101,952 research outputs found
Correction: Differences between experimental and placebo arms in manual therapy trials: a methodological review (BMC Medical Research Methodology, (2022), 22, 1, (219), 10.1186/s12874-022-01704-8)
No full textFollowing publication of the original article [1], the authors reported an error in the presentation of author names. The given name and family name were swapped. The correct author names are as follows: Giandomenico D’Alessandro, Nuria Ruffini, Alessandro Aquino, Matteo Galli, Mattia Innocenti, Marco Tramontano, Francesco Cerritelli. The author group has been updated above and the original article [1] has been corrected
Frequenza dell'attività oculare rapida e sonno a onde lente (SWS) in seguito a deprivazione selettiva di SWS
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An effective simulation of aqueous micellar aggregates by computational models
No full textWe have computationally studied the interaction modes, localization and orientation of a benzene (Bz) molecule on the surface of micelles formed by cetyltrimethylammonium salts CTAX. Experimental H-1-NMR data on complexation shifts induced by Bz on the polar head hydrogens and on the adjacent methylene hydrogens of CTAX have been interpreted using a computational approach that combines an automatic molecular docking procedure with a calculation module that accounts for NMR complexation shifts due to ring current diamagnetic anisotropy. Three different models were used to reduce the complexity of the micellar system. Computational results, in good agreement with available experimental data, point to a preferential localization of the Bz molecule along the CTAX alkyl tail, about 3.9 angstrom away from the charged nitrogen. The Bz molecular plane is predicted perpendicular to the C-H bonds of the alkyl tail. The good results obtained with the simplest model suggest that it could be used to study more complex systems involving surfactants endowed with molecular recognition or catalytic abilities
Facial functional networks during resting state revealed by thermal infrared imaging
No full textIn recent decades, an increasing number of studies on psychophysiology and, in general, on clinical medicine has employed the technique of facial thermal infrared imaging (IRI), which allows to obtain information about the emotional and physical states of the subjects in a completely non-invasive and contactless fashion. Several regions of interest (ROIs) have been reported in literature as salient areas for the psychophysiological characterization of a subject (i.e. nose tip and glabella ROIs). There is however a lack of studies focusing on the functional correlation among these ROIs and about the physiological basis of the relation existing between thermal IRI and vital signals, such as the electrodermal activity, i.e. the galvanic skin response (GSR). The present study offers a new methodology able to assess the functional connection between salient seed ROIs of thermal IRI and all the pixel of the face. The same approach was also applied considering as seed signal the GSR and its phasic and tonic components. Seed correlation analysis on 63 healthy volunteers demonstrated the presence of a common pathway regulating the facial thermal functionality and the electrodermal activity. The procedure was also tested on a pathological case study, finding a completely different pattern compared to the healthy cases. The method represents a promising tool in neurology, physiology and applied neurosciences
Effect of Continuous Touch on Brain Functional Connectivity Is Modified by the Operator’s Tactile Attention
No full textTouch has been always regarded as a powerful communication channel playing a key role in governing our emotional wellbeing and possibly perception of self. Several studies demonstrated that the stimulation of C-tactile afferent fibers, essential neuroanatomical elements of affective touch, activates specific brain areas and the activation pattern is influenced by subject’s attention. However, no research has investigated how the cognitive status of who is administering the touch produces changes in brain functional connectivity of touched subjects. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we investigated brain connectivity while subjects were receiving a static touch by an operator engaged in either a tactile attention or auditory attention task. This randomized-controlled single-blinded study enrolled 40 healthy right-handed adults and randomly assigned to either the operator tactile attention (OTA) or the operator auditory attention (OAA) group. During the five fMRI resting-state runs, the touch was delivered while the operator focused his attention either: (i) on the tactile perception from his hands (OTA group); or (ii) on a repeated auditory stimulus (OAA group). Functional connectivity analysis revealed that prolonged sustained static touch applied by an operator engaged with focused tactile attention produced a significant increase of anticorrelation between posterior cingulate cortex (PCC-seed) and right insula (INS) as well as right inferior-frontal gyrus but these functional connectivity changes are markedly different only after 15 min of touching across the OTA and OAA conditions. Interestingly, data also showed anticorrelation between PCC and left INS with a distinct pattern over time. Indeed, the PCC-left INS anticorrelation is showed to start and end earlier compared to that of PCC-right INS. Taken together, the results of this study showed that if a particular cognitive status of the operator is sustained over time, it is able to elicit significant effects on the subjects’ functional connectivity patterns involving cortical areas processing the interoceptive and attentional value of touch
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