical reference marks can be determined with the utmost accuracy. It may be inferred from there results that the softer parts tend, as a rule, to correct the dissymmetry of the underlying skeleton.

Evidence for distinct cognitive deficits after focal cerebellar lesions.

PubMed

Gottwald, B; Wilde, B; Mihajlovic, Z; Mehdorn, H M

2004-11-01

Anatomical evidence and lesion studies, as well as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, indicate that the cerebellum contributes to higher cognitive functions. Cerebellar posterior lateral regions seem to be relevant for cognition, while vermal lesions seem to be associated with changes in affect. However, the results remain controversial. Deficits of patients are sometimes still attributed to motor impairment. We present data from a detailed neuropsychological examination of 21 patients with cerebellar lesions due to tumour or haematoma, and 21 controls matched for age, sex, and years of education. Patients showed deficits in executive function, and in attentional processes such as working memory and divided attention. Further analysis revealed that patients with right-sided lesions were in general more impaired than those with left-sided lesions. Those hypotheses that suggest that lesions of the right cerebellar hemisphere lead to verbal deficits, while those of the left lead to non-verbal deficits, have in part been confirmed. The generally greater impairment of those patients with a right-sided lesion has been interpreted as resulting from the connection of the right cerebellum to the left cerebral hemisphere, which is dominant for language functions and crucial for right hand movements. Motor impairment was correlated with less than half of the cognitive measures, with no stronger tendency for correlation with cognitive tests that require motor responses discernible. The results are discussed on the basis of an assumption that the cerebellum has a predicting and preparing function, indicating that cerebellar lesions lead to a "dysmetria of thought."

Involvement of the primary motor cortex in controlling movements executed with the ipsilateral hand differs between left- and right-handers.

PubMed

van den Berg, Femke E; Swinnen, Stephan P; Wenderoth, Nicole

2011-11-01

Unimanual motor tasks, specifically movements that are complex or require high forces, activate not only the contralateral primary motor cortex (M1) but evoke also ipsilateral M1 activity. This involvement of ipsilateral M1 is asymmetric, such that the left M1 is more involved in motor control with the left hand than the right M1 in movements with the right hand. This suggests that the left hemisphere is specialized for movement control of either hand, although previous experiments tested mostly right-handed participants. In contrast, research on hemispheric asymmetries of ipsilateral M1 involvement in left-handed participants is relatively scarce. In the present study, left- and right-handed participants performed complex unimanual movements, whereas TMS was used to disrupt the activity of ipsilateral M1 in accordance with a "virtual lesion" approach. For right-handed participants, more disruptions were induced when TMS was applied over the dominant (left) M1. For left-handed participants, two subgroups could be distinguished, such that one group showed more disruptions when TMS was applied over the nondominant (left) M1, whereas the other subgroup showed more disruptions when the dominant (right) M1 was stimulated. This indicates that functional asymmetries of M1 involvement during ipsilateral movements are influenced by both hand dominance as well as left hemisphere specialization. We propose that the functional asymmetries in ipsilateral M1 involvement during unimanual movements are primarily attributable to asymmetries in the higher-order areas, although the contribution of transcallosal pathways and ipsilateral projections cannot be completely ruled out.

An approximately factored incremental strategy for calculating consistent discrete aerodynamic sensitivity derivatives

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Korivi, V. M.; Taylor, A. C., III; Newman, P. A.; Hou, G. J.-W.; Jones, H. E.

1992-01-01

An incremental strategy is presented for iteratively solving very large systems of linear equations, which are associated with aerodynamic sensitivity derivatives for advanced CFD codes. It is shown that the left-hand side matrix operator and the well-known factorization algorithm used to solve the nonlinear flow equations can also be used to efficiently solve the linear sensitivity equations. Two airfoil problems are considered as an example: subsonic low Reynolds number laminar flow and transonic high Reynolds number turbulent flow.

C3I: Issues of Command and Control

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-01-01

your eye on the meatball "—the lights on the left-hand side that have to be kept horizontal. The pilots are trained to focus not on the ship, not on...might pass to that pilot and reduced it down to "Keep your eye on the meatball ." |STl DIN! | But you know what the pilot’s preferences are: to come... meatball works and this is my point: you can have information reduction and compression only when you know preferences. All the other characteristics

Evaluation of a Compartmental Model for Prediction of Nitrate Leaching Losses,

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-12-01

model results limit their utility, the calculated total dissolved solids (TDS) of the soil solution (7146 mg L-1) and the measured TDS of tile...measured values of plant uptake, residual inorganic N and average annual In eq 1, the term on the left-hand side represents soil solution N concentrations...Research Applied to National the soil solution below which the uptake efficiency Needs, decreases sharply. 11 Table 3. Summary of water input data (cm of H2

Off-pump myocardial revascularisation in an octogenarian patient with dextrocardia and situs inversus.

PubMed

Ennker, I C; Pietrowski, D; Ennker, J

2006-01-01

Dextrocardia associated with situs inversus totalis is a rare condition and there are few reports of myocardial revascularisation in such patients. An 82-year-old woman with dextrocardia and situs inversus totalis underwent successful off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting using internal mammary arteries. The operative technique was similar to that of off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting for situs solitus. However, for a right-handed surgeon the operation was easier standing on the left side of the patient.

Global and local processing near the left and right hands

PubMed Central

Langerak, Robin M.; La Mantia, Carina L.; Brown, Liana E.

2013-01-01

Visual targets can be processed more quickly and reliably when a hand is placed near the target. Both unimodal and bimodal representations of hands are largely lateralized to the contralateral hemisphere, and since each hemisphere demonstrates specialized cognitive processing, it is possible that targets appearing near the left hand may be processed differently than targets appearing near the right hand. The purpose of this study was to determine whether visual processing near the left and right hands interacts with hemispheric specialization. We presented hierarchical-letter stimuli (e.g., small characters used as local elements to compose large characters at the global level) near the left or right hands separately and instructed participants to discriminate the presence of target letters (X and O) from non-target letters (T and U) at either the global or local levels as quickly as possible. Targets appeared at either the global or local level of the display, at both levels, or were absent from the display; participants made foot-press responses. When discriminating target presence at the global level, participants responded more quickly to stimuli presented near the left hand than near either the right hand or in the no-hand condition. Hand presence did not influence target discrimination at the local level. Our interpretation is that left-hand presence may help participants discriminate global information, a right hemisphere (RH) process, and that the left hand may influence visual processing in a way that is distinct from the right hand. PMID:24194725

Concomitant intramedullary arteriovenous malformation and a vertebral hemangioma of cervical spine discovered by a pathologic fracture during bicycle accident.

PubMed

Ayhan, Selim; Palaoglu, Selcuk; Geyik, Serdar; Saatci, Isil; Onal, Mehmet Bulent

2015-01-01

Spinal intramedullary arteriovenous malformations are uncommon and a challenging type of neurosurgical entities. They are rarely located to cervical segment. On the other hand, although hemangiomas are relatively common bone tumors, cervical involvement is again rare and clinically significant ones are infrequent. A 14 year-old-male patient referred to an academic tertiary care unit and presented with neck pain and left hand weakness. Neurological examination revealed motor strength deficit at intrinsic muscles and hyperesthesia at the left hand. Furthermore the pathological reflexes were positive on the left hand side. Imaging studies showed compression fracture, lytic changes resembling a hemangioma at C7 vertebra, and also an intramedullary vascular pathology at C5-6 level which was shown to be an intradural-intramedullary arteriovenous malformation (AVM) on digital subtraction angiography. Based on neurological and radiological findings, the decision was to treat the patient. After embolization of the AVM, the neurological condition of the patient deteriorated and immediate MRI scan of the cervical spine revealed edema of the spinal cord at the C5-6 level. Thus an emergent surgery was performed and C5-6-7 laminectomies with C5-T2 posterior fixation and arthrodesis were implemented. A second stage operation was carried out as C7 corpectomy with a distractable titanium cage 2 weeks after initial surgery. A follow-up evaluation at five years revealed 4/5 motor strength on his left intrinsic hand muscles and mild hyperactive deep tendon reflexes. Imaging studies at the postoperative period showed stable placement of the construct and no evidence of contrast enhancement at the C5-6 level inside the spinal cord. A rare case of multiple pathologies affecting the cervical spine, coincidentally diagnosed after a pathological fracture during a bicycle accident as vertebral hemangioma and intradural-intramedullary AVM that was successfully treated with early detection, have been presented. One should assess such patients under multidisciplinary fashion and treat on a case-by-case basis for achieving the best results in patient care.

Persistent left unilateral mirror writing: A neuropsychological case study.

PubMed

Angelillo, Valentina G; De Lucia, Natascia; Trojano, Luigi; Grossi, Dario

2010-09-01

Mirror writing (MW) is a rare disorder in which a script runs in direction opposite to normal and individual letters are reversed. The disorder generally occurs after left-hemisphere lesions, is transient and is observed on the left hand, whereas usually motor impairments prevent assessment of direction of right handwriting. We describe a left-handed patient with complete left hand mirror writing, still evident 2 years after a hemorrhagic stroke in left nucleo-capsular region. Since the patient could write with his right hand he underwent several writing tasks with either hand, and a thorough assessment to clarify the nature of MW. MW was evident in writing to dictation with left hand only, both in right and left hemispace, but the patient could modify his behavior when a verbal instruction was provided. No mirror errors were found in reading words, in copying geometric figures and in spatial orientation tasks. MW in our patient could be accounted for by a failure in automatic transformation of grapho-motor programs to write with the left hand. A lack of concern (a sort of anosodiaphoria) and a poor cognitive flexibility could contribute to long-term persistence of MW. 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Transposition errors during learning to reproduce a sequence by the right- and the left-hand movements: simulation of positional and movement coding].

PubMed

Liakhovetskiĭ, V A; Bobrova, E V; Skopin, G N

2012-01-01

Transposition errors during the reproduction of a hand movement sequence make it possible to receive important information on the internal representation of this sequence in the motor working memory. Analysis of such errors showed that learning to reproduce sequences of the left-hand movements improves the system of positional coding (coding ofpositions), while learning of the right-hand movements improves the system of vector coding (coding of movements). Learning of the right-hand movements after the left-hand performance involved the system of positional coding "imposed" by the left hand. Learning of the left-hand movements after the right-hand performance activated the system of vector coding. Transposition errors during learning to reproduce movement sequences can be explained by neural network using either vector coding or both vector and positional coding.

Various views of STS-95 Senator John Glenn during training

NASA Image and Video Library

1998-06-18

S98-08741 (May 1998) --- Three crew members in training for the STS-95 mission check out a training version of a blood centrifuge that will accompany them aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery later this year. In the foreground (from the left), are astronauts Scott E. Parazynski and Pedro Duque, both mission specialists, and U.S. Sen. John H. Glenn Jr., payload specialist. Duque, representing the European Space Agency (ESA), has his right hand on the centrifuge. Sen. Glenn holds a vial of blood that would be placed inside the centrifuge. Among those in the background is astronaut Stephen K. Robinson (left side of frame), STS-95 mission specialist. The photo was taken by Joe McNally, National Geographic, for NASA.

Left-handedness and language lateralization in children.

PubMed

Szaflarski, Jerzy P; Rajagopal, Akila; Altaye, Mekibib; Byars, Anna W; Jacola, Lisa; Schmithorst, Vincent J; Schapiro, Mark B; Plante, Elena; Holland, Scott K

2012-01-18

This fMRI study investigated the development of language lateralization in left- and righthanded children between 5 and 18 years of age. Twenty-seven left-handed children (17 boys, 10 girls) and 54 age- and gender-matched right-handed children were included. We used functional MRI at 3T and a verb generation task to measure hemispheric language dominance based on either frontal or temporo-parietal regions of interest (ROIs) defined for the entire group and applied on an individual basis. Based on the frontal ROI, in the left-handed group, 23 participants (85%) demonstrated left-hemispheric language lateralization, 3 (11%) demonstrated symmetric activation, and 1 (4%) demonstrated right-hemispheric lateralization. In contrast, 50 (93%) of the right-handed children showed left-hemispheric lateralization and 3 (6%) demonstrated a symmetric activation pattern, while one (2%) demonstrated a right-hemispheric lateralization. The corresponding values for the temporo-parietal ROI for the left-handed children were 18 (67%) left-dominant, 6 (22%) symmetric, 3 (11%) right-dominant and for the right-handed children 49 (91%), 4 (7%), 1 (2%), respectively. Left-hemispheric language lateralization increased with age in both groups but somewhat different lateralization trajectories were observed in girls when compared to boys. The incidence of atypical language lateralization in left-handed children in this study was similar to that reported in adults. We also found similar rates of increase in left-hemispheric language lateralization with age between groups (i.e., independent of handedness) indicating the presence of similar mechanisms for language lateralization in left- and right-handed children. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Laterality and Left-sidedness in the Nose, Face, and Body: A New Finding.

PubMed

Hafezi, Farhad; Javdani, Ali; Naghibzadeh, Bijan; Ashtiani, Abbas Kazemi

2017-12-01

Asymmetry is a common occurrence in bilaterian animals, particularly human beings. Through examination of patients and their photographs during rhinoplasty, we noted wider left-sided nasal and facial features in most patients. This observation led us to hypothesize that this might be consistent to the whole body. We conducted a study in 3 parts to test the question above. First, we analyzed operating notes of 50 rhinoplasty patients to determine the wider side of the upper, middle, and lower thirds of the nose. Second, we analyzed the width of the face and chest wall in 31 patients to discern any correlation between facial and bodily asymmetry. Third, computerized tomographic scans of the thorax and body of 48 patients were studied to measure the width of the hemithorax and hemipelvic bone. (1) Upper vault width was wider on left side (78%). Left middle vault width was wider (88%). The lower lateral cartilage, lateral crura convexity was more prominent on left side (48%), and a wider scroll area was found and trimmed in 21 (left) and 0 (right) cases. The alar base was wider on left side (56%). (2) In the body and face analysis, 64.5% had a wider left-sided face and body. (3) In the computed tomographic scan analysis, same-sided thorax and pelvis asymmetry was seen (85.35%), 33 and 7 of which were left- and right-sided, respectively. We observed generalized asymmetry of the face and body with left-sided predominance.

An investigation into the kinematics of 2 cervical manipulation techniques.

PubMed

Williams, Jonathan M; Cuesta-Vargas, Antonio I

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to quantify the kinematics of the premanipulative position, the angular displacement, and velocity of thrust of 2 commonly used cervical spine manipulative procedures using inertial sensor technology. Thirteen asymptomatic subjects (7 females; mean age, 25.3 years; mean height, 170.9 cm; mean weight, 65.3 kg) received a right-handed and left-handed downslope and upslope manipulation, aimed at C4/5 while cervical kinematics were measured using an inertial sensor mounted on the forehead of the subject. One therapist used the upslope, and another therapist, the downslope, as was their preferred method. t tests were used to compare techniques and handiness. The results demonstrated differences in the kinematics between the 2 techniques. The downslope manipulation was associated with a mean premanipulative position of 24.8° side bending and 2.7° rotation, thrust displacement magnitude comprising of 4.5° side bending and 5.4° rotation with thrust velocity comprising, on average, of 57.5°/s side bending and 74.8°/s rotation. Upslope premanipulation was on average comprised of 30.1° side bending and 8.4° rotation, thrust displacement comprised of 4.5° side bending and 12.7° rotation with thrust velocity comprising of 75.9°/s side bending and 194.7°/s rotation. The results of this study demonstrate that there are different kinematic patterns for these 2 manipulative techniques. Copyright © 2013 National University of Health Sciences. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Do the hands talk on mind's behalf? Differences in language ability between left- and right-handed children.

PubMed

Natsopoulos, D; Kiosseoglou, G; Xeromeritou, A; Alevriadou, A

1998-09-01

Two hundred seventy children of school age, 135 of whom were left-handed and an equivalent number of whom were right-handed, have been examined in the present study using a test battery of nine language ability measures: Vocabulary, Similarities, Comprehension (WISC-R), Deductive Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning, Sentence Completion, Comprehension of Sentential Semantics, Comprehension of Syntax, and Text Processing. The data analysis has indicated that: (1) One-factor solution applies both to the right- and left-handed population according to Standard Error Scree Method (Zoski & Jurs, 1996) with regard to language ability measures. (2) Handedness discriminates between right-handers (superior) and left-handers (inferior) in language ability. (3) There have been subgroups of left-handed children who differ in language ability distribution compared with right-handed children according to Hierarchical Cluster Analysis. (4) Extreme versus mild bias to hand preference and hand skill do not differentiate performance subgroups neither within the left-handed nor within the right-handed main group. (5) Sex and familial sinistrality do not affect performance. The results are discussed in relation to (a) "human balanced polymorphism" theory advocated by Annett (mainly Annett, 1985, 1993a; Annett & Manning, 1989), (b) potential pathology (mainly Bishop, 1984, 1990a; Coren & Halpern, 1991; Satz, Orsini, Saslow & Henry, 1985) and "developmental instability" (Yeo, Gangestad & Daniel, 1993), and delay of left-hemisphere maturation in left-handed individuals (Geschwind & Galaburda, 1985a,b, 1987), by pointing out the strength and weaknesses of these theoretical approaches in accounting for the present data. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.

[A case with apraxia of tool use: selective inability to form a hand posture for a tool].

PubMed

Hayakawa, Yuko; Fujii, Toshikatsu; Yamadori, Atsushi; Meguro, Kenichi; Suzuki, Kyoko

2015-03-01

Impaired tool use is recognized as a symptom of ideational apraxia. While many studies have focused on difficulties in producing gestures as a whole, using tools involves several steps; these include forming hand postures appropriate for the use of certain tool, selecting objects or body parts to act on, and producing gestures. In previously reported cases, both producing and recognizing hand postures were impaired. Here we report the first case showing a selective impairment of forming hand postures appropriate for tools with preserved recognition of the required hand postures. A 24-year-old, right-handed man was admitted to hospital because of sensory impairment of the right side of the body, mild aphasia, and impaired tool use due to left parietal subcortical hemorrhage. His ability to make symbolic gestures, copy finger postures, and orient his hand to pass a slit was well preserved. Semantic knowledge for tools and hand postures was also intact. He could flawlessly select the correct hand postures in recognition tasks. He only demonstrated difficulties in forming a hand posture appropriate for a tool. Once he properly grasped a tool by trial and error, he could use it without hesitation. These observations suggest that each step of tool use should be thoroughly examined in patients with ideational apraxia.

Comparison of pressure pain threshold, grip strength,dexterity and touch pressure of dominant and non-dominant hands within and between right-and left-handed subjects.

PubMed

Ozcan, Ayse; Tulum, Zeliha; Pinar, Lamia; Başkurt, Ferdi

2004-12-01

This study was done to evaluate differences in pressure pain threshold, grip strength, manual dexterity and touch pressure threshold in the dominant and non-dominant hands of right- and left-handed subjects, and to compare findings within and between these groups. Thirty-nine right-handed and twenty-one left-handed subjects participated in the study. Pressure pain threshold was assessed using a dolorimeter, grip strength was assessed with a hand-grip dynamometer, manual dexterity was evaluated using the VALPAR Component Work Sample-4 system, and touch pressure threshold was determined using Semmes Weinstein monofilaments. Results for the dominant and non-dominant hands were compared within and between the groups. In the right-handed subjects, the dominant hand was significantly faster with the VALPAR Component Work Sample-4, showed significantly greater grip strength, and had a significantly higher pressure pain threshold than the non-dominant hand. The corresponding results for the two hands were similar in the left-handed subjects. The study revealed asymmetrical manual performance in grip strength, manual dexterity and pressure pain threshold in right-handed subjects, but no such asymmetries in left-handed subjects.

Forensic value of gunpowder tattooing in identification of multiple entrance wounds from one bullet.

PubMed

Tokdemir, Mehmet; Kafadar, Huseyin; Turkoglu, Abdurrahim; Bork, Turgay

2007-05-01

Multiple entrance gunshot wounds can give useful information in forensic evaluation of deaths from homicide and suicide. Although the presence of multiple entrance gunshot wounds does not absolutely exclude the possibility of suicide, they are important to the forensic investigators and pathologists in cases of assault, attempted homicide and suicide as they provide important clues for determination of number of shots fired and direction of firing. We present a case of 16 years of young woman who was shot to death by her husband. External examination revealed an entrance wound with semi-lunar shot residue at the dorsal side of her left hand at 5th metacarpus, and exit wound on the hypothenar muscle. There was also a second wound entrance located on her left zygoma. Direction of the bullet was downward traveling from left-to-right. Initially it was thought that there were two close shots, but when her left hand was placed over the malar area her face, it was determined that the gunshot powder tattoos were completing the nature of a single shot from a close distance. Crime scene investigation revealed only one cartridge casing. The autopsy and radiography findings showed that the bullet was entered from dorsal site of the left hand exiting from the palm and re-entering from the zygomatic region, hit the base of the skull, and remained in the soft tissue of the right mandible after passing the soft palate. The bullet was caused an incomplete laceration of the right internal arteria carotid and she died of internal and external bleeding. Detailed investigation of gunshot residues can provide important information for clarification of close distance gunshot wounding. We present this case due to its interesting nature, and to highlight the importance of detailed investigation of the gun powder residues in cases with multiple entry wounds.

True left-sided gallbladder with variations of bile duct and cholecystic vein.

PubMed

Ishii, Hiromichi; Noguchi, Akinori; Onishi, Mie; Takao, Koji; Maruyama, Takahiro; Taiyoh, Hiroaki; Araki, Yasunobu; Shimizu, Takeshi; Izumi, Hiroyuki; Tani, Naoki; Yamaguchi, Masahide; Yamane, Tetsuro

2015-06-07

A left-sided gallbladder without a right-sided round ligament, which is called a true left-sided gallbladder, is extremely rare. A 71-year-old woman was referred to our hospital due to a gallbladder polyp. Computed tomography (CT) revealed not only a gallbladder polyp but also the gallbladder located to the left of the round ligament connected to the left umbilical portion. CT portography revealed that the main portal vein diverged into the right posterior portal vein and the common trunk of the left portal vein and right anterior portal vein. CT cholangiography revealed that the infraportal bile duct of segment 2 joined the common bile duct. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was performed for a gallbladder polyp, and the intraoperative finding showed that the cholecystic veins joined the round ligament. A true left-sided gallbladder is closely associated with several anomalies; therefore, surgeons encountering a true left-sided gallbladder should be aware of the potential for these anomalies.

True left-sided gallbladder with variations of bile duct and cholecystic vein

PubMed Central

Ishii, Hiromichi; Noguchi, Akinori; Onishi, Mie; Takao, Koji; Maruyama, Takahiro; Taiyoh, Hiroaki; Araki, Yasunobu; Shimizu, Takeshi; Izumi, Hiroyuki; Tani, Naoki; Yamaguchi, Masahide; Yamane, Tetsuro

2015-01-01

A left-sided gallbladder without a right-sided round ligament, which is called a true left-sided gallbladder, is extremely rare. A 71-year-old woman was referred to our hospital due to a gallbladder polyp. Computed tomography (CT) revealed not only a gallbladder polyp but also the gallbladder located to the left of the round ligament connected to the left umbilical portion. CT portography revealed that the main portal vein diverged into the right posterior portal vein and the common trunk of the left portal vein and right anterior portal vein. CT cholangiography revealed that the infraportal bile duct of segment 2 joined the common bile duct. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was performed for a gallbladder polyp, and the intraoperative finding showed that the cholecystic veins joined the round ligament. A true left-sided gallbladder is closely associated with several anomalies; therefore, surgeons encountering a true left-sided gallbladder should be aware of the potential for these anomalies. PMID:26074714

Laterality of facial expressions of emotion: Universal and culture-specific influences.

PubMed

Mandal, Manas K; Ambady, Nalini

2004-01-01

Recent research indicates that (a) the perception and expression of facial emotion are lateralized to a great extent in the right hemisphere, and, (b) whereas facial expressions of emotion embody universal signals, culture-specific learning moderates the expression and interpretation of these emotions. In the present article, we review the literature on laterality and universality, and propose that, although some components of facial expressions of emotion are governed biologically, others are culturally influenced. We suggest that the left side of the face is more expressive of emotions, is more uninhibited, and displays culture-specific emotional norms. The right side of face, on the other hand, is less susceptible to cultural display norms and exhibits more universal emotional signals. Copyright 2004 IOS Press

Left-handed Children in Singapore.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gan, Linda

1998-01-01

Used teacher questionnaires to examine incidence of left-handedness in nearly 2,800 Singaporean children, racial differences in this left-handed population, and educational provisions in preschool and primary school. Findings indicated that 7.5% of preschoolers and 6.3% of primary children were left-handed, with a higher proportion being Chinese…

Left-right and Yin-Yang balance of biophoton emission from hands.

PubMed

Yang, Joon-mo; Choi, Chunho; Hyun-hee; Woo, Won-myung; Yi, Seung-ho; Soh, Kwang-sup; Yang, Jong Soo; Choi, C

2004-01-01

Yearlong measurements of biophotons from palm and back of hand of three healthy people were performed. The detection of biophoton was done with two photomultiplier tubes whose spectral range was from 300 nm to 650 nm. The measurement was done on a circular area of diameter 46 mm whose centers were at the acupuncture point Laogong (PC8) of a palm and the mid-point of a back, respectively. The emission rates from the dorsa showed strong seasonal dependence which is consistent with the active nature of Yang meridians, while the palm sides show less seasonal dependence as they belong to the passive Yin meridians. This could be quantified simply by the standard deviations from the yearly average: They were 47.6 counts per second (cps), 66.1 cps and 66.0 cps from the dorsa, and 23.8 cps, 29.7 cps and 30.4 cps from the palms of subject 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Biophoton emission revealed qualitative individual tendencies: The subjects 1 and 2 emitted more strongly from the left dorsa, while the subject 3 from the right dorsum. The left-right balance of biophoton emission was well kept for normal people, which is in contrast with the severe imbalance for some stroke patients. Thus biophoton measurement has a diagnostic potential that encourages more studies.

A Rare Finding of the Superficial Palmar Arch-Developmental and Clinical Significance

PubMed Central

Saxena, Alok; Agarwal, Kishore Kumar; Ray, Biswabina; Pyrtuh, Samuel

2013-01-01

The ulnar artery provides a major blood supply to the hand in the form of the superficial palmar arch, with the assistance of the radial artery. A rare pattern of the superficial palmar arch was observed in a formalin fixed, male cadaveric left hand. The ulnar artery was only involved in the formation of this arch, which provided three common palmar digital arteries which ran into the second, third and the fourth spaces between the corresponding digits and one proper palmar digital artery which ran along the ulnar side of the little finger. The main trunk of the ulnar artery bifurcated to supply the thumb and the index finger. The superficial branch of the radial artery did not participate in the arch formation. The arch was completed by the radial artery proper on the dorsolateral surface of the hand, after joining the point of bifuracation of the ulnar artery. PMID:23730652

One hand or the other? Effector selection biases in right and left handers.

PubMed

Main, Julie C; Carey, David P

2014-11-01

Much debate in the handedness literature has centred on the relative merits of questionnaire-based measures assessing hand preference versus simple movement tasks such as peg moving or finger tapping, assessing hand performance. A third paradigm has grown in popularity, which assesses choices by participants when either hand could be used to execute movements. These newer measures may be useful in predicting possible "reversed" asymmetries in proportions of non-right handed ("adextral") people. In the current studies we examine hand choice in large samples of dextral (right handed) and adextral participants. Unlike in some previous experiments on choice, we found that left handers were as biased towards their dominant hand as were right handers, for grasping during a puzzle-making task (study 1). In a second study, participants had to point to either of two suddenly appearing targets with one hand or the other. In study 2, left handers were not significantly less one handed than their right-handed counterparts as in study 1. In a final study, we used random effects meta analysis to summarise the possible differences in hand choice between left handers and right handers across all hand choice studies published to date. The meta analysis suggests that right handers use their dominant hand 12.5% more than left handers favour their dominant hand (with 95% confidence that the real difference lies between 7% and 18%). These last results suggest that our two experiments reported here may represent statistical Type 2 errors. This mean difference may be related to greater left hemispheric language and praxic laterality in right handers. Nevertheless, more data are needed regarding the precise proportions of left and right handers who favour their preferred hands for different tasks. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bad-good constraints on a polarity correspondence account for the spatial-numerical association of response codes (SNARC) and markedness association of response codes (MARC) effects.

PubMed

Leth-Steensen, Craig; Citta, Richie

2016-01-01

Performance in numerical classification tasks involving either parity or magnitude judgements is quicker when small numbers are mapped onto a left-sided response and large numbers onto a right-sided response than for the opposite mapping (i.e., the spatial-numerical association of response codes or SNARC effect). Recent research by Gevers et al. [Gevers, W., Santens, S., Dhooge, E., Chen, Q., Van den Bossche, L., Fias, W., & Verguts, T. (2010). Verbal-spatial and visuospatial coding of number-space interactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 139, 180-190] suggests that this effect also arises for vocal "left" and "right" responding, indicating that verbal-spatial coding has a role to play in determining it. Another presumably verbal-based, spatial-numerical mapping phenomenon is the linguistic markedness association of response codes (MARC) effect whereby responding in parity tasks is quicker when odd numbers are mapped onto left-sided responses and even numbers onto right-sided responses. A recent account of both the SNARC and MARC effects is based on the polarity correspondence principle [Proctor, R. W., & Cho, Y. S. (2006). Polarity correspondence: A general principle for performance of speeded binary classification tasks. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 416-442]. This account assumes that stimulus and response alternatives are coded along any number of dimensions in terms of - and + polarities with quicker responding when the polarity codes for the stimulus and the response correspond. In the present study, even-odd parity judgements were made using either "left" and "right" or "bad" and "good" vocal responses. Results indicated that a SNARC effect was indeed present for the former type of vocal responding, providing further evidence for the sufficiency of the verbal-spatial coding account for this effect. However, the decided lack of an analogous SNARC-like effect in the results for the latter type of vocal responding provides an important constraint on the presumed generality of the polarity correspondence account. On the other hand, the presence of robust MARC effects for "bad" and "good" but not "left" and "right" vocal responses is consistent with the view that such effects are due to conceptual associations between semantic codes for odd-even and bad-good (but not necessarily left-right).

Action Observation Therapy in the Subacute Phase Promotes Dexterity Recovery in Right-Hemisphere Stroke Patients

PubMed Central

Sale, Patrizio; Franceschini, Marco

2014-01-01

The clinical impact of action observation (AO) on upper limb functional recovery in subacute stroke patients is recent evidence. We sought to test the hypothesis that training everyday life activities through AO coupled with task execution might activate the left hemisphere different from the right one. Sixty-seven first-ever ischemic stroke subjects were randomly assigned to receive upper limb training coupled with AO tasks or standard rehabilitation. The groups were matched by age and gender, Bamford category, and interval from stroke and lesion side. Fugl-Meyer (FM) and Box and Block Test (BBT) were used to measure hand function recovery at the end (T1) and 4-5 months after the treatment (T2). At T1, FM was increased by 31% (±26%), of maximum achievable recovery, whereas BBT was increased by 17% (±18%); at T2, FM had reached 43% (±45%) of maximum recovery, while BBT had reached 25% (±22%). Combining the effects of treatment to those of lesion side revealed significantly higher gains, in both FM and BBT scores, in left hemiparetic subjects when exposed to AO as compared to standard rehabilitation alone (P < .01). The findings lead to recommend the use of AO in addition to motor training in left hemiparetic patients. PMID:24967372

Toward a more ecologically valid measure of speech understanding in background noise.

PubMed

Jerger, J; Greenwald, R; Wambacq, I; Seipel, A; Moncrieff, D

2000-05-01

In an attempt to develop a more ecologically valid measure of speech understanding in a background of competing speech, we constructed a quasidichotic procedure based on the monitoring of continuous speech from loudspeakers placed directly to the listener's right and left sides. The listener responded to the presence of incongruous or anomalous words imbedded within the context of two children's fairy tales. Attention was directed either to the right or to the left side in blocks of 25 utterances. Within each block, there were target (anomalous) and nontarget (nonanomalous) words. Responses to target words were analyzed separately for attend-right and attend-left conditions. Our purpose was twofold: (1) to evaluate the feasibility of such an approach for obtaining electrophysiologic performance measures in the sound field and (2) to gather normative interaural symmetry data for the new technique in young adults with normal hearing. Event-related potentials to target and nontarget words at 30 electrode sites were obtained in 20 right-handed young adults with normal hearing. Waveforms and associated topographic maps were characterized by a slight negativity in the region of 400 msec (N400) and robust positivity in the region of 900 msec (P900). Norms for interaural symmetry of the P900 event-related potential in young adults were derived.

Right Versus Left Colon Cancer Biology: Integrating the Consensus Molecular Subtypes.

PubMed

Lee, Michael S; Menter, David G; Kopetz, Scott

2017-03-01

Although clinical management of colon cancer generally has not accounted for the primary tumor site, left-sided and right-sided colon cancers harbor different clinical and biologic characteristics. Right-sided colon cancers are more likely to have genome-wide hypermethylation via the CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP), hypermutated state via microsatellite instability, and BRAF mutation. There are also differential exposures to potential carcinogenic toxins and microbiota in the right and left colon. Gene expression analyses further shed light on distinct biologic subtypes of colorectal cancers (CRCs), with 4 consensus molecular subtypes (CMSs) identified. Importantly, these subtypes are differentially distributed between right- and left-sided CRCs, with greater proportions of the "microsatellite unstable/immune" CMS1 and the "metabolic" CMS3 subtypes found in right-sided colon cancers. This review summarizes important biologic distinctions between right- and left-sided CRCs that likely impact prognosis and may predict for differential responses to biologic therapy. Given the inferior prognosis of stage III-IV right-sided CRCs and emerging data suggesting that anti-epidermal growth factor receptor antibody therapy is associated with worse survival in right-sided stage IV CRCs compared with left-sided cancers, these biologic differences between right- and left-sided CRCs provide critical context and may provide opportunities to personalize therapy. Copyright © 2017 by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

Handedness shapes children's abstract concepts.

PubMed

Casasanto, Daniel; Henetz, Tania

2012-03-01

Can children's handedness influence how they represent abstract concepts like kindness and intelligence? Here we show that from an early age, right-handers associate rightward space more strongly with positive ideas and leftward space with negative ideas, but the opposite is true for left-handers. In one experiment, children indicated where on a diagram a preferred toy and a dispreferred toy should go. Right-handers tended to assign the preferred toy to a box on the right and the dispreferred toy to a box on the left. Left-handers showed the opposite pattern. In a second experiment, children judged which of two cartoon animals looked smarter (or dumber) or nicer (or meaner). Right-handers attributed more positive qualities to animals on the right, but left-handers to animals on the left. These contrasting associations between space and valence cannot be explained by exposure to language or cultural conventions, which consistently link right with good. Rather, right- and left-handers implicitly associated positive valence more strongly with the side of space on which they can act more fluently with their dominant hands. Results support the body-specificity hypothesis (Casasanto, 2009), showing that children with different kinds of bodies think differently in corresponding ways. Copyright © 2011 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Local inertial oscillations in the surface ocean generated by time-varying winds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Shengli; Polton, Jeff A.; Hu, Jianyu; Xing, Jiuxing

2015-12-01

A new relationship is presented to give a review study on the evolution of inertial oscillations in the surface ocean locally generated by time-varying wind stress. The inertial oscillation is expressed as the superposition of a previous oscillation and a newly generated oscillation, which depends upon the time-varying wind stress. This relationship is employed to investigate some idealized wind change events. For a wind series varying temporally with different rates, the induced inertial oscillation is dominated by the wind with the greatest variation. The resonant wind, which rotates anti-cyclonically at the local inertial frequency with time, produces maximal amplitude of inertial oscillations, which grows monotonically. For the wind rotating at non-inertial frequencies, the responses vary periodically, with wind injecting inertial energy when it is in phase with the currents, but removing inertial energy when it is out of phase. The wind rotating anti-cyclonically with time is much more favorable to generate inertial oscillations than the cyclonic rotating wind. The wind with a frequency closer to the inertial frequency generates stronger inertial oscillations. For a diurnal wind, the induced inertial oscillation is dependent on latitude and is most significant at 30 °. This relationship is also applied to examine idealized moving cyclones. The inertial oscillation is much stronger on the right-hand side of the cyclone path than on the left-hand side (in the northern hemisphere). This is due to the wind being anti-cyclonic with time on the right-hand side, but cyclonic on the other side. The inertial oscillation varies with the cyclone translation speed. The optimal translation speed generating the greatest inertial oscillations is 2 m/s at the latitude of 10 ° and gradually increases to 6 m/s at the latitude of 30 °.

