Relative pleopod length as an indicator of size at sexual maturity in slipper (Scyllarides squammosus) and spiny Hawaiian (Panulirus marginatus) lobsters

Body size at gonadal maturity is described for females of the slipper lobster (Scyllarides squammosus) (Scyllaridae) and the endemic Hawaiian spiny lobster (Panulirus marginatus) (Palinuridae) based on microscopic examination of histological preparations of ovaries. These data are used to validate several morphological metrics (relative exopodite length, ovigerous condition) of functional sexual maturity. Relative exopodite length (“pleopod length”) produced consistent estimates of size at maturity when evaluated with a newly derived statistical application for estimating size at the morphometric maturation point (MMP) for the population, identified as the midpoint of a sigmoid function spanning the estimated boundaries of overlap between the largest immature and smallest adult animals. Estimates of the MMP were related to matched (same-year) characterizations of sexual maturity based on ovigerous condition — a more conventional measure of functional maturity previously used to characterize maturity for the two lobster species. Both measures of functional maturity were similar for the respective species and were within 5% and 2% of one another for slipper and spiny lobster, respectively. The precision observed for two shipboard collection series of pleopod-length data indicated that the method is reliable and not dependent on specialized expertise. Precision of maturity estimates for S. squammosus with the pleopod-length metric was similar to that for P. marginatus with any of the other measures (including conventional evidence of ovigerous condition) and greatly exceeded the precision of estimates for S. squammosus based on ovigerous condition alone. The two measures of functional maturity averaged within 8% of the estimated size at gonadal maturity for the respective species. Appendage-to-body size proportions, such as the pleopod length metric, hold great promise, particularly for species of slipper lobsters like S. squammosus for which there exist no other reliable conventional morphological measures of sexual maturity. Morphometric proportions also should be included among the factors evaluated when assessing size at sexual maturity in spiny lobster stocks; previously, these proportions have been obtained routinely only for brachyuran crabs within the Crustacea

EMOTIONAL AND COGNITIVE ABNORMALITIES IN PATIENTS AFFECTED BY FUNCTIONAL MOTOR SYMPTOMS: TOWARDS A BIOLOGICAL MARKER

INTRODUCTION: Functional motor symptoms (FMS) encompass weakness and movement disorders (e.g. tremor, ballism, gait disturbances, dystonia or tic) that are genuine but are not due to an organic cause. According to the recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), they are part of the wide spectrum of Conversion Disorders (Functional Neurological Symptom Disorders), which also include non-epileptic seizures and functional sensory disturbances. Although their high prevalence, aetiological mechanisms underlying FMS are still unknown. AIMS: Aim of this thesis was to determine a possible biological marker for FMS. To this aim, I first examined the role of emotional and cognitive abnormalities in patients affected by FMS. In particular, I aimed to explore: 1. the prevalence of alexithymia; 2. the degree of interoceptive awareness; 3. the deception ability (as a measure of mild multifacet cognitive impairment); 4. the neuromodulatory effect of a single anodic Transcranial Direct-Current Stimulation (tDCS) on interoceptive sensitivity and on spatial attention in a sample of patients affected by FMS and in a sample of healthy subjects served as a control group. Second, I aimed to explore the level of various brain metabolites (N-Acetyl-aspartate - a neuronal marker, creatine - an energy buffer and shuttle, myo-inositol - a glial cell marker, choline - involved in cell membrane synthesis and degradation and the sum of glutamate - the major excitatory neurotransmitter - and glutamine) in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)/medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and in the occipital cortex (OCC) (control region), using magnetic resonance spectroscopy as neuroimaging technique, in a group of patients with FMS and in a group of healthy controls. MATERIALS & METHODS: For each part of the study, I enrolled a number of patients with FMS and a number of age and gender-matched healthy controls. Methods included: rating scales for the assessment of psychological variables (alexithymia, depression, anxiety, personality disorders, self-objectification, quality of life), the heart beat detection task for the assessment of interoceptive awareness, the guilty knowledge task (GKT) to detect the deception ability and the Posner paradigm to detect the spatial attention. A single anodic tDCS session over the right posterior parietal cortex was used to assess the neuromodulatory effect. To explore the level of various brain metabolites I used magnetic resonance spectroscopy. RESULTS: My results showed that patients with FMS have: 1. significantly higher level of alexithymia than healthy controls; 2. significantly lower degree of interoceptive awareness than healthy controls; 3. significantly longer reaction times at the GKT than healthy controls. I also showed that there was a significant difference between the levels of interoceptive awareness after real and sham tDCS stimulation in the whole group of participants. When considering the two groups separately, this difference still remained significance only in patients with FMS. Finally, a significant increase in glutamate+glutamine/creatine was found in the ACC/mPFC but not the OCC in patients with FMS. CONCLUSION: My results contribute to the understanding of the aetiopathogenesis of functional motor symptoms, opening a novel window for future research and possibly novel treatments

The role of alexithymia in the development of functional motor symptoms (conversion disorder).

BACKGROUND: The mechanisms leading to the development of functional motor symptoms (FMS) are of pathophysiological and clinical relevance, yet are poorly understood. AIM: The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether impaired emotional processing at the cognitive level (alexithymia) is present in patients affected by FMS. We conducted a cross-sectional study in a population of patients with FMS and in two control groups (patients with organic movement disorders (OMD) and healthy volunteers). METHODS: 55 patients with FMS, 33 patients affected by OMD and 34 healthy volunteers were recruited. The assessment included the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale, the Reading the Mind in the Eyes' Test and the Structured Clinical Interview for Personality Disorders. RESULTS: Alexithymia was present in 34.5% of patients with FMS, 9.1% with OMD and 5.9% of the healthy volunteers, which was significantly higher in the FMS group (χ(2) (2)=14.129, p<0.001), even after controlling for the severity of symptoms of depression. Group differences in mean scores were observed on both the difficulty identifying feelings and difficulty describing feelings dimensions of the TAS-20, whereas the externally orientated thinking subscale score was similar across the three groups. Regarding personality disorder, χ(2) analysis showed a significantly higher prominence of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) in the FMS group (χ(2) (2)=16.217, p<0.001) and 71.4% of those with OCPD also reached threshