20 research outputs found
The brain mechanisms underlying walking in complex situations in healthy older adults and persons with Parkinson's disease
No full textIntroduction: The ability to walk safely and independently is a fundamental component of daily living activities. Walking while dual tasking and obstacle negotiation are two tasks that have been used to investigate walking in complex situations. Deficits in cognitive domains and sensory-motor processes associated with aging and neurodegenration impair the ability to successfully assess the environment and react to it. These changes in the ability to walk are modulated via neural circuits. However, the actual neural circuits of the brain involved in the control of locomotion in different challenging situations are still poorly understood. Methods: Two groups of subjects; 20 healthy older adults (mean age 69.7±1.3 yrs, 50% females) and 47 persons with PD (mean age 71.7±1.1 yrs, 32% females) were studied. The protocol included real and imagined walking while negotiating obstacles and dual tasking. Walking conditions were performed while being monitored with fNIRS and imagined walking were assessed in the MR scanner. A repeated measures design (condition x group) was conducted with two levels; within group and between groups. Results: Significant differences in brain activation were observed in the fMRI and fNIRS. Between groups comparison showed that persons with PD had a significantly higher activation in frontal, parietal, occipital, and cerebellum regions during usual walking compared to healthy older adults (p<0.048). Comparison between the walking tasks within each group revealed (1) increased activation during walking while negotiating obstacles in both groups (p<0.023) and (2) increased activation during walking while dual tasking only in healthy older adults (p<0.035). Correlations between brain activation and performance in motor-cognitive tests were found in both groups however, healthy older adults presented inverse correlation and persons with PD positive correlation. Conclusions: These findings indicate that subjects with PD activate larger brain areas than healthy older adults even during usual walking. Perhaps, this increased activation is a compensatory strategy to enhance performance. The increased activation already during usual walking task may limit the ability to increase activation or recruit additional brain areas during the more complex walking tasks and may contribute to the high prevalence of falls and the dual tasking difficulty in persons with PD.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Inbal Maida
Revisiting Qusayr Amra: A New Perspective on Female Imagery
No full textThis essay argues that female representations at Qusayr Amra reflect a deliberate adaptation of pre-Islamic artistic traditions, expressing evolving Umayyad ideas of beauty, gender, and hierarchy. By analyzing the interplay between visual imagery and written texts, including the Qur’an, it reevaluates the significance of female figures and the representational choices made in 8th-century Umayyad palaces in Bilad al-Sham. Drawing on scholars such as Garth Fowden and Nadia Ali, and informed by contemporary gender studies, this essay foregrounds how artistic choices regarding female imagery negotiate social ideals of belief, gender, and power. The analysis begins by examining the development of figurative imagery in early Islam and its cultural context. It then offers a close reading of a key fresco challenging assumptions about modesty and figural representation. Through comparative analysis with another Umayyad site, this study highlights the complexities and meanings of female depictions, revealing diverse interpretations across contexts. While Patron Walid II was not the sole author of these choices, his patronage was crucial in enabling a bold engagement with Islamic visual culture. In doing so, this essay offers new insights into the complexities of early Islamic visual culture and its negotiation of social values
The Babble Boot Camp turns 2: Phonetic and phonemic inventory complexity and expressive vocabulary growth in infants with Classic Galactosemia undergoing an experimental prevention therapy
No full textabstract: Classic Galactosemia (CG) is a rare recessive metabolic disease resulting in the inability to digest galactose. Despite early detection via newborn screening and strict diet management, infants with CG are at high risk for severe speech (60%) and language (90%) disorders (Waggoner, D., Buist, N., & Donnell, 1990). Although this risk is known since birth, no preventive treatment approaches in the area of speech and language have been developed. The Babble Boot Camp (BBC) is the first experimental proactive intervention for infants with CG ages 2 to 24 months. It is designed to stimulate early vocalization, coo, babble, first words, vocabulary growth, and syntactic complexity, with the goal of preventing or at least ameliorating the expected speech and language difficulties. All children undergo close monitoring. Day-long audio recordings, collected once per month using the Language Environment Analysis (LENA) system, are the source material for pre-speech and speech measures including Mean Babbling Level (MBL), Syllable Structure Level (SSL), and phonetic and phonemic inventory complexity.
Parent questionnaires are analyzed for expressive vocabulary size. Here, findings are described for the first 9 children who underwent the BBC and an untreated control child, all with CG. The initial results are consistent with higher MBL and SSL scores in the treatment cohort, compared to the untreated control infant. In addition, most children in the treatment cohort achieved larger vocabulary sizes than the control child. Of the four oldest children in the treatment cohort, three had expressive vocabularies within normal limits at 21 months. Phonetic
inventory complexity at 11 months predicted expressive vocabulary at 18 months. Given the high risk for speech and language disorders in children with CG, these results are encouraging, but an appropriately powered clinical trial is necessary to validate these findings. The BBC is on its way to a full clinical trial with 75 families, fully funded by the National Institutes of Health
Relays: Short Fiction Anthology
No full textabstract: A collection of chronological, interconnected short stories following the lives and changes of a family throughout the 20th century, connected through the generations by unifying objects carried in from story to story
Identifying and assessing views among physically-active adult gym members in Israel on dietary supplements
No full textBackground Sports dietary supplements are available for sale in public places including sports clubs. Although there is uncertainty regarding their safety, many gym members who regularly work out consume them. The present study aimed to identify the approaches and perspectives of the public who work out in gyms and take dietary supplements. It examined how professionals view sports dietary supplement consumption, and how they communicate this issue to gym members. The literature discusses the prevalence of SDS use among athletes, but rarely discusses or compares between the risk perceptions of gym members, trainers, and dietitians, who represent the physically-active general public, regarding SDS. Methods We conducted constructivist qualitative research in semi-structured one-on-one interviews (n = 34). We held in-depth interviews (n = 20) with a heterogeneous population of adult gym members who take dietary supplements, and (n = 14) with dietitians and fitness trainers. Results The main finding was a gap in risk perception of dietary supplement use between dietitians, gym members and fitness trainers. There was low risk perception among dietary supplements consumers. Trainers believed that benefits of supplement consumption exceeded risk, and therefore they did not convey a message to their clients about risk. In contrast, dietitians interviewed for this study renounced general use of sports dietary supplements and doubted whether trainers had proper nutritional knowledge to support it. Conclusion Lack of awareness of risks suggests that there is a need for communication on this issue. We recommend that professionals (physicians and dietitians) be present in sports clubs that sell such products in an uncontrolled way
Author Correction: Data storage in DNA with fewer synthesis cycles using composite DNA letters
No full textAeroecology meets aviation safety: Early warning systems in Europe and the Middle East prevent collisions between birds and aircraft
No full textThe aerosphere is utilized by billions of birds, moving for different reasons and from short to great distances spanning tens of thousands of kilometres. The aerosphere, however, is also utilized by aviation which leads to increasing conflicts in and around airfields as well as en‐route. Collisions between birds and aircraft cost billions of euros annually and, in some cases, result in the loss of human lives. Simultaneously, aviation has diverse negative impacts on wildlife. During avian migration, due to the sheer numbers of birds in the air, the risk of bird strikes becomes particularly acute for low‐flying aircraft, especially during military training flights. Over the last few decades, air forces across Europe and the Middle East have been developing solutions that integrate ecological research and aviation policy to reduce mutual negative interactions between birds and aircraft. In this paper we 1) provide a brief overview of the systems currently used in military aviation to monitor bird migration movements in the aerosphere, 2) provide a brief overview of the impact of bird strikes on military low‐level operations, and 3) estimate the effectiveness of migration monitoring systems in bird strike avoidance. We compare systems from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland and Israel, which are all areas that Palearctic migrants cross twice a year in huge numbers. We show that the en‐route bird strikes have decreased considerably in countries where avoidance systems have been implemented, and that consequently bird strikes are on average 45% less frequent in countries with implemented avoidance systems in place. We conclude by showing the roles of operational weather radar networks, forecast models and international and interdisciplinary collaboration to create safer skies for aviation and birds.Control & Simulatio
What do parents of children with autism expect from participation in research? A community survey about early autism studies
No full textMembers of the COST ESSEA Working Groups: Fabio Apicella, Bonnie Auyeung, Stepanka Beranova, Frederique Bonnet-Brilhault, Ricardo Canal Bedia, Tony Charman, Natasha Chericoni, Ines C Conceicao, Kim Davies, Teresa Faroni, Marie Gomot, Emily Jones, Anett Kaale, Katarzyna Kapica, Rafal Kawa, Anneil Kylliainen, Jeremy LeFort-Besnard, Joelle Malvy, Sara Manso de Dios, Silvana Markovska-Simoska, Inbal Millo, Natercia Miranda, Greg Pasco, Ewa Pisula, Marija Raleva, Bernadette Roge, Synnve Schjolberg, Przemyslaw Tomalski, Astrid M Vicente and Nurit Yirmiya.Member of the COST ESSEA Working Groups: Astrid M Vicente (INSA)Engagement with stakeholders is an essential part of the research process. This is particularly the case for early autism research with infant cohorts and their families, where a range of ethical issues are pertinent. Here, we report on a large survey of parents who have a child on the autism spectrum (n = 1040) which specifically probed attitudes to early autism research. The large majority of parents showed positive attitudes overall, and these were associated with greater access to services, higher service quality ratings and higher rates of intellectual disability among their children. Parents valued the scientific goals of research, but half of parents also reported that an intervention component would be an essential prerequisite for them to participate in research. If enrolled in a study, parents were positive about most commonly used measures though less favourably disposed towards brain scans for children. They valued direct contact with the research team and openness in data sharing. We interpret our findings in terms of lessons for the early autism research community and for stakeholder engagement projects.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the European Co-operation in Science and Technology (COST) Action BM1004 Enhancing the Scientific Study of Early Autism (ESSEA).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