Temporal evolution of hepatic anatomy during gestation and growth in the sheep.

PubMed

Douart, C; Briand, L; Betti, E; Bencharif, D; Tainturier, D

2015-02-01

In mammals, the liver undergoes a series of spectacular anatomical changes during development, particularly in domestic ruminants. In all domestic mammals, the liver retracts cranially until it reaches its definitive diaphragmatic position; however, in the sheep, it also withdraws from the entire left side of the diaphragm and seems to rotate through 180°. An anatomical study reveals that the hepatic conformation evolves very little during this topographical change. The latter occurs in two phases: an initial phase of marked regression of the left lobe, which starts from the beginning of the foetal period (44th day of gestation), followed by marked regression of the entire liver, which starts between the 90th and 117th days and ends between the 2nd and 3rd month of life. The path of hepatic regression is dictated by the particular layout of the liver's attachments in the sheep. The left triangular ligament, which holds the L lobe to the left in other species, is almost completely absent in the sheep, whilst the right lobe is fixed to the top of the diaphragm. As the liver regresses, the right lobe therefore draws the left lobe with it to the right-hand side. A statistical study shows constant regression of the hepatic surface area during the topographical evolution of the liver, with a particularly marked and sudden reduction between the end of the 4th month and the middle of the 5th month of gestation. It also shows that the regression of the left lobe is consistently greater than that of the right lobe and that the topographical regression of the liver cannot be predicted by measuring the weight of the liver, which behaves independently to the surface area of the liver. © 2014 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Mediolateral hoof balance in relation to the handedness of apprentice farriers.

PubMed

Ronchetti, A; Day, P; Weller, R

2011-01-15

Horses that had been trimmed and shod by apprentice farriers were sourced from the Royal School of Military Engineering, Melton Mowbray (37 horses) and from the Household Cavalry, Knightsbridge (54 horses). The lateral and medial hoof wall angles of both forelimbs were measured using a Ruidoso hoof gauge by the same operator. The difference between the lateral and medial hoof wall angles for each horse was calculated and the results were compared between right-handed and left-handed farriers using the Mann-Whitney U test (P<0.05). There was a significant difference in the mediolateral hoof balance obtained between right-handed and left-handed farriers for each forelimb (P<0.001). Right-handed farriers were shown to create an imbalance in 47 per cent of left forelimbs and 46 per cent of right forelimbs assessed, while left-handed farriers created an imbalance in 41 per cent of left forelimbs and 71 per cent of right forelimbs. The tendency was for right-handed farriers to over-trim the medial (inner) aspect of the left forelimb and the lateral (outer) aspect of the right forelimb; the reverse was demonstrated for left-handed farriers. Performing a risk ratio confirmed these findings.

End-to-side neurorrhaphy with and without perineurium.

PubMed

Viterbo, F; Teixeira, E; Hoshino, K; Padovani, C R

1998-01-01

We compared end-to-side neurorraphy with and without the perineural sheath. Twenty rats were used. The peroneal nerve was sectioned and the distal end was sutured to the lateral face of the tibial nerve. We removed the perineural sheath only on the right side, but not on the left side. The proximal end of the peroneal nerve was curved back approximately at a 100 degrees angle and implanted into the adductor muscle. Six months later, the 14 surviving animals were submitted to electrophysiological tests, sacrificed, and the nerves and muscles were taken for histological exams. On the right side, the muscles that had positive response needed an average of 258.89 mV (+/- 92.31) of electric stimulus and on the left side 298.34 mV (+/- 139.32). The average weight of the tibial cranial muscles of the right side was 0.47 g (0.18) and for the left side 0.45 g (0.15). The distal end of the peroneal nerve showed averages of 310.29 (+/- 191.34) nerve fibers on the right side and 287.71 (+/- 183.60) on the left side. The tibial nerve above the neurorraphy showed averages of 939.46 (+/- 223.51) nerve fibers on the right side and 959.46 (+/- 327.48) on the left side. The tibial nerve below the neurorraphy showed averages of 935.17 (+/- 298.65) nerve fibers on the right side and 755.31 (+/- 323.26) on the left side. The average areas of the right tibial cranial muscles were 0.0162 m2 (+/- 0.008), after 230 magnification, and 0.0152 m2 (0.0064) for the left tibial cranial muscles. The histological features of the tibial cranial muscles, taking normal as 100%, were 78.21 (+/- 20.75) on the right side and 82.14 (+/- 15.89) on the left side. The statistical analysis (Student's t test) did not reveal any difference (p > 0.05) among right and left sides for all variables. The authors concluded that the two neurorraphies (with and without perineurium) did not show any difference regarding morphological and electrophysiological features studied.

Effects of handedness (left vs right) and cannabis abuse on intermanual coordination and negative symptoms in schizophrenic patients of the paranoid type.

PubMed

Gorynia, Inge; Schwaiger, Markus

2011-09-01

Intermanual coordination as an index of interhemispheric transfer and negative symptoms were investigated in 50 left- and 42 right-handed schizophrenic inpatients of the paranoid type, also including drug abusers. The primary objective was to show that there were higher values in intermanual coordination and fewer manifestations of negative symptoms in the left-handed compared to the right-handed patients. This assumption was based on previous studies. Most importantly, right- and left-handed patients showed a different behaviour in intermanual coordination, when the duration of illness was taken into consideration. Thus, long-term left-handed paranoid patients performed better in intermanual coordination and showed fewer manifestations of negative symptoms than did long-term right-handed patients. These results were true for the large group of all patients, and among them for the subgroup of patients without drug abuse. Consequently, higher scores in intermanual coordination in left-handed patients may be related to a better interhemispheric crosstalk resulting in less pronounced negative symptoms. Secondary objectives assessed by explorative data analysis included the effects of cannabis abuse. While cannabis abuse may be more prevalent in left-handed patients, its effects may be more pronounced in right-handed patients, scoring higher in intermanual coordination and lower in manifestations of negative symptoms.

Peptide design using alpha,beta-dehydro amino acids: from beta-turns to helical hairpins.

PubMed

Mathur, Puniti; Ramakumar, S; Chauhan, V S

2004-01-01

Incorporation of alpha,beta-dehydrophenylalanine (DeltaPhe) residue in peptides induces folded conformations: beta-turns in short peptides and 3(10)-helices in larger ones. A few exceptions-namely, alpha-helix or flat beta-bend ribbon structures-have also been reported in a few cases. The most favorable conformation of DeltaPhe residues are (phi,psi) approximately (-60 degrees, -30 degrees ), (-60 degrees, 150 degrees ), (80 degrees, 0 degrees ) or their enantiomers. DeltaPhe is an achiral and planar residue. These features have been exploited in designing DeltaPhe zippers and helix-turn-helix motifs. DeltaPhe can be incorporated in both right and left-handed helices. In fact, consecutive occurrence of three or more DeltaPhe amino acids induce left-handed screw sense in peptides containing L-amino acids. Weak interactions involving the DeltaPhe residue play an important role in molecular association. The C--H.O==C hydrogen bond between the DeltaPhe side-chain and backbone carboxyl moiety, pi-pi stacking interactions between DeltaPhe side chains belonging to enantiomeric helices have shown to stabilize folding. The unusual capability of a DeltaPhe ring to form the hub of multicentered interactions namely, a donor in aromatic C--H.pi and C--H.O==C and an acceptor in a CH(3).pi interaction suggests its exploitation in introducing long-range interactions in the folding of supersecondary structures. Copyright 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers (Pept Sci), 2004

The Oldest Case of Decapitation in the New World (Lapa do Santo, East-Central Brazil).

PubMed

Strauss, André; Oliveira, Rodrigo Elias; Bernardo, Danilo V; Salazar-García, Domingo C; Talamo, Sahra; Jaouen, Klervia; Hubbe, Mark; Black, Sue; Wilkinson, Caroline; Richards, Michael Phillip; Araujo, Astolfo G M; Kipnis, Renato; Neves, Walter Alves

2015-01-01

We present here evidence for an early Holocene case of decapitation in the New World (Burial 26), found in the rock shelter of Lapa do Santo in 2007. Lapa do Santo is an archaeological site located in the Lagoa Santa karst in east-central Brazil with evidence of human occupation dating as far back as 11.7-12.7 cal kyBP (95.4% interval). An ultra-filtered AMS age determination on a fragment of the sphenoid provided an age range of 9.1-9.4 cal kyBP (95.4% interval) for Burial 26. The interment was composed of an articulated cranium, mandible and first six cervical vertebrae. Cut marks with a v-shaped profile were observed in the mandible and sixth cervical vertebra. The right hand was amputated and laid over the left side of the face with distal phalanges pointing to the chin and the left hand was amputated and laid over the right side of the face with distal phalanges pointing to the forehead. Strontium analysis comparing Burial 26's isotopic signature to other specimens from Lapa do Santo suggests this was a local member of the group. Therefore, we suggest a ritualized decapitation instead of trophy-taking, testifying for the sophistication of mortuary rituals among hunter-gatherers in the Americas during the early Archaic period. In the apparent absence of wealth goods or elaborated architecture, Lapa do Santo's inhabitants seemed to use the human body to express their cosmological principles regarding death.

Behavioral Lateralization and Optimal Route Choice in Flying Budgerigars

PubMed Central

Bhagavatula, Partha S.; Claudianos, Charles; Ibbotson, Michael R.; Srinivasan, Mandyam V.

2014-01-01

Birds flying through a cluttered environment require the ability to choose routes that will take them through the environment safely and quickly. We have investigated some of the strategies by which they achieve this. We trained budgerigars to fly through a tunnel in which they encountered a barrier that offered two passages, positioned side by side, at the halfway point. When one of the passages was substantially wider than the other, the birds tended to fly through the wider passage to continue their transit to the end of the tunnel, regardless of whether this passage was on the right or the left. Evidently, the birds were selecting the safest and quickest route. However, when the two passages were of equal or nearly equal width, some individuals consistently preferred the left-hand passage, while others consistently preferred the passage on the right. Thus, the birds displayed idiosyncratic biases when choosing between alternative routes. Surprisingly - and unlike most of the instances in which behavioral lateralization has previously been discovered - the bias was found to vary from individual to individual, in its direction as well as its magnitude. This is very different from handedness in humans, where the majority of humans are right-handed, giving rise to a so-called ‘population’ bias. Our experimental results and mathematical model of this behavior suggest that individually varying lateralization, working in concert with a tendency to choose the wider aperture, can expedite the passage of a flock of birds through a cluttered environment. PMID:24603285

Bimanual proprioceptive performance differs for right- and left-handed individuals.

PubMed

Han, Jia; Waddington, Gordon; Adams, Roger; Anson, Judith

2013-05-10

It has been proposed that asymmetry between the upper limbs in the utilization of proprioceptive feedback arises from functional differences in the roles of the preferred and non-preferred hands during bimanual tasks. The present study investigated unimanual and bimanual proprioceptive performance in right- and left-handed young adults with an active finger pinch movement discrimination task. With visual information removed, participants were required to make absolute judgments about the extent of pinch movements made to physical stops, either by one hand, or by both hands concurrently, with the sequence of presented movement extents varied randomly. Discrimination accuracy scores were derived from participants' responses using non-parametric signal detection analysis. Consistent with previous findings, a non-dominant hand/hemisphere superiority effect was observed, where the non-dominant hands of right- and left-handed individuals performed overall significantly better than their dominant hands. For all participants, bimanual movement discrimination scores were significantly lower than scores obtained in the unimanual task. However, the magnitude of the performance reduction, from the unimanual to the bimanual task, was significantly greater for left-handed individuals. The effect whereby bimanual proprioception was disproportionately affected in left-handed individuals could be due to enhanced neural communication between hemispheres in left-handed individuals leading to less distinctive separation of information obtained from the two hands in the cerebral cortex. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Medical student hand preference, perceived dexterity, and impact of handedness on training.

PubMed

Callahan, Devon; de Virgilio, Christian; Tillou, Areti; DeUgarte, Daniel A

2016-07-01

The ubiquity of right-handed instruments and a predominance of right-handed surgical faculty present a challenge to left-handed trainees. Little is known about hand preference and its impact on specialty selection. We sought to evaluate hand preference, perceived dexterity, and impact of handedness on training among medical students. A survey was distributed to third and fourth year medical students. Hand preference was queried for various activities. A Likert scale was used to assess perceived dexterity and impact of handedness on training. Fisher's exact test was used to compare groups. Of those queried, 131 (37%) responded. Handedness was defined by writing preference: right (80%), left (18%), other (2%). Left-handed students were more likely to perceive themselves to be ambidextrous (50% versus 15%; P < 0.001) and prefer their contralateral hand for at least one other activity (50% versus 4%; P < 0.001). Left-handed students were significantly more likely to report that handedness affected their specialty selection (33% versus 10%; P < 0.01) and training (58% versus 6%; P < 0.001). In addition, they reported that they would benefit from additional training with right-handed instruments (61% versus 31%; P < 0.01), availability of left-handed instruments (63% versus 8%; P < 0.001), and trainers who adapted to their handedness (70% versus 14%; P < 0.001). Left-handed medical students reported greater ambidexterity and adverse impact of handedness on training. These results provide a contemporary snapshot of hand preference in medical students and an argument for improving and adapting surgical training for left-handed individuals. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Behavioral evidence for left-hemisphere specialization of motor planning

PubMed Central

Meulenbroek, Ruud G. J.; Steenbergen, Bert

2010-01-01

Recent studies suggest that the left hemisphere is dominant for the planning of motor actions. This left-hemisphere specialization hypothesis was proposed in various lines of research, including patient studies, motor imagery studies, and studies involving neurophysiological techniques. However, most of these studies are primarily based on experiments involving right-hand-dominant participants. Here, we present the results of a behavioral study with left-hand-dominant participants, which follows up previous work in right-hand-dominant participants. In our experiment, participants grasped CD casings and replaced them in a different, pre-cued orientation. Task performance was measured by the end-state comfort effect, i.e., the anticipated degree of physical comfort associated with the posture that is planned to be adopted at movement completion. Both left- and right-handed participants showed stronger end-state comfort effects for their right hand compared to their left hand. These results lend behavioral support to the left-hemisphere-dominance motion-planning hypothesis. PMID:21184219

49 CFR 571.123 - Standard No. 123; Motorcycle controls and displays.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

...'s right hand from the throttle. Each control located on a left handlebar shall be operable by the operator's left hand throughout its full range without removal of the operator's left hand from the... rear brake control, the control shall be located on the left handlebar. If a scooter with an automatic...

49 CFR 571.123 - Standard No. 123; Motorcycle controls and displays.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

...'s right hand from the throttle. Each control located on a left handlebar shall be operable by the operator's left hand throughout its full range without removal of the operator's left hand from the... rear brake control, the control shall be located on the left handlebar. If a scooter with an automatic...

49 CFR 571.123 - Standard No. 123; Motorcycle controls and displays.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

...'s right hand from the throttle. Each control located on a left handlebar shall be operable by the operator's left hand throughout its full range without removal of the operator's left hand from the... rear brake control, the control shall be located on the left handlebar. If a scooter with an automatic...

49 CFR 571.123 - Standard No. 123; Motorcycle controls and displays.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

...'s right hand from the throttle. Each control located on a left handlebar shall be operable by the operator's left hand throughout its full range without removal of the operator's left hand from the... rear brake control, the control shall be located on the left handlebar. If a scooter with an automatic...

The Left-Handed: "Their Sinister" History.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Costas, Elaine Fowler

The history of left-handedness can provide teachers and parents a better understanding of left-handed children and give those children more pride in their difference. No child should be made to feel that he or she is abnormal because of using the left hand, although some specific instruction for these students is necessary in handwriting. Many…

Specialization of the left supramarginal gyrus for hand-independent praxis representation is not related to hand dominance.

PubMed

Króliczak, Gregory; Piper, Brian J; Frey, Scott H

2016-12-01

Data from focal brain injury and functional neuroimaging studies implicate a distributed network of parieto-fronto-temporal areas in the human left cerebral hemisphere as playing distinct roles in the representation of meaningful actions (praxis). Because these data come primarily from right-handed individuals, the relationship between left cerebral specialization for praxis representation and hand dominance remains unclear. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to evaluate the hypothesis that strongly left-handed (right hemisphere motor dominant) adults also exhibit this left cerebral specialization. Participants planned familiar actions for subsequent performance with the left or right hand in response to transitive (e.g., "pounding") or intransitive (e.g. "waving") action words. In linguistic control trials, cues denoted non-physical actions (e.g., "believing"). Action planning was associated with significant, exclusively left-lateralized and extensive increases of activity in the supramarginal gyrus (SMg), and more focal modulations in the left caudal middle temporal gyrus (cMTg). This activity was hand- and gesture-independent, i.e., unaffected by the hand involved in subsequent action performance, and the type of gesture (i.e., transitive or intransitive). Compared directly with right-handers, left-handers exhibited greater involvement of the right angular gyrus (ANg) and dorsal premotor cortex (dPMC), which is indicative of a less asymmetric functional architecture for praxis representation. We therefore conclude that the organization of mechanisms involved in planning familiar actions is influenced by one's motor dominance. However, independent of hand dominance, the left SMg and cMTg are specialized for ideomotor transformations-the integration of conceptual knowledge and motor representations into meaningful actions. These findings support the view that higher-order praxis representation and lower-level motor dominance rely on dissociable mechanisms. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Specialization of the left supramarginal gyrus for hand-independent praxis representation is not related to hand dominance

PubMed Central

Króliczak, Gregory; Piper, Brian J.; Frey, Scott H.

2016-01-01

Data from focal brain injury and functional neuroimaging studies implicate a distributed network of parieto-fronto-temporal areas in the human left cerebral hemisphere as playing distinct roles in the representation of meaningful actions (praxis). Because these data come primarily from right-handed individuals, the relationship between left cerebral specialization for praxis representation and hand dominance remains unclear. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to evaluate the hypothesis that strongly left-handed (right hemisphere motor dominant) adults also exhibit this left cerebral specialization. Participants planned familiar actions for subsequent performance with the left or right hand in response to transitive (e.g., “pounding”) or intransitive (e.g. “waving”) action words. In linguistic control trials, cues denoted non-physical actions (e.g., “believing”). Action planning was associated with significant, exclusively left-lateralized and extensive increases of activity in the supramarginal gyrus (SMg), and more focal modulations in the left caudal middle temporal gyrus (cMTg). This activity was hand- and gesture-independent, i.e., unaffected by the hand involved in subsequent action performance, and the type of gesture (i.e., transitive or intransitive). Compared directly with right-handers, left-handers exhibited greater involvement of the right angular gyrus (ANg) and dorsal premotor cortex (dPMC), which is indicative of a less asymmetric functional architecture for praxis representation. We therefore conclude that the organization of mechanisms involved in planning familiar actions is influenced by one’s motor dominance. However, independent of hand dominance, the left SMg and cMTg are specialized for ideomotor transformations—the integration of conceptual knowledge and motor representations into meaningful actions. These findings support the view that higher-order praxis representation and lower-level motor dominance rely on dissociable mechanisms. PMID:27020138

The Bmp signaling pathway regulates development of left-right asymmetry in amphioxus.

PubMed

Soukup, Vladimir; Kozmik, Zbynek

2018-02-01

Establishment of asymmetry along the left-right (LR) body axis in vertebrates requires interplay between Nodal and Bmp signaling pathways. In the basal chordate amphioxus, the left-sided activity of the Nodal signaling has been attributed to the asymmetric morphogenesis of paraxial structures and pharyngeal organs, however the role of Bmp signaling in LR asymmetry establishment has not been addressed to date. Here, we show that Bmp signaling is necessary for the development of LR asymmetric morphogenesis of amphioxus larvae through regulation of Nodal signaling. Loss of Bmp signaling results in loss of the left-sided expression of Nodal, Gdf1/3, Lefty and Pitx and in gain of ectopic expression of Cerberus on the left side. As a consequence, the larvae display loss of the offset arrangement of axial structures, loss of the left-sided pharyngeal organs including the mouth, and ectopic development of the right-sided organs on the left side. Bmp inhibition thus phenocopies inhibition of Nodal signaling and results in the right isomerism. We conclude that Bmp and Nodal pathways act in concert to specify the left side and that Bmp signaling plays a fundamental role during LR development in amphioxus. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

On the Gender Effects of Handedness in Professional Tennis

PubMed Central

Breznik, Kristijan

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to explore the effects of the gender variable in relation to other player and match characteristics on the advantage possessed by left-handed professional tennis players over their right-handed rivals. The data include 16 732 male tennis players and 16 432 female tennis players who played 438 937 and 415 346 matches, respectively, in the period from 1968 to the end of 2011. The results revealed that the advantage of left-handed professional tennis players is higher in males compared to females. The inverse impact of player and match quality on the left- handers’ advantage was clearly confirmed. On the contrary, it seems that the type of court surface does not directly imply this advantage. To obtain an overview on the individual level, directed and weighted networks of tennis matches in both gender categories were constructed. Applying network analytic methods and the PageRank algorithm, the best left and right-handed players in the Open Era of tennis were identified. The top three ranked left-handed players in the male and female categories were found to be far more consistent in their ranks achieved against left and right-handed opponents compared to their right-handed counterparts. Key Points The advantage of left-handed professional tennis players over their right-handed opponents is higher in males compared to females. The quality of player and match is inversely proportional to the advantage of left-handers against their right-handed counterparts. On the contrary, it seems that the type of court surface does not directly imply this advantage. When the tennis talent appears in left-handers it is likely to be an outstanding one, particularly in the female category. PMID:24149815

[Dynamics of functional MRI and speech function in patients after resection of frontal and temporal lobe tumors].

PubMed

Buklina, S B; Batalov, A I; Smirnov, A S; Poddubskaya, A A; Pitskhelauri, D I; Kobyakov, G L; Zhukov, V Yu; Goryaynov, S A; Kulikov, A S; Ogurtsova, A A; Golanov, A V; Varyukhina, M D; Pronin, I N

There are no studies on application of functional MRI (fMRI) for long-term monitoring of the condition of patients after resection of frontal and temporal lobe tumors. The study purpose was to correlate, using fMRI, reorganization of the speech system and dynamics of speech disorders in patients with left hemisphere gliomas before surgery and in the early and late postoperative periods. A total of 20 patients with left hemisphere gliomas were dynamically monitored using fMRI and comprehensive neuropsychological testing. The tumor was located in the frontal lobe in 12 patients and in the temporal lobe in 8 patients. Fifteen patients underwent primary surgery; 5 patients had repeated surgery. Sixteen patients had WHO Grade II and Grade III gliomas; the others had WHO Grade IV gliomas. Nineteen patients were examined preoperatively; 20 patients were examined at different times after surgery. Speech functions were assessed by a Luria's test; the dominant hand was determined using the Annette questionnaire; a family history of left-handedness was investigated. Functional MRI was performed on an HDtx 3.0 T scanner using BrainWavePA 2.0, Z software for fMRI data processing program for all calculations >7, p<0.001. In patients with extensive tumors and recurrent tumors, activation of right-sided homologues of the speech areas cold be detected even before surgery; but in most patients, the activation was detected 3 months or more after surgery. Therefore, reorganization of the speech system took time. Activation of right-sided homologues of the speech areas remained in all patients for up to a year. Simultaneous activation of right-sided homologues of both speech areas, the Broca's and Wernicke's areas, was detected more often in patients with frontal lobe tumors than in those with temporal lobe tumors. No additional activation foci in the left hemisphere were found at the thresholds used to process fMRI data. Recovery of the speech function, to a certain degree, occurred in all patients, but no clear correlation with fMRI data was found. Complex fMRI and neuropsychological studies in 20 patients after resection of frontal and temporal lobe tumors revealed individual features of speech system reorganization within one year follow-up. Probably, activation of right-sided homologues of the speech areas in the presence of left hemisphere tumors depends not only on the severity of speech disorder but also reflects individual involvement of the right hemisphere in enabling speech function. This is confirmed by right-sided activation, according to the fMRI data, in right-sided patients without aphasia and, conversely, the lack of activation of right-sided homologues of the speech areas in several patients with severe postoperative speech disorders during the entire follow-up period.

Quantifying muscle patterns and spine load during various forms of the push-up.

PubMed

Freeman, Stephanie; Karpowicz, Amy; Gray, John; McGill, Stuart

2006-03-01

This study was conducted to quantify the normalized amplitudes of the abdominal wall and back extensor musculature during a variety of push-up styles. We also sought to quantify their impact on spinal loading by calculating spinal compression and torque generation in the L4-5 area. Ten university-age participants, nine males and one female, in good to excellent condition, volunteered to participate in this study. All participants were requested to perform a maximum of 12 different push-up exercises, three trials per exercise. Surface electromyographic data (EMG) were collected bilaterally on rectus abdominis, external oblique, internal oblique, latissimus dorsi, and erector spinae muscles, and unilaterally (right side) on pectoralis major, triceps brachii, biceps brachii, and anterior deltoid muscles. Spine kinetics were obtained using an anatomically detailed model of the torso/spine. This study revealed that more dynamic push-ups (i.e., ballistic, with hand movement) required more muscle activation and higher spine load, whereas placing labile balls under the hands only resulted in modest increases in spine load. Right rectus abdominis (RA) activation was significantly higher than left RA activation during the left hand forward push-up and vice versa for the right hand forward push-up (P < 0.001). External oblique (EO) demonstrated the same switch in dominance during staggered hand push-ups (P < 0.01). The one-arm push-up resulted in the highest spine compression. Skilled participants showed greater synchronicity with peak muscle activation (plyometric type of contractions) during ballistic push-ups. These data will help guide exercise selection for individuals with differing training objectives and injury history.

Hand Sensibility, Strength, and Laxity of High-Level Musicians Compared to Nonmusicians.

PubMed

Sims, Susan E G; Engel, Laura; Hammert, Warren C; Elfar, John C

2015-10-01

To determine whether musicians have more sensitive, stronger, and flexible hands than nonmusicians. A total of 100 musicians and 100 control subjects were assessed for 2-point discrimination, Semmes-Weinstein monofilament light touch, grip and pinch strength, and laxity. Musicians were included if enrolled as instrumental performance majors at a 4-year accredited conservatory of music. Nonmusician controls were university students who never or rarely engaged in playing an instrument. All subjects were between the ages of 18 and 28. The exclusion criterion was history of any hand condition, trauma, surgery, or diabetes. Statistical analyses were carried out using the t test, analysis of variance, and correlation coefficients as appropriate. High-level musicians in our cohort showed the same handedness (dominance) as the general population. The musicians were weaker than the nonmusicians. Male musicians were significantly weaker in pinch and grip bilaterally than nonmusicians, whereas female musicians were significantly weaker only in grip on the right/dominant side. Two-point discrimination was significantly less in musicians for the left/nondominant index, ring, and small fingers, and the right/dominant small and dominant index finger. Semmes-Weinstein testing was significantly better for the right/dominant digits, including the thumb, but not the left digits with the exception of the ring and nondominant middle and ring. There was no difference in laxity between the 2 groups. High-level musicians have, in general, more sensitive but weaker hands than nonmusicians, but the differences seem small and may not be clinically important. Copyright © 2015 American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mountains and Plateaus on Io

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

These two views of Io were acquired by NASA's Galileo spacecraft during its seventh orbit (G7) of Jupiter. The images were designed to view large features on Io at low sun angles when the lighting conditions emphasize the topography or relief of the volcanic satellite. Sun angles are low near the terminator which is the day-night boundary near the left side of the images. These images reveal that the topography is very flat near the active volcanic centers such as Loki Patera (the large dark horseshoe-shaped feature near the terminator in the left-hand image) and that a variety of mountains and plateaus exist elsewhere.

North is to the top of the picture. The resolution is about 6 kilometers per picture element (6.1 for the left hand image and 5.7 for the right). The images were taken on April 4th, 1997 at a ranges of 600,000 kilometers (left image) and 563,000 kilometers (right image) by the solid state imaging (CCD) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Lateralized dual task interference in left-handers: initial value differences do not affect the outcome.

PubMed

McBride, D M; Cherry, B J; Kee, D W; Neale, P L

1995-07-01

The study was conducted to clarify factors involved in dual-task finger-tapping interference. Left-handers, as assessed by hand-writing preference and left-hand baseline tapping advantage, tapped both alone and while solving anagrams. Even though the left-hand baseline tapping advantage was experimentally removed on some (adjusted) trials, greater left- than right-hand tapping interference was observed during concurrent task performance. This result coupled with previous findings for right-handed subjects [Kee and Cherry, Neuropsychologia, Vol. 28, pp. 313-316, 1990] indicates that lateralized interference effects are not merely due to initial baseline tapping differences as proposed by Willis and Goodwin [Neuropsychologia, Vol. 25, pp. 719-724, 1987].

The effect of hand position on perceived finger orientation in left- and right-handers.

PubMed

Fraser, Lindsey E; Harris, Laurence R

2017-12-01

In the absence of visual feedback, the perceived orientation of the fingers is systematically biased. In right-handers these biases are asymmetrical between the left and right hands in the horizontal plane and may reflect common functional postures for the two hands. Here we compared finger orientation perception in right- and left-handed participants for both hands, across various hand positions in the horizontal plane. Participants rotated a white line on a screen optically superimposed over their hand to indicate the perceived position of the finger that was rotated to one of seven orientations with the hand either aligned with the body midline, aligned with the shoulder, or displaced by twice the shoulder-to-midline distance from the midline. We replicated the asymmetric pattern of biases previously reported in right-handed participants (left hand biased towards an orientation ~30° inward, right hand ~10° inward). However, no such asymmetry was found for left-handers, suggesting left-handers may use different strategies when mapping proprioception to body or space coordinates and/or have less specialization of function between the hands. Both groups' responses rotated further outward as distance of the hand from the body midline increased, consistent with other research showing spatial orientation estimates diverge outward in the periphery. Finally, for right-handers, precision of responses was best when the hand was aligned with the shoulder compared to the other two conditions. These results highlight the unique role of hand dominance and hand position in perception of finger orientation, and provide insight into the proprioceptive position sense of the upper limbs.

Development of Right-hemispheric Dominance of Inferior Parietal Lobule in Proprioceptive Illusion Task.

PubMed

Naito, Eiichi; Morita, Tomoyo; Saito, Daisuke N; Ban, Midori; Shimada, Koji; Okamoto, Yuko; Kosaka, Hirotaka; Okazawa, Hidehiko; Asada, Minoru

2017-11-01

Functional lateralization can be an indicator of brain maturation. We have consistently shown that, in the adult brain, proprioceptive processing of muscle spindle afferents generating illusory movement of the right hand activates inferior frontoparietal cortical regions in a right-side dominant manner in addition to the cerebrocerebellar motor network. Here we provide novel evidence regarding the development of the right-dominant use of the inferior frontoparietal cortical regions in humans using this task. We studied brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging while 60 right-handed blindfolded healthy children (8-11 years), adolescents (12-15 years), and young adults (18-23 years) (20 per group) experienced the illusion. Adult-like right-dominant use of the inferior parietal lobule (IPL) was observed in adolescents, while children used the IPL bilaterally. In contrast, adult-like lateralized cerebrocerebellar motor activation patterns were already observable in children. The right-side dominance progresses during adolescence along with the suppression of the left-sided IPL activity that emerges during childhood. Therefore, the neuronal processing implemented in the adult's right IPL during the proprioceptive illusion task is likely mediated bilaterally during childhood, and then becomes right-lateralized during adolescence at a substantially later time than the lateralized use of the cerebrocerebellar motor system for kinesthetic processing. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Development of Right-hemispheric Dominance of Inferior Parietal Lobule in Proprioceptive Illusion Task

PubMed Central

Naito, Eiichi; Morita, Tomoyo; Saito, Daisuke N; Ban, Midori; Shimada, Koji; Okamoto, Yuko; Kosaka, Hirotaka; Okazawa, Hidehiko; Asada, Minoru

2017-01-01

Abstract Functional lateralization can be an indicator of brain maturation. We have consistently shown that, in the adult brain, proprioceptive processing of muscle spindle afferents generating illusory movement of the right hand activates inferior frontoparietal cortical regions in a right-side dominant manner in addition to the cerebrocerebellar motor network. Here we provide novel evidence regarding the development of the right-dominant use of the inferior frontoparietal cortical regions in humans using this task. We studied brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging while 60 right-handed blindfolded healthy children (8–11 years), adolescents (12–15 years), and young adults (18–23 years) (20 per group) experienced the illusion. Adult-like right-dominant use of the inferior parietal lobule (IPL) was observed in adolescents, while children used the IPL bilaterally. In contrast, adult-like lateralized cerebrocerebellar motor activation patterns were already observable in children. The right-side dominance progresses during adolescence along with the suppression of the left-sided IPL activity that emerges during childhood. Therefore, the neuronal processing implemented in the adult's right IPL during the proprioceptive illusion task is likely mediated bilaterally during childhood, and then becomes right-lateralized during adolescence at a substantially later time than the lateralized use of the cerebrocerebellar motor system for kinesthetic processing. PMID:28968653

Right-sided lateralisation of ovarian cancer and right bias asymmetry for involved pelvic lymph nodes by ovarian cancer cells.

PubMed

Dane, Senol; Borekci, Bunyamin; Kadanali, Sedat

2008-09-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate if there is a possible lateralisation for ovarian cancers, to re-examine left-right asymmetry in pelvic lymph nodes distribution in patients with ovarian cancer, and to investigate if pelvic lymph node involvement by metastatic invasion of ovarian cancer cells is ipsilateral or contralateral. There was right-sided lateralisation for ovarian cancer. The numbers of external iliac and hypogastric+obturator lymph nodes were higher on the right side in patients with ovarian cancer on the right side; but they were about equal for right and left sides in patients with ovarian cancer in their left side. The numbers of external iliac and hypogastric+obturator lymph nodes involved by metastatic cancer cells were higher on the right side in patients with ovarian cancer on the both right and left sides. This case may result from the stronger cell-mediated immune activity in the left sides of humans.

Tumor laterality in early ovarian cancer: influence on left-right asymmetry of pelvic lymph nodes.

PubMed

Mujezinović, Faris; Takac, Iztok

2010-01-01

AIM AND BACKGROUND.:To determine whether left-right asymmetry was present in cases of early ovarian cancer and whether or not the difference between number of removed lymph nodes on both sides of the pelvis is associated with tumor laterality. We extracted from the medical data base cases of early ovarian cancer with lymphadenectomy who had been treated between 1994 and 2008. The sample was divided in three groups according to the left-right laterality of the tumor in the pelvis (bilateral, left sided, right sided). For each case, we subtracted the number of dissected lymph nodes on the left side from the number of dissected lymph nodes on the right side of the pelvis (N(Right side) - N(Left side)). We used one sample t test to determine whether the mean of differences for each group was different from zero. Results. We extracted 48 cases with early ovarian cancer who had undergone lymphadenectomy. The average number of dissected lymph nodes was 24 (SD, 12). In 3 cases, we confirmed the presence of lymph node metastasis (6.3%). In 2 of the upstaged cases, tumor and involved lymph nodes were on the right side of the pelvis. In the third case, the tumor was on the left side, whereas involved lymph nodes were on both sides of the pelvis. For bilateral tumors, tumors on the left, and those on the right side of the pelvis, the mean difference was -0.5 (95% CI, -9.9 to 8.9; t, -0.137; P = 0.90), 0.32 (95% CI, -3.8 to 4.5; t, 0.16; P = 0.87) and 3.5 (95% CI, 0.03 to 7.01; t, 2.09; P = 0.048), respectively. When the tumor was on the left or on both sides of the pelvis, there was no significant difference in the number of removed lymph nodes. In contrast, when the tumor was on the right side, the number of removed lymph nodes was significantly higher on the right hemipelvis than on the left hemipelvis.

A voxel-based asymmetry study of the relationship between hemispheric asymmetry and language dominance in Wada tested patients.

PubMed

Keller, Simon S; Roberts, Neil; Baker, Gus; Sluming, Vanessa; Cezayirli, Enis; Mayes, Andrew; Eldridge, Paul; Marson, Anthony G; Wieshmann, Udo C

2018-03-23

Determining the anatomical basis of hemispheric language dominance (HLD) remains an important scientific endeavor. The Wada test remains the gold standard test for HLD and provides a unique opportunity to determine the relationship between HLD and hemispheric structural asymmetries on MRI. In this study, we applied a whole-brain voxel-based asymmetry (VBA) approach to determine the relationship between interhemispheric structural asymmetries and HLD in a large consecutive sample of Wada tested patients. Of 135 patients, 114 (84.4%) had left HLD, 10 (7.4%) right HLD, and 11 (8.2%) bilateral language representation. Fifty-four controls were also studied. Right-handed controls and right-handed patients with left HLD had comparable structural brain asymmetries in cortical, subcortical, and cerebellar regions that have previously been documented in healthy people. However, these patients and controls differed in structural asymmetry of the mesial temporal lobe and a circumscribed region in the superior temporal gyrus, suggesting that only asymmetries of these regions were due to brain alterations caused by epilepsy. Additional comparisons between patients with left and right HLD, matched for type and location of epilepsy, revealed that structural asymmetries of insula, pars triangularis, inferior temporal gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex, ventral temporo-occipital cortex, mesial somatosensory cortex, and mesial cerebellum were significantly associated with the side of HLD. Patients with right HLD and bilateral language representation were significantly less right-handed. These results suggest that structural asymmetries of an insular-fronto-temporal network may be related to HLD. © 2018 The Authors Human Brain Mapping Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Blood RNA biomarker panel detects both left- and right-sided colorectal neoplasms: a case-control study.

PubMed

Chao, Samuel; Ying, Jay; Liew, Gailina; Marshall, Wayne; Liew, Choong-Chin; Burakoff, Robert

2013-07-23

Colonoscopy is widely regarded to be the gold standard for colorectal cancer (CRC) detection. Recent studies, however, suggest that the effectiveness of colonoscopy is mostly confined to tumors on the left side of the colon (descending, sigmoid, rectum), and that the technology has poor tumor detection for right-sided (cecum, ascending, transverse) lesions. A minimally invasive test that can detect both left-sided and right-sided lesions could increase the effectiveness of screening colonoscopy by revealing the potential presence of neoplasms in the right-sided "blind spot". We previously reported on a seven-gene, blood-based biomarker panel that effectively stratifies a patient's risk of having CRC. For the current study, we assessed the effectiveness of the seven-gene panel for the detection of left- and right-sided CRC lesions. Results were evaluated for 314 patients with CRC (left-sided: TNM I, 65; TNM II, 57; TNM III, 60; TNM IV, 17; unknown, 9. right-sided: TNM I, 28; TNM II, 29; TNM III, 38; TNM IV, 12; unknown, 1 and including two samples with both left and right lesions) and 328 control samples. Blood samples were obtained prior to clinical staging and therapy. Most CRC subjects had localized disease (stages I and II, 58%); regional (stage III) and systemic (stage IV) disease represented 32% and 9%, respectively, of the study population. The panel detected left-sided (74%, 154/208) and right-sided (85%, 92/108) lesions with an overall sensitivity of 78% (215/316) at a specificity of 66% (215/328). Treatable cancer (stages I to III) was detected with left-sided lesion sensitivity of 76% (138/182) and right-sided sensitivity of 84% (80/95). This seven-gene biomarker panel detected right-sided CRC lesions across all cancer stages with a sensitivity that is at least equal to that for left-sided lesions. This study supports the use of this panel as the basis for a patient-friendly, blood-based test that can be easily incorporated into a routine physical examination in advance of colonoscopy to provide a convenient companion diagnostic and a pre-screening alert, ultimately leading to enhanced CRC screening effectiveness.

Alternative paratracheal lymph node dissection in left-sided hilar lung cancer patients: comparing the number of lymph nodes dissected to the number of lymph nodes dissected in right-sided mediastinal dissections.

PubMed

Toker, Alper; Tanju, Serhan; Ziyade, Sedat; Kaya, Serkan; Erus, Suat; Ozkan, Berker; Yilmazbayhan, Dilek

2011-06-01

Removing or sampling lymph nodes from the bilateral paratracheal area through a left thoracotomy is not a standard procedure in patients with lung cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a technique without ductus arteriosus division and mobilization of the aortic arch and to compare the number of lymph nodes resected in left-sided dissections to the number of lymph nodes removed in right-sided mediastinal dissections that are routinely performed in clinical practice. A total of 93 patients with hilar lung cancer were evaluated. A prospective study was conducted on 51 patients with primary left-sided hilar lung cancer, who underwent left thoracotomy and paratracheal lymphadenectomy between January 2008 and January 2010. The number of nodes dissected in these patients was compared with the number of nodes dissected in 42 patients with right-sided hilar lung cancer by right-sided mediastinal dissection within the same period. The mean number of resected nodes in the bilateral paratracheal area via left thoracotomy was 8.4 (2-18 nodes). The distribution from 4R-4L-2L-2R was as follows: 3.3-2.5-0.5-2.1, respectively. Six patients (11.7%) were diagnosed with occult N2, and two (3.9%) of these patients also had N3 disease concomitantly. The number of dissected nodes from the ipsilateral station 2 via right-sided versus left-sided thoracotomy was 1.6 versus 0.5 (p=0.000), whereas the number of dissected nodes from ipsilateral station 4 via right-sided versus left-sided thoracotomy was 3.3 versus 2.5, respectively (p=0.1). The number of dissected nodes from the contralateral station 2 via right-sided versus left-sided thoracotomy was 0.2 versus 2.1 (p=0.000), whereas those numbers from the contralateral station 4 via right-sided versus left-sided thoracotomy were 1.0 versus 3.3, respectively (p=0.000). Lymphadenectomy of the paratracheal area via left thoracotomy without ductus arteriosus division and mobilization of the aortic arch is technically feasible. From these data, regardless of approach, more lymph nodes are obtained from the right paratracheal space; this appears to be due to the fact that there are more right-sided paratracheal lymph nodes. Copyright © 2010 European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

On the fractional Eulerian numbers and equivalence of maps with long term power-law memory (integral Volterra equations of the second kind) to Grünvald-Letnikov fractional difference (differential) equations.

PubMed

Edelman, Mark

2015-07-01

In this paper, we consider a simple general form of a deterministic system with power-law memory whose state can be described by one variable and evolution by a generating function. A new value of the system's variable is a total (a convolution) of the generating functions of all previous values of the variable with weights, which are powers of the time passed. In discrete cases, these systems can be described by difference equations in which a fractional difference on the left hand side is equal to a total (also a convolution) of the generating functions of all previous values of the system's variable with the fractional Eulerian number weights on the right hand side. In the continuous limit, the considered systems can be described by the Grünvald-Letnikov fractional differential equations, which are equivalent to the Volterra integral equations of the second kind. New properties of the fractional Eulerian numbers and possible applications of the results are discussed.

Left-handedness and neurotic disturbances in adult urban population.

PubMed

Milenković, Sanja; Brkić, Milica; Belojević, Goran

2013-01-01

Controversial results on the relationship between the left-handedness and neurotic disturbances have been obtained in so far investigations. The aim of this study was to investigate the link between the left-handedness and neurotic disturbances in an adult urban population. A cross-sectional study was performed on 1,202 adult residents of the Stari Grad municipality in Belgrade, out of which 401 were males (33.4%) and 801 were females (66.6%). A questionnaire was used as an investigation instrument, with questions concerning age, gender, writing hand and neurotic disturbances: tension, agressiveness, anger, nervousness, weepiness and seclusion. Left-handedness was found in 60 subjects (5%) and it was statistically more frequent in males (7.7%) compared to females (3.6%) (p = 0.003). A decreasing trend of proportion of left-handed males was found in relation to aging. In the age group 18 to 39 years, agressiveness, as a specific neurotic disturbance, was significantly more frequent in left-handed males in comparison to right-handers (p = 0.035). In the age group 40 to 59 years, neurotic disturbances were more common among left-handed males compared to right-handers (p = 0.030).There were no significant diferences in the proportion of neurotic disturbances between the left-handed and the right-handed females. From a public health point of view, left-handed men may be regarded as a relatively vulnerable population category concerning mental health.

Looking at eye dominance from a different angle: is sighting strength related to hand preference?

PubMed

Carey, David P; Hutchinson, Claire V

2013-10-01

Sighting dominance (the behavioural preference for one eye over the other under monocular viewing conditions) has traditionally been thought of as a robust individual trait. However, Khan and Crawford (2001) have shown that, under certain viewing conditions, eye preference reverses as a function of horizontal gaze angle. Remarkably, the reversal of sighting from one eye to the other depends on which hand is used to reach out and grasp the target. Their procedure provides an ideal way to measure the strength of monocular preference for sighting, which may be related to other indicators of hemispheric specialisation for speech, language and motor function. Therefore, we hypothesised that individuals with consistent side preferences (e.g., right hand, right eye) should have more robust sighting dominance than those with crossed lateral preferences. To test this idea, we compared strength of eye dominance in individuals who are consistently right or left sided for hand and foot preference with those who are not. We also modified their procedure in order to minimise a potential image size confound, suggested by Banks et al. (2004) as an explanation of Khan and Crawford's results. We found that the sighting dominance switch occurred at similar eccentricities when we controlled for effects of hand occlusion and target size differences. We also found that sighting dominance thresholds change predictably with the hand used. However, we found no evidence for relationships between strength of hand preference as assessed by questionnaire or by pegboard performance and strength of sighting dominance. Similarly, participants with consistent hand and foot preferences did not show stronger eye preference as assessed using the Khan and Crawford procedure. These data are discussed in terms of indirect relationships between sighting dominance, hand preference and cerebral specialisation for language and motor control. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Postural Effects on the Mental Rotation of Body-Related Pictures: An fMRI Study.

PubMed

Qu, Fangbing; Wang, Jianping; Zhong, Yuan; Ye, Haosheng

2018-01-01

This study investigated the embodied effects involved in the mental rotation of pictures of body parts (hands and feet). Blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals were collected from 18 healthy volunteers who performed mental rotation tasks of rotated drawings of hands under different arm postures. Congruent drawings of hands (those congruent with left-hand posture) evoked stronger activation in the left supplementary motor area (SMA), left precentral gyrus, and left superior parietal lobule (SPL) than did incongruent drawings of hands. Congruent drawings of hands (those congruent with right-hand posture) evoked significant activation in the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL), right SMA, bilateral middle frontal gyrus (MFG), left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and bilateral superior frontal gyrus (SFG) compared to that evoked by the incongruent drawings of hands. Similar methodology was implemented with drawings of feet. However, no significant differences in brain activation were observed between congruent and incongruent drawings of feet. This finding suggests that body posture influences body part-related mental rotation in an effector-specific manner. A direct comparison between the medially and laterally rotated drawings revealed activation in the right IPL, left precentral gyrus, bilateral IFG, and bilateral SFG. These results suggest that biomechanical constraints affect the cognitive process of mental rotation.

Are Canadian-born Major League Baseball players more likely to bat left-handed? A partial test of the hockey-influence on batting hypothesis.

PubMed

Cairney, John; Chirico, Daniele; Li, Yao-Chuen; Bremer, Emily; Graham, Jeffrey D

2018-01-01

It has been suggested that Canadian-born Major League Baseball (MLB) players are more likely to bat left-handed, possibly owing to the fact that they learn to play ice hockey before baseball, and that there is no clear hand-preference when shooting with a hockey stick; approximately half of all ice hockey players shoot left. We constructed a database on active (i.e., October, 2016) MLB players from four countries/regions based on place of birth (Canada, United States of America [USA], Dominican Republic and South Asia [i.e., Japan, Taiwan and South Korea]), including information on which hand they use to bat and throw. We also extracted information on all Canadian-born MLB players, dating back to 1917. Our results confirm that the proportion of left-handed batters born in Canada is higher when compared to the other countries selected; also, since 1917, the proportion of Canadian MLB players who bat left has been consistently higher than the league average. We also compared the proportion of left-handed batters in Canada with players born in states in the USA grouped into high, average and low based on hockey participation. The proportion of MLB players born in states with a high level of hockey participation were more likely to bat left, although the differences were significant at trend level only (p < .10). Lastly, we found that while Canadians were more likely to bat left-handed, this did not correspond with a greater left-hand dominance, as determined by throwing hand. In conclusion, the present study confirms that Canadian-born MLB players are more likely to bat left-handed when compared to American, Dominican Republic and South Asian-born MLB players, providing partial support for the hockey influence on batting hypothesis.

Cortical venous thrombosis following exogenous androgen use for bodybuilding.

PubMed

Sveinsson, Olafur; Herrman, Lars

2013-02-05

There are only a few reports of patients developing cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) after androgen therapy. We present a young man who developed cortical venous thrombosis after using androgens to increase muscle mass. He was hospitalised for parasthesia and dyspraxia in the left hand followed by a generalised tonic-clonic seizure. At admission, he was drowsy, not fully orientated, had sensory inattention, pronation drift and a positive extensor response, all on the left side. The patient had been using anabolic steroids (dainabol 20 mg/day) for the last month for bodybuilding. CT angiography showed a right cortical venous thrombosis. Anticoagulation therapy was started with intravenous heparin for 11 days and oral anticoagulation (warfarin) thereafter. A control CT angiography 4 months later showed resolution of the thrombosis. He recovered fully.

Congenital panfollicular nevus associated with polydactyly.

PubMed

Kim, Jinah; Zambrano, Eduardo V; McNiff, Jennifer M

2007-12-01

A 2-year-old girl presented with ulnar-sided duplication of the left thumb distal to the interphalangeal joint and syndactyly of the first web space. She also had several asymptomatic pink-tan cutaneous papules, involving the first and second ray of the left hand and wrist, clinically resembling a linear epidermal nevus. Microscopically, the papules were composed of well-circumscribed aggregates of basaloid epithelium within the dermis. No normal hair follicles were identified. Follicular germ and papillae were identified, representing abortive attempts at hair follicle formation. The features were remarkably similar to a novel entity described by Finn and Argenyi as congenital panfollicular nevus. In our case, the congenital panfollicular nevus was associated with distal thumb polysyndactyly, which may suggest an important link between limb patterning and hair follicle development.

Concept and Design of a 3D Printed Support to Assist Hand Scanning for the Realization of Customized Orthosis.

PubMed

Baronio, Gabriele; Volonghi, Paola; Signoroni, Alberto

2017-01-01

In the rehabilitation field, the use of additive manufacturing techniques to realize customized orthoses is increasingly widespread. Obtaining a 3D model for the 3D printing phase can be done following different methodologies. We consider the creation of personalized upper limb orthoses, also including fingers, starting from the acquisition of the hand geometry through accurate 3D scanning. However, hand scanning procedure presents differences between healthy subjects and patients affected by pathologies that compromise upper limb functionality. In this work, we present the concept and design of a 3D printed support to assist hand scanning of such patients. The device, realized with FDM additive manufacturing techniques in ABS material, allows palmar acquisitions, and its design and test are motivated by the following needs: (1) immobilizing the hand of patients during the palmar scanning to reduce involuntary movements affecting the scanning quality and (2) keeping hands open and in a correct position, especially to contrast the high degree of hypertonicity of spastic subjects. The resulting device can be used indifferently for the right and the left hand; it is provided in four-dimensional sizes and may be also suitable as a palmar support for the acquisition of the dorsal side of the hand.

Concept and Design of a 3D Printed Support to Assist Hand Scanning for the Realization of Customized Orthosis

PubMed Central

Volonghi, Paola

2017-01-01

In the rehabilitation field, the use of additive manufacturing techniques to realize customized orthoses is increasingly widespread. Obtaining a 3D model for the 3D printing phase can be done following different methodologies. We consider the creation of personalized upper limb orthoses, also including fingers, starting from the acquisition of the hand geometry through accurate 3D scanning. However, hand scanning procedure presents differences between healthy subjects and patients affected by pathologies that compromise upper limb functionality. In this work, we present the concept and design of a 3D printed support to assist hand scanning of such patients. The device, realized with FDM additive manufacturing techniques in ABS material, allows palmar acquisitions, and its design and test are motivated by the following needs: (1) immobilizing the hand of patients during the palmar scanning to reduce involuntary movements affecting the scanning quality and (2) keeping hands open and in a correct position, especially to contrast the high degree of hypertonicity of spastic subjects. The resulting device can be used indifferently for the right and the left hand; it is provided in four-dimensional sizes and may be also suitable as a palmar support for the acquisition of the dorsal side of the hand. PMID:29234219

Differences between right- and left-sided colon cancer in patient characteristics, cancer morphology and histology.

PubMed

Nawa, Toru; Kato, Jun; Kawamoto, Hirofumi; Okada, Hiroyuki; Yamamoto, Hiroshi; Kohno, Hiroyuki; Endo, Hisayuki; Shiratori, Yasushi

2008-03-01

Recently, the clinical and biological differences between right- and left-sided colon cancers have been widely debated. However, close analyses of these clinical differences, based on large-scale studies, have been scarcely reported. A total of 3552 consecutive Japanese colorectal cancer cases were examined and the clinical differences between right- and left-sided colon cancer cases were investigated. The proportion of right-sided colon cancer was relatively high in patients aged less than 40 years (33%) and more than 80 years (43%). The proportion of right-sided colon cancer in patients aged 40-59 years was relatively low (male 22% and female 29%). In male patients the proportion increased in the 70-79 years age group (30%), while in female patients the proportion increased in the 60-69 years age group (39%). Right-sided colon cancer was more likely to be detected at an advanced stage (T1 stage; left 22%, right 15%) (P < 0.01) with severe symptoms. Polypoid-type early cancer was dominant in the left colon (left 59%; right 40%) (P < 0.01), while the proportion of flat-type early cancer in the right colon was significantly higher than that in the left colon (left 25%; right 44%) (P < 0.01). Specific age distribution of right-sided colon cancer was observed and the difference between male and female patients was highlighted. Other clinical features also differed between right- and left-sided colon cancer, suggesting that different mechanisms may be at work during right and left colon carcinogenesis.

Why are some people left-handed? An evolutionary perspective

PubMed Central

Llaurens, V.; Raymond, M.; Faurie, C.

2008-01-01

Since prehistoric times, left-handed individuals have been ubiquitous in human populations, exhibiting geographical frequency variations. Evolutionary explanations have been proposed for the persistence of the handedness polymorphism. Left-handedness could be favoured by negative frequency-dependent selection. Data have suggested that left-handedness, as the rare hand preference, could represent an important strategic advantage in fighting interactions. However, the fact that left-handedness occurs at a low frequency indicates that some evolutionary costs could be associated with left-handedness. Overall, the evolutionary dynamics of this polymorphism are not fully understood. Here, we review the abundant literature available regarding the possible mechanisms and consequences of left-handedness. We point out that hand preference is heritable, and report how hand preference is influenced by genetic, hormonal, developmental and cultural factors. We review the available information on potential fitness costs and benefits acting as selective forces on the proportion of left-handers. Thus, evolutionary perspectives on the persistence of this polymorphism in humans are gathered for the first time, highlighting the necessity for an assessment of fitness differences between right- and left-handers. PMID:19064347

Pantomime to visual presentation of objects: left hand dyspraxia in patients with complete callosotomy.

PubMed

Lausberg, Hedda; Cruz, Robyn F; Kita, Sotaro; Zaidel, Eran; Ptito, Alain

2003-02-01

Investigations of left hand praxis in imitation and object use in patients with callosal disconnection have yielded divergent results, inducing a debate between two theoretical positions. Whereas Liepmann suggested that the left hemisphere is motor dominant, others maintain that both hemispheres have equal motor competences and propose that left hand apraxia in patients with callosal disconnection is secondary to left hemispheric specialization for language or other task modalities. The present study aims to gain further insight into the motor competence of the right hemisphere by investigating pantomime of object use in split-brain patients. Three patients with complete callosotomy and, as control groups, five patients with partial callosotomy and nine healthy subjects were examined for their ability to pantomime object use to visual object presentation and demonstrate object manipulation. In each condition, 11 objects were presented to the subjects who pantomimed or demonstrated the object use with either hand. In addition, six object pairs were presented to test bimanual coordination. Two independent raters evaluated the videotaped movement demonstrations. While object use demonstrations were perfect in all three groups, the split-brain patients displayed apraxic errors only with their left hands in the pantomime condition. The movement analysis of concept and execution errors included the examination of ipsilateral versus contralateral motor control. As the right hand/left hemisphere performances demonstrated retrieval of the correct movement concepts, concept errors by the left hand were taken as evidence for right hemisphere control. Several types of execution errors reflected a lack of distal motor control indicating the use of ipsilateral pathways. While one split-brain patient controlled his left hand predominantly by ipsilateral pathways in the pantomime condition, the error profile in the other two split-brain patients suggested that the right hemisphere controlled their left hands. In the object use condition, in all three split-brain patients fine-graded distal movements in the left hand indicated right hemispheric control. Our data show left hand apraxia in split-brain patients is not limited to verbal commands, but also occurs in pantomime to visual presentation of objects. As the demonstration with object in hand was unimpaired in either hand, both hemispheres must contain movement concepts for object use. However, the disconnected right hemisphere is impaired in retrieving the movement concept in response to visual object presentation, presumably because of a deficit in associating perceptual object representation with the movement concepts.

Does the primary site of colorectal cancer impact outcomes for patients with metastatic disease?

PubMed

Price, Timothy J; Beeke, Carol; Ullah, Shahid; Padbury, Robert; Maddern, Guy; Roder, David; Townsend, Amanda R; Moore, James; Roy, Amitesh; Tomita, Yoko; Karapetis, Christos

2015-03-15

Previous reports have described differences in biology and outcome for colorectal cancer based on whether the primary is right or left sided. Further division by right, left, and rectum or even exact primary site has also been explored. Possible differences in response to biological agents have also been reported based on side of primary lesion. We explored the South Australian registry for metastatic colorectal cancer to assess if there were any differences in patient characteristics, prognostic markers, and treatment received and outcomes based on whether the primary was right or left sided. We also explored if differences exist based on left colon and rectum and by exact primary site. Two thousand nine hundred seventy-two patients were analyzed. Thirty-five percent had a right-sided primary. The median overall survival for the entire group right versus left was 9.6 versus 20.3 months (P < .001). Multivariate analysis confirmed side of primary as an independent prognostic factor. For the group that had active therapy, defined as chemotherapy (± metastasis resection), median overall survival was right, 18.2 months; and left, 29.4 months (P < .001). Importantly, we found no suggestion of major differences if left side was divided by left colon and rectum, and trends by individual site still supported a left and right division. Patients with a right-sided primary have more negative prognostic factors and indeed have inferior outcomes compared with those with a left-sided primary. Our data with further breakdown by exact site still favor a simple left-versus-right division moving forward for metastatic colorectal cancer. © 2014 American Cancer Society.

Enhanced visuo-haptic integration for the non-dominant hand.

PubMed

Yalachkov, Yavor; Kaiser, Jochen; Doehrmann, Oliver; Naumer, Marcus J

2015-07-21

Visuo-haptic integration contributes essentially to object shape recognition. Although there has been a considerable advance in elucidating the neural underpinnings of multisensory perception, it is still unclear whether seeing an object and exploring it with the dominant hand elicits the same brain response as compared to the non-dominant hand. Using fMRI to measure brain activation in right-handed participants, we found that for both left- and right-hand stimulation the left lateral occipital complex (LOC) and anterior cerebellum (aCER) were involved in visuo-haptic integration of familiar objects. These two brain regions were then further investigated in another study, where unfamiliar, novel objects were presented to a different group of right-handers. Here the left LOC and aCER were more strongly activated by bimodal than unimodal stimuli only when the left but not the right hand was used. A direct comparison indicated that the multisensory gain of the fMRI activation was significantly higher for the left than the right hand. These findings are in line with the principle of "inverse effectiveness", implying that processing of bimodally presented stimuli is particularly enhanced when the unimodal stimuli are weak. This applies also when right-handed subjects see and simultaneously touch unfamiliar objects with their non-dominant left hand. Thus, the fMRI signal in the left LOC and aCER induced by visuo-haptic stimulation is dependent on which hand was employed for haptic exploration. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mean size estimation yields left-side bias: Role of attention on perceptual averaging.

PubMed

Li, Kuei-An; Yeh, Su-Ling

2017-11-01

The human visual system can estimate mean size of a set of items effectively; however, little is known about whether information on each visual field contributes equally to the mean size estimation. In this study, we examined whether a left-side bias (LSB)-perceptual judgment tends to depend more heavily on left visual field's inputs-affects mean size estimation. Participants were instructed to estimate the mean size of 16 spots. In half of the trials, the mean size of the spots on the left side was larger than that on the right side (the left-larger condition) and vice versa (the right-larger condition). Our results illustrated an LSB: A larger estimated mean size was found in the left-larger condition than in the right-larger condition (Experiment 1), and the LSB vanished when participants' attention was effectively cued to the right side (Experiment 2b). Furthermore, the magnitude of LSB increased with stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA), when spots on the left side were presented earlier than the right side. In contrast, the LSB vanished and then induced a reversed effect with SOA when spots on the right side were presented earlier (Experiment 3). This study offers the first piece of evidence suggesting that LSB does have a significant influence on mean size estimation of a group of items, which is induced by a leftward attentional bias that enhances the prior entry effect on the left side.

Value of local electrogram characteristics predicting successful catheter ablation of left-versus right-sided accessory atrioventricular pathways by radiofrequency current.

PubMed

Lin, J L; Schie, J T; Tseng, C D; Chen, W J; Cheng, T F; Tsou, S S; Chen, J J; Tseng, Y Z; Lien, W P

1995-01-01

Despite similar guidance by local electrogram criteria, catheter ablation of right-sided accessory atrioventricular (AV) pathways by radiofrequency current has been less effective than that of left-sided ones. In order to elucidate the possible diversities in local electrosignal criteria, we systematically analyzed the morphological and timing characteristics of 215 bipolar local electrograms from catheter ablation sites of 65 left-sided accessory AV pathways and of 356 from those of 37 right-sided ones in 92 consecutive patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome or AV reentrant tachycardia incorporating concealed accessory AV pathways. After stepwise multivariate analysis, we selected the presence of a possible accessory pathway potential, local ventricular activation preceding QRS complex for 20 ms or more during ventricular insertion mapping, and the local retrograde ventriculoatrial (VA) continuity, local retrograde VA interval < or = 50 ms, electrogram stability (left-sided targets only), retrograde accessory pathway potential (right-sided targets only) during atrial insertion mapping, as independent local electrogram predictors for successful ablation of left- and right-sided accessory AV pathways. Combination of all local electrogram predictors could have moderate chance of success (80 and 51%) for the ventricular and atrial insertion ablation of left-sided accessory AV pathways, but only low probability of success (40% in ventricular insertion ablation) or very low sensitivity (12.5% in atrial insertion ablation) for right-sided ones. In conclusion, with the present approach, successful catheter ablation of right-sided accessory AV pathways, compared to left-sided ones, still necessitate a breakthrough in the precision mapping and the efficiency of energy delivery.

Upper Limb Asymmetry in the Sense of Effort Is Dependent on Force Level

PubMed Central

Mitchell, Mark; Martin, Bernard J.; Adamo, Diane E.

2017-01-01

Previous studies have shown that asymmetries in upper limb sensorimotor function are dependent on the source of sensory and motor information, hand preference and differences in hand strength. Further, the utilization of sensory and motor information and the mode of control of force may differ between the right hand/left hemisphere and left hand/right hemisphere systems. To more clearly understand the unique contribution of hand strength and intrinsic differences to the control of grasp force, we investigated hand/hemisphere differences when the source of force information was encoded at two different force levels corresponding to a 20 and 70% maximum voluntary contraction or the right and left hand of each participant. Eleven, adult males who demonstrated a stronger right than left maximum grasp force were requested to match a right or left hand 20 or 70% maximal voluntary contraction reference force with the opposite hand. During the matching task, visual feedback corresponding to the production of the reference force was available and then removed when the contralateral hand performed the match. The matching relative force error was significantly different between hands for the 70% MVC reference force but not for the 20% MVC reference force. Directional asymmetries, quantified as the matching force constant error, showed right hand overshoots and left undershoots were force dependent and primarily due to greater undershoots when matching with the left hand the right hand reference force. Findings further suggest that the interaction between internal sources of information, such as efferent copy and proprioception, as well as hand strength differences appear to be hand/hemisphere system dependent. Investigations of force matching tasks under conditions whereby force level is varied and visual feedback of the reference force is available provides critical baseline information for building effective interventions for asymmetric (stroke-related, Parkinson’s Disease) and symmetric (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) upper limb recovery of neurological conditions where the various sources of sensory – motor information have been significantly altered by the disease process. PMID:28491047

Upper Limb Asymmetry in the Sense of Effort Is Dependent on Force Level.

PubMed

Mitchell, Mark; Martin, Bernard J; Adamo, Diane E

2017-01-01

Previous studies have shown that asymmetries in upper limb sensorimotor function are dependent on the source of sensory and motor information, hand preference and differences in hand strength. Further, the utilization of sensory and motor information and the mode of control of force may differ between the right hand/left hemisphere and left hand/right hemisphere systems. To more clearly understand the unique contribution of hand strength and intrinsic differences to the control of grasp force, we investigated hand/hemisphere differences when the source of force information was encoded at two different force levels corresponding to a 20 and 70% maximum voluntary contraction or the right and left hand of each participant. Eleven, adult males who demonstrated a stronger right than left maximum grasp force were requested to match a right or left hand 20 or 70% maximal voluntary contraction reference force with the opposite hand. During the matching task, visual feedback corresponding to the production of the reference force was available and then removed when the contralateral hand performed the match. The matching relative force error was significantly different between hands for the 70% MVC reference force but not for the 20% MVC reference force. Directional asymmetries, quantified as the matching force constant error, showed right hand overshoots and left undershoots were force dependent and primarily due to greater undershoots when matching with the left hand the right hand reference force. Findings further suggest that the interaction between internal sources of information, such as efferent copy and proprioception, as well as hand strength differences appear to be hand/hemisphere system dependent. Investigations of force matching tasks under conditions whereby force level is varied and visual feedback of the reference force is available provides critical baseline information for building effective interventions for asymmetric (stroke-related, Parkinson's Disease) and symmetric (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) upper limb recovery of neurological conditions where the various sources of sensory - motor information have been significantly altered by the disease process.

Semantic processing in the left versus right cerebral hemispheres following unilateral hand contractions.

PubMed

Turner, Casey E; Hahn, Michael E; Kellogg, Ronald T

2017-03-01

Unilateral hand contractions increase activation in the motor cortex of the contralateral hemisphere, providing a means to alter the relative degree of activation in the right hemisphere versus the left hemisphere through spreading activation. Prior research reported enhanced verbal creativity as measured by performance on remote associate problems in Hebrew from left-hand contractions (right-hemisphere activation). We sought to extend the previous findings to English problems and to homograph interpretation. In Experiment 1, unilateral hand contractions in fact altered performance on the English remote associates, but in the direction of improved performance following right-hand contractions and left-hemisphere activation. In Experiment 2, the probability of retrieving atypical interpretations of homographs with multiple meanings was least likely for left-hemisphere dominant strong right handers, but the hand contraction manipulation had no effect.

Brain oxygenation patterns during the execution of tool use demonstration, tool use pantomime, and body-part-as-object tool use.

PubMed

Helmich, Ingo; Holle, Henning; Rein, Robert; Lausberg, Hedda

2015-04-01

Divergent findings exist whether left and right hemispheric pre- and postcentral cortices contribute to the production of tool use related hand movements. In order to clarify the neural substrates of tool use demonstrations with tool in hand, tool use pantomimes without tool in hand, and body-part-as-object presentations of tool use (BPO) in a naturalistic mode of execution, we applied functional Near InfraRed Spectroscopy (fNIRS) in twenty-three right-handed participants. Functional NIRS techniques allow for the investigation of brain oxygenation during the execution of complex hand movements with an unlimited movement range. Brain oxygenation patterns were retrieved from 16 channels of measurement above pre- and postcentral cortices of each hemisphere. The results showed that tool use demonstration with tool in hand leads to increased oxygenation as compared to tool use pantomimes in the left hemispheric somatosensory gyrus. Left hand executions of the demonstration of tool use, pantomime of tool use, and BPO of tool use led to increased oxygenation in the premotor and somatosensory cortices of the left hemisphere as compared to right hand executions of either condition. The results indicate that the premotor and somatosensory cortices of the left hemisphere constitute relevant brain structures for tool related hand movement production when using the left hand, whereas the somatosensory cortex of the left hemisphere seems to provide specific mental representations when performing tool use demonstrations with the tool in hand. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The role of handedness-dependent sensorimotor experience in the development of mirroring.

PubMed

Mori, Hirotaka; Yamamoto, Shinji; Aihara, Tsuyoshi; Uehara, Shintaro

2015-01-01

In daily life, we often try to learn motor actions by imitating others' actions. Motor imitation requires us to simultaneously map an observed action onto a motor program used to perform that action. This sensorimotor associative experience can plastically modulate the mirror property of the human mirror system, which has a role in matching observed actions directly with the observer's motor programs, to enhance the association between observed and performed actions. In the present study, we investigated the effects of handedness on the mirror property. Healthy left- and right-handed individuals performed a motor imitation task. They were required to imitate hand actions with their dominant hand as quickly and accurately as possible in response to pictures of a left and right hand. Reaction times (RTs) for imitating the hand actions were evaluated. Under the condition where the hand pictures were presented as if facing the participant, we found that, in left-handed participants, RTs for imitating right-handed actions were significantly shorter than those for imitating left-handed actions. Under the same conditions in right-handers, similar differences in RTs when presented left- and right-handed actions were not observed. These findings demonstrate that the imitative responses for left- and right-handed actions are differently facilitated depending on the handedness of the observer, indicating an effect of handedness on the development of mirror systems. The mirror property in left- and right-handers is likely modulated in a different manner by different sensorimotor associative experiences throughout their daily lives. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Horizontal and Vertical Structure of Velocity, Potential Vorticity and Energy in the Gulf Stream.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-02-01

before. Finally, the equation for heat conservation, using standard . - notation, is: T u + w 3 RHS (2-15) at ax ay + where the RHS may include source and...may be rewritten: a o f 0 2 ah 30i .. .iaT + -R2 -+ w2! = RHS . at goz az Under an assumption of negligible mixing (i.e., RHS is small), vertical...Hk( + v.) Kk - 2i + 2 2 --k (k + N - P available potential energy EKE eddy kinetic energy MKE - mean kinetic energy RHS - right hand side LHS -left

Quasi-phase-matching of the dual-band nonlinear left-handed metamaterial

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

Liu, Yahong, E-mail: yhliu@nwpu.edu.cn; Song, Kun; Gu, Shuai

2014-11-17

We demonstrate a type of nonlinear meta-atom creating a dual-band nonlinear left-handed metamaterial (DNLHM). The DNLHM operates at two distinct left-handed frequency bands where there is an interval of one octave between the two center frequencies. Under the illumination of a high-power signal at the first left-handed frequency band corresponding to fundamental frequency (FF), second-harmonic generation (SHG) is observed at the second left-handed band. This means that our DNLHM supports backward-propagating waves both at FF and second-harmonic (SH) frequency. We also experimentally demonstrate quasi-phase-matching configurations for the backward SHG. This fancy parametric process can significantly transmits the SH generated bymore » an incident FF wave.« less

Prevention of palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia with an antiperspirant in breast cancer patients treated with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (SAKK 92/08).

PubMed

Templeton, Arnoud J; Ribi, Karin; Surber, Christian; Sun, Hong; Hsu Schmitz, Shu-Fang; Beyeler, Michael; Dietrich, Daniel; Borner, Markus; Winkler, Annette; Müller, Andreas; von Rohr, Lukas; Winterhalder, Ralph C; Rochlitz, Christoph; von Moos, Roger; Zaman, Khalil; Thürlimann, Beat J K; Ruhstaller, Thomas

2014-06-01

Elevated concentrations of doxorubicin are found in eccrine sweat glands of the palms and soles. We therefore evaluated an antiperspirant as preventive treatment for palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia (hand-foot syndrome) in patients with metastatic breast cancer treated with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin. An antiperspirant containing aluminum chlorohydrate or placebo cream was applied to the left or right hand and foot in a double-blinded manner (intra-patient randomization). The primary endpoint was the rate of grade 2 or 3 palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia. A secondary endpoint was the patient-reported symptom burden (tingling, numbness, pain, or skin problems). Using McNemar's matched pairs design, 53 patients were needed to detect a 20% difference between the treatment and placebo sides with a significance level of 5% and power of 90%. Grade 2 or 3 PPE occurred in 30 (58%) of 52 evaluable patients; in six patients adverse effects occurred on the placebo side but not on the treatment side, whereas one patient developed palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia on the treatment side only (P = 0.07). Four patients developed grade 2 or 3 palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia on their foot on the placebo side but not on the treatment side (P = 0.05). In the cohort with grade 2 or 3 palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia there was a trend towards fewer dermatologic symptomatologies with the active treatment (P = 0.05), and no difference for other adverse events. Using topical aluminum chlorohydrate as an antiperspirant appears to reduce the incidence of grade 2 or 3 palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia following pegylated liposomal doxorubicin chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

47 CFR 61.52 - Form, size, type, legibility, etc.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

...,” “Original page 1,” “Original page 2,” etc. (1) All such pages must show, in the upper left-hand corner the... designation directly below; in the lower left-hand corner the issued date; in the lower right-hand corner the... and check sheet only. (2) As an alternative, the issuing carrier may show in the upper left-hand...

47 CFR 61.52 - Form, size, type, legibility, etc.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

...,” “Original page 1,” “Original page 2,” etc. (1) All such pages must show, in the upper left-hand corner the... designation directly below; in the lower left-hand corner the issued date; in the lower right-hand corner the... and check sheet only. (2) As an alternative, the issuing carrier may show in the upper left-hand...

47 CFR 61.52 - Form, size, type, legibility, etc.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

...,” “Original page 1,” “Original page 2,” etc. (1) All such pages must show, in the upper left-hand corner the... designation directly below; in the lower left-hand corner the issued date; in the lower right-hand corner the... and check sheet only. (2) As an alternative, the issuing carrier may show in the upper left-hand...

47 CFR 61.52 - Form, size, type, legibility, etc.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

...,” “Original page 1,” “Original page 2,” etc. (1) All such pages must show, in the upper left-hand corner the... designation directly below; in the lower left-hand corner the issued date; in the lower right-hand corner the... and check sheet only. (2) As an alternative, the issuing carrier may show in the upper left-hand...

Differences in Left and Right Laparoscopic Adrenalectomy

PubMed Central

Rieder, Jocelyn M.; Nisbet, Alan A.; Wuerstle, Melanie C.; Tran, Viet Q.; Kwon, Eric O.

2010-01-01

Background and Objectives: The classic belief is that right-sided laparoscopic adrenalectomy is technically more difficult to perform than left-sided. The purpose of this study was to determine whether objective outcomes are different for the right- versus left- sided operation. Methods: A retrospective review of 163 laparoscopic adrenalectomies was performed to compare outcomes. Variables extracted included age, demographics, body mass index (BMI), laterality, indication, operative time, estimated blood loss (EBL), gland size, complications, open conversion rates, and length of stay. Results: Of the adrenalectomies performed, 109 were on the left and 54 on the right. Age, BMI, and indication were similar for each group. The mean EBL on the left side was 113mL (range, 2 to 3000) and 84mL (range, 10 to 700) for the right (P=0.85). The mean operative time on the left side was 187 minutes (range, 62 to 475) and on the right was 156 minutes (range, 50 to 365) (P=0.02). There was no difference in complication or conversion rate. Conclusions: There was no difference in complication or conversion rates between each side, and we observed a trend toward lower blood loss for the right side. Although we report generally similar outcomes, the mean operative time for a right-sided laparoscopic adrenalectomy was significantly less (31 minutes) than the left side. PMID:21333190

Left, right, left, right, eyes to the front! Müller-Lyer bias in grasping is not a function of hand used, hand preferred or visual hemifield, but foveation does matter.

PubMed

van der Kamp, John; de Wit, Matthieu M; Masters, Rich S W

2012-04-01

We investigated whether the control of movement of the left hand is more likely to involve the use of allocentric information than movements performed with the right hand. Previous studies (Gonzalez et al. in J Neurophys 95:3496-3501, 2006; De Grave et al. in Exp Br Res 193:421-427, 2009) have reported contradictory findings in this respect. In the present study, right-handed participants (N = 12) and left-handed participants (N = 12) made right- and left-handed grasps to foveated objects and peripheral, non-foveated objects that were located in the right or left visual hemifield and embedded within a Müller-Lyer illusion. They were also asked to judge the size of the object by matching their hand aperture to its length. Hand apertures did not show significant differences in illusory bias as a function of hand used, handedness or visual hemifield. However, the illusory effect was significantly larger for perception than for action, and for the non-foveated compared to foveated objects. No significant illusory biases were found for reach movement times. These findings are consistent with the two-visual system model that holds that the use of allocentric information is more prominent in perception than in movement control. We propose that the increased involvement of allocentric information in movements toward peripheral, non-foveated objects may be a consequence of more awkward, less automatized grasps of nonfoveated than foveated objects. The current study does not support the conjecture that the control of left-handed and right-handed grasps is predicated on different sources of information.

Diversity and convergence in the mechanisms establishing L/R asymmetry in metazoa

PubMed Central

Coutelis, Jean-Baptiste; González-Morales, Nicanor; Géminard, Charles; Noselli, Stéphane

2014-01-01

Differentiating left and right hand sides during embryogenesis represents a major event in body patterning. Left–Right (L/R) asymmetry in bilateria is essential for handed positioning, morphogenesis and ultimately the function of organs (including the brain), with defective L/R asymmetry leading to severe pathologies in human. How and when symmetry is initially broken during embryogenesis remains debated and is a major focus in the field. Work done over the past 20 years, in both vertebrate and invertebrate models, has revealed a number of distinct pathways and mechanisms important for establishing L/R asymmetry and for spreading it to tissues and organs. In this review, we summarize our current knowledge and discuss the diversity of L/R patterning from cells to organs during evolution. PMID:25150102

Kinematic and kinetic differences between left-and right-handed professional baseball pitchers.

PubMed

Diffendaffer, Alek Z; Fleisig, Glenn S; Ivey, Brett; Aune, Kyle T

2018-03-21

While 10% of the general population is left-handed, 27% of professional baseball pitchers are left-handed. Biomechanical differences between left- and right-handed college pitchers have been previously reported, but these differences have yet to be examined at the professional level. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare pitching biomechanics between left- and right-handed professional pitchers. It was hypothesised that there would be significant kinematic and kinetic differences between these two groups. Pitching biomechanics were collected on 96 left-handed pitchers and a group of 96 right-handed pitchers matched for age, height, mass and ball velocity. Student t-tests were used to identify kinematic and kinetic differences (p < 0.05). Of the 31 variables tested, only four were found to be significantly different between the groups. Landing position of the stride foot, trunk separation at foot contact, maximum shoulder external rotation and trunk forward tilt at ball release were all significantly greater in right-handed pitchers. The magnitude of the statistical differences found were small and not consistent with differences in the two previous, smaller studies. Thus, the differences found may be of minimal practical significance and mechanics can be taught the same to all pitchers, regardless of throwing hand.

Functional asymmetries in early learning during right, left, and bimanual performance in right-handed subjects.

PubMed

Aznárez-Sanado, Maite; Fernández-Seara, Maria A; Loayza, Francis R; Pastor, Maria A

2013-03-01

To elucidate differences in activity and connectivity during early learning due to the performing hand. Twenty right-handed subjects were recruited. The neural correlates of explicit visuospatial learning executed with the right, the left hand, and bimanually were investigated using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Connectivity analyses were carried out using the psychophysiological interactions model, considering right and left anterior putamen as index regions. A common neural network was found for the three tasks during learning. Main activity increases were located in posterior cingulate cortex, supplementary motor area, parietal cortex, anterior putamen, and cerebellum (IV-V), whereas activity decrements were observed in prefrontal regions. However, the left hand task showed a greater recruitment of left hippocampal areas when compared with the other tasks. In addition, enhanced connectivity between the right anterior putamen and motor cortical and cerebellar regions was found for the left hand when compared with the right hand task. An additional recruitment of brain regions and increased striato-cortical and striato-cerebellar functional connections is needed when early learning is performed with the nondominant hand. In addition, access to brain resources during learning may be directed by the dominant hand in the bimanual task. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Calcitriol Supplementation Causes Decreases in Tumorigenic Proteins and Different Proteomic and Metabolomic Signatures in Right versus Left-Sided Colon Cancer

PubMed Central

Schroll, Monica M.; Ludwig, Katelyn R.; Bauer, Kerry M.; Hummon, Amanda B.

2018-01-01

Vitamin D deficiency is a common problem worldwide. In particular, it is an issue in the Northern Hemisphere where UVB radiation does not penetrate the atmosphere as readily. There is a correlation between vitamin D deficiency and colorectal cancer incidence and mortality. Furthermore, there is strong evidence that cancer of the ascending (right side) colon is different from cancer of the descending (left side) colon in terms of prognosis, tumor differentiation, and polyp type, as well as at the molecular level. Right-side tumors have elevated Wnt signaling and are more likely to relapse, whereas left-side tumors have reduced expression of tumor suppressor genes. This study seeks to understand both the proteomic and metabolomic changes resulting from treatment of the active metabolite of vitamin D, calcitriol, in right-sided and left-sided colon cancer. Our results show that left-sided colon cancer treated with calcitriol has a substantially greater number of changes in both the proteome and the metabolome than right-sided colon cancer. We found that calcitriol treatment in both right-sided and left-sided colon cancer causes a downregulation of ribosomal protein L37 and protein S100A10. Both of these proteins are heavily involved in tumorigenesis, suggesting a possible mechanism for the correlation between low vitamin D levels and colon cancer. PMID:29324674

Calcitriol Supplementation Causes Decreases in Tumorigenic Proteins and Different Proteomic and Metabolomic Signatures in Right versus Left-Sided Colon Cancer.

PubMed

Schroll, Monica M; Ludwig, Katelyn R; Bauer, Kerry M; Hummon, Amanda B

2018-01-11

Vitamin D deficiency is a common problem worldwide. In particular, it is an issue in the Northern Hemisphere where UVB radiation does not penetrate the atmosphere as readily. There is a correlation between vitamin D deficiency and colorectal cancer incidence and mortality. Furthermore, there is strong evidence that cancer of the ascending (right side) colon is different from cancer of the descending (left side) colon in terms of prognosis, tumor differentiation, and polyp type, as well as at the molecular level. Right-side tumors have elevated Wnt signaling and are more likely to relapse, whereas left-side tumors have reduced expression of tumor suppressor genes. This study seeks to understand both the proteomic and metabolomic changes resulting from treatment of the active metabolite of vitamin D, calcitriol, in right-sided and left-sided colon cancer. Our results show that left-sided colon cancer treated with calcitriol has a substantially greater number of changes in both the proteome and the metabolome than right-sided colon cancer. We found that calcitriol treatment in both right-sided and left-sided colon cancer causes a downregulation of ribosomal protein L37 and protein S100A10. Both of these proteins are heavily involved in tumorigenesis, suggesting a possible mechanism for the correlation between low vitamin D levels and colon cancer.

[Agraphia of the left hand--its characteristics and mechanism of development].

PubMed

Ohigashi, Y; Hamanaka, T; Asano, K; Morimune, S

1983-11-01

We observed 62 y.o. right-handed woman, whose truncus of corps callosum was damaged by infarction of left anterior cerebral artery, that was verified by coronal CT scan finding. She was apraxic and agraphic only with left hand. We examined the characteristics of her unilateral left agraphia from the point of quantitative and qualitative views. These analysis seemed to reveal three main characteristics of unilateral left agraphia of this patient. These were as follows; 1) productive, 2) neographic and 3) iterative. Another important feature of this patient was the mute state during her left-hand writing. Her left agraphia could not explained by apraxic factor, because her copying capacity was remarkably preserved in comparison with her dictation or written naming ability. Furthermore, this agraphia was not aphasic because her right-hand writing was almost intact. We agreed with Yamadori who insisted that this type of agraphia was neither apraxic nor aphasic, but the particular third agraphia which was named as "disconnection agraphia". We considered that the mute state during her left-hand writing might some kind of transient aphasia, which may reflect the functional disturbance of left hemisphere, and the reduced energy in the left hemisphere could increase the activity of right hemisphere. Partial interhemispheric disconnection might induce transient "linguistic anosognosia" in this patient. We believe that these transient hyperactivity and transient linguistic anosognosia could generate above mentioned characteristics of her left agraphia; productive, neographic and iterative.

The Rafita asteroid family

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aljbaae, S.; Carruba, V.; Masiero, J. R.; Domingos, R. C.; Huaman, M.

2017-05-01

The Rafita asteroid family is an S-type group located in the middle main belt, on the right-hand side of the 3J:-1A mean-motion resonance. The proximity of this resonance to the family left-hand side in the semimajor axis caused many former family members to be lost. As a consequence, the family shape in the (a, 1/D) domain is quite asymmetrical, with a preponderance of objects on the right-hand side of the distribution. The Rafita family is also characterized by a leptokurtic distribution in inclination, which allows the use of methods of family age estimation recently introduced for other leptokurtic families such as Astrid, Hansa, Gallia and Barcelona. In this work, we propose a new method based on the behaviour of an asymmetry coefficient function of the distribution in the (a, 1/D) plane to date incomplete asteroid families such as Rafita. By monitoring the time behaviour of this coefficient for asteroids simulating the initial conditions at the time of the family formation, we were able to estimate that the Rafita family should have an age of 490 ± 200 Myr, in good agreement with results from independent methods such as Monte Carlo simulations of Yarkovsky and YORP dynamical induced evolution and the time behaviour of the kurtosis of the sin (I) distribution. Asteroids from the Rafita family can reach orbits similar to 8 per cent of the currently known near-Earth objects. During the final 10 Myr of the simulation, ≃1 per cent of the simulated objects are present in NEO space, and thus would be comparable to objects in the present-day NEO population.

Hand-independent representation of tool-use pantomimes in the left anterior intraparietal cortex.

PubMed

Ogawa, Kenji; Imai, Fumihito

2016-12-01

Previous neuropsychological studies of ideomotor apraxia (IMA) indicated impairments in pantomime actions for tool use for both right and left hands following lesions of parieto-premotor cortices in the left hemisphere. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA), we tested the hypothesis that the left parieto-premotor cortices are involved in the storage or retrieval of hand-independent representation of tool-use actions. In the fMRI scanner, one of three kinds of tools was displayed in pictures or letters, and the participants made pantomimes of the use of these tools using the right hand for the picture stimuli or with the left hand for the letters. We then used MVPA to classify which kind of tool the subjects were pantomiming. Whole-brain searchlight analysis revealed successful decoding using the activities largely in the contralateral primary sensorimotor region, ipsilateral cerebellum, and bilateral early visual area, which may reflect differences in low-level sensorimotor components for three types of pantomimes. Furthermore, a successful cross-classification between the right and left hands was possible using the activities of the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL) near the junction of the anterior intraparietal sulcus. Our finding indicates that the left anterior intraparietal cortex plays an important role in the production of tool-use pantomimes in a hand-independent manner, and independent of stimuli modality.

Mid-infrared metasurface made of composite right/left-handed transmission-line

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

Luo, Yi; Ying, Xiangxiao; Pu, Yang

2016-06-06

We report on the realization of a mid-infrared metasurface based on the concept of composite right/left-handed transmission-line. The metasurface consists of a three-layer metal-insulator-metal structure patterned into transmission-lines by electron-beam lithography. Angle-variable reflection spectroscopy measurements reveal resonant absorption features corresponding to both right- and left-handed propagations in the leaky-wave guided mode region. Material loss is shown to dominate the quality factor of the left-handed modes, while the radiative loss dominates the right-handed ones. The experimental results are in good agreement with full-wave numerical simulations and are explained with an equivalent circuit model.

Kinematics of reaching and implications for handedness in rhesus monkey infants

PubMed Central

Nelson, Eliza L.; Konidaris, George D.; Berthier, Neil E.; Braun, Maurine C.; Novak, Matthew F.S.X.; Suomi, Stephen J.; Novak, Melinda A.

2014-01-01

Kinematic studies of reaching in human infants using two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) recordings have complemented behavioral studies of infant handedness by providing additional evidence of early right asymmetries. Right hand reaches have been reported to be straighter and smoother than left hand reaches during the first year. Although reaching has been a popular measure of handedness in primates, there has been no systematic comparison of left and right hand reach kinematics. We investigated reaching in infant rhesus monkeys using the 2-D motion analysis software MaxTRAQ Lite+ (Innovision Systems). Linear mixed-effects models revealed that left hand reaches were smoother, but not straighter, than right hand reaches. An early left bias matches previous findings of a left hand preference for reaching in adult rhesus monkeys. Additional work using this kind of kinematic approach will extend our understanding of primate handedness beyond traditional studies measuring only frequency or bouts of hand use. PMID:22031459

Auditory middle latency responses differ in right- and left-handed subjects: an evaluation through topographic brain mapping.

PubMed

Mohebbi, Mehrnaz; Mahmoudian, Saeid; Alborzi, Marzieh Sharifian; Najafi-Koopaie, Mojtaba; Farahani, Ehsan Darestani; Farhadi, Mohammad

2014-09-01

To investigate the association of handedness with auditory middle latency responses (AMLRs) using topographic brain mapping by comparing amplitudes and latencies in frontocentral and hemispheric regions of interest (ROIs). The study included 44 healthy subjects with normal hearing (22 left handed and 22 right handed). AMLRs were recorded from 29 scalp electrodes in response to binaural 4-kHz tone bursts. Frontocentral ROI comparisons revealed that Pa and Pb amplitudes were significantly larger in the left-handed than the right-handed group. Topographic brain maps showed different distributions in AMLR components between the two groups. In hemispheric comparisons, Pa amplitude differed significantly across groups. A left-hemisphere emphasis of Pa was found in the right-handed group but not in the left-handed group. This study provides evidence that handedness is associated with AMLR components in frontocentral and hemispheric ROI. Handedness should be considered an essential factor in the clinical or experimental use of AMLRs.

Surgical management of colonic diverticular disease: discrepancy between right- and left-sided diseases.

PubMed

Oh, Heung-Kwon; Han, Eon Chul; Ha, Heon-Kyun; Choe, Eun Kyung; Moon, Sang Hui; Ryoo, Seung-Bum; Jeong, Seung-Yong; Park, Kyu Joo

2014-08-07

To compare the outcome of the surgical management of left-sided and right-sided diverticular disease. The medical records of 77 patients who were surgically treated for diverticular disease between 1999 and 2010 in a tertiary referral hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The study population was limited to cases wherein the surgical specimen was confirmed as diverticulosis by pathology. Right-sided diverticula were classified as those arising from the cecum, ascending colon, and transverse colon, and those from the descending colon, sigmoid colon, and rectum were classified as left-sided diverticulosis. To assess the changing trend of occurrence of diverticulosis, data were compared with two previous studies of 51 patients. The proportion of left-sided disease cases was significantly increased compared to the results of our previous studies in 1994 and 2001, (27.5% vs 48.1%, P < 0.05). Moreover, no differences in gender, body mass index, multiplicity of the diverticula, fever, or leukocytosis were noted between patients with right-sided and left-sided disease. However, patients with right-sided disease were significantly younger (50.9 year vs 64.0 year, P < 0.01). Furthermore, left-sided disease was significantly associated with a higher incidence of complicated diverticulitis (89.2% vs 57.5%, P < 0.01), combined resection due to extensive inflammation (21.6% vs 5.0%, P < 0.05), operative complications (51.4% vs 27.5%, P < 0.05), and in-hospital mortality (10.8% vs 0%, P < 0.05), along with longer post-operative hospitalization duration (21.3 ± 10.2 d vs 10.6 ± 8.1 d, P < 0.05). Compared with right-sided diverticular disease, the incidence of left-sided disease in Korea has increased since 2001 and is associated with worse surgical outcomes.

Surgical management of colonic diverticular disease: Discrepancy between right- and left-sided diseases

PubMed Central

Oh, Heung-Kwon; Han, Eon Chul; Ha, Heon-Kyun; Choe, Eun Kyung; Moon, Sang Hui; Ryoo, Seung-Bum; Jeong, Seung-Yong; Park, Kyu Joo

2014-01-01

AIM: To compare the outcome of the surgical management of left-sided and right-sided diverticular disease. METHODS: The medical records of 77 patients who were surgically treated for diverticular disease between 1999 and 2010 in a tertiary referral hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The study population was limited to cases wherein the surgical specimen was confirmed as diverticulosis by pathology. Right-sided diverticula were classified as those arising from the cecum, ascending colon, and transverse colon, and those from the descending colon, sigmoid colon, and rectum were classified as left-sided diverticulosis. To assess the changing trend of occurrence of diverticulosis, data were compared with two previous studies of 51 patients. RESULTS: The proportion of left-sided disease cases was significantly increased compared to the results of our previous studies in 1994 and 2001, (27.5% vs 48.1%, P < 0.05). Moreover, no differences in gender, body mass index, multiplicity of the diverticula, fever, or leukocytosis were noted between patients with right-sided and left-sided disease. However, patients with right-sided disease were significantly younger (50.9 year vs 64.0 year, P < 0.01). Furthermore, left-sided disease was significantly associated with a higher incidence of complicated diverticulitis (89.2% vs 57.5%, P < 0.01), combined resection due to extensive inflammation (21.6% vs 5.0%, P < 0.05), operative complications (51.4% vs 27.5%, P < 0.05), and in-hospital mortality (10.8% vs 0%, P < 0.05), along with longer post-operative hospitalization duration (21.3 ± 10.2 d vs 10.6 ± 8.1 d, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Compared with right-sided diverticular disease, the incidence of left-sided disease in Korea has increased since 2001 and is associated with worse surgical outcomes. PMID:25110438

Equivalent brain SPECT perfusion changes underlying therapeutic efficiency in pharmacoresistant depression using either high-frequency left or low-frequency right prefrontal rTMS.

PubMed

Richieri, Raphaëlle; Boyer, Laurent; Padovani, Romain; Adida, Marc; Colavolpe, Cécile; Mundler, Olivier; Lançon, Christophe; Guedj, Eric

2012-12-03

Functional neuroimaging studies have suggested similar mechanisms underlying antidepressant effects of distinct therapeutics. This study aimed to determine and compare functional brain patterns underlying the antidepressant response of 2 distinct protocols of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). 99mTc-ECD SPECT was performed before and after rTMS of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in 61 drug-resistant right-handed patients with major depression, using high frequency (10Hz) left-side stimulation in 33 patients, and low frequency (1Hz) right-side stimulation in 28 patients. Efficiency of rTMS response was defined as at least 50% reduction of the baseline Beck Depression Inventory score. We compared the whole-brain voxel-based brain SPECT changes in perfusion after rTMS, between responders and non-responders in the whole sample (p<0.005, uncorrected), and separately in the subgroup of patients with left- and right-stimulation. Before rTMS, the left- and right-prefrontal stimulation groups did not differ from clinical data and brain SPECT perfusion. rTMS efficiency (evaluated on % of responders) was statistically equivalent in the two groups of patients. In the whole-group of responder patients, a perfusion decrease was found after rTMS, in comparison to non-responders, within the left perirhinal cortex (BA35, BA36). This result was secondarily confirmed separately in the two subgroups, i.e. after either left stimulation (p=0.017) or right stimulation (p<0.001), without significant perfusion differences between these two subgroups. These data show that distinct successful rTMS protocols induce equivalent brain functional changes associated to antidepressive efficiency, consisting to a remote brain limbic activity decrease within the left perirhinal cortex. However, these results will have to be confirmed in a double-blind randomized trial using a sham control group. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

32 CFR 935.131 - Right-hand side of the road.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 32 National Defense 6 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Right-hand side of the road. 935.131 Section 935... INSULAR REGULATIONS WAKE ISLAND CODE Motor Vehicle Code § 935.131 Right-hand side of the road. Each person driving a motor vehicle on Wake Island shall drive on the right-hand side of the road, except where...

32 CFR 935.131 - Right-hand side of the road.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 32 National Defense 6 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Right-hand side of the road. 935.131 Section 935... INSULAR REGULATIONS WAKE ISLAND CODE Motor Vehicle Code § 935.131 Right-hand side of the road. Each person driving a motor vehicle on Wake Island shall drive on the right-hand side of the road, except where...

32 CFR 935.131 - Right-hand side of the road.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 6 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Right-hand side of the road. 935.131 Section 935... INSULAR REGULATIONS WAKE ISLAND CODE Motor Vehicle Code § 935.131 Right-hand side of the road. Each person driving a motor vehicle on Wake Island shall drive on the right-hand side of the road, except where...

32 CFR 935.131 - Right-hand side of the road.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 32 National Defense 6 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Right-hand side of the road. 935.131 Section 935... INSULAR REGULATIONS WAKE ISLAND CODE Motor Vehicle Code § 935.131 Right-hand side of the road. Each person driving a motor vehicle on Wake Island shall drive on the right-hand side of the road, except where...

32 CFR 935.131 - Right-hand side of the road.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 32 National Defense 6 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Right-hand side of the road. 935.131 Section 935... INSULAR REGULATIONS WAKE ISLAND CODE Motor Vehicle Code § 935.131 Right-hand side of the road. Each person driving a motor vehicle on Wake Island shall drive on the right-hand side of the road, except where...

Relative age effect and left-handedness in world class water polo male and female players.

PubMed

Barrenetxea-Garcia, Josu; Torres-Unda, Jon; Esain, Izaro; Gil, Susana M

2018-06-01

Most studies of the relative age effect (RAE) refer to popular sports. In contrast, we examined to what extent the RAE is present in elite water polo players, as well as the association between handedness and RAE. For these purposes, laterality, anthropometry, month of birth, performance and playing position of participants in the 2011, 2013 and 2015 World Championships (623 women, 622 men) were analised. No RAE was observed in the total sample. However, the proportion of male left-handed field players born in the first quarter (11%) was lower than those born in the second (35.3%) and fourth quarter (29.4%). Regarding the overall laterality, the amount of left handed players was similar to the general population (10%). Nevertheless, there was a larger amount of left-handed wings than expected both in men (23.7%) and women (34.4%). Left-handed male players performed more shots, shots/minute and also scored more goals than right-handed players. Women left-handed players were younger and they performed more shots/minute. There is no RAE in elite male and female water polo players. However, laterality could be a possible moderator of the RAE particularly in left handed players, which should be taken into account in future studies.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation Effects on Neglect: A Visual-Evoked Potential Study

PubMed Central

Pitzalis, Sabrina; Spinelli, Donatella; Vallar, Giuseppe; Di Russo, Francesco

2013-01-01

We studied the effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) in six right-brain-damaged patients with left unilateral spatial neglect (USN), using both standard clinical tests (reading, line, and letter cancelation, and line bisection), and electrophysiological measures (steady-state visual-evoked potentials, SSVEP). TENS was applied on left neck muscles for 15′, and measures were recorded before, immediately after, and 60′ after stimulation. Behavioral results showed that the stimulation temporarily improved the deficit in all patients. In cancelation tasks, omissions and performance asymmetries between the two hand-sides were reduced, as well as the rightward deviation in line bisection. Before TENS, SSVEP average latency to stimuli displayed in the left visual half-field [LVF (160 ms)] was remarkably longer than to stimuli shown in the right visual half-field [RVF (120 ms)]. Immediately after TENS, latency to LVF stimuli was 130 ms; 1 h after stimulation the effect of TENS faded, with latency returning to baseline. TENS similarly affected also the latency SSVEP of 12 healthy participants, and their line bisection performance, with effects smaller in size. The present study, first, replicates evidence concerning the positive behavioral effects of TENS on the manifestations of left USN in right-brain-damaged patients; second, it shows putatively related electrophysiological effects on the SSVEP latency. These behavioral and novel electrophysiological results are discussed in terms of specific directional effects of left somatosensory stimulation on egocentric coordinates, which in USN patients are displaced toward the side of the cerebral lesion. Showing that visual-evoked potentials latency is modulated by proprioceptive stimulation, we provide electrophysiological evidence to the effect that TENS may improve some manifestations of USN, with implications for its rehabilitation. PMID:23966919

Asymmetries in motor attention during a cued bimanual reaching task: left and right handers compared.

PubMed

Buckingham, Gavin; Main, Julie C; Carey, David P

2011-04-01

Several studies have indicated that right handers have attention biased toward their right hand during bimanual coordination (Buckingham and Carey, 2009; Peters, 1981). To determine if this behavioral asymmetry was linked to cerebral lateralization, we examined this bias in left and right handers by combining a discontinuous double-step reaching task with a Posner-style hand cueing paradigm. Left and right handed participants received a tactile cue (valid on 80% of trials) prior to a bimanual reach to target pairs. Right handers took longer to inhibit their right hand and made more right hand errors, suggesting that their dominant hand was more readily primed to move than their non-dominant hand, likely due to the aforementioned attentional bias. Left handers, however, showed neither of these asymmetries, suggesting that they lack an equivalent dominant hand attentional bias. The findings are discussed in relation to recent unimanual handedness tasks in right and left handers, and the lateralization of systems for speech, language and motor attention. Copyright © 2009. Published by Elsevier Srl.

Neurula rotation determines left-right asymmetry in ascidian tadpole larvae.

PubMed

Nishide, Kazuhiko; Mugitani, Michio; Kumano, Gaku; Nishida, Hiroki

2012-04-01

Tadpole larvae of the ascidian Halocynthia roretzi show morphological left-right asymmetry. The tail invariably bends towards the left side within the vitelline membrane. The structure of the larval brain is remarkably asymmetric. nodal, a conserved gene that shows left-sided expression, is also expressed on the left side in H. roretzi but in the epidermis unlike in vertebrates. We show that nodal signaling at the late neurula stage is required for stereotypic morphological left-right asymmetry at later stages. We uncover a novel mechanism to break embryonic symmetry, in which rotation of whole embryos provides the initial cue for left-sided expression of nodal. Two hours prior to the onset of nodal expression, the neurula embryo rotates along the anterior-posterior axis in a counterclockwise direction when seen in posterior view, and then this rotation stops when the left side of the embryo is oriented downwards. It is likely that epidermis monocilia, which appear at the neurula rotation stage, generate the driving force for the rotation. When the embryo lies on the left side, protrusion of the neural fold physically prevents it from rotating further. Experiments in which neurula rotation is perturbed by various means, including centrifugation and sandwiching between glass, indicate that contact of the left epidermis with the vitelline membrane as a consequence of neurula rotation promotes nodal expression in the left epidermis. We suggest that chemical, and not mechanical, signals from the vitelline membrane promote nodal expression. Neurula rotation is also conserved in other ascidian species.

WEST WING, EAST SIDE, TO LEFT: NORTH WALL, SOUTH SIDE, ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

WEST WING, EAST SIDE, TO LEFT: NORTH WALL, SOUTH SIDE, IN BACKGROUND - Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio Quartermaster Depot, Northwest corner of New Braunfels Avenue & Grayson Street, San Antonio, Bexar County, TX

Hand Matters: Left-Hand Gestures Enhance Metaphor Explanation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Argyriou, Paraskevi; Mohr, Christine; Kita, Sotaro

2017-01-01

Research suggests that speech-accompanying gestures influence cognitive processes, but it is not clear whether the gestural benefit is specific to the gesturing hand. Two experiments tested the "(right/left) hand-specificity" hypothesis for self-oriented functions of gestures: gestures with a particular hand enhance cognitive processes…

12. CONTROL PANELS, WEST SIDE (LEFT & RIGHT), MAIN FLOOR: ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

12. CONTROL PANELS, WEST SIDE (LEFT & RIGHT), MAIN FLOOR: CENTER OF CLUSTERS, TOP BOX: MEGAWATT METER CENTER OF CLUSTERS, LOWER THREE BOXES: AMPERE METERS LEFT SIDE OF CLUSTERS: VOLTAGE CHART RECORDER RIGHT SIDE OF CLUSTERS: RECLOSE RELAY CENTER UNDER CLUSTERS: TESTING SWITCHES BELOW TESTING SWITCHES: BREAKER SWITCHES - Bonneville Power Administration South Bank Substation, I-84, South of Bonneville Dam Powerhouse, Bonneville, Multnomah County, OR

Visuokinesthetic Perception of Hand Movement is Mediated by Cerebro–Cerebellar Interaction between the Left Cerebellum and Right Parietal Cortex

PubMed Central

Hagura, Nobuhiro; Oouchida, Yutaka; Aramaki, Yu; Okada, Tomohisa; Matsumura, Michikazu; Sadato, Norihiro

2009-01-01

Combination of visual and kinesthetic information is essential to perceive bodily movements. We conducted behavioral and functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments to investigate the neuronal correlates of visuokinesthetic combination in perception of hand movement. Participants experienced illusory flexion movement of their hand elicited by tendon vibration while they viewed video-recorded flexion (congruent: CONG) or extension (incongruent: INCONG) motions of their hand. The amount of illusory experience was graded by the visual velocities only when visual information regarding hand motion was concordant with kinesthetic information (CONG). The left posterolateral cerebellum was specifically recruited under the CONG, and this left cerebellar activation was consistent for both left and right hands. The left cerebellar activity reflected the participants' intensity of illusory hand movement under the CONG, and we further showed that coupling of activity between the left cerebellum and the “right” parietal cortex emerges during this visuokinesthetic combination/perception. The “left” cerebellum, working with the anatomically connected high-order bodily region of the “right” parietal cortex, participates in online combination of exteroceptive (vision) and interoceptive (kinesthesia) information to perceive hand movement. The cerebro–cerebellar interaction may underlie updating of one's “body image,” when perceiving bodily movement from visual and kinesthetic information. PMID:18453537

On the advantage of being left-handed in volleyball: further evidence of the specificity of skilled visual perception.

PubMed

Loffing, Florian; Schorer, Jörg; Hagemann, Norbert; Baker, Joseph

2012-02-01

High ball speeds and close distances between competitors require athletes in interactive sports to correctly anticipate an opponent's intentions in order to render appropriate reactions. Although it is considered crucial for successful performance, such skill appears impaired when athletes are confronted with a left-handed opponent, possibly because of athletes' reduced perceptual familiarity with rarely encountered left-handed actions. To test this negative perceptual frequency effect hypothesis, we invited 18 skilled and 18 novice volleyball players to predict shot directions of left- and right-handed attacks in a video-based visual anticipation task. In accordance with our predictions, and with recent reports on laterality differences in visual perception, the outcome of left-handed actions was significantly less accurately predicted than the outcome of right-handed attacks. In addition, this left-right bias was most distinct when predictions had to be based on preimpact (i.e., before hand-ball contact) kinematic cues, and skilled players were generally more affected by the opponents' handedness than were novices. The study's findings corroborate the assumption that skilled visual perception is attuned to more frequently encountered actions.

Lateralization of motor excitability during observation of bimanual signs.

PubMed

Möttönen, Riikka; Farmer, Harry; Watkins, Kate E

2010-08-01

Viewing another person's hand actions enhances excitability in an observer's left and right primary motor (M1) cortex. We aimed to determine whether viewing communicative hand actions alters this bilateral sensorimotor resonance. Using single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), we measured excitability in the left and right M1 while right-handed non-signing participants observed bimanual communicative hand actions, i.e., meaningful signs in British Sign Language. TMS-induced motor evoked potentials were recorded from hand muscles during sign observation before and after teaching the participants to associate meanings with half of the signs. Before this teaching, when participants did not know that the presented hand actions were signs, excitability of left and right M1 was modulated equally. After learning the meanings of half the signs, excitability of the left, but not right, M1 was significantly enhanced. This left-lateralized enhancement of M1 excitability occurred during observation of signs with known and unknown meanings. The findings suggest that awareness of the communicative nature of another person's hand actions strengthens sensorimotor resonance in the left M1 cortex and alters hemispheric balance during action observation. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Oldest Case of Decapitation in the New World (Lapa do Santo, East-Central Brazil)

PubMed Central

Strauss, André; Oliveira, Rodrigo Elias; Bernardo, Danilo V.; Salazar-García, Domingo C.; Talamo, Sahra; Jaouen, Klervia; Hubbe, Mark; Black, Sue; Wilkinson, Caroline; Richards, Michael Phillip; Araujo, Astolfo G. M.; Kipnis, Renato; Neves, Walter Alves

2015-01-01

We present here evidence for an early Holocene case of decapitation in the New World (Burial 26), found in the rock shelter of Lapa do Santo in 2007. Lapa do Santo is an archaeological site located in the Lagoa Santa karst in east-central Brazil with evidence of human occupation dating as far back as 11.7–12.7 cal kyBP (95.4% interval). An ultra-filtered AMS age determination on a fragment of the sphenoid provided an age range of 9.1–9.4 cal kyBP (95.4% interval) for Burial 26. The interment was composed of an articulated cranium, mandible and first six cervical vertebrae. Cut marks with a v-shaped profile were observed in the mandible and sixth cervical vertebra. The right hand was amputated and laid over the left side of the face with distal phalanges pointing to the chin and the left hand was amputated and laid over the right side of the face with distal phalanges pointing to the forehead. Strontium analysis comparing Burial 26’s isotopic signature to other specimens from Lapa do Santo suggests this was a local member of the group. Therefore, we suggest a ritualized decapitation instead of trophy-taking, testifying for the sophistication of mortuary rituals among hunter-gatherers in the Americas during the early Archaic period. In the apparent absence of wealth goods or elaborated architecture, Lapa do Santo’s inhabitants seemed to use the human body to express their cosmological principles regarding death. PMID:26397983

Handed behavior in hagfish--an ancient vertebrate lineage--and a survey of lateralized behaviors in other invertebrate chordates and elongate vertebrates.

PubMed

Miyashita, Tetsuto; Palmer, A Richard

2014-04-01

Hagfish represent an ancient lineage of boneless and jawless vertebrates. Among several curious behaviors they exhibit, solitary individuals in one dominant genus of hagfish (Eptatretus spp.) regularly rest in a tightly coiled posture. We present the first systematic treatment of this distinctive behavior. Individual northeastern Pacific hagfish (E. stoutii) exhibited significant handedness (preferred orientation of coiling). However, right-coiling and left-coiling individuals were equally common in the population. Individual hagfish likely develop a preference for one direction by repeating the preceding coiling direction. We also revisit classical accounts of chordate natural history and compare the coiling behavior of Eptatretus with other handed or lateralized behaviors in non-vertebrate chordates, lampreys, and derived vertebrates with elongate bodies. Handed behaviors occur in many of these groups, but they likely evolved independently. In contrast to vertebrates, morphological asymmetries may bias lateralized larval behaviors toward one side in cephalochordates and tunicates. As a consequence, no known handed behavior can be inferred to have existed in the common ancestor of vertebrates.

Functional Anatomy of Writing with the Dominant Hand

PubMed Central

Najee-ullah, Muslimah ‘Ali; Hallett, Mark

2013-01-01

While writing performed by any body part is similar in style, indicating a common program, writing with the dominant hand is particularly skilled. We hypothesized that this skill utilizes a special motor network supplementing the motor equivalence areas. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 13 normal subjects, we studied nine conditions: writing, zigzagging and tapping, each with the right hand, left hand and right foot. We identified brain regions activated with the right (dominant) hand writing task, exceeding the activation common to right-hand use and the writing program, both identified without right-hand writing itself. Right-hand writing significantly differed from the other tasks. First, we observed stronger activations in the left dorsal prefrontal cortex, left intraparietal sulcus and right cerebellum. Second, the left anterior putamen was required to initiate all the tested tasks, but only showed sustained activation during the right-hand writing condition. Lastly, an exploratory analysis showed clusters in the left ventral premotor cortex and inferior and superior parietal cortices were only significantly active for right-hand writing. The increased activation with right-hand writing cannot be ascribed to increased effort, since this is a well-practiced task much easier to perform than some of the other tasks studied. Because parietal-premotor connections code for particular skills, it would seem that the parietal and premotor regions, together with basal ganglia-sustained activation likely underlie the special skill of handwriting with the dominant hand. PMID:23844132

Functional anatomy of writing with the dominant hand.

PubMed

Horovitz, Silvina G; Gallea, Cecile; Najee-Ullah, Muslimah 'ali; Hallett, Mark

2013-01-01

While writing performed by any body part is similar in style, indicating a common program, writing with the dominant hand is particularly skilled. We hypothesized that this skill utilizes a special motor network supplementing the motor equivalence areas. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 13 normal subjects, we studied nine conditions: writing, zigzagging and tapping, each with the right hand, left hand and right foot. We identified brain regions activated with the right (dominant) hand writing task, exceeding the activation common to right-hand use and the writing program, both identified without right-hand writing itself. Right-hand writing significantly differed from the other tasks. First, we observed stronger activations in the left dorsal prefrontal cortex, left intraparietal sulcus and right cerebellum. Second, the left anterior putamen was required to initiate all the tested tasks, but only showed sustained activation during the right-hand writing condition. Lastly, an exploratory analysis showed clusters in the left ventral premotor cortex and inferior and superior parietal cortices were only significantly active for right-hand writing. The increased activation with right-hand writing cannot be ascribed to increased effort, since this is a well-practiced task much easier to perform than some of the other tasks studied. Because parietal-premotor connections code for particular skills, it would seem that the parietal and premotor regions, together with basal ganglia-sustained activation likely underlie the special skill of handwriting with the dominant hand.

Focal dystonia of right hand with mirror movements upon use of left arm.

PubMed

Rana, Abdul Qayyum; Athar, Aysha

2013-05-01

Dystonia is a movement disorder characterized by sustained muscle contractions, causing twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures of affected body parts. Here, we present a novel case of focal dystonia of a 51 years old right-handed woman who had developed difficulty in writing and performing fine motor tasks. Due to a discomfort in her right hand at use, she started using her left hand instead and noticed inconsistent mirror movements in her right hand upon use of left hand. She was treated with trihexyphenidyl which allowed her right hand to function better, though writing still remained a problem.

Task-related enhancement in corticomotor excitability during haptic sensing with the contra- or ipsilateral hand in young and senior adults.

PubMed

Master, Sabah; Tremblay, François

2012-03-14

Haptic sensing with the fingers represents a unique class of manipulative actions, engaging motor, somatosensory and associative areas of the cortex while requiring only minimal forces and relatively simple movement patterns. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), we investigated task-related changes in motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitude associated with unimanual haptic sensing in two related experiments. In Experiment I, we contrasted changes in the excitability of the hemisphere controlling the task hand in young and old adults under two trial conditions, i.e. when participants either touched a fine grating (smooth trials) or touched a coarse grating to detect its groove orientation (grating trials). In Experiment II, the same contrast between tasks was performed but with TMS applied over the hemisphere controlling the resting hand, while also addressing hemispheric (right vs. left) and age differences. In Experiment I, a main effect of trial type on MEP amplitude was detected (p = 0.001), MEPs in the task hand being ~50% larger during grating than smooth trials. No interaction with age was detected. Similar results were found for Experiment II, trial type having a large effect on MEP amplitude in the resting hand (p < 0.001) owing to selective increase in MEP size (~2.6 times greater) for grating trials. No interactions with age or side (right vs. left) were detected. Collectively, these results indicate that adding a haptic component to a simple unilateral finger action can elicit robust corticomotor facilitation not only in the working hemisphere but also in the opposite hemisphere. The fact that this facilitation seems well preserved with age, when task difficulty is adjusted, has some potential clinical implications.

Do Right- and Left-Handed Monkeys Differ on Cognitive Measures?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hopkins, William D.; Washburn, David A.

1994-01-01

Twelve left- and 14 right-handed monkeys were compared on 6 measures of cognitive performance (2 maze-solving tasks, matching-to-sample, delayed matching-to-sample, delayed response using spatial cues, and delayed response using form cues). The dependent variable was trials-to-training criterion for each of the 6 tasks. Significant differences were found between left- and right-handed monkeys on the 2 versions of the delayed response task. Right-handed monkeys reached criterion significantly faster on the form cue version of the task, whereas left-handed monkeys reached criterion significantly faster on delayed response for spatial position (p less than .05). The results suggest that sensitive hand preference measures of laterality can reveal differences in cognitive performance, which in turn may reflect underlying laterality in functional organization of the nervous system.

Task-specific motor performance and musculoskeletal response in self-classified right handers.

PubMed

Kumar, Sameer; Mandal, Manas K

2003-11-01

We examined the difference between the left and right hand motor performance (in terms of erg produced) of self-classified right handers (15 men, 15 women) for power (task involving muscle force) and skilled (task involving precision and eye hand coordination) tasks. Musculoskeletal response during task performance was measured by electromyogram to test the hypothesis that performance with the nondominant hand would trigger more generalized muscle tension. The difference between the left and right hand performance of men was nonsignificant for power task; for women, right hand performance was significantly superior than left for such task. Men excelled in power and women excelled in skilled tasks relative to their counterparts. Generalized muscle tension was significantly more during the left than the right hand performance for power but not for skilled tasks.

[Left-handedness and health].

PubMed

Milenković, Sanja; Belojević, Goran; Kocijancić, Radojka

2010-01-01

Hand dominance is defined as a proneness to use one hand rather than another in performing the majority of activities and this is the most obvious example of cerebral lateralization and an exclusive human characteristic. Left-handed people comprise 6-14% of the total population, while in Serbia, this percentage is 5-10%, moving from undeveloped to developed environments, where a socio-cultural pressure is less present. There is no agreement between investigators who in fact may be considered a left-handed person, about the percentage of left-handers in the population and about the etiology of left-handedness. In the scientific literature left-handedness has been related to health disorders (spine deformities, immunological disorders, migraine, neurosis, depressive psychosis, schizophrenia, insomnia, homosexuality, diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, sleep apnea, enuresis nocturna and Down Syndrome), developmental disorders (autism, dislexia and sttutering) and traumatism. The most reliable scientific evidences have been published about the relationship between left-handedness and spinal deformities in school children in puberty and with traumatism in general population. The controversy of other results in up-to-now investigations of health aspects of left-handedness may partly be explained by a scientific disagreement whether writing with the left hand is a sufficient criterium for left-handedness, or is it necessary to investigate other parameters for laterality assessment. Explanation of health aspects of left-handedness is dominantly based on Geschwind-Galaburda model about "anomalous" cerebral domination, as a consequence of hormonal disbalance.

All-angle negative refraction and active flat lensing of ultraviolet light.

PubMed

Xu, Ting; Agrawal, Amit; Abashin, Maxim; Chau, Kenneth J; Lezec, Henri J

2013-05-23

Decades ago, Veselago predicted that a material with simultaneously negative electric and magnetic polarization responses would yield a 'left-handed' medium in which light propagates with opposite phase and energy velocities--a condition described by a negative refractive index. He proposed that a flat slab of left-handed material possessing an isotropic refractive index of -1 could act like an imaging lens in free space. Left-handed materials do not occur naturally, and it has only recently become possible to achieve a left-handed response using metamaterials, that is, electromagnetic structures engineered on subwavelength scales to elicit tailored polarization responses. So far, left-handed responses have typically been implemented using resonant metamaterials composed of periodic arrays of unit cells containing inductive-capacitive resonators and conductive wires. Negative refractive indices that are isotropic in two or three dimensions at microwave frequencies have been achieved in resonant metamaterials with centimetre-scale features. Scaling the left-handed response to higher frequencies, such as infrared or visible, has been done by shrinking critical dimensions to submicrometre scales by means of top-down nanofabrication. This miniaturization has, however, so far been achieved at the cost of reduced unit-cell symmetry, yielding a refractive index that is negative along only one axis. Moreover, lithographic scaling limits have so far precluded the fabrication of resonant metamaterials with left-handed responses at frequencies beyond the visible. Here we report the experimental implementation of a bulk metamaterial with a left-handed response to ultraviolet light. The structure, based on stacked plasmonic waveguides, yields an omnidirectional left-handed response for transverse magnetic polarization characterized by a negative refractive index. By engineering the structure to have a refractive index close to -1 over a broad angular range, we achieve Veselago flat lensing, in free space, of arbitrarily shaped, two-dimensional objects beyond the near field. We further demonstrate active, all-optical modulation of the image transferred by the flat lens.

Hand preference and magnetic resonance imaging asymmetries of the central sulcus.

PubMed

Foundas, A L; Hong, K; Leonard, C M; Heilman, K M

1998-04-01

Hand preference is perhaps the most evident behavioral asymmetry observed in humans. Anatomic brain asymmetries that may be associated with hand preference have not been extensively studied, and no clear relationship between asymmetries of the motor system and hand preference have been established. Therefore, using volumetric magnetic resonance imaging methodologies, the surface area of the hand representation was measured along the length of the central sulcus in 15 consistent right- and 15 left-handers matched for age and gender. There was a significant leftward asymmetry of the motor hand area of the precentral gyrus in the right-handers, but no directional asymmetry was found in the left-handers. When asymmetry quotients were computed to determine the distribution of interhemispheric asymmetries, the left motor bank was greater than the right motor bank in 9 of 15 right-handers, the right motor bank was greater than the left motor bank in 3 of 15 right-handers, and the motor banks were equal in 3 of 15 right-handers. In contrast, among left-handers, the left motor bank was greater than the right motor bank in 5 of 15, the right motor bank was greater than the left motor bank in 5 of 15, and the motor banks were equal in 5 of 15. Although no direct measure of motor dexterity and skill was performed, these data suggest that anatomic asymmetries of the motor hand area may be related to hand preference because of the differences in right-handers and left-handers. Furthermore, the predominant leftward asymmetry in right-handers and the random distribution of asymmetries in the left-handers support Annett's right-shift theory. It is unclear, however, whether these asymmetries are the result of preferential hand use or are a reflection of a biologic preference to use one limb over the other.

Obstacle traversal and route choice in flying honeybees: Evidence for individual handedness

PubMed Central

Ong, Marielle; Bulmer, Michael; Groening, Julia

2017-01-01

Flying insects constantly face the challenge of choosing efficient, safe and collision-free routes while navigating through dense foliage. We examined the route-choice behavior of foraging honeybees when they encountered a barrier which could be traversed by flying through one of two apertures, positioned side by side. When the bees’ choice behavior was averaged over the entire tested population, the two apertures were chosen with equal frequency when they were equally wide. When the apertures were of different width, the bees, on average, showed a preference for the wider aperture, which increased sharply with the difference between the aperture widths. Thus, bees are able to discriminate the widths of oncoming gaps and choose the passage which is presumably safer and quicker to transit. Examination of the behavior of individual bees revealed that, when the two apertures were equally wide, ca. 55% of the bees displayed no side bias in their choices. However, the remaining 45% showed varying degrees of bias, with one half of them preferring the left-hand aperture, and the other half the right-hand aperture. The existence of distinct individual biases was confirmed by measuring the times required by biased bees to transit various aperture configurations: The transit time was longer if a bee’s intrinsic bias forced it to engage with the narrower aperture. Our results show that, at the population level, bees do not exhibit ‘handedness’ in choosing routes; however, individual bees display an idiosyncratic bias that can range from a strong left bias, through zero bias, to a strong right bias. In honeybees, previous studies of olfactory and visual learning have demonstrated clear biases at the population level. To our knowledge, our study is the first to uncover the existence of individually distinct biases in honeybees. We also show how a distribution of biases among individual honeybees can be advantageous in facilitating rapid transit of a group of bees through a cluttered environment, without any centralized decision-making or control. PMID:29095830

Cortical venous thrombosis following exogenous androgen use for bodybuilding

PubMed Central

Sveinsson, Olafur; Herrman, Lars

2013-01-01

There are only a few reports of patients developing cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) after androgen therapy. We present a young man who developed cortical venous thrombosis after using androgens to increase muscle mass. He was hospitalised for parasthesia and dyspraxia in the left hand followed by a generalised tonic–clonic seizure. At admission, he was drowsy, not fully orientated, had sensory inattention, pronation drift and a positive extensor response, all on the left side. The patient had been using anabolic steroids (dainabol 20 mg/day) for the last month for bodybuilding. CT angiography showed a right cortical venous thrombosis. Anticoagulation therapy was started with intravenous heparin for 11 days and oral anticoagulation (warfarin) thereafter. A control CT angiography 4 months later showed resolution of the thrombosis. He recovered fully. PMID:23389726

Maturation of the Middle Phalanx of the Third Finger: A Comparative Study between Right and Left Hand.

PubMed

Gracco, Antonio; Bruno, Giovanni; De Stefani, Alberto; Siviero, Laura; Perri, Alessandro; Stellini, Edoardo

Recently a classification of patient's skeletal age based on the phalanx maturation, The Middle Phalanx Maturation of the third finger (MPM) method, was suggested. The aim of this study is to evaluate if there is a difference in MPM between the right and left hand. Two hundred fifty-four patients were obtained from the Complex Operating Unit of Orthodontics of Padua University Hospital. The total sample size has been selected by appropriate statistical calculations resulting in 130 patients. It was decided to further double the sample size of a previous study to ensure a robust statistical analysis. Radiographs of the right and left were obtained using the MPM method. Stages were compared using the right hand as a reference. The statistical analysis (Fisher exact test) was performed for the entire sample and related to gender in order to compare the right and the left hand stages. In MPS2, 6 out 49 (12.2%) males and 7 out 27 females (25.9%) showed MPS3 in the left hand (p-value < 0.05). In all other stages, a total agreement (100%) was found. The authors confirm the use of the right hand as reference. In patients with MPS2 an additional radiograph on the left hand can be taken in order to increase the diagnostic accuracy. In all other stages other radiographs are not needed as a total agreement between the right and left hand was found.

Factors affecting colonoscope insertion time in patients with or without a colostomy after left-sided colorectal resection.

PubMed

Jang, Hui Won; Kim, Yoon Nam; Nam, Chung Mo; Lee, Hyun Jung; Park, Soo Jung; Hong, Sung Pil; Kim, Tae Il; Kim, Won Ho; Cheon, Jae Hee

2012-12-01

We examined whether the insertion time for colonoscopies performed after left-sided resection was different in patients with a colostomy from that in patients without a colostomy and identified factors that could impact colonoscopy performance. We included consecutive patients who underwent colonoscopy between July 2005 and March 2011 after left-sided colorectal resection for colorectal cancer. We classified surgical methods according to the presence or absence of a colostomy and evaluated colonoscope insertion time retrospectively. Furthermore, we analyzed factors that might affect insertion time. A total of 1,041 patients underwent colonoscopy after left-sided colorectal resection during the study period. The colonoscopy completion rate was 98.6 %, and the mean insertion time was 6.1 ± 4.6 min (median 4.7 min, range 0.3-35.8 min). A shorter resection length of colon, the presence of a colostomy, and a lower endoscopist case volume were found to be independent factors associated with prolonged insertion time in patients with left-sided colorectal resection. Among experienced colonoscopists, no colonoscopy-associated or clinical factors were found to affect insertion time. However, a shorter resection length of colon, the presence of a colostomy, and poor bowel preparation were associated with prolonged insertion time among inexperienced endoscopists. We identified three factors that affect colonoscope insertion time after left-sided colorectal resection, including the presence of a colostomy. Inexperienced endoscopists were much more affected by the presence of a colostomy after left-sided colorectal resection. These findings have implications for the practice and teaching of colonoscopy after left-sided colorectal resection.

Location of Primary Tumor and Benefit From Anti-Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Monoclonal Antibodies in Patients With RAS and BRAF Wild-Type Metastatic Colorectal Cancer.

PubMed

Moretto, Roberto; Cremolini, Chiara; Rossini, Daniele; Pietrantonio, Filippo; Battaglin, Francesca; Mennitto, Alessia; Bergamo, Francesca; Loupakis, Fotios; Marmorino, Federica; Berenato, Rosa; Marsico, Valentina Angela; Caporale, Marta; Antoniotti, Carlotta; Masi, Gianluca; Salvatore, Lisa; Borelli, Beatrice; Fontanini, Gabriella; Lonardi, Sara; De Braud, Filippo; Falcone, Alfredo

2016-08-01

Right- and left-sided colorectal cancers (CRCs) differ in clinical and molecular characteristics. Some retrospective analyses suggested that patients with right-sided tumors derive less benefit from anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibodies; however, molecular selection in those studies was not extensive. Patients with RAS and BRAF wild-type metastatic CRC (mCRC) who were treated with single-agent anti-EGFRs or with cetuximab-irinotecan (if refractory to previous irinotecan) were included in the study. Differences in outcome between patients with right- and left-sided tumors were investigated. Of 75 patients, 14 and 61 had right- and left-sided tumors, respectively. None of the right-sided tumors responded according to RECIST, compared with 24 left-sided tumors (overall response rate: 0% vs. 41%; p = .0032), and only 2 patients with right-sided tumors (15%) versus 47 patients with left-sided tumors (80%) achieved disease control (p < .0001). The median duration of progression-free survival was 2.3 and 6.6 months in patients with right-sided and left-sided tumors, respectively (hazard ratio: 3.97; 95% confidence interval: 2.09-7.53; p < .0001). Patients with right-sided RAS and BRAF wild-type mCRC seemed to derive no benefit from single-agent anti-EGFRs. Right- and left-sided colorectal tumors have peculiar epidemiological and clinicopathological characteristics, distinct gene expression profiles and genetic alterations, and different prognoses. This study assessed the potential predictive impact of primary tumor site with regard to anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibody treatment in patients with RAS and BRAF wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer. The results demonstrated the lack of activity of anti-EGFRs in RAS and BRAF wild-type, right-sided tumors, thus suggesting a potential role for primary tumor location in driving treatment choices. ©AlphaMed Press.

Effect of familial sinistrality on planum temporale surface and brain tissue asymmetries.

PubMed

Tzourio-Mazoyer, Nathalie; Simon, Gregory; Crivello, Fabrice; Jobard, Gael; Zago, Laure; Perchey, Guy; Hervé, Pierre-Yves; Joliot, Marc; Petit, Laurent; Mellet, Emmanuel; Mazoyer, Bernard

2010-06-01

The impact of having left-handers (LHs) among one's close relatives, called familial sinistrality (FS), on neuroanatomical markers of left-hemisphere language specialization was studied in 274 normal adults, including 199 men and 75 women, among whom 77 men and 27 women were positive for FS. Measurements of the surface of a phonological cortical area, the "planum temporale" (PT), and gray and white matter hemispheric volumes and asymmetries were made using brain magnetic resonance images. The size of the left PT of subjects with left-handed close relatives (FS+) was reduced by 10%, decreasing with the number of left-handed relatives, and lowest when the subject's mother was left-handed. Such findings had no counterparts in the right hemisphere, and the subject's handedness and sex were found to have no significant effect or interaction with FS on the left PT size. The FS+ subjects also exhibited increased gray matter volume, reduced hemispheric gray matter leftward asymmetry, and, in LHs, reduced strength of hand preference. These results add to the increasing body of evidence suggesting multiple and somewhat independent mechanisms for the inheritance of hand and language lateralization.

DISTANT VIEW, UTILITY BUILDING "B" (EAST SIDE) ON LEFT AND ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

DISTANT VIEW, UTILITY BUILDING "B" (EAST SIDE) ON LEFT AND AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR SHOP (EAST SIDE) ON RIGHT. GASOLINE AND OIL HOUSE VISIBLE IN CENTER DISTANCE, FIRE DISPATCH OFFICES 1 AND 2 TO LEFT OF UTILITY BUILDING. VIEW TO WEST. - Cedar City Automotive Repair Shop, 820 North Main Street, Cedar City, Iron County, UT

Motor planning and execution in left- and right-handed individuals during a bimanual grasping and placing task.

PubMed

Hughes, Charmayne M L; Reissig, Paola; Seegelke, Christian

2011-09-01

The issue of handedness has been the topic of great interest for researchers in a number of scientific domains. It is typically observed that the dominant hand yields numerous behavioral advantages over the non-dominant hand during unimanual tasks, which provides evidence of hemispheric specialization. In contrast to advantages for the dominant hand during motor execution, recent research has demonstrated that the right hand has advantages during motor planning (regardless of handedness), indicating that motor planning is a specialized function of the left hemisphere. In the present study we explored hemispheric advantages in motor planning and execution in left- and right-handed individuals during a bimanual grasping and placing task. Replicating previous findings, both motor planning and execution was influenced by object end-orientation congruency. In addition, although motor planning (i.e., end-state comfort) was not influenced by hand or handedness, motor execution differed between left and right hand, with shorter object transport times observed for the left hand, regardless of handedness. These results demonstrate that the hemispheric advantages often observed in unimanual tasks do not extend to discrete bimanual tasks. We propose that the differences in object transport time between the two hands arise from overt shifting visual fixation between the two hands/objects. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cerberus-Nodal-Lefty-Pitx signaling cascade controls left-right asymmetry in amphioxus.

PubMed

Li, Guang; Liu, Xian; Xing, Chaofan; Zhang, Huayang; Shimeld, Sebastian M; Wang, Yiquan

2017-04-04

Many bilaterally symmetrical animals develop genetically programmed left-right asymmetries. In vertebrates, this process is under the control of Nodal signaling, which is restricted to the left side by Nodal antagonists Cerberus and Lefty. Amphioxus, the earliest diverging chordate lineage, has profound left-right asymmetry as a larva. We show that Cerberus , Nodal , Lefty , and their target transcription factor Pitx are sequentially activated in amphioxus embryos. We then address their function by transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALEN)-based knockout and heat-shock promoter (HSP)-driven overexpression. Knockout of Cerberus leads to ectopic right-sided expression of Nodal , Lefty , and Pitx , whereas overexpression of Cerberus represses their left-sided expression. Overexpression of Nodal in turn represses Cerberus and activates Lefty and Pitx ectopically on the right side. We also show Lefty represses Nodal , whereas Pitx activates Nodal These data combine in a model in which Cerberus determines whether the left-sided gene expression cassette is activated or repressed. These regulatory steps are essential for normal left-right asymmetry to develop, as when they are disrupted embryos may instead form two phenotypic left sides or two phenotypic right sides. Our study shows the regulatory cassette controlling left-right asymmetry was in place in the ancestor of amphioxus and vertebrates. This includes the Nodal inhibitors Cerberus and Lefty, both of which operate in feedback loops with Nodal and combine to establish asymmetric Pitx expression. Cerberus and Lefty are missing from most invertebrate lineages, marking this mechanism as an innovation in the lineage leading to modern chordates.

Actigraphic investigations on the activity-rest behavior of right- and left-handed students.

PubMed

Lehnkering, Hanna; Strauss, Andreas; Wegner, Brigitte; Siegmund, Renate

2006-01-01

The aim of this study was to explore differences between left-and right-handed subjects in sleep duration. Sleep and activity patterns were continuously registered for 12 days using actometers on 20 left-handed and 20 right-handed medical students in Berlin. Handedness was determined by a modified version of the Edinburgh handedness inventory. Each participant wore one actometer on each wrist. Actiwatch Sleep Analysis Software (CNT, UK) was used to evaluate the data, and statistical calculations were performed with a non-parametric variance analysis. A significant difference in mean sleep duration between left-handers (7.9 h) and right-handers (7.3 h) was determined (p=0.025 for measurement made on the dominant hand and p=0.013 for ones made on the non-dominant hand). In contrast, the maximal phase of daily activity (acrophase) did not show any difference between the two groups. The difference in sleep duration might be caused by either the greater effort required for left-handers to cope in a right-handed world or by structural brain differences.

The medical itineraries of Blaise Cendrars. Neuropsychiatry marks life and literature.

PubMed

Tatu, L; Bogousslavsky, J

2017-03-01

Neuropsychiatry had a profound impact on the life and work of one of the most influential French writers of the 20th century, Frédéric Sauser, better known by his pen name Blaise Cendrars (1887-1961). Cendrars, whose right writing hand was amputated after a battlefield wound in 1915, described with acuity his stump pain and phantom limb syndrome. He became a left-handed writer. Between 1956 and his death in 1961, he also suffered two strokes that progressively paralyzed his left side and greatly diminished his ability to speak. Cendrars had started medical school in his youth and found that his ideas about the genesis of mental disorders conflicted with the generally accepted psychiatric conceptions of hysteria or psychoanalysis. His theories were greatly enriched by his observations of fellow World War I soldiers, victims of neuropsychiatric disorders. In his novels, many of his characters had borderline conditions, including two spectacularly mad serial killers, Moravagine and Fébronio. The case of Moravagine, fashioned after a patient with a brain tumor, allowed Cendrars to examine the nebulous frontier between neurological and psychiatric diseases. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Isolated and combined effects of asymmetric stance and pushing movement on the anticipatory and compensatory postural control.

PubMed

Lee, Yun-Ju; Aruin, Alexander S

2014-04-01

To investigate effects of symmetric and asymmetric stance and pushing movement on anticipatory and compensatory postural adjustments (APAs and CPAs). Ten healthy volunteers stood symmetrically (feet parallel) or asymmetrically (one foot forward and the other backward) and pushed a handle with both hands or right or left hand. Bilateral EMG activity of the trunk and leg muscles and center of pressure (COP) displacements in the anterior-posterior (AP) and medial-lateral (ML) directions were recorded and analyzed during the APAs and CPAs. Isolated asymmetry of stance was associated with larger muscle activity of the backward leg while isolated asymmetry of pushing movement induced larger trunk muscle activity on the contralateral side. A combined asymmetry of stance and pushing movement resulted in the increase or decrease of the thigh muscle activity and ML COP displacement depending on whether both asymmetries were induced on the same side of the body or on opposite sides. Both isolated and combined asymmetries affect APAs and CPAs in pushing. Using combined asymmetry of stance and arm movement might be beneficial in performing pushing activity. The outcome of the study provides a basis for studying postural control in individuals with unilateral impairment while performing daily tasks involving pushing. Copyright © 2013 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fallopian Tube Herniation through Left Sided Abdominal Drain Site.

PubMed

Hussain, Khalid; Masood, Jovaria

2016-06-01

Intra-abdominal drains have been used since long to prevent intra-abdominal collection, and detect any anastomotic leaks. We report a case of left sided fallopian tube herniation from a left lower abdominal drain site in a 27-year female who underwent caesarian section for breach presentation. Several complications related to drain usage has been described but left sided fallopian tube prolapse through drain site has not been reported in literature.

Case report: severe melorheostosis involving the ipsilateral extremities.

PubMed

Long, Hai-Tao; Li, Kang-Hua; Zhu, Yong

2009-10-01

Melorheostosis is a rare, noninheritable bone dysplasia characterized by its classic radiographic feature of flowing hyperostosis resembling dripping candle wax, generally on one side of the long bone. The condition originally was described by Leri and Joanny in 1922. Its etiology remains speculative, and treatment in most instances has been symptomatic. Melorheostosis usually affects one limb, more often the lower extremity, and rarely the axial skeleton. We report a rare case of severe melorheostosis in the ipsilateral upper and lower extremities with normal contralateral extremities. The plain radiographs revealed almost all the bones in the affected extremities, from clavicle and scapula to distal phalanges of the fingers and from femur to distal phalanges of the toes, presented extensive, dense hyperostosis and heterotopic ossification in the periarticular soft tissue. Physical examination showed considerable swelling and deformities of the left limbs, stiffness and distortion of the joints, and anesthesia in the left ulnar regions of the forearm and hand. The examination of the right side was normal. Computed tomography scans showed multiple areas of classic candle wax-like hyperostosis and narrowing or disappearance of the medullary cavity. Histologic analysis confirmed the clinical and imaging diagnosis and revealed extremely dense sclerotic bone of cortical pattern.

True left-sided gallbladder: A case report and comparison with the literature for the different techniques of laparoscopic cholecystectomy for such anomalies.

PubMed

Saafan, Tamer; Hu, James Yi; Mahfouz, Ahmed-Emad; Abdelaal, Abdelrahman

2018-01-01

True left-sided gallbladder (LSG) is a rare finding that may present with symptoms similar to those of a normally positioned gallbladder. Moreover, it may be missed by preoperative imaging studies such as ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or endoscopic ultrasound. True left-sided gallbladder is a surgical challenge and surgical technique may need to be modified for the completion of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. In this case report, we present a case of true left-sided gallbladder that produced right-sided abdominal symptoms. Ultrasound of the abdomen failed to show the left-sided position of the gallbladder. MRI showed the gallbladder located to the left of the ligamentum teres underneath segment III of the liver. Intraoperatively, the gallbladder was grasped and retracted to the right under the falciform ligament and it was removed using classical right-sided ports with no modification to the technique. No complications were encountered intraoperatively or postoperatively. True LSG is a rare anomaly that may present with right-sided symptoms like normally positioned gallbladder. It may be missed in preoperative imaging studies and can be discovered only intraoperatively. Modification of laparoscopic ports, change in patient's position and/or surgeon's position, or conversion to open cholecystectomy may be needed for safe removal of the gallbladder. Classical technique of laparoscopic cholecystectomy is feasible for left-sided gallbladder. However, if the anatomy is not clear, modifications of the surgical technique may be necessary for the safe dissection of the gallbladder. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Crossed aphasia following cerebral infarction in a right-handed patient with atypical cerebral language dominance.

PubMed

Tan, Xiaoping; Guo, Yang; Dun, Saihong; Sun, Hongzan

2018-05-18

Crossed aphasia (CA), usually referred to as an acquired language disturbance, is caused by a lesion in the cerebral hemisphere ipsilateral to the dominant hand, and the exact mechanism is not clear. The development of handedness is influenced by education and training and the impact of habitualization, while language is more susceptible to the impact of speech habits, and it is not absolutely accurate to judge cerebral language dominance by the degree of hand preference. We describe a case of CA after right hemispheric stroke in a right-handed patient with atypical language dominance and attempt to analyze the mechanism of CA based on functional imaging methods, including arterial spin labeling (ASL) and positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (PET-MRI). Brain MRI at 24 h after admission showed a large cerebral infarction in the right cerebral hemisphere, including the posteroinferior part of Broca's area in the right frontal lobe, the right temporal lobe, and the right occipital lobe. The patient exhibited a non-fluent aphasia on a standard language test (the Aphasia Battery of Chinese [ABC]) performed on the 7th day after onset. Thus, atypical language dominance was suspected. One week after admission, ASL imaging showed high perfusion in the infarct core zone and low perfusion in the left cerebellar hemisphere. Two months later, PET/MRI demonstrated low metabolism in the posterior frontal lobe, temporal lobe, temporal occipital junction area, and the right basal ganglia. The findings suggest that the patient has right-sided cerebral language dominance, or that both hemispheres have linguistic functions. Not all patients show linguistic capabilities on the side opposite hand preference. The language dominance should be predicted by a combination of clinical manifestations and functional imaging techniques.

[Disappearance of essential neck tremor after pontine base infarction].

PubMed

Urushitani, M; Inoue, H; Kawamura, K; Kageyama, T; Fujisawa, M; Nishinaka, K; Udaka, F; Kameyama, M

1996-08-01

Mechanism of essential tremor remains unknown. Central oscillators, postulated in thalamus, inferior olive, and spinal cord are thought to be important to form rhythmicity, and finally to stimulate spinal or medullary motor cells, leading trembling muscle contraction, tremor. Among several subtypes of essential familial tremor, including hand tremor, neck tremor, and voice tremor, essential neck tremor is a common disorder, and its pathophysiology seems different from that of typical essential hand tremor, since patients with essential hand tremor are responsive to beta blocker, whereas those with neck tremor are usually not. We experienced a 41-year-old left handed woman with essential neck tremor in whom neck titubation disappeared shortly after pontine base infarct. She was our patient in the outpatient clinic with the diagnosis of essential neck tremor. The tremor developed when she was teenage, and has been localized in the neck muscles. Alcohol intake had apparently diminished it transiently. Her mother also had the tremor in her neck. She was admitted to our hospital with sudden onset of right-sided limb weakness and speech disturbance. Neurological examination showed right hemiparesis including the ipsilateral face, scanning speech, and cerebellar limb ataxia on the same side. In addition, there was no tremor in her neck. Brain MR imaging revealed a pontine base infarct at the level of middle pons, which was consistent with paramedian artery territory. The hemiparesis and speech disturbance improved almost completely after treatment, and her neck tremor has never occurred in one year follow-up. In our patient, efficacy of alcohol imply that essential neck tremor and hand tremor had same central nervous pathway including central oscillator in common, and descending cortical fibers is seemingly associated with diminishing patient's tremor. Pathophysiology of essential neck tremor was discussed with reviewing previous literature.

