3,228 research outputs found
A Spark Of Emotion: The Impact of Electrical Facial Muscle Activation on Emotional State and Affective Processing
Facial feedback, which involves the brain receiving information about the activation of facial muscles, has the potential to influence our emotional states and judgments. The extent to which this applies is still a matter of debate, particularly considering a failed replication of a seminal study. One factor contributing to the lack of replication in facial feedback effects may be the imprecise manipulation of facial muscle activity in terms of both degree and timing. To overcome these limitations, this thesis proposes a non-invasive method for inducing precise facial muscle contractions, called facial neuromuscular electrical stimulation (fNMES). I begin by presenting a systematic literature review that lays the groundwork for standardising the use of fNMES in psychological research, by evaluating its application in existing studies. This review highlights two issues, the lack of use of fNMES in psychology research and the lack of parameter reporting. I provide practical recommendations for researchers interested in implementing fNMES. Subsequently, I conducted an online experiment to investigate participants' willingness to participate in fNMES research. This experiment revealed that concerns over potential burns and involuntary muscle movements are significant deterrents to participation. Understanding these anxieties is critical for participant management and expectation setting. Subsequently, two laboratory studies are presented that investigated the facial FFH using fNMES. The first study showed that feelings of happiness and sadness, and changes in peripheral physiology, can be induced by stimulating corresponding facial muscles with 5–seconds of fNMES. The second experiment showed that fNMES-induced smiling alters the perception of ambiguous facial emotions, creating a bias towards happiness, and alters neural correlates of face processing, as measured with event-related potentials (ERPs). In summary, the thesis presents promising results for testing the facial feedback hypothesis with fNMES and provides practical guidelines and recommendations for researchers interested in using fNMES for psychological research
Respiratory epithelial cell types, states and fates in the era of single-cell RNA-sequencing
Standalone and consortia-led single-cell atlases of healthy and diseased human airways generated with single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) have ushered in a new era in respiratory research. Numerous discoveries, including the pulmonary ionocyte, potentially novel cell fates, and a diversity of cell states among common and rare epithelial cell types have highlighted the extent of cellular heterogeneity and plasticity in the respiratory tract. scRNA-seq has also played a pivotal role in our understanding of host–virus interactions in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, as our ability to generate large quantities of scRNA-seq data increases, along with a growing number of scRNA-seq protocols and data analysis methods, new challenges related to the contextualisation and downstream applications of insights are arising. Here, we review the fundamental concept of cellular identity from the perspective of single-cell transcriptomics in the respiratory context, drawing attention to the need to generate reference annotations and to standardise the terminology used in literature. Findings about airway epithelial cell types, states and fates obtained from scRNA-seq experiments are compared and contrasted with information accumulated through the use of conventional methods. This review attempts to discuss major opportunities and to outline some of the key limitations of the modern-day scRNA-seq that need to be addressed to enable efficient and meaningful integration of scRNA-seq data from different platforms and studies, with each other as well as with data from other high-throughput sequencing-based genomic, transcriptomic and epigenetic analyses
Analytical validation of innovative magneto-inertial outcomes: a controlled environment study.
peer reviewe
30th European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2023)
This is the abstract book of 30th European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2023
Stem Cells in Domestic Animals
Stem cells are an attractive tool for cell-based therapies in regenerative medicine, both for humans and animals. The research and review articles published in this first book of the Collection “Stem Cells in Domestic Animals: Applications in Health and Production” are excellent examples of the recent advances made in the field of stem/stromal cell research in veterinary medicine. In this field, sophisticated and new treatments are now required for improving patients’ quality of life; in livestock animals, the goal of regenerative medicine is to improve not only animal welfare but also the quality of production, aiming to preserve human health. The contributions collected in this book concern both laboratory research and clinical applications of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells. The increasing knowledge of cell-based therapies may constitute an opportunity for researchers, veterinary practitioners, and animal owners to contribute to animal and human health and well-being
The use of scRNA-seq to characterise the tumour microenvironment of high grade serous ovarian carincoma (HGSOC)
High Grade Serous Ovarian Carcinoma (HGSOC) is the most common type of ovarian cancer. Patients with this disease typically experience relapse in their disease following surgical debulking and initially effective chemotherapy. HGSOC has been intensely studied at the genomic and transcriptomic levels in efforts to advance knowledge of the biological mechanisms that drive the behaviour of this malignancy, and so that new treatment strategies may curb the disease progression relapse.
This body of work contributes an optimised protocol for generating robust 10X scRNA-seq libraries from fresh and preserved HGSOC tissue, aiming to dissect the cellular heterogeneity of HGSOC’s Tumour microenvironment (TME). Through unsupervised clustering analysis, it uncovers distinct cellular communities, elucidates transcriptomic signatures across HGSOC tumours, and augments bulk RNA-seq datasets via computational deconvolution, enhancing understanding of HGSOC's cellular complexity across an expanded clinical cohort.