Hand Sensibility, Strength, and Laxity of High-Level Musicians Compared to Non- Musicians

PubMed Central

Sims, Susan EG; Engel, Laura; Hammert, Warren C; Elfar, John C

2015-01-01

Purpose To determine whether musicians have more sensitive, stronger, and flexible hands than non-musicians. Methods One hundred musicians and 100 control subjects were assessed for two-point discrimination, Semmes-Weinstein monofilament light touch, grip and pinch strength, and laxity. Musicians were included if enrolled as instrumental performance majors at a four-year accredited conservatory of music. Non-musician controls were university students who never or rarely engaged in playing an instrument. All subjects were between the ages of 18 and 28. Exclusion criteria were history of any hand condition, trauma, surgery, or diabetes. Statistical analyses were carried out using t-test, ANOVA, and correlation coefficients as appropriate. Results High-level musicians in our cohort showed the same handedness (dominance) as the general population. The musicians were weaker than the non-musicians Male musicians were significantly weaker in pinch and grip bilaterally than non-musicians whereas female musicians were significantly weaker only in grip on the right/dominant side. Two-point discrimination was significantly less in musicians for the left/non-dominant index, ring, and small fingers, right/dominant small and dominant index finger. Semmes-Weinstein testing was significantly better for the right/dominant digits, including the thumb, but not the left digits with the exception of the ring and non-dominant middle and ring. There was no difference in laxity between the 2 groups. Discussion High-level musicians have, in general, more sensitive but weaker hands than non-musicians but the differences seem small and may not be clinically important. Level of Evidence Diagnostic Level III PMID:26253604

Mixed handedness and achievement test scores of middle school boys.

PubMed

Sarma, P S B

2008-10-01

The purpose of the study was to replicate findings of an earlier study of fourth grade boys manifesting mixed handedness with a sample. Among 32 mixed-handed boys in Grades 6 to 8, the right-handed writer, left-handed thrower group obtained low spelling scores (Normal Curve Equivalent Scores) on the California Achievement Test significantly more frequently than the left-handed writer, right-handed thrower group. These findings are consistent with data for Grade 4 boys in the earlier study. Findings strengthen the hypotheses that mixed handedness is not a unitary neuropsychological entity and that boys who write with the right hand and throw with the left hand might be at risk for certain academic deficits.

Transferability of different classical force fields for right and left handed α-helices constructed from enantiomeric amino acids.

PubMed

Biswas, Santu; Sarkar, Sujit; Pandey, Prithvi Raj; Roy, Sudip

2016-02-21

Amino acids can form d and l enantiomers, of which the l enantiomer is abundant in nature. The naturally occurring l enantiomer has a greater preference for a right handed helical conformation, and the d enantiomer for a left handed helical conformation. The other conformations, that is, left handed helical conformations of the l enantiomers and right handed helical conformations of the d enantiomers, are not common. The energetic differences between left and right handed alpha helical peptide chains constructed from enantiomeric amino acids are investigated using quantum chemical calculations (using the M06/6-311g(d,p) level of theory). Further, the performances of commonly used biomolecular force fields (OPLS/AA, CHARMM27/CMAP and AMBER) to represent the different helical conformations (left and right handed) constructed from enantiomeric (D and L) amino acids are evaluated. 5- and 10-mer chains from d and l enantiomers of alanine, leucine, lysine, and glutamic acid, in right and left handed helical conformations, are considered in the study. Thus, in total, 32 α-helical polypeptides (4 amino acids × 4 conformations of 5-mer and 10-mer) are studied. Conclusions, with regards to the performance of the force fields, are derived keeping the quantum optimized geometry as the benchmark, and on the basis of phi and psi angle calculations, hydrogen bond analysis, and different long range helical order parameters.

Patterns of hand preference for pairs of actions and the classification of handedness.

PubMed

Annett, Marian

2009-08-01

Pairs of actions such as write x throw and throw x racquet were examined for items of the Annett hand preference questionnaire (AHPQ). Right (R) and left (L) responses were described for frequencies of RR, RL, LR, and LL pairings (write x throw etc.) in a large representative combined sample with the aim of discovering the distribution over the population as a whole. The frequencies of RL pairings varied significantly over the different item pairs but the frequencies of LR pairings were fairly constant. An important difference was found between primary actions (originally write, throw, racquet, match, toothbrush, hammer with the later addition of scissors for right-handers) and non-primary actions (needle and thread, broom, spade, dealing playing cards, and unscrewing the lid of a jar). For primary actions, there were similar numbers of right and left writers using the 'other' hand. For non-primary actions more right-handers used the left hand than for primary actions but more left-handers did not use the right hand. That is, different frequencies of response to primary versus non-primary actions were found for right-handers but not for left-handers. The pattern of findings was repeated for a corresponding analysis of left-handed throwing x AHPQ actions. The findings have implications for the classification of hand preferences and for analyses of the nature of hand skill.

[Amplitude Changes of Low Frequency Fluctuation in Brain Spontaneous Nervous Activities Induced by Needling at Hand Taiyin Lung Channel].

PubMed

Zhou, You-long; Su, Cheng-guo; Liu, Shou-fang; Jin, Xiang-yu; Duan, Yan-li; Chen, Xiao-yan; Zhao, Shu-hua; Wang, Quan-liang; Dang, Chang-lin

2016-05-01

To observe amplitude changes of low frequency fluctuation in brain spontaneous nervous activities induced by needling at Hand Taiyin Lung Channel, and to preliminarily explore the possible brain function network of Hand Taiyin Lung Channel. By using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), 16 healthy volunteers underwent resting-state scanning (R1) and scanning with retained acupuncture at Hand Taiyin Lung Channel (acupuncture, AP). Data of fMRI collected were statistically calculated using amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (ALFF). Under R1 significantly enhanced ALFF occurred in right precuneus, left inferior parietal lobule, bilateral superior temporal gyrus, bilateral middle frontal gyrus, left superior frontal gyrus, left inferior frontal gyrus, left medial frontal gyrus. Under AP significantly enhanced ALFF occurred in right precuneus, bilateral superior frontal gyrus, cerebellum, bilateral middle frontal gyrus, right medial frontal gyrus, and so on. Compared with R1, needing at Hand Taiyin Lung Channel could significantly enhance ALFF in right gyrus subcallosum and right inferior frontal gyrus. Significant decreased ALFF appeared in right postcentral gyrus, left precuneus, left superior temporal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, and so on. Needing at Hand Taiyin Lung Channel could significantly change fixed activities of cerebral cortex, especially in right subcallosal gyrus, right inferior frontal gyrus, and so on.

Fully Implanted Brain-Computer Interface in a Locked-In Patient with ALS.

PubMed

Vansteensel, Mariska J; Pels, Elmar G M; Bleichner, Martin G; Branco, Mariana P; Denison, Timothy; Freudenburg, Zachary V; Gosselaar, Peter; Leinders, Sacha; Ottens, Thomas H; Van Den Boom, Max A; Van Rijen, Peter C; Aarnoutse, Erik J; Ramsey, Nick F

2016-11-24

Options for people with severe paralysis who have lost the ability to communicate orally are limited. We describe a method for communication in a patient with late-stage amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), involving a fully implanted brain-computer interface that consists of subdural electrodes placed over the motor cortex and a transmitter placed subcutaneously in the left side of the thorax. By attempting to move the hand on the side opposite the implanted electrodes, the patient accurately and independently controlled a computer typing program 28 weeks after electrode placement, at the equivalent of two letters per minute. The brain-computer interface offered autonomous communication that supplemented and at times supplanted the patient's eye-tracking device. (Funded by the Government of the Netherlands and the European Union; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02224469 .).

Improving ideomotor limb apraxia by electrical stimulation of the left posterior parietal cortex.

PubMed

Bolognini, Nadia; Convento, Silvia; Banco, Elisabetta; Mattioli, Flavia; Tesio, Luigi; Vallar, Giuseppe

2015-02-01

Limb apraxia, a deficit of planning voluntary gestures, is most frequently caused by damage to the left hemisphere, where, according to an influential neurofunctional model, gestures are planned, before being executed through the motor cortex of the hemisphere contralateral to the acting hand. We used anodal transcranial direct current stimulation delivered to the left posterior parietal cortex (PPC), the right motor cortex (M1), and a sham stimulation condition, to modulate the ability of six left-brain-damaged patients with ideomotor apraxia, and six healthy control subjects, to imitate hand gestures, and to perform skilled hand movements using the left hand. Transcranial direct current stimulation delivered to the left PPC reduced the time required to perform skilled movements, and planning, but not execution, times in imitating gestures, in both patients and controls. In patients, the amount of decrease of planning times brought about by left PPC transcranial direct current stimulation was influenced by the size of the parietal lobe damage, with a larger parietal damage being associated with a smaller improvement. Of interest from a clinical perspective, left PPC stimulation also ameliorated accuracy in imitating hand gestures in patients. Instead, transcranial direct current stimulation to the right M1 diminished execution, but not planning, times in both patients and healthy controls. In conclusion, by using a transcranial stimulation approach, we temporarily improved ideomotor apraxia in the left hand of left-brain-damaged patients, showing a role of the left PPC in planning gestures. This evidence opens up novel perspectives for the use of transcranial direct current stimulation in the rehabilitation of limb apraxia. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Left hemisphere specialization for the control of voluntary movement rate.

PubMed

Agnew, John A; Zeffiro, Thomas A; Eden, Guinevere F

2004-05-01

Although persuasive behavioral evidence demonstrates the superior dexterity of the right hand in most people under a variety of conditions, little is known about the neural mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon. As this lateralized superiority is most evident during the performance of repetitive, speeded movement, we used parametric rate variations to compare visually paced movement of the right and left hands. Twelve strongly right-handed subjects participated in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment involving variable rate thumb movements. For movements of the right hand, contralateral rate-related activity changes were identified in the precentral gyrus, thalamus, and posterior putamen. For left-hand movements, activity was seen only in the contralateral precentral gyrus, consistent with the existence of a rate-sensitive motor control subsystem involving the left, but not the right, medial premotor corticostriatal loop in right-handed individuals. We hypothesize that the right hemisphere system is less skilled at controlling variable-rate movements and becomes maximally engaged at a lower movement rate without further modulation. These findings demonstrate that right- and left-hand movements engage different neural systems to control movement, even during a relatively simple thumb flexion task. Specialization of the left hemisphere corticostriatal system for dexterity is reflected in asymmetric mechanisms for movement rate control.

Morphometric study on mandibular foramen and incidence of accessory mandibular foramen in mandibles of south Indian population and its clinical implications in inferior alveolar nerve block.

PubMed

Shalini, R; RaviVarman, C; Manoranjitham, R; Veeramuthu, M

2016-12-01

The mandibular foramen is a landmark for procedures like inferior alveolar nerve block, mandibular implant treatment, and mandibular osteotomies. The present study was aimed to identify the precise location of the mandibular foramen and the incidence of accessory mandibular foramen in dry adult mandibles of South Indian population. The distance of mandibular foramen from the anterior border of the ramus, posterior border of the ramus, mandibular notch, base of the mandible, third molar, and apex of retromolar trigone was measured with a vernier caliper in 204 mandibles. The mean distance of mandibular foramen from the anterior border of ramus of mandible was 17.11±2.74 mm on the right side and 17.41±3.05 mm on the left side, from posterior border was 10.47±2.11 mm on the right side and 9.68±2.03 mm on the left side, from mandibular notch was 21.74±2.74 mm on the right side and 21.92±3.33 mm on the left side, from the base of the ramus was 22.33±3.32 mm on the right side and 25.35±4.5 mm on the left side, from the third molar tooth was 22.84±3.94 mm on the right side and 23.23±4.21 mm on the left side, from the apex of retromolar trigone was 12.27±12.13 mm on the right side and 12.13±2.35 mm on the left side. Accessory mandibular foramen was present in 32.36% of mandibles. Knowledge of location mandibular foramen is useful to the maxillofacial surgeons, oncologists and radiologists.

Morphometric study on mandibular foramen and incidence of accessory mandibular foramen in mandibles of south Indian population and its clinical implications in inferior alveolar nerve block

PubMed Central

RaviVarman, C.; Manoranjitham, R.; Veeramuthu, M.

2016-01-01

The mandibular foramen is a landmark for procedures like inferior alveolar nerve block, mandibular implant treatment, and mandibular osteotomies. The present study was aimed to identify the precise location of the mandibular foramen and the incidence of accessory mandibular foramen in dry adult mandibles of South Indian population. The distance of mandibular foramen from the anterior border of the ramus, posterior border of the ramus, mandibular notch, base of the mandible, third molar, and apex of retromolar trigone was measured with a vernier caliper in 204 mandibles. The mean distance of mandibular foramen from the anterior border of ramus of mandible was 17.11±2.74 mm on the right side and 17.41±3.05 mm on the left side, from posterior border was 10.47±2.11 mm on the right side and 9.68±2.03 mm on the left side, from mandibular notch was 21.74±2.74 mm on the right side and 21.92±3.33 mm on the left side, from the base of the ramus was 22.33±3.32 mm on the right side and 25.35±4.5 mm on the left side, from the third molar tooth was 22.84±3.94 mm on the right side and 23.23±4.21 mm on the left side, from the apex of retromolar trigone was 12.27±12.13 mm on the right side and 12.13±2.35 mm on the left side. Accessory mandibular foramen was present in 32.36% of mandibles. Knowledge of location mandibular foramen is useful to the maxillofacial surgeons, oncologists and radiologists. PMID:28127498

Rarity of invasiveness in right-sided infective endocarditis.

PubMed

Hussain, Syed T; Shrestha, Nabin K; Witten, James; Gordon, Steven M; Houghtaling, Penny L; Tingleff, Jens; Navia, José L; Blackstone, Eugene H; Pettersson, Gösta B

2018-01-01

The rarity of invasiveness of right-sided infective endocarditis (IE) compared with left-sided has not been well recognized and evaluated. Thus, we compared invasiveness of right- versus left-sided IE in surgically treated patients. From January 2002 to January 2015, 1292 patients underwent surgery for active IE, 138 right-sided and 1224 left-sided. Among patients with right-sided IE, 131 had tricuspid and 7 pulmonary valve IE; 12% had prosthetic valve endocarditis. Endocarditis-related invasiveness was based on echocardiographic and operative findings. Invasive disease was rare on the right side, occurring in 1 patient (0.72%; 95% confidence interval 0.02%-4.0%); rather, it was limited to valve cusps/leaflets or was superficial. In contrast, IE was invasive in 408 of 633 patients with aortic valve (AV) IE (65%), 113 of 369 with mitral valve (MV) IE (31%), and 148 of 222 with AV and MV IE (67%). Staphylococcus aureus was a more predominant organism in right-sided than left-sided IE (right 40%, AV 19%, MV 29%), yet invasion was observed almost exclusively on the left side of the heart, which was more common and more severe with AV than MV IE and more common with prosthetic valve endocarditis than native valve IE. Rarity of right-sided invasion even when caused by S aureus suggests that invasion and development of cavities/"abscesses" in patients with IE may be driven more by chamber pressure than organism, along with other reported host-microbial interactions. The lesser invasiveness of MV compared with AV IE suggests a similar mechanism: decompression of MV annulus invasion site(s) toward the left atrium. Copyright © 2017 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Brainstem arteriovenous malformation presenting with dyspraxic handwriting in a young girl.

PubMed

Coppola, Giangennaro; D'Amico, Alessandra; Pironti, Erica; Martino, Federica; Santoro, Elena; Di Paolo, Nilde; Isone, Claudia; Catone, Gennaro

2014-06-01

We report the case of a 11-year-old girl who developed an isolated hand-writing disorder with dysgraphia at the beginning of the school year in the sixth grade. A brain magnetic resonance angiography showed a round arteriovenous malformation sited in the left side of the midbrain extending to the ipsilateral medio-basal thalamus. Child neurologists should never neglect a thorough neurological evaluation in case of isolated worsening of handwriting, to rule out possible underlying organic causes. Copyright © 2013 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Increased regional cerebral blood flow in the contralateral thalamus after successful motor cortex stimulation in a patient with poststroke pain.

PubMed

Saitoh, Youichi; Osaki, Yasuhiro; Nishimura, Hiroshi; Hirano, Shun-ichiro; Kato, Amami; Hashikawa, Kazuo; Hatazawa, Jun; Yoshimine, Toshiki

2004-05-01

The mechanisms underlying poststroke pain have not been clearly identified. Although motor cortex stimulation (MCS) sometimes reduces poststroke pain successfully, the exact mechanism is not yet known. For further investigation of the neural pathways involved in the processing of poststroke pain and in pain reduction by MCS, the authors used positron emission tomography (PET) scanning to determine significant changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). This 58-year-old right-handed man suffered from right-sided poststroke pain for which he underwent implantation of a stimulation electrode in the right motor cortex. After 30 minutes of stimulation, his pain was remarkably reduced (Visual Analog Scale scores decreased 8 to 1) and he felt warmth in his left arm. The rCBF was studied using PET scanning with 15O-labeled water when the patient was in the following states: before MCS (painful condition, no stimulation) and after successful MCS (painless condition, no stimulation). The images were analyzed using statistical parametric mapping software. State-dependent differences in global blood flow were covaried using analysis of covariance. Comparisons of the patient's rCBF in the painful condition with that in the painless condition revealed significant rCBF increases in the left rectus gyrus (BA11), left superior frontal lobe (BA9), left anterior cingulate gyms (BA32), and the left thalamus (p < 0.05, corrected). On the other hand, there were significant decreases in rCBF in the right superior temporal gyrus (BA22, p < 0.01, corrected) and the left middle occipital gyrus (BA19, p < 0.05, corrected). The efficacy of MCS was mainly related to increased synaptic activity in the thalamus, whereas the activations in the rectus gyrus, anterior cingulate gyrus, and superior frontal cortex as well as the inactivation of the superior temporal lobe may be related to emotional processes. This is the first report in which the contralateral thalamus was significantly activated and pain relief was achieved using MCS.

Inferior Vena Cava Filter from Left-Sided Superior Vena Cava

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

Nair, Sujit, E-mail: drsnnair@hotmail.com; Ettles, Duncan; Robinson, Graham

We describe the unusual case of a 71-year-old male with a history of deep vein thrombosis and recurrent multiple pulmonary embolism (PE) despite adequate anticoagulation. Computed tomography (CT) and brachiocephalic venography revealed a left-sided superior vena cava. We describe successful placement of an inferior vena cava filter via a left-sided superior vena cava.

TMS stimulus-response asymmetry in left- and right-handed individuals.

PubMed

Daligadu, Julian; Murphy, Bernadette; Brown, Jeff; Rae, Brendan; Yielder, Paul

2013-02-01

There have been inconsistencies in the literature regarding asymmetrical neural control and results of experiments using TMS techniques. Therefore, the aim of this study was to further our understanding of the neural relationships that may underlie performance asymmetry with respect to the distal muscles of the hand using a TMS stimulus-response curve technique. Twenty-four male subjects (12 right handed, 12 left handed) participated in a TMS stimulus-response (S-R) curve trial. Focal TMS was applied over the motor cortex to find the optimal position for the first dorsal interossei muscle and to determine rest threshold (RTh). Seven TMS intensities ranging from 90 to 150 % of RTh were delivered in 10 % increments. One single TMS block consisted of 16 stimuli at each intensity. Peak-to-peak amplitudes were measured and the S-R curve generated. In right-handed subjects, the mean difference in slopes between the right and left hand was -0.011 ± 0.03, while the mean difference between hands in left-handed subjects was -0.049 ± 0.08. Left-handed normalized data in right handers displayed a mean of 1.616 ± 1.019 (two-tailed t test p < 0.05). The left-handed group showed a significant change in the normalized slope as indicated by a mean of 1.693 ± 0.149 (two-tailed t test p < 0.00006). The results found in this study reinforce previous work which suggests that there is an asymmetry in neural drive that exists in both left- and right-handed individuals. However, the results show that the non-dominant motor hemisphere displays a greater amount of excitability than the dominant, which goes against the conventional dogma. This asymmetry indicates that the non-dominant hemisphere may have a higher level of excitation or a lower level of inhibition for both groups of participants.

Toddler hand preference trajectories predict 3-year language outcome.

PubMed

Nelson, Eliza L; Gonzalez, Sandy L; Coxe, Stefany; Campbell, Julie M; Marcinowski, Emily C; Michel, George F

2017-11-01

A growing body of work suggests that early motor experience affects development in unexpected domains. In the current study, children's hand preference for role-differentiated bimanual manipulation (RDBM) was measured at monthly intervals from 18 to 24 months of age (N = 90). At 3 years of age, children's language ability was assessed using the Preschool Language Scales 5th edition (PLS™-5). Three distinct RDBM hand preference trajectories were identified using latent class growth analysis: (1) children with a left hand preference but a moderate amount of right hand use; (2) children with a right hand preference but a moderate amount of left hand use; and (3) children with a right hand preference and only a mild amount of left hand use. Stability over time within all three trajectories indicated that children did not change hand use patterns from 18 to 24 months. Children with the greatest amount of preferred (i.e., right) hand use demonstrated higher expressive language scores compared to children in both trajectories with moderate levels of non-preferred hand use. Children with the greatest amount of right hand use also had higher scores for receptive language compared to children with a right hand preference but moderate left hand use. Results support that consistency in handedness as measured by the amount of preferred hand use is related to distal language outcomes in development. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Hemispheric Dominance for Stereognosis in a Patient With an Infarct of the Left Postcentral Sensory Hand Area.

PubMed

Moll, Jorge; de Oliveira-Souza, Ricardo

2017-09-01

The concept of left hemispheric dominance for praxis, speech, and language has been one of the pillars of neurology since the mid-19th century. In 1906, Hermann Oppenheim reported a patient with bilateral stereoagnosia (astereognosis) caused by a left parietal lobe tumor and proposed that the left hemisphere was also dominant for stereognosis. Surprisingly, few cases of bilateral stereoagnosia caused by a unilateral cerebral lesion have been documented in the literature since then. Here we report a 75-year-old right-handed man who developed bilateral stereoagnosia after suffering a small infarct in the crown of the left postcentral gyrus. He could not recognize objects with either hand, but retained the ability to localize stimuli applied to the palm of his left (ipsilesional) hand. He was severely disabled in ordinary activities requiring the use of his hands. The lesion corresponded to Brodmann area 1, where probabilistic anatomic, functional, and electrophysiologic studies have located one of the multiple somatosensory representations of the hand. The lesion was in a strategic position to interrupt both the processing of afferent tactile information issuing from the primary somatosensory cortex (areas 3a and 3b) and the forward higher-order processing in area 2, the secondary sensory cortex, and the contralateral area 1. The lesion also deprived the motor hand area of its afferent regulation from the sensory hand area (grasping), while leaving intact the visuomotor projections from the occipital cortex (reaching). Our patient supports Oppenheim's proposal that the left postcentral gyrus of some individuals is dominant for stereognosis.

Interpersonal dynamics and relative positioning to scoring target of performers in 1 vs. 1 sub-phases of team sports.

PubMed

Esteves, Pedro T; Araújo, Duarte; Davids, Keith; Vilar, Luís; Travassos, Bruno; Esteves, Carlos

2012-01-01

In this study, we examined the effects of relative positioning of attacker-defender dyads to the basket on interpersonal coordination tendencies in basketball. To achieve this aim, four right-hand dominant basketball players performed in a 1 vs. 1 sub-phase, at nine different playing locations relative to the basket (from 0° to 180°, in 20° increments). Performers' movement displacement trajectories were video-recorded and digitized in 162 trials. Results showed that interpersonal coordination tendencies changed according to the scaling of the relative position of performers to the basket. Stable in-phase modes of coordination were observed between performers' longitudinal and lateral displacements (50.47% and 43.02%) on the left side of the court. On the right side of the court, a shift in the dominant mode of coordination was observed to a defender lead-lag of -30°, both for longitudinal and lateral displacements (30.51% and 32.65%). These results suggest how information about dribbler hand dominance and relative position to the basket may have constrained attacker-defender coordination tendencies in 1 vs. 1 sub-phases of basketball.

Kinematic comparison of team handball throwing with two different arm positions.

PubMed

Wagner, Herbert; Buchecker, Michael; von Duvillard, Serge P; Müller, Erich

2010-12-01

The aims of the present study were: (1) to compare the differences in the ball release speed and throwing accuracy between the ABOVE and SIDE throw; (2) to analyze kinematic differences of these two throwing techniques; and (3) to give practical applications to team handball coaches and players. Ball release speed, throwing accuracy, and kinematics were measured via the Vicon MX 13 (Vicon Peak, Oxford, UK) from 12 male elite right-handed team handball players. Results of our study suggest that the two throwing techniques differ significantly (P < .0073) in the angles and/or angular velocities of the trunk (flexion, left tilt and rotation) and shoulder (flexion and abduction) of the throwing arm that result in a significantly different ball release speed (1.4 ± 0.8 m/s; P < .001) and that throwing accuracy was not significantly different. Our results indicated that the different position of the hand at ball release of the ABOVE and SIDE throws is primarily caused by different trunk flexion and tilt angles that lead to differences in ball release speed but not in throwing accuracy, and that the participants try to move their throwing arm similarly in both throwing techniques.

Lifetime enhancement for multiphoton absorption in intermediate band solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bezerra, Anibal T.; Studart, Nelson

2017-08-01

A semiconductor structure consisting of two coupled quantum wells embedded into the intrinsic region of a p-i-n junction is proposed as an intermediate band solar cell with a photon ratchet state, which would lead to increasing the cell efficiency. The conduction subband of the right-hand side quantum well works as the intermediated band, whereas the excited conduction subband of the left-hand side quantum well operates as the ratchet state. The photoelectrons in the intermediate band are scattered through the thin wells barrier and accumulated into the ratchet subband. A rate equation model for describing the charge transport properties is presented. The efficiency of the current generation is analyzed by studying the occupation of the wells subbands, taking into account the charge dynamic behavior provided by the electrical contacts connected to the cell. The current generation efficiency depends essentially from the relations between the generation, recombination rates and the scattering rate to the ratchet state. The inclusion of the ratchet states led to both an increase and a decrease in the cell current depending on the transition rates. This suggests that the coupling between the intermediate band and the ratchet state is a key point in developing an efficient solar cell.

Hand specific representations in language comprehension.

PubMed

Moody-Triantis, Claire; Humphreys, Gina F; Gennari, Silvia P

2014-01-01

Theories of embodied cognition argue that language comprehension involves sensory-motor re-enactments of the actions described. However, the degree of specificity of these re-enactments as well as the relationship between action and language remains a matter of debate. Here we investigate these issues by examining how hand-specific information (left or right hand) is recruited in language comprehension and action execution. An fMRI study tested self-reported right-handed participants in two separate tasks that were designed to be as similar as possible to increase sensitivity of the comparison across task: an action execution go/no-go task where participants performed right or left hand actions, and a language task where participants read sentences describing the same left or right handed actions as in the execution task. We found that language-induced activity did not match the hand-specific patterns of activity found for action execution in primary somatosensory and motor cortex, but it overlapped with pre-motor and parietal regions associated with action planning. Within these pre-motor regions, both right hand actions and sentences elicited stronger activity than left hand actions and sentences-a dominant hand effect. Importantly, both dorsal and ventral sections of the left pre-central gyrus were recruited by both tasks, suggesting different action features being recruited. These results suggest that (a) language comprehension elicits motor representations that are hand-specific and akin to multimodal action plans, rather than full action re-enactments; and (b) language comprehension and action execution share schematic hand-specific representations that are richer for the dominant hand, and thus linked to previous motor experience.

[Hyperlexia in an adult patient with lesions in the left medial frontal lobe].

PubMed

Suzuki, K; Yamadori, A; Kumabe, T; Endo, K; Fujii, T; Yoshimoto, T

2000-04-01

A 69-year-old right-handed woman developed a transcortical motor aphasia with hyperlexia following resection of a glioma in the left medial frontal lobe. Neurological examination revealed grasp reflex in the right hand and underutilization of the right upper extremity. An MRI demonstrated lesions in the left medial frontal lobe including the supplementary motor area and the anterior part of the cingulate gyrus, which extended to the anterior part of the body of corpus callosum. Neuropsychologically she was alert and cooperative. She demonstrated transcortical motor aphasia. Her verbal output began with echolalia. Furthermore hyperlexia was observed in daily activities and during examinations. During conversation she suddenly read words written on objects around her which were totally irrelevant to the talk. When she was walking in the ward with an examiner she read words written on a trash bag that passed by and signboards which indicated a name of a room. Her conversation while walking was intermingled with reading words, which was irrelevant to the conversation. She also read time on analog clocks, which were hung on a wall in a watch store. In a naming task, she read words written on objects first and named them upon repeated question about their names. When an examiner opened a newspaper in front of her without any instructions she began reading until the examiner prohibited it. Then she began reading again when an examiner turned the page, although she remembered that she should not read it aloud. She showed mild ideomotor apraxia of a left hand. Utilization behavior, imitation behavior, hypergraphia, or compulsive use of objects was not observed throughout the course. Hyperlexic tendency is a prominent feature of this patient's language output. Hyperlexia was often reported in children with pervasive developmental disorders including autism. There are only a few reports about hyperlexia in adults and some of them were related to diffuse brain dysfunction. Hyperlexia of our patient was associated with echolalia but not with the other "echo" phenomena, which may be because the lesion was unilateral on the left side. Dysfunction of the left supplementary motor area could lead to disinhibition of regulatory mechanism of verbal output in response to auditory and visual stimuli.

In vivo and in vitro study of the function of the left and right bovine ovaries.

PubMed

Karamishabankareh, Hamed; Hajarian, Hadi; Shahsavari, Mohammadhamed; Moradinejad, Ruhollah

2015-09-15

Inequality in function of the left and right bovine ovaries and uterine horns was evaluated in two separate experiments. In the first experiment (in vivo), the relationship between the left and right ovarian activities and reproductive indices was evaluated. Therefore, the total number of 1284 randomly chosen lactating dairy cows were examined from Day 50 to 60 postpartum, and according to the presence of an active CL on the ovaries, they were divided into 502 LCL3-cows and 782 RCL3-cows (cows with an active CL on the left [L] or right [R] ovary, respectively). To induce estrus synchronization and investigate the effects of PGF2α administration on the incidence of estrus in both LCL3-cows and RCL3-cows, the cows were treated with one luteolytic dose of PGF2α and were inseminated after observed estrus (via visual observation lasting at least 30 minutes three times a day). To investigate the effects of side of ovulation at the time of PGF2α administration on reproductive parameters, pregnancy diagnosis was performed 28 days after insemination (using ultrasound) and 42 days after insemination (using transrectal palpation). The results showed that the percentage of the RCL3-cows was greater than the LCL3-cows (60.9% vs. 39.1%, respectively). Furthermore, ovulations switching from the left to right ovary in two successive ovulations were greater than those that switched from the right to left ovary. On the other hand, the sex ratio (male percentage) in the right uterine horn was greater than that of the left one. In the second experiment (in vitro), the developmental potential of bovine oocytes derived from the left (L-oocytes) and right (R-oocytes) ovaries after in vitro embryo production and heterogeneity in the developmental competence of L-oocytes and R-oocytes using the brilliant cresyl blue staining test as a selection criterion were evaluated. Results of the in vitro experiment showed that the percentage of cleavage and blastocyst rate of R-oocytes were greater (P < 0.001) than those of L-oocytes. Moreover, it appears that the side of ovaries had greater effects on the developmental competence of oocytes than other factors associated with heterogeneity in the developmental competence of oocytes, which can be detected by the brilliant cresyl blue test. In conclusion, the results of the in vivo study confirmed the observations in previous studies in which the right ovarian response (distribution of ovulation) was superior to that of the left ones. Interestingly, the in vitro experiments for the first time clearly showed that more ovulation on the right side is not the only reason for this unequal activity. In fact, in cattle, the greater developmental potential of oocytes originating from right ovaries may cause superior activity of the right side, and the effect is even higher than the differences in ovulation response between the left and right ovaries. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An Accessible User Interface for Geoscience and Programming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sevre, E. O.; Lee, S.

2012-12-01

The goal of this research is to develop an interface that will simplify user interaction with software for scientists. The motivating factor of the research is to develop tools that assist scientists with limited motor skills with the efficient generation and use of software tools. Reliance on computers and programming is increasing in the world of geology, and it is increasingly important for geologists and geophysicists to have the computational resources to use advanced software and edit programs for their research. I have developed a prototype of a program to help geophysicists write programs using a simple interface that requires only simple single-mouse-clicks to input code. It is my goal to minimize the amount of typing necessary to create simple programs and scripts to increase accessibility for people with disabilities limiting fine motor skills. This interface can be adapted for various programming and scripting languages. Using this interface will simplify development of code for C/C++, Java, and GMT, and can be expanded to support any other text based programming language. The interface is designed around the concept of maximizing the amount of code that can be written using a minimum number of clicks and typing. The screen is split into two sections: a list of click-commands is on the left hand side, and a text area is on the right hand side. When the user clicks on a command on the left hand side the applicable code is automatically inserted at the insertion point in the text area. Currently in the C/C++ interface, there are commands for common code segments that are often used, such as for loops, comments, print statements, and structured code creation. The primary goal is to provide an interface that will work across many devices for developing code. A simple prototype has been developed for the iPad. Due to the limited number of devices that an iOS application can be used with, the code has been re-written in Java to run on a wider range of devices. Currently, the software works in a prototype mode, and it is our goal to further development to create software that can benefit a wide range of people working in geosciences, which will make code development practical and accessible for a wider audience of scientists. By using an interface like this, it reduces potential for errors by reusing known working code.

Left Sided Amyand's Hernia, A Rare Occurance: A Case Report.

PubMed

Ravishankaran, Praveen; Mohan, G; Srinivasan, A; Ravindran, G; Ramalingam, A

2013-06-01

This is a case report about a 35 year old man admitted with complains of obstructed left sided inguinal hernia. On exploration of the left inguinal canal to our surprise a normal appendix was found in addition to a gangrenous omentum. Resection of the gangrenous omentum was done. Appendectomy was done. This case is reported for its rare occurance as only three such cases of left sided amyand's hernia has been reported so far in literature[4-6].

Side preference in adults for holding infants: contributions of sex and handedness in a test of imagination.

PubMed

Harris, L J; Almerigi, J B; Kirsch, E A

2000-01-01

Five hundred one right-handers (150 men, 351 women) and 53 left-handers (15 men, 38 women) were asked to imagine holding a young infant in their arms. Right-handers reported significant left-side biases--in 68% of the men and 73% of the women. For left-handers, side preferences were weaker, the left-side bias dropping to 47% for men and 60% for women, with neither figure different from chance. The results are discussed in the context of theory and research on the functional neuroanatomy of attention, emotional arousal, and the generation, maintenance, and manipulation of mental images.

Effects of unilatral- and bilateral inhibition of rostral ventral tegmental area and central nucleus of amygdala on morphine-induced place conditioning in male Wistar rat.

PubMed

Mohammadian, Zahra; Sahraei, Hedayat; Meftahi, Gholam Hossein; Ali-Beik, Hengameh

2017-03-01

The rostral ventral tegmental area (VTAR) and central nucleus of amygdala (CeA) are considered the main regions for induction of psychological dependence on abused drugs, such as morphine. The main aim of this study was to investigate the transient inhibition of each right and left side as well as both sides of the VTAR and the CeA by lidocaine (2%) on morphine reward properties using the conditioned place preference (CPP) method. Male Wistar rats (250±20 g) 7 days after recovery from surgery and cannulation were conditioned to morphine (7.5 mg/kg) in CPP apparatus. Five minutes before morphine injection in conditioning phase, lidocaine was administered either uni- or bilaterally into the VTAR (0.25 μL/site) or CeA (0.5 μL/site). The results revealed that lidocaine administration into the left side, but not the right side of the VTAR and the CeA reduced morphine CPP significantly. The reduction was potentiated when lidocaine was injected into both sides of the VTAR and the CeA. The number of compartment crossings was reduced when lidocaine was injected into both sides of the VTAR and the CeA as well as the left side. Rearing was reduced when lidocaine was injected into the right, but not the left side of the VTAR. Sniffing and rearing increased when animals received lidocaine in the right side and reduced in the group that received lidocaine in the left side of the CeA. It was concluded that the right and the left side of VTAR and the CeA play different roles in morphine-induced activity and reward. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

18. WEST WING, EAST SIDE, TO LEFT: NORTH WALL, SOUTH ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

18. WEST WING, EAST SIDE, TO LEFT: NORTH WALL, SOUTH SIDE, IN BACKGROUND - Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio Quartermaster Depot, Northwest corner of New Braunfels Avenue & Grayson Street, San Antonio, Bexar County, TX

The effects of mothers' past infant-holding preferences on their adult children's face processing lateralisation.

PubMed

Vervloed, Mathijs P J; Hendriks, Angélique W; van den Eijnde, Esther

2011-04-01

Face processing development is negatively affected when infants have not been exposed to faces for some time because of congenital cataract blocking all vision (Le Grand, Mondloch, Maurer, & Brent, 2001). It is not clear, however, whether more subtle differences in face exposure may also have an influence. The present study looked at the effect of the mother's preferred side of holding an infant, on her adult child's face processing lateralisation. Adults with a mother who had a left-arm preference for holding infants were compared with adults with a mother who had a right-arm holding preference. All participants were right-handed and had been exclusively bottle-fed during infancy. The participants were presented with two chimeric faces tests, one involving emotion and the other one gender. The left-arm held individuals showed a normal left-bias on the chimeric face tests, whereas the right-arm held individuals a significantly decreased left-bias. The results might suggest that reduced exposure to high quality emotional information on faces in infancy results in diminished right-hemisphere lateralisation for face processing. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hand effects on mentally simulated reaching.

PubMed

Gabbard, Carl; Ammar, Diala; Rodrigues, Luis

2005-08-01

Within the area of simulated (imagined) versus actual movement research, investigators have discovered that mentally simulated movements, like real actions, are controlled primarily by the hemispheres contralateral to the simulated limb. Furthermore, evidence points to a left-brain advantage for accuracy of simulated movements. With this information it could be suggested that, compared to left-handers, most right-handers would have an advantage. To test this hypothesis, strong right- and left-handers were compared on judgments of perceived reachability to visual targets lasting 150 ms in multiple locations of midline, right- and left-visual field (RVF/LVF). In reference to within group responses, we found no hemispheric or hand use advantage for right-handers. Although left-handers revealed no hemispheric advantage, there was a significant hand effect, favoring the non-dominant limb, most notably in LVF. This finding is explained in regard to a possible interference effect for left-handers, not shown for right-handers. Overall, left-handers displayed significantly more errors across hemispace. Therefore, it appears that when comparing hand groups, a left-hemisphere advantage favoring right-handers is plausible.

The cortical activation pattern by a rehabilitation robotic hand: a functional NIRS study

PubMed Central

Chang, Pyung-Hun; Lee, Seung-Hee; Gu, Gwang Min; Lee, Seung-Hyun; Jin, Sang-Hyun; Yeo, Sang Seok; Seo, Jeong Pyo; Jang, Sung Ho

2014-01-01

Introduction: Clarification of the relationship between external stimuli and brain response has been an important topic in neuroscience and brain rehabilitation. In the current study, using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), we attempted to investigate cortical activation patterns generated during execution of a rehabilitation robotic hand. Methods: Ten normal subjects were recruited for this study. Passive movements of the right fingers were performed using a rehabilitation robotic hand at a frequency of 0.5 Hz. We measured values of oxy-hemoglobin (HbO), deoxy-hemoglobin (HbR) and total-hemoglobin (HbT) in five regions of interest: the primary sensory-motor cortex (SM1), hand somatotopy of the contralateral SM1, supplementary motor area (SMA), premotor cortex (PMC), and prefrontal cortex (PFC). Results: HbO and HbT values indicated significant activation in the left SM1, left SMA, left PMC, and left PFC during execution of the rehabilitation robotic hand (uncorrected, p < 0.01). By contrast, HbR value indicated significant activation only in the hand somatotopic area of the left SM1 (uncorrected, p < 0.01). Conclusions: Our results appear to indicate that execution of the rehabilitation robotic hand could induce cortical activation. PMID:24570660

Hesitations in continuous tracking induced by a concurrent discrete task

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klapp, S. T.; Kelly, P. A.; Netick, A.

1985-01-01

Subjects performed a continuous visually-guided pursuit tracking task with the right hand. From time to time (intervals averaging 30 sec) an auditory tone appeared signaling the subjects to perform a discrete response with the left hand. The presence of this tone was frequently associated with a hesitation in right-hand tracking which lasted 1/3 sec or longer. The rate of occurrence of these hesitations was about the same when the left-hand response involved a choice between competing responses as when the left hand responded in a predetermined direction. Hesitations occurred for three different mechanical tracking manipulanda using different controlling muscles, and appeared to be due to freezing rather than to relaxation of muscular action. The rate of occurrence of hesitations declined with practice, and this improvement in right-hand performance was accompanied by an improvement in performance of the concurrent left-hand response. The presence of hesitations, and their reduction with practice, can be interpreted within several viewpoints.

Right- and left-handed three-helix proteins. II. Similarity and differences in mechanical unfolding of proteins.

PubMed

Glyakina, Anna V; Likhachev, Ilya V; Balabaev, Nikolay K; Galzitskaya, Oxana V

2014-01-01

Here, we study mechanical properties of eight 3-helix proteins (four right-handed and four left-handed ones), which are similar in size under stretching at a constant speed and at a constant force on the atomic level using molecular dynamics simulations. The analysis of 256 trajectories from molecular dynamics simulations with explicit water showed that the right-handed three-helix domains are more mechanically resistant than the left-handed domains. Such results are observed at different extension velocities studied (192 trajectories obtained at the following conditions: v = 0.1, 0.05, and 0.01 Å ps(-1) , T = 300 K) and under constant stretching force (64 trajectories, F = 800 pN, T = 300 K). We can explain this by the fact, at least in part, that the right-handed domains have a larger number of contacts per residue and the radius of cross section than the left-handed domains. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Hemispheric dominance and cell phone use.

PubMed

Seidman, Michael D; Siegel, Bianca; Shah, Priyanka; Bowyer, Susan M

2013-05-01

A thorough understanding of why we hold a cell phone to a particular ear may be of importance when studying the impact of cell phone safety. To determine if there is an obvious association between sidedness of cell phone use and auditory hemispheric dominance (AHD) or language hemispheric dominance (LHD). It is known that 70% to 95% of the population are right-handed, and of these, 96% have left-brain LHD. We have observed that most people use their cell phones in their right ear. An Internet survey was e-mailed to individuals through surveymonkey.com. The survey used a modified Edinburgh Handedness Inventory protocol. Sample questions surveyed which hand was used to write with, whether the right or left ear was used for phone conversations, as well as whether a brain tumor was present. General community. An Internet survey was randomly e-mailed to 5000 individuals selected from an otology online group, patients undergoing Wada testing and functional magnetic resonance imaging, as well as persons on the university listserv, of which 717 surveys were completed. Determination of hemispheric dominance based on preferred ear for cell phone use. A total of 717 surveys were returned. Ninety percent of the respondents were right handed, and 9% were left handed. Sixty-eight percent of the right-handed people used the cell phone in their right ear, 25% in the left ear, and 7% had no preference. Seventy-two of the left-handed respondents used their left ear, 23% used their right ear, and 5% had no preference. Cell phone use averaged 540 minutes per month over the past 9 years. An association exists between hand dominance laterality of cell phone use (73%) and our ability to predict hemispheric dominance. Most right-handed people have left-brain LHD and use their cell phone in their right ear. Similarly, most left-handed people use their cell phone in their left ear. Our study suggests that AHD may differ from LHD owing to the difference in handedness and cell phone ear use. Literature suggests a possible relationship between cell phone use and cancer. The fact that few tumors were identified in this population does not rule out an association.

Space-based, but not arm-based, shift in tactile processing in complex regional pain syndrome and its relationship to cooling of the affected limb.

PubMed

Moseley, G Lorimer; Gallace, Alberto; Spence, Charles

2009-11-01

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) occurs after stroke, but most cases develop after peripheral trauma and without evidence of brain trauma. However, CRPS is associated with symptoms that appear similar to those observed in patients suffering from hemispatial neglect. Ten participants (four males) with CRPS of one arm performed temporal order judgements of pairs of vibrotactile stimuli, one delivered to each hand, at one of 10 possible stimulus onset asynchronies, under two conditions: arms held each side of the midline and arms crossed over the midline. Participants released a foot switch to indicate which hand had been stimulated first. The order of conditions was randomized and the foot under which the switch was positioned was counterbalanced. There were two blocks of 150 trials in each condition. The stimulus onset asynchronicity at which the participants were equally likely to select either hand, the point of subjective simultaneity (PSS), was compared between conditions and between those with left or right-sided symptoms. When arms were not crossed, the participants prioritized stimuli from the unaffected limb over those from the affected limb (mean +/- SD PSS = 25 +/- 7.5 ms) and the magnitude of the PSS strongly related to the degree to which the affected hand was cooler than the unaffected hand (r = 0.942, P < 0.001). When the arms were crossed, the effect was reversed: the participants prioritized stimuli from the affected limb over those from the unaffected limb [PSS = -18 +/- 13 ms; main effect of condition F (1, 9) = 98.6, P < 0.001]. There was no effect of the side of symptoms. These results show that CRPS is associated with a deficit in tactile processing that is defined by the space in which the affected limb normally resides, not by the affected limb itself, and which relates to the relative cooling of the affected limb. This pattern is consistent with data from those with hemispatial neglect after stroke and raises the possibility that chronic CRPS involves a type of spatial neglect.

Combined atresia of one left-sided and one right-sided cardiac valve in a premature newborn.

PubMed

Roberts, William C; Sing, Alan C; Guileyardo, Joseph M

2017-10-01

Described herein is the heart of a 2-day-old newborn, the product of a 25-week gestation, with atresia of two cardiac valves, one on the right side and one on the left side, apparently a previously undescribed entity.

The da vinci robot system eliminates multispecialty surgical trainees' hand dominance in open and robotic surgical settings.

PubMed

Badalato, Gina M; Shapiro, Edan; Rothberg, Michael B; Bergman, Ari; RoyChoudhury, Arindam; Korets, Ruslan; Patel, Trushar; Badani, Ketan K

2014-01-01

Handedness, or the inherent dominance of one hand's dexterity over the other's, is a factor in open surgery but has an unknown importance in robot-assisted surgery. We sought to examine whether the robotic surgery platform could eliminate the effect of inherent hand preference. Residents from the Urology and Obstetrics/Gynecology departments were enrolled. Ambidextrous and left-handed subjects were excluded. After completing a questionnaire, subjects performed three tasks modified from the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery curriculum. Tasks were performed by hand and then with the da Vinci robotic surgical system (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, California). Participants were randomized to begin with using either the left or the right hand, and then switch. Left:right ratios were calculated from scores based on time to task completion. Linear regression analysis was used to determine the significance of the impact of surgical technique on hand dominance. Ten subjects were enrolled. The mean difference in raw score performance between the right and left hands was 12.5 seconds for open tasks and 8 seconds for robotic tasks (P<.05). Overall left-right ratios were found to be 1.45 versus 1.12 for the open and robot tasks, respectively (P<.05). Handedness significantly differed between robotic and open approaches for raw time scores (P<.0001) and left-right ratio (P=.03) when controlling for the prior tasks completed, starting hand, prior robotic experience, and comfort level. These findings remain to be validated in larger cohorts. The robotic technique reduces hand dominance in surgical trainees across all task domains. This finding contributes to the known advantages of robotic surgery.

Right- and left-handed three-helix proteins. I. Experimental and simulation analysis of differences in folding and structure.

PubMed

Glyakina, Anna V; Pereyaslavets, Leonid B; Galzitskaya, Oxana V

2013-09-01

Despite the large number of publications on three-helix protein folding, there is no study devoted to the influence of handedness on the rate of three-helix protein folding. From the experimental studies, we make a conclusion that the left-handed three-helix proteins fold faster than the right-handed ones. What may explain this difference? An important question arising in this paper is whether the modeling of protein folding can catch the difference between the protein folding rates of proteins with similar structures but with different folding mechanisms. To answer this question, the folding of eight three-helix proteins (four right-handed and four left-handed), which are similar in size, was modeled using the Monte Carlo and dynamic programming methods. The studies allowed us to determine the orders of folding of the secondary-structure elements in these domains and amino acid residues which are important for the folding. The obtained data are in good correlation with each other and with the experimental data. Structural analysis of these proteins demonstrated that the left-handed domains have a lesser number of contacts per residue and a smaller radius of cross section than the right-handed domains. This may be one of the explanations of the observed fact. The same tendency is observed for the large dataset consisting of 332 three-helix proteins (238 right- and 94 left-handed). From our analysis, we found that the left-handed three-helix proteins have some less-dense packing that should result in faster folding for some proteins as compared to the case of right-handed proteins. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The left-right asymmetry of liver lobation is generated by Pitx2c-mediated asymmetries in the hepatic diverticulum.

PubMed

Womble, Mandy; Amin, Nirav M; Nascone-Yoder, Nanette

2018-07-15

Internal organs exhibit left-right asymmetric sizes, shapes and anatomical positions, but how these different lateralities develop is poorly understood. Here we use the experimentally tractable Xenopus model to uncover the morphogenetic events that drive the left-right asymmetrical lobation of the liver. On the right side of the early hepatic diverticulum, endoderm cells become columnar and apically constricted, forming an expanded epithelial surface and, ultimately, an enlarged right liver lobe. In contrast, the cells on the left side become rounder, and rearrange into a compact, stratified architecture that produces a smaller left lobe. Side-specific gain- and loss-of-function studies reveal that asymmetric expression of the left-right determinant Pitx2c elicits distinct epithelial morphogenesis events in the left side of the diverticulum. Surprisingly, the cellular events induced by Pitx2c during liver development are opposite those induced in other digestive organs, suggesting divergent cellular mechanisms underlie the formation of different lateralities. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Left-right asymmetry in neck lymph nodes distribution in patients with bilateral laryngeal cancer.

PubMed

Yoruk, Ozgur; Yuksel, Ramazan; Yuksel, Yasemin; Dane, Senol

2014-04-01

We aimed to examine left-right asymmetry in involved and total neck lymph nodes distribution in patients with bilateral laryngeal cancer in the present study. Forty-six patients with bilateral laryngeal cancer was included the study. The oncologic database of our otorhinolaryngology department was used. The right and left lymph node with and without involvement by cancer cells counts were retrieved from pathological reports. The numbers of both involved and total neck lymph nodes were significantly higher on right side than on left side for all neck levels in laryngeal malignancies. The results of the present study suggest the existence of a left-right asymmetry in neck lymph node distribution and in the neck lymph node distribution involved by laryngeal cancer cells. The stronger cell-mediated immune activity in the left side of humans may be associated with the blocking of the metastatic invasion of cancer cells from laryngeal malignancies in the left body side.

Left-handers show no self-advantage in detecting a delay in visual feedback concerning an active movement.

PubMed

Hoover, Adria E N; Elzein, Yasmeenah; Harris, Laurence R

2016-07-01

Right-handed people show an advantage in detecting a delay in visual feedback concerning an active movement of their right hand when it is viewed in a natural perspective compared to when it is seen as if viewing another person's hand (Hoover and Harris in Exp Brain Res 233:1053-1060, 2012. doi: 10.1007/s00221-014-4181-9 ; Exp Brain Res 222:389-397, 2015a. doi: 10.1007/s00221-012-3224-3 ). This self-advantage is unique to their dominant hand and may reflect an enhanced sense of ownership which contributes to how right-handed people relate to the world. Here we asked whether left-handers show the same pattern of performance for their dominant hand. We measured the minimum delay that could be detected by 29 left-handers when viewing either their dominant or non-dominant hand from 'self' or 'other' perspectives and compared their thresholds to an age-matched sample of 22 right-handers. Right-handers showed a significant signature self-advantage of 19 ms when viewing their dominant hand in an expected 'self' perspective compared to 'other' perspectives. Left-handers, however, showed no such advantage for either their dominant or non-dominant hand. This lack of self-advantage in detecting delayed visual feedback might indicate a less secure sense of body ownership amongst left-handers.

Cued Dichotic Listening with Right-Handed, Left-Handed, Bilingual and Learning-Disabled Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Obrzut, John E.; And Others

This study used cued dichotic listening to investigate differences in language lateralization among right-handed (control), left handed, bilingual, and learning disabled children. Subjects (N=60) ranging in age from 7-13 years were administered a consonant-vowel-consonant dichotic paradigm with three experimental conditions (free recall, directed…

Artificial dexterous hand

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Sukhan (Inventor)

1990-01-01

An artificial dexterous hand is provided for grasping and manipulating objects. The hand includes left and right thumbs that are operatively connected to an engagement assembly which causes movement of the left and right thumbs. The left thumb has a left thumb base and is movable about three separate first left thumb axes which run through the left thumb base. Correspondingly, the right thumb has a right thumb base and is movable about three separate first right thumb axes which run through the right thumb base. The engagement assembly has a gear assembly which is operatively connected to a motor assembly. Upon actuation by the motor assembly, the gear assembly causes movement of the left and right thumbs about the first left thumb axes and first right thumb axes respectively. The hand can also have a center finger which is operatively connected to the engagement assembly and which is interposed between the left and right thumbs. The finger has a finger base and is movable about two separate first finger axes running through the finger base. Therefore, upon actuation by the motor assembly, the gear assembly will also cause movement of the finger about the first finger axes.

The local and referred pain from myofascial trigger points in the temporalis muscle contributes to pain profile in chronic tension-type headache.

PubMed

Fernández-de-Las-Peñas, César; Ge, Hong-You; Arendt-Nielsen, Lars; Cuadrado, Maria Luz; Pareja, Juan A

2007-01-01

To assess the local and referred pain areas and pain characteristics evoked from temporalis muscle trigger points (TrPs) in chronic tension-type headache (CTTH). Thirty CTTH patients and 30 age and sex-matched controls were studied. A headache diary was kept for 4 weeks to substantiate the diagnosis and record the pain history. Both temporalis muscles were examined for the presence of myofascial TrPs in a blinded fashion. The local and referred pain intensities, referred pain pattern, and pressure pain threshold were recorded. Referred pain was evoked in 87% and 54% on the dominant and nondominant sides in CTTH patients, which was significantly higher (P<0.001) than in controls (10% vs. 17%, respectively). Referred pain spread to the temple ipsilateral to the stimulated muscle in both patients and controls, with additional referral behind the eyes in most patients, but none in controls. CTTH patients reported a higher local [visual analog scale (VAS): 5.6+/-1.2 right side, 5.3+/-1.4 left side] and referred pain (VAS: 4.7+/-2 right side, 3.5+/-2.8 left side) intensity than healthy controls (VAS: 0.8+/-0.7 right side, 0.7+/-0.7 left side for local pain; and 0.3+/-0.2 right side, 0.4+/-0.3 left side for referred pain) in both temporalis muscles (both, P<0.001). The local and referred pain areas were larger in patients than in controls (P<0.001). Twenty-three out of 30 CTTH patients (77%) had active TrPs in the temporalis muscle leading to their usual headache (17 patients on the right side; 12 on the left side, whereas 6 with bilateral active TrPs). CTTH patients with active TrPs in either right or left temporalis muscle showed longer headache duration than those with latent TrPs (P=0.004). CTTH patients showed significantly (P<0.001) lower pressure pain threshold (1.1+/-0.2 right side, 1.2+/-0.3 left side) as compared with controls (2.5+/-0.5 right side, 2.6+/-0.4 left side). In CTTH patients, the evoked local and referred pain from active TrPs in the temporalis muscle and its sensory characteristics shared similar patterns as their habitual headache pain. Local and referred pain from active TrPs in the temporalis muscles may constitute one of the sources contributing to the pain profile of CTTH.

How does reading direction modulate perceptual asymmetry effects?

PubMed

Chung, Harry K S; Liu, Joyce Y W; Hsiao, Janet H

2017-08-01

Left-side bias effects refer to a bias towards the left side of the stimulus/space in perceptual/visuospatial judgments, and are argued to reflect dominance of right hemisphere processing. It remains unclear whether reading direction can also account for the bias effect. Previous studies comparing readers of languages read from left to right with those read from right to left (e.g., French vs. Hebrew) have obtained inconsistent results. As a language that can be read from left to right or from right to left, Chinese provides a unique opportunity for a within-culture examination of reading direction effects. Chinese participants performed a perceptual judgment task (with both face and Chinese character stimuli; Experiment 1) and two visuospatial attention tasks (the greyscales and line bisection tasks; Experiment 2) once before and once after a reading task, in which they read Chinese passages either from left to right or from right to left for about 20 min. After reading from right to left, participants showed significantly reduced left-side bias in Chinese character perceptual judgments but not in the other three tasks. This effect suggests that the role of reading direction on different forms of left-side bias may differ, and its modulation may be stimulus-specific.

Cognitive bias, hand preference and welfare of common marmosets.

PubMed

Gordon, Dianne J; Rogers, Lesley J

2015-01-01

Common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) have hand preferences for grasping pieces of food and holding them while eating and these are stable throughout adult life. We report here that left-handed marmosets have negative cognitive bias compared to right-handed marmosets. Twelve marmosets were trained to expect a food reward from a bowl with a black lid and not from one with a white lid, or vice versa. In probe tests with ambiguous, grey-lidded bowls a left-handed group (N=7) were less likely to remove the lid to inspect the bowl than a right-handed group (N=5). This difference between left- and right-handed marmosets was not dependent on rate of learning, sex or age. In fact, hand-preference was not associated with rate of learning the task. Furthermore, retrospective examination of colony records of 39 marmosets revealed that more aggression was directed towards left- than right-handed marmosets. Hence, hand preference, which can be measured easily, could serve as an indicator of cognitive bias and may signal a need for particular care in laboratory environments. We explain the results by arguing that hand preference reflects more frequent (or dominant) use of the opposite hemisphere and this predisposes individuals to behave differently. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

New concept of the contraction-extension property of the left ventricular myocardium.

PubMed

Tanaka, Motonao; Sakamoto, Tsuguya; Sugawara, Shigeo; Katahira, Yoshiaki; Tabuchi, Haruna; Nakajima, Hiroyuki; Kurokawa, Takafumi; Kanai, Hiroshi; Hasegawa, Hideyuki; Ohtsuki, Shigeo

2014-04-01

Using newly developed ultrasonic technology, we attempted to disclose the characteristics of the left ventricular (LV) contraction-extension (C-E) property, which has an important relationship to LV function. Strain rate (SR) distribution within the posterior wall and interventricular septum was microscopically measured with a high accuracy of 821μm in spatial resolution by using the phase difference tracking method. The subjects were 10 healthy men (aged 30-50 years). The time course of the SR distribution disclosed the characteristic C-E property, i.e. the contraction started from the apex and propagated toward the base on one hand, and from the epicardial side toward the endocardial side on the other hand. Therefore, the contraction of one area and the extension of another area simultaneously appeared through nearly the whole cardiac cycle, with the contracting part positively extending the latter part and vice versa. The time course of these propagations gave rise to the peristalsis and the bellows action of the LV wall, and both contributed to effective LV function. The LV contraction started coinciding in time with the P wave of the electrocardiogram, and the cardiac cycle was composed of 4 phases, including 2 types of transitional phase, as well as the ejection phase and slow filling phase. The sum of the measurement time duration of either the contraction or the extension process occupied nearly equal duration in normal conditions. The newly developed ultrasonic technology revealed that the SR distribution was important in evaluating the C-E property of the LV myocardium. The harmonious succession of the 4 cardiac phases newly identified seemed to be helpful in understanding the mechanism to keep long-lasting pump function of the LV. Copyright © 2013 Japanese College of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Near-infrared spectroscopic study and the Wada test for presurgical evaluation of expressive and receptive language functions in glioma patients: with a case report of dissociated language functions.

PubMed

Sato, Yosuke; Uzuka, Takeo; Aoki, Hiroshi; Natsumeda, Manabu; Oishi, Makoto; Fukuda, Masafumi; Fujii, Yukihiko

2012-02-29

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has proven to be useful for the evaluation of language lateralization in healthy subjects, infants, and epileptic patients. This study for the first time investigated the expressive and receptive language functions separately, using NIRS in presurgical glioma patients. We also describe a special case with dissociated pattern of language functions. Ten glioma patients were examined. Using NIRS, the hemodynamic changes during a verb generation task or story listening task were measured in the cerebral hemisphere on either side covering the language areas. Following the NIRS study, the Wada test was performed in all the patients. The NIRS study revealed increases of oxyhemoglobin and decreases of deoxyhemoglobin in the language areas elicited by both tasks. In 9 patients, who were all right-handed, the expressive and receptive language functions were lateralized to the left hemisphere. The results of the NIRS study were completely consistent with those of the Wada test. In the remaining 1 patient with a right sided insular glioma, who was right-handed, the NIRS study revealed stronger activation of the right inferior frontal region during the verb generation task, and stronger activation of the left superior temporal region during the story listening task. This dissociated language function was validated by the Wada test and the postoperative neurological course. These results demonstrate that a NIRS study using our technique is extremely valuable for preoperative assessment of the language functions and exemplifies how a preoperative NIRS study can allow detection of unforeseen language lateralization. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantitative sensory testing in the German Research Network on Neuropathic Pain (DFNS): reference data for the trunk and application in patients with chronic postherpetic neuralgia.

PubMed

Pfau, Doreen B; Krumova, Elena K; Treede, Rolf-Detlef; Baron, Ralf; Toelle, Thomas; Birklein, Frank; Eich, Wolfgang; Geber, Christian; Gerhardt, Andreas; Weiss, Thomas; Magerl, Walter; Maier, Christoph

2014-05-01

Age- and gender-matched reference values are essential for the clinical use of quantitative sensory testing (QST). To extend the standard test sites for QST-according to the German Research Network on Neuropathic Pain-to the trunk, we collected QST profiles on the back in 162 healthy subjects. Sensory profiles for standard test sites were within normal interlaboratory differences. QST revealed lower sensitivity on the upper back than the hand, and higher sensitivity on the lower back than the foot, but no systematic differences between these trunk sites. Age effects were significant for most parameters. Females exhibited lower pressure pain thresholds (PPT) than males, which was the only significant gender difference. Values outside the 95% confidence interval of healthy subjects (considered abnormal) required temperature changes of >3.3-8.2 °C for thermal detection. For cold pain thresholds, confidence intervals extended mostly beyond safety cutoffs, hence only relative reference data (left-right differences, hand-trunk differences) were sufficiently sensitive. For mechanical detection and pain thresholds, left-right differences were 1.5-2.3 times more sensitive than absolute reference data. The most sensitive parameter was PPT, where already side-to-side differences >35% were abnormal. Compared to trunk reference data, patients with postherpetic neuralgia exhibited thermal and tactile deficits and dynamic mechanical allodynia, mostly without reduced mechanical pain thresholds. This pattern deviates from other types of neuropathic pain. QST reference data for the trunk will also be useful for patients with postthoracotomy pain or chronic back pain. Copyright © 2014 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Three-Dimensional Evaluation of Similarity of Right and Left Knee Joints

PubMed Central

Jang, Ki-Mo; Park, Jong-Hoon; Chang, Minho; Kim, Youngjun; Lee, Deukhee; Park, Sehyung; Wang, Joon Ho

2017-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the anatomical similarity of three-dimensional (3D) morphometric parameters between right and left knees. Materials and Methods Ten fresh-frozen paired cadaveric knees were tested. Following dissection, footprint areas of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) were measured. Surface scanning was performed using a 3D scanner. Scanned data were reproduced and morphometric parameters were measured on specialized software. After making mirror models, we compared footprint center positions of the ACL and PCL of both sides and calculated the average deviation of 3D alignment between the right- and left-side models. Results No significant side-to-side differences were found in any morphometric parameters. Bony shapes displayed a side-to-side difference of <1 mm. Distal femoral and proximal tibial volumes did not present side-to-side differences, either; the average 3D deviations of alignment between the right and left sides were 0.8±0.4/1.1±0.6 mm (distal femur/proximal tibia). Center-to-center distances between the right and left ACL footprints were 2.6/2.7 mm (femur/tibia) for the anteromedial bundle and 2.4/2.8 mm for the posterolateral bundle. They were 1.9/1.5 mm for the anterolateral bundle and 2.2/1.8 mm for the posteromedial bundle of the PCL. Conclusions There was a remarkable 3D morphometric similarity between right and left knees. Our results might support the concept of obtaining morphologic reference data from the uninvolved contralateral knee. PMID:29046046

An Investigation of the Differences and Similarities between Generated Small-World Networks for Right- and Left-Hand Motor Imageries.

PubMed

Zhang, Jiang; Li, Yuyao; Chen, Huafu; Ding, Jurong; Yuan, Zhen

2016-11-04

In this study, small-world network analysis was performed to identify the similarities and differences between functional brain networks for right- and left-hand motor imageries (MIs). First, Pearson correlation coefficients among the nodes within the functional brain networks from healthy subjects were calculated. Then, small-world network indicators, including the clustering coefficient, the average path length, the global efficiency, the local efficiency, the average node degree, and the small-world index, were generated for the functional brain networks during both right- and left-hand MIs. We identified large differences in the small-world network indicators between the functional networks during MI and in the random networks. More importantly, the functional brain networks underlying the right- and left-hand MIs exhibited similar small-world properties in terms of the clustering coefficient, the average path length, the global efficiency, and the local efficiency. By contrast, the right- and left-hand MI brain networks showed differences in small-world characteristics, including indicators such as the average node degree and the small-world index. Interestingly, our findings also suggested that the differences in the activity intensity and range, the average node degree, and the small-world index of brain networks between the right- and left-hand MIs were associated with the asymmetry of brain functions.

Dark localized structures in a cavity filled with a left-handed material

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

Tlidi, Mustapha; Kockaert, Pascal; Gelens, Lendert

2011-07-15

We consider a nonlinear passive optical cavity filled with left-handed and right-handed materials and driven by a coherent injected beam. We assume that both left-handed and right-handed materials possess a Kerr focusing type of nonlinearity. We show that close to the zero-diffraction regime, high-order diffraction allows us to stabilize dark localized structures in this device. These structures consist of dips in the transverse profile of the intracavity field and do not exist without high-order diffraction. We analyze the snaking bifurcation diagram associated with these structures. Finally, a realistic estimation of the model parameters is provided.

No inherent left and right side in human 'mental number line': evidence from right brain damage.

PubMed

Aiello, Marilena; Jacquin-Courtois, Sophie; Merola, Sheila; Ottaviani, Teresa; Tomaiuolo, Francesco; Bueti, Domenica; Rossetti, Yves; Doricchi, Fabrizio

2012-08-01

Spatial reasoning has a relevant role in mathematics and helps daily computational activities. It is widely assumed that in cultures with left-to-right reading, numbers are organized along the mental equivalent of a ruler, the mental number line, with small magnitudes located to the left of larger ones. Patients with right brain damage can disregard smaller numbers while mentally setting the midpoint of number intervals. This has been interpreted as a sign of spatial neglect for numbers on the left side of the mental number line and taken as a strong argument for the intrinsic left-to-right organization of the mental number line. Here, we put forward the understanding of this cognitive disability by discovering that patients with right brain damage disregard smaller numbers both when these are mapped on the left side of the mental number line and on the right side of an imagined clock face. This shows that the right hemisphere supports the representation of small numerical magnitudes independently from their mapping on the left or the right side of a spatial-mental layout. In addition, the study of the anatomical correlates through voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping and the mapping of lesion peaks on the diffusion tensor imaging-based reconstruction of white matter pathways showed that the rightward bias in the imagined clock-face was correlated with lesions of high-level middle temporal visual areas that code stimuli in object-centred spatial coordinates, i.e. stimuli that, like a clock face, have an inherent left and right side. In contrast, bias towards higher numbers on the mental number line was linked to white matter damage in the frontal component of the parietal-frontal number network. These anatomical findings show that the human brain does not represent the mental number line as an object with an inherent left and right side. We conclude that the bias towards higher numbers in the mental bisection of number intervals does not depend on left side spatial, imagery or object-centred neglect and that it rather depends on disruption of an abstract non-spatial representation of small numerical magnitudes.

The side of chronic low back pain matters: evidence from the primary motor cortex excitability and the postural adjustments of multifidi muscles.

PubMed

Massé-Alarie, Hugo; Beaulieu, Louis-David; Preuss, Richard; Schneider, Cyril

2017-03-01

Hemispheric lateralization of pain processing was reported with overactivation of the right frontal lobe. Specifically in chronic low back pain (CLBP), functional changes in the left primary motor cortex (M1) with impaired anticipatory postural activation (APA) of trunk muscles have been observed. Given the connections between frontal and M1 areas for motor planning, it is hypothesized that the pain side could differently influence M1 function and APA of paravertebral multifidus (MF) muscles. This study aimed at testing whether people with right- versus left-sided CLBP showed different M1 excitability and APA. Thirty-five individuals with lateralized CLBP (19 right-sided and 16 left-sided) and 13 pain-free subjects (normative values) were tested for the excitability of MF M1 area (active motor threshold-AMT) with transcranial magnetic stimulation and for the latency of MF APA during bilateral shoulder flexion and during unilateral hip extension in prone lying. In the right-sided CLBP group, the AMT of both M1 areas was lower than in the left-sided group and the pain-free subjects; the latency of MF APA was shorter in bilateral shoulder flexion and in the left hip extension tasks as compared to the left-sided group. In CLBP, an earlier MF APA was correlated with lower AMT in both tasks. People with right-sided CLBP presented with increased M1 excitability in both hemispheres and earlier MF APA. These results likely rely on cortical motor adaptation related to the tasks and axial muscles tested. Future studies should investigate whether CLBP side-related differences have a clinical impact, e.g. in diagnosis and intervention.

[Influence of "prehistory" of sequential movements of the right and the left hand on reproduction: coding of positions, movements and sequence structure].

PubMed

Bobrova, E V; Liakhovetskiĭ, V A; Borshchevskaia, E R

2011-01-01

The dependence of errors during reproduction of a sequence of hand movements without visual feedback on the previous right- and left-hand performance ("prehistory") and on positions in space of sequence elements (random or ordered by the explicit rule) was analyzed. It was shown that the preceding information about the ordered positions of the sequence elements was used during right-hand movements, whereas left-hand movements were performed with involvement of the information about the random sequence. The data testify to a central mechanism of the analysis of spatial structure of sequence elements. This mechanism activates movement coding specific for the left hemisphere (vector coding) in case of an ordered sequence structure and positional coding specific for the right hemisphere in case of a random sequence structure.

Contribution of the posterior parietal cortex in reaching, grasping, and using objects and tools

PubMed Central

Vingerhoets, Guy

2014-01-01

Neuropsychological and neuroimaging data suggest a differential contribution of posterior parietal regions during the different components of a transitive gesture. Reaching requires the integration of object location and body position coordinates and reaching tasks elicit bilateral activation in different foci along the intraparietal sulcus. Grasping requires a visuomotor match between the object's shape and the hand's posture. Lesion studies and neuroimaging confirm the importance of the anterior part of the intraparietal sulcus for human grasping. Reaching and grasping reveal bilateral activation that is generally more prominent on the side contralateral to the hand used or the hemifield stimulated. Purposeful behavior with objects and tools can be assessed in a variety of ways, including actual use, pantomimed use, and pure imagery of manipulation. All tasks have been shown to elicit robust activation over the left parietal cortex in neuroimaging, but lesion studies have not always confirmed these findings. Compared to pantomimed or imagined gestures, actual object and tool use typically produces activation over the left primary somatosensory region. Neuroimaging studies on pantomiming or imagery of tool use in healthy volunteers revealed neural responses in possibly separate foci in the left supramarginal gyrus. In sum, the parietal contribution of reaching and grasping of objects seems to depend on a bilateral network of intraparietal foci that appear organized along gradients of sensory and effector preferences. Dorsal and medial parietal cortex appears to contribute to the online monitoring/adjusting of the ongoing prehensile action, whereas the functional use of objects and tools seems to involve the inferior lateral parietal cortex. This functional input reveals a clear left lateralized activation pattern that may be tuned to the integration of acquired knowledge in the planning and guidance of the transitive movement. PMID:24634664

Asymmetric activation of motor cortex controlling human anterior digastric muscles during speech and target-directed jaw movements.

PubMed

Sowman, Paul F; Flavel, Stanley C; McShane, Christie L; Sakuma, Shigemitsu; Miles, Timothy S; Nordstrom, Michael A

2009-07-01

Like most of the cranial muscles involved in speech, the trigeminally innervated anterior digastric muscles are controlled by descending corticobulbar projections from the primary motor cortex (M1) of each hemisphere. We hypothesized that changes in corticobulbar M1 excitability during speech production would show a hemispheric asymmetry favoring the left side, which is the dominant hemisphere for language processing in most strongly right handed subjects. Fifteen volunteers aged 24.5+/-5.3 (SD) yr participated. All subjects were strongly right handed as reported by questionnaire. A surface electromyograph (EMG) was recorded bilaterally from digastrics and jaw movement detected by an accelerometer attached to a lower incisor. Focal transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used to assess corticomotor excitability of the digastric representation in M1 of both hemispheres during four tasks: 1) static isometric contraction of digastrics; 2) speaking a single word; 3) visually guided, nonspeech jaw movement that matched the jaw kinematics recorded during task 2; and 4) reciting a sentence. Background EMG was well matched in all tasks and jaw kinematics were similar around the time of the TMS pulse for tasks 2-4. TMS resting thresholds and digastric muscle-evoked potential (MEP) size during isometric contraction did not differ for TMS over left versus right M1. MEPs elicited by TMS over left, but not right M1 increased in size during speech and nonspeech jaw movement compared with isometric contraction. We conclude that left corticobulbar M1 is preferentially engaged for descending control of digastric muscles during speech and the performance of a rapid jaw movement to match a target kinematic profile.

Contribution of the posterior parietal cortex in reaching, grasping, and using objects and tools.

PubMed

Vingerhoets, Guy

2014-01-01

Neuropsychological and neuroimaging data suggest a differential contribution of posterior parietal regions during the different components of a transitive gesture. Reaching requires the integration of object location and body position coordinates and reaching tasks elicit bilateral activation in different foci along the intraparietal sulcus. Grasping requires a visuomotor match between the object's shape and the hand's posture. Lesion studies and neuroimaging confirm the importance of the anterior part of the intraparietal sulcus for human grasping. Reaching and grasping reveal bilateral activation that is generally more prominent on the side contralateral to the hand used or the hemifield stimulated. Purposeful behavior with objects and tools can be assessed in a variety of ways, including actual use, pantomimed use, and pure imagery of manipulation. All tasks have been shown to elicit robust activation over the left parietal cortex in neuroimaging, but lesion studies have not always confirmed these findings. Compared to pantomimed or imagined gestures, actual object and tool use typically produces activation over the left primary somatosensory region. Neuroimaging studies on pantomiming or imagery of tool use in healthy volunteers revealed neural responses in possibly separate foci in the left supramarginal gyrus. In sum, the parietal contribution of reaching and grasping of objects seems to depend on a bilateral network of intraparietal foci that appear organized along gradients of sensory and effector preferences. Dorsal and medial parietal cortex appears to contribute to the online monitoring/adjusting of the ongoing prehensile action, whereas the functional use of objects and tools seems to involve the inferior lateral parietal cortex. This functional input reveals a clear left lateralized activation pattern that may be tuned to the integration of acquired knowledge in the planning and guidance of the transitive movement.

Aberrant left subclavian artery occlusion in right-sided aortic artery associated with left cerebral infarction: A case report.

PubMed

Tempaku, Akira; Kuroiwa, Terumasa; Nishio, Akimasa

2018-06-01

Purpose Right-sided aortic arch is a rare vessel anomaly with an incidence of 0.1% worldwide. Supra-aortic branches form a mirror image of the left-sided aortic arch or an aberrant left subclavian artery associated with Kommerell diverticulum. Most patients are diagnosed by a difference in blood pressure in each upper extremity or by the presence of left subclavian steal syndrome in their younger age. The diagnosis of onset of ischemic stroke in middle age is rare. Methods We present the case of a female patient who presented with an ischemic stroke in the left posterior circulation area. She had no history of congenital heart malformation. We performed head magnetic resonance imaging, cerebral angiography, and enhanced computed tomography of the aortic arch and major branches. Results The patient had a right-sided aortic arch and an aberrant left subclavian artery. The left subclavian artery was occluded at the proximal portion with a fibrous string. Collateral flow in the anterior cervical subcutaneous area supported left limb perfusion. Conclusion An atheromatous change reduced shunt flow via collateral networks at the anterior cervical region. Congenital subclavian steal supported the ischemic stroke.

Lake Superior as seen from Skylab

NASA Image and Video Library

1974-01-06

SL4-139-3953 (7 Jan. 1974) --- An oblique view of a portion of the Middle West looking northeastward toward Lake Superior and Ontario, Canada, as seen from the Skylab space station in Earth orbit. This picture was taken by one of the Skylab 4 crewmen with a hand-held 70mm Hasselblad camera using a 100mm lens. Most of the land mass in the foreground is Wisconsin. Iowa is in the lower left corner. Minnesota is at left and upper left. Ontario is in the far right background. Michigan is at right center. Note the circular-shaped feature at center left which was first observed by the Skylab 4 crewmen. The feature is 85 kilometers (55 miles) in diameter, and it is centered near 91.5 degrees west longitude and 44.5 degrees north latitude. The Mississippi River Valley forms the southwest side of the circular feature. The City of La Crosse, Wisconsin, is just south of the near side of the circle, and the Black River completes the southern and eastern part. The City of Eau Claire is at the north edge of the circle. The most likely origin of circular features of this magnitude are (1) volcanic, (2) structural, or (3) meteorite impact. The feature is not volcanic -- the rocks are the wrong type. Possibly it is structural, formed by slight warping of layered rocks into a basin or dome, followed by erosion of all but the most subtle trace of the structure. The feature could be a severely eroded meteorite impact crater. If so, a thorough study of the area may yield evidence of the extreme pressure and temperature the rocks were subjected to by the shock of an impacting meteorite. Photo credit: NASA

Multiple cavernous malformations presenting in a patient with Poland syndrome: A case report

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Introduction Poland syndrome is a congenital disorder related to chest and hand anomalies on one side of the body. Its etiology remains unclear, with an ipsilateral vascular alteration (of unknown origin) to the subclavian artery in early embryogenesis being the currently accepted theory. Cavernous malformations are vascular hamartomas, which have been linked to a genetic etiology, particularly in familial cases, which commonly present with multiple lesions. Our case report is the first to describe multiple cavernous malformations associated with Poland syndrome, further supporting the vascular etiology theory, but pointing to a genetic rather than a mechanistic factor disrupting blood flow in the corresponding vessels. Case presentation A 41-year-old Caucasian man with Poland syndrome on the right side of his body presented to our hospital with a secondary generalized seizure and was found to have multiple cavernous malformations distributed in his brain, cerebellum, and brain stem, with a predominance of lesions in the left hemisphere. Conclusion The distribution of cavernous malformations in the left hemisphere and the right-sided Poland syndrome in our patient could not be explained by a mechanistic disruption of one of the subclavian arteries. A genetic alteration, as in familial cavernous malformations, would be a more appropriate etiologic diagnosis of Poland syndrome in our patient. Further genetic and pathological studies of the involved blood vessels in patients with Poland syndrome could lead to a better understanding of the disease. PMID:21933407

Quantitative evaluation of toothbrush and arm-joint motion during tooth brushing.

PubMed

Inada, Emi; Saitoh, Issei; Yu, Yong; Tomiyama, Daisuke; Murakami, Daisuke; Takemoto, Yoshihiko; Morizono, Ken; Iwasaki, Tomonori; Iwase, Yoko; Yamasaki, Youichi

2015-07-01

It is very difficult for dental professionals to objectively assess tooth brushing skill of patients, because an obvious index to assess the brushing motion of patients has not been established. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively evaluate toothbrush and arm-joint motion during tooth brushing. Tooth brushing motion, performed by dental hygienists for 15 s, was captured using a motion-capture system that continuously calculates the three-dimensional coordinates of object's motion relative to the floor. The dental hygienists performed the tooth brushing on the buccal and palatal sides of their right and left upper molars. The frequencies and power spectra of toothbrush motion and joint angles of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist were calculated and analyzed statistically. The frequency of toothbrush motion was higher on the left side (both buccal and palatal areas) than on the right side. There were no significant differences among joint angle frequencies within each brushing area. The inter- and intra-individual variations of the power spectrum of the elbow flexion angle when brushing were smaller than for any of the other angles. This study quantitatively confirmed that dental hygienists have individual distinctive rhythms during tooth brushing. All arm joints moved synchronously during brushing, and tooth brushing motion was controlled by coordinated movement of the joints. The elbow generated an individual's frequency through a stabilizing movement. The shoulder and wrist control the hand motion, and the elbow generates the cyclic rhythm during tooth brushing.

3. View of the mouth of George Washington's 'Potowmack' Canal ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

3. View of the mouth of George Washington's 'Potowmack' Canal at the Great Falls of the Potomac River. The view is taken from a rock in the Potomac River looking up into the Canal. Trees and dense growth now fill the old aperture which once permitted barges to come down the Ohio Valley onto the broad expanse of the Potomac River. This view, taken September 1, 1943, evidences the very low water then existing on the Potomac River, as is clearly shown by the water marks on the rocks on the left hand side of the photograph. That portion where the individual is standing, up to the height of his hat, is normally underwater. Deep in the sand at this spot was found a part of one of the old hand brought lock hinges which formerly swung the first lock gates ... - Potowmack Company: Great Falls Canal, Locks No. 3, 4, 5, Great Falls, Fairfax County, VA

[Functional asymmetry of electric processes in the rabbit brain cortex at formation of the hunger dominant].

PubMed

Rusinova, E V

2011-01-01

The motivational condition of hunger and formation of the hunger dominant after daily food deprivation was studied in the conditions of chronic experiments on rabbits. It was shown, that the hunger condition was accompanied by left sided interhemispher asymmetry on indicators of spectral capacity of EEG frontal and right-hand asymmetry sensorimotor areas of the cortex. A hunger dominant was accompanied by falling of spectral capacity of EEG of areas of both hemispheres. The condition of hunger and a hunger dominant were characterized by right-hand asymmetry on average level of EEG coherence of frontal and sensorimotor areas. At transition of a condition of hunger in a hunger dominant there was an average level of EEG coherence decrease in areas of the right hemisphere. Electric processes of the cortex of the brain at a motivational condition of hunger and a hunger dominant were different.

Differential effects of galvanic vestibular stimulation on arm position sense in right- vs. left-handers.

PubMed

Schmidt, Lena; Artinger, Frank; Stumpf, Oliver; Kerkhoff, Georg

2013-04-01

The human brain is organized asymmetrically in two hemispheres with different functional specializations. Left- and right-handers differ in many functional capacities and their anatomical representations. Right-handers often show a stronger functional lateralization than left-handers, the latter showing a more bilateral, symmetrical brain organization. Recent functional imaging evidence shows a different lateralization of the cortical vestibular system towards the side of the preferred hand in left- vs. right-handers as well. Since the vestibular system is involved in somatosensory processing and the coding of body position, vestibular stimulation should affect such capacities differentially in left- vs. right-handers. In the present, sham-stimulation-controlled study we explored this hypothesis by studying the effects of galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) on proprioception in both forearms in left- and right-handers. Horizontal arm position sense (APS) was measured with an opto-electronic device. Second, the polarity-specific online- and after-effects of subsensory, bipolar GVS on APS were investigated in different sessions separately for both forearms. At baseline, both groups did not differ in their unsigned errors for both arms. However, right-handers showed significant directional errors in APS of both arms towards their own body. Right-cathodal/left-anodal GVS, resulting in right vestibular cortex activation, significantly deteriorated left APS in right-handers, but had no detectable effect on APS in left-handers in either arm. These findings are compatible with a right-hemisphere dominance for vestibular functions in right-handers and a differential vestibular organization in left-handers that compensates for the disturbing effects of GVS on APS. Moreover, our results show superior arm proprioception in left-handers in both forearms. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Anarchic-Hand Syndrome: ERP Reflections of Lost Control over the Right Hemisphere

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Verleger, Rolf; Binkofski, Ferdinand; Friedrich, Monique; Sedlmeier, Peter; Kompf, Detlef

2011-01-01

In patients with the callosal type of anarchic-hand syndrome, the left hand often does not act as intended and counteracts the right hand. Reports are scarce about the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms. We report the case G.H. who developed the syndrome after infarction of the left arteria pericallosa. It has been suggested that the…

[Normative aspects of somatosensory evoked P300 components].

PubMed

Louzã Neto, M R; Maurer, K; Neuhauser, B

1989-06-01

Using a somatosensory version of the oddball-paradigma the influence of age and gender on the P300-component and the comparison of the potential after stimulation of the right and left median nerve was studied in 30 healthy right handed volunteers (age: 20-35 years). Latency, amplitude, area and duration of the P300-potential were analysed. No relationship between age, gender and the P300-parameters were observed. The amplitude and the area of the potential obtained from the F3 electrode were greater after stimulation of the right median nerve compared to the potential after stimulation of the left median nerve. All other results were not significantly different. Strong positive correlations between the results after stimulation of the right and left median nerve were observed. These results showed that by a young group of volunteers age and gender did not influence the P300-component. Although the P300-Parameters had a between-subject variability, their mean remained constant over the study, their correlation coefficients were strong positive and the side of stimulation did not influence them (except for the electrode F3).

Unimanual SNARC Effect: Hand Matters.

PubMed

Riello, Marianna; Rusconi, Elena

2011-01-01

A structural representation of the hand embedding information about the identity and relative position of fingers is necessary to counting routines. It may also support associations between numbers and allocentric spatial codes that predictably interact with other known numerical spatial representations, such as the mental number line (MNL). In this study, 48 Western participants whose typical counting routine proceeded from thumb-to-little on both hands performed magnitude and parity binary judgments. Response keys were pressed either with the right index and middle fingers or with the left index and middle fingers in separate blocks. 24 participants responded with either hands in prone posture (i.e., palm down) and 24 participants responded with either hands in supine (i.e., palm up) posture. When hands were in prone posture, the counting direction of the left hand conflicted with the direction of the left-right MNL, whereas the counting direction of the right hand was consistent with it. When hands were in supine posture, the opposite was true. If systematic associations existed between relative number magnitude and an allocentric spatial representation of the finger series within each hand, as predicted on the basis of counting habits, interactions would be expected between hand posture and a unimanual version of the spatial-numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect. Data revealed that with hands in prone posture a unimanual SNARC effect was present for the right hand, and with hands in supine posture a unimanual SNARC effect was present for the left hand. We propose that a posture-invariant body structural representation of the finger series provides a relevant frame of reference, a within-hand directional vector, that is associated to simple number processing. Such frame of reference can significantly interact with stimulus-response correspondence effects, like the SNARC, that have been typically attributed to the mapping of numbers on a left-to-right mental line.

Two-Dimensional Model of Scrolled Packings of Molecular Nanoribbons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Savin, A. V.; Mazo, M. A.

2018-04-01

A simplified model of the in-plane molecular chain, allowing the description of folded and scrolled packings of molecular nanoribbons of different structures, is proposed. Using this model, possible steady states of single-layer nanoribbons scrolls of graphene, graphane, fluorographene, and fluorographane (graphene hydrogenated on the one side and fluorinated on the other side) are obtained. Their stability is demonstrated and their energy is calculated as a function of the nanoribbon length. It is shown that the scrolled packing is the most energetically favorable nanoribbon conformation at long lengths. The existences of scrolled packings for fluorographene nanoribbons and the existence of two different scroll types corresponding to left- and right-hand Archimedean spirals for fluorographane nanoribbons in the chain model are shown for the first time. The simplicity of the proposed model makes it possible to consider the dynamics of scrolls of rather long molecular nanoribbons at long enough time intervals.

Handedness and situs inversus in primary ciliary dyskinesia.

PubMed Central

McManus, I. C.; Martin, N.; Stubbings, G. F.; Chung, E. M. K.; Mitchison, H. M.

2004-01-01

...The limbs on the right side are stronger. [The] cause may be ... [that] ... motion, and abilities of moving, are somewhat holpen from the liver, which lieth on the right side. (Sir Francis Bacon, Sylva sylvarum (1627).)Fifty per cent of people with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) (also known as immotile cilia syndrome or Siewert-Kartagener syndrome) have situs inversus, which is thought to result from absent nodal ciliary rotation and failure of normal symmetry breaking. In a study of 88 people with PCD, only 15.2% of 46 individuals with situs inversus, and 14.3% of 42 individuals with situs solitus, were left handed. Because cerebral lateralization is therefore still present, the nodal cilia cannot be the primary mechanism responsible for symmetry breaking in the vertebrate body. Intriguingly, one behavioural lateralization, wearing a wrist-watch on the right wrist, did correlate with situs inversus. PMID:15615683

Handedness and situs inversus in primary ciliary dyskinesia.

PubMed

McManus, I C; Martin, N; Stubbings, G F; Chung, E M K; Mitchison, H M

2004-12-22

... The limbs on the right side are stronger. [The] cause may be ... [that] ... motion, and abilities of moving, are somewhat holpen from the liver, which lieth on the right side. (Sir Francis Bacon, Sylva sylvarum (1627).)Fifty per cent of people with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) (also known as immotile cilia syndrome or Siewert-Kartagener syndrome) have situs inversus, which is thought to result from absent nodal ciliary rotation and failure of normal symmetry breaking. In a study of 88 people with PCD, only 15.2% of 46 individuals with situs inversus, and 14.3% of 42 individuals with situs solitus, were left handed. Because cerebral lateralization is therefore still present, the nodal cilia cannot be the primary mechanism responsible for symmetry breaking in the vertebrate body. Intriguingly, one behavioural lateralization, wearing a wrist-watch on the right wrist, did correlate with situs inversus.

Insight into the da Vinci® Xi - technical notes for single-docking left-sided colorectal procedures.

PubMed

Ngu, James Chi-Yong; Sim, Sarah; Yusof, Sulaiman; Ng, Chee-Yung; Wong, Andrew Siang-Yih

2017-12-01

The adoption of robot-assisted laparoscopic colorectal surgery has been hampered by issues with docking, operative duration, technical difficulties in multi-quadrant access, and cost. The da Vinci® Xi has been designed to overcome some of these limitations. We describe our experience with the system and offer technical insights to its application in left-sided colorectal procedures. Our initial series of left-sided robotic colorectal procedures was evaluated. Patient demographics and operative outcomes were recorded prospectively using a predefined database. Between March 2015 and April 2016, 54 cases of robot-assisted laparoscopic left-sided colorectal procedures were successfully completed with no cases of conversion. The majority were low anterior resections for colorectal malignancies. Using the da Vinci® Xi Surgical System, multi-quadrant surgery involving dissection from the splenic flexure to the pelvis was possible without redocking. The da Vinci® Xi simplifies the docking procedure and makes single-docking feasible for multi-quadrant left-sided colorectal procedures. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Perceptual expertise: can sensorimotor experience change holistic processing and left-side bias?

PubMed

Tso, Ricky Van-yip; Au, Terry Kit-fong; Hsiao, Janet Hui-wen

2014-09-01

Holistic processing and left-side bias are both behavioral markers of expert face recognition. By contrast, expert recognition of characters in Chinese orthography involves left-side bias but reduced holistic processing, although faces and Chinese characters share many visual properties. Here, we examined whether this reduction in holistic processing of Chinese characters can be better explained by writing experience than by reading experience. Compared with Chinese nonreaders, Chinese readers who had limited writing experience showed increased holistic processing, whereas Chinese readers who could write characters fluently showed reduced holistic processing. This result suggests that writing and sensorimotor experience can modulate holistic-processing effects and that the reduced holistic processing observed in expert Chinese readers may depend mostly on writing experience. However, both expert writers and writers with limited experience showed similarly stronger left-side bias than novices did in processing mirror-symmetric Chinese characters; left-side bias may therefore be a robust expertise marker for object recognition that is uninfluenced by sensorimotor experience. © The Author(s) 2014.

[CT measurement and clinical application of double-row suture anchor reconstruction for the treatment of Tossy type III acromioclavicular joint dislocation].

PubMed

Zhang, Chuan-Kai; Liu, Chen; Han, Bing; Feng, Hui; Chen, Qi-Zhong; Sunx, Sun Yi-Yan

2017-04-25

To study feasibility and reliability of reconstruction of the acromioclavicular ligament with double-row suture anchor for the treatment of acromioclavicular joint dislocation through coracoid coronal CT measurement, and to provide a new operation method for treating acromioclavicular joint dislocation. Total 60 healthy people received CT examination of shoulder joint, including 30 males and 30 females, ranging in age from 18 to 50 years old. The coronal width, thickness and 20 degree camber angle in the medial part of the toot of coronal were measured using CT scan. The results were applied to clinical treatment for 12 patients with acromioclavicular joint dislocation of Tossy III type. The width in the medial part of the root of the coracoid was(17.65±1.82) mm(left side) and (17.67±1.80) mm(right side) in males; (16.55±1.78) mm(left side) and (16.52±1.74) mm (right side) in females. The vertical thickness of the roots of the coracoid: (13.11±2.11) mm(left side) and (13.16±2.09) mm(right side) in males;(12.79±2.21) mm(left side) and (12.76±2.19) mm (right side) in females. The thickness of 20 degrees camber angle of the coracoid roots: (16.32±1.74) mm (left side) and (16.30±1.69) mm(right side) in males; (15.68±1.44) mm(left side) and (15.67±1.43) mm(right side) in females. Total 12 patients were treated with anchor nail with extraversion 20 degrees. The postoperative X-ray films showed bone anchors were located in the coracoid process, no bone splitting. Double-row suture anchor of 5 mm diameter nails can be placed into coracoid with extraversion 20 degrees, which is safety.

Corticospinal tract asymmetry and handedness in right- and left-handers by diffusion tensor tractography.

PubMed

Seizeur, Romuald; Magro, Elsa; Prima, Sylvain; Wiest-Daesslé, Nicolas; Maumet, Camille; Morandi, Xavier

2014-03-01

Cerebral hemispheres represent both structural and functional asymmetry, which differs among right- and left-handers. The left hemisphere is specialised for language and task execution of the right hand in right-handers. We studied the corticospinal tract in right- and left-handers by diffusion tensor imaging and tractography. The present study aimed at revealing a morphological difference resulting from a region of interest (ROI) obtained by functional MRI (fMRI). Twenty-five healthy participants (right-handed: 15, left-handed: 10) were enrolled in our assessment of morphological, functional and diffusion tensor MRI. Assessment of brain fibre reconstruction (tractography) was done using a deterministic algorithm. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were studied on the tractography traces of the reference slices. We observed a significant difference in number of leftward fibres based on laterality. The significant difference in regard to FA and MD was based on the slices obtained at different levels and the laterality index. We found left-hand asymmetry and right-hand asymmetry, respectively, for the MD and FA. Our study showed the presence of hemispheric asymmetry based on laterality index in right- and left-handers. These results are inconsistent with some studies and consistent with others. The reported difference in hemispheric asymmetry could be related to dexterity (manual skill).

Proprioceptive recalibration in the right and left hands following abrupt visuomotor adaptation.

PubMed

Salomonczyk, Danielle; Henriques, Denise Y P; Cressman, Erin K

2012-03-01

Previous studies have demonstrated that after reaching with misaligned visual feedback of the hand, one adapts his or her reaches and partially recalibrates proprioception, such that sense of felt hand position is shifted to match the seen hand position. However, to date, this has only been demonstrated in the right (dominant) hand following reach training with a visuomotor distortion in which the rotated cursor distortion was introduced gradually. As reach adaptation has been shown to differ depending on how the distortion is introduced (gradual vs. abrupt), we sought to examine proprioceptive recalibration following reach training with a cursor that was abruptly rotated 30° clockwise relative to hand motion. Furthermore, because the left and right arms have demonstrated selective advantages when matching visual and proprioceptive targets, respectively, we assessed proprioceptive recalibration in right-handed subjects following training with either the right or the left hand. On average, we observed shifts in felt hand position of approximately 7.6° following training with misaligned visual feedback of the hand, which is consistent with our previous findings in which the distortion was introduced gradually. Moreover, no difference was observed in proprioceptive recalibration across the left and right hands. These findings suggest that proprioceptive recalibration is a robust process that arises symmetrically in the two hands following visuomotor adaptation regardless of the initial magnitude of the error signal.

Ultra-weak photon emission as a non-invasive tool for monitoring of oxidative processes in the epidermal cells of human skin: comparative study on the dorsal and the palm side of the hand.

PubMed

Rastogi, Anshu; Pospísil, Pavel

2010-08-01

All living organisms emit spontaneous ultra-weak photon emission as a result of cellular metabolic processes. Exposure of living organisms to exogenous factors results in oxidative processes and enhancement in ultra-weak photon emission. Here, hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)), as a strongly oxidizing molecule, was used to induce oxidative processes and enhance ultra-weak photon emission in human hand skin. The presented work intends to compare both spontaneous and peroxide-induced ultra-weak photon emission from the epidermal cells on the dorsal and the palm side of the hand. A highly sensitive photomultiplier tube and a charge-coupled device camera were used to detect ultra-weak photon emission from human hand skin. Spontaneous ultra-weak photon emission from the epidermal cells on the dorsal side of the hand was 4 counts/s. Topical application of 500 mM H(2)O(2) to the dorsal side of the hand caused enhancement in ultra-weak photon emission to 40 counts/s. Interestingly, both spontaneous and peroxide-induced ultra-weak photon emission from the epidermal cells on the palm side of the hand were observed to increase twice their values, i.e. 8 and 80 counts/s, respectively. Similarly, the two-dimensional image of ultra-weak photon emission observed after topical application of H(2)O(2) to human skin reveals that photon emission from the palm side exceeds the photon emission from the dorsal side of the hand. The results presented indicate that the ultra-weak photon emission originating from the epidermal cells on the dorsal and the palm side of the hand is related to the histological structure of the human hand skin. Ultra-weak photon emission is shown as a non-destructive technique for monitoring of oxidative processes in the epidermal cells of the human hand skin and as a diagnostic tool for skin diseases.

49 CFR 231.19 - Definition of “Right” and “Left.”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Definition of âRightâ and âLeft.â 231.19 Section 231.19 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) FEDERAL RAILROAD...” and “Left.” Right or Left refers to side of person when facing end or side of car from ground. ...

49 CFR 231.19 - Definition of “Right” and “Left.”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Definition of âRightâ and âLeft.â 231.19 Section 231.19 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) FEDERAL RAILROAD...” and “Left.” Right or Left refers to side of person when facing end or side of car from ground. ...

49 CFR 231.19 - Definition of “Right” and “Left.”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Definition of âRightâ and âLeft.â 231.19 Section 231.19 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) FEDERAL RAILROAD...” and “Left.” Right or Left refers to side of person when facing end or side of car from ground. ...

49 CFR 231.19 - Definition of “Right” and “Left.”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Definition of âRightâ and âLeft.â 231.19 Section 231.19 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) FEDERAL RAILROAD...” and “Left.” Right or Left refers to side of person when facing end or side of car from ground. ...

49 CFR 231.19 - Definition of “Right” and “Left.”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Definition of âRightâ and âLeft.â 231.19 Section 231.19 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) FEDERAL RAILROAD...” and “Left.” Right or Left refers to side of person when facing end or side of car from ground. ...

Impact of body posture on laterality judgement and explicit recognition tasks performed on self and others' hands.

PubMed

Conson, Massimiliano; Errico, Domenico; Mazzarella, Elisabetta; De Bellis, Francesco; Grossi, Dario; Trojano, Luigi

2015-04-01

Judgments on laterality of hand stimuli are faster and more accurate when dealing with one's own than others' hand, i.e. the self-advantage. This advantage seems to be related to activation of a sensorimotor mechanism while implicitly processing one's own hands, but not during explicit one's own hand recognition. Here, we specifically tested the influence of proprioceptive information on the self-hand advantage by manipulating participants' body posture during self and others' hand processing. In Experiment 1, right-handed healthy participants judged laterality of either self or others' hands, whereas in Experiment 2, an explicit recognition of one's own hands was required. In both experiments, the participants performed the task while holding their left or right arm flexed with their hand in direct contact with their chest ("flexed self-touch posture") or with their hand placed on a wooden smooth surface in correspondence with their chest ("flexed proprioceptive-only posture"). In an "extended control posture", both arms were extended and in contact with thighs. In Experiment 1 (hand laterality judgment), we confirmed the self-advantage and demonstrated that it was enhanced when the subjects judged left-hand stimuli at 270° orientation while keeping their left arm in the flexed proprioceptive-only posture. In Experiment 2 (explicit self-hand recognition), instead, we found an advantage for others' hand ("self-disadvantage") independently from posture manipulation. Thus, position-related proprioceptive information from left non-dominant arm can enhance sensorimotor one's own body representation selectively favouring implicit self-hands processing.

Modified liver hanging maneuver focusing on outflow control in pure laparoscopic left-sided hepatectomy.

PubMed

Kim, Ji Hoon

2018-04-01

Outflow control during laparoscopic liver resection necessitates the use of technically demanding procedures since the hepatic veins are fragile and vulnerable to damage during parenchymal transection. The liver hanging maneuver reduces venous backflow bleeding during deep parenchymal transection. The present report describes surgical outcomes and a technique to achieve outflow control during application of the modified liver hanging maneuver in patients undergoing laparoscopic left-sided hepatectomy. A retrospective review was performed of clinical data from 29 patients who underwent laparoscopic left-sided hepatectomy using the modified liver hanging maneuver between February 2013 and March 2017. For this hanging technique, the upper end of the hanging tape was placed on the lateral aspect of the left hepatic vein. The tape was then aligned with the ligamentum venosum. The position of the lower end of the hanging tape was determined according to left-sided hepatectomy type. The hanging tape gradually encircled either the left hepatic vein or the common trunk of the left hepatic vein and middle hepatic vein. The surgical procedures comprised: left lateral sectionectomy (n = 10); left hepatectomy (n = 17); and extended left hepatectomy including the middle hepatic vein (n = 2). Median operative time was 210 min (range 90-350 min). Median intraoperative blood loss was 200 ml (range 60-600 ml). Two intraoperative major hepatic vein injuries occurred during left hepatectomy. Neither patient developed massive bleeding or air embolism. Postoperative major complications occurred in one patient (3.4%). Median postoperative hospital stay was 7 days (range 4-15 days). No postoperative mortality occurred. The present modified liver hanging maneuver is a safe and effective method of outflow control during laparoscopic left-sided hepatectomy.

Chromosomal abnormalities and copy number variations in fetal left-sided congenital heart defects.

PubMed

Jansen, Fenna A R; Hoffer, Mariette J V; van Velzen, Christine L; Plati, Stephani Klingeman; Rijlaarsdam, Marry E B; Clur, Sally-Ann B; Blom, Nico A; Pajkrt, Eva; Bhola, Shama L; Knegt, Alida C; de Boer, Marion A; Haak, Monique C

2016-02-01

To demonstrate the spectrum of copy number variants (CNVs) in fetuses with isolated left-sided congenital heart defects (CHDs), and analyse genetic content. Between 2003 and 2012, 200 fetuses were identified with left-sided CHD. Exclusion criteria were chromosomal rearrangements, 22q11.2 microdeletion and/or extra-cardiac malformations (n = 64). We included cases with additional minor anomalies (n = 39), such as single umbilical artery. In 54 of 136 eligible cases, stored material was available for array analysis. CNVs were categorized as either (likely) benign, (likely) pathogenic or of unknown significance. In 18 of the 54 isolated left-sided CHDs we found 28 rare CNVs (prevalence 33%, average 1.6 CNV per person, size 10.6 kb-2.2 Mb). Our interpretation yielded clinically significant CNVs in two of 54 cases (4%) and variants of unknown significance in three other cases (6%). In left-sided CHDs that appear isolated, with normal chromosome analysis and 22q11.2 FISH analysis, array analysis detects clinically significant CNVs. When counselling parents of a fetus with a left-sided CHD it must be taken into consideration that aside from the cardiac characteristics, the presence of extra-cardiac malformations and chromosomal abnormalities influence the treatment plan and prognosis. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Is there any relationship between right and left hand dominance and right and left nasal airflow dominance?

PubMed

Price, A; Eccles, R

2017-10-01

Left- or right-handedness is a common human trait, and it has been previously reported that human nasal airflow dominance correlates with hand dominance. Any relationship between hand dominance and nasal airflow dominance would be unusual. This study aimed to measure nasal airflow and look for any relationship to handedness. The modified Glatzel mirror was used to record the dominant nasal passage at 15-minute intervals over a 6-hour period in 29 healthy participants consisting of 15 left-handers and 14 right-handers. In left-handers, the percentage of time that the left nasal passage was dominant ranged from 0 to 100 per cent. In right-handers, the percentage of time that the right nasal passage was dominant ranged from 4.2 to 95.8 per cent. No correlation between nasal airflow dominance and hand dominance was identified. The results do not support the hypothesis that nasal airflow and handedness are related.

Multiplication factor versus regression analysis in stature estimation from hand and foot dimensions.

PubMed

Krishan, Kewal; Kanchan, Tanuj; Sharma, Abhilasha

2012-05-01

Estimation of stature is an important parameter in identification of human remains in forensic examinations. The present study is aimed to compare the reliability and accuracy of stature estimation and to demonstrate the variability in estimated stature and actual stature using multiplication factor and regression analysis methods. The study is based on a sample of 246 subjects (123 males and 123 females) from North India aged between 17 and 20 years. Four anthropometric measurements; hand length, hand breadth, foot length and foot breadth taken on the left side in each subject were included in the study. Stature was measured using standard anthropometric techniques. Multiplication factors were calculated and linear regression models were derived for estimation of stature from hand and foot dimensions. Derived multiplication factors and regression formula were applied to the hand and foot measurements in the study sample. The estimated stature from the multiplication factors and regression analysis was compared with the actual stature to find the error in estimated stature. The results indicate that the range of error in estimation of stature from regression analysis method is less than that of multiplication factor method thus, confirming that the regression analysis method is better than multiplication factor analysis in stature estimation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.

It’s Out of My Hands! Grasping Capacity May Not Influence Perceived Object Size

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Linkenauger, Witt, and Proffitt (2011) found that the perceived size of graspable objects was scaled by perceived grasping capacity. However, it is possible that this effect occurred because object size was estimated on the same trial as grasping capacity. This may have led to a conflation of estimates of perceived action capacity and spatial properties. In 5 experiments, we tested Linkenauger et al.’s claim that right-handed observers overestimate the grasping capacity of their right hand relative to their left hand, and that this, in turn, leads them to underestimate the size of objects to-be-grasped in their right hand relative to their left hand. We replicated the finding that right handers overestimate the size and grasping capacity of their right hand relative to their left hand. However, when estimates of object size and grasping capacity were made in separate tasks, objects grasped in the right hand were not underestimated relative to those grasped in the left hand. Further, when grasping capacity was physically restricted, observers appropriately recalibrated their perception of their maximum grasp but estimates of object size were unaffected. Our results suggest that changes in action capacity may not influence perceived object size if sources of conflation are controlled for. PMID:28191987