The sequencing and analysis of these HGSOC patient tumours revealed 11 distinct cell types, including 2 that are novel in this tumour type; namely ciliated epithelial cells and metallothionein expressing T-cells. These 11 distinct cell types can be broadly categorised into 3 TME components (Tumour, Stroma and Immune) as in other previous tumour scRNA-seq studies. An additional analysis of these components examined the copy number variation (CNV) in the profiled cells and revealed HGSOC tumour cells to be mostly aneuploid while ciliated epithelial cells were diploid. A novel integrative subcluster analysis of HGSOC aneuploid tumour cells identified several apparently tumourigenic gene expression signatures. These include a KRT17+, protease inhibitory signature, an increased cellular metabolism signature, and an immune-reactive signature. Additionally, a ciliated cluster re-emerged within the HGSOC tumour cells, even though the diploid ciliated epithelial cells were not included in the integrative analysis.
Finally, the high granularity of HGSOC cellular composition revealed by scRNA-seq is utilised to perform deconvolution analyses to estimate cellular proportions and infer the TME of earlier bulk RNA-seq profiled HGSOC tumour samples. This investigation of earlier sequenced HGSOC samples revealed heterogeneity in the proportions of the TME compartments across the patient cohorts. Survival analysis using these inferred cellular proportions suggest that immune cell presence alone is not associated with survival, but metastatic fibroblast burden in tumour samples is significantly associated with worsen overall survival in HGSOC patients.
In conclusion, the laboratory protocol, the scRNA-seq datasets produced, and their analysis and application presented in this work expands the collective knowledge base of HGSOC. Specifically by characterising the cells of the HGSOC tumour microenvironment, and nuances of expression signatures of the malignant cells. The deconvolution approach showcases how scRNA-seq data can expand the clinical utility of earlier RNA-seq HGSOC datasets in a way that is scalable
A web-based platform promoting family communication and cascade genetic testing for families with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (DIALOGUE study)
The overall aim of this dissertation is to develop an eHealth intervention to promote family communication and cascade genetic testing among families concerned with Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) syndrome. Within this context an international, multi-centre scientific project entitled "DIALOGUE" was designed that aims to develop (Phase A), and test the feasibility (Phase B) of an intervention within various genetic clinics across Switzerland and South Korea. This dissertation describes only the Phase A, the adaptation of an intervention, a web-based platform designed for families with HBOC to share genetic test results, including usability testing in a sample from Switzerland.
Chapter 1 provides a general introduction to the current field of hereditary cancer and cascade genetic testing, including the current state of eHealth technologies in science. The chapter also includes a short introduction to the prototype developed in the U.S.—as well as a description of the DIALOGUE study. In addition, the chapter summarises the main conceptual models, i.e. the Ottawa Decision Support Framework (ODSF) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) framework. These models are commonly implemented in the development and evaluation of complex interventions. The rational of this dissertation is guided by all of these elements.
Chapter 2 provides a detailed description of the dissertation’s specific aims, including the three studies conducted. The articles presented in Chapter 3 describe the methodology and findings of the dissertation. Study I comprises a systematic literature review of previous studies, with a particular focus on HBOC and Lynch syndromes. The literature review identified and synthesised evidence from psychoeducational interventions designed to facilitate family communication of genetic testing results and/or cancer predisposition and to promote cascade genetic testing. A meta-analysis was also conducted to assess intervention efficacy in relation to these two research aims. Our findings highlight the need to develop new interventions and approaches to family communication and cascade testing for cancer susceptibility. Study II describes the state-of-the-art text mining techniques used to detect and classify valuable information from interviews with study participants concerning determinants of open intrafamilial communication regarding genetic cancer risk. This study had two major aims: 1) to quantify openness of communication about HBOC cancer risk, and 2) to examine the role of sentiment in predicting openness of communication. Our findings showed that the overall expressed sentiment was associated with the communication of genetic risk among HBOC families. This analysis identified additional factors that affect openness to communicate genetic risk. These were defined as “high-risk” factors and integrated into the design and development of the intervention. Study III describes the development of the intervention, a web-based platform designed for families with HBOC to share genetic test results. The platform was developed in line with the quality criteria set by the MRC framework. Being web-based, the platform could be accessed via a laptop, smartphone or tablet. Usability testing was applied to evaluate the prototype intervention which received high ratings on a satisfaction scale. Chapter 4 synthesises and discusses the key findings of all the studies presented in the previous chapter, and addresses study limitations and implications for future research
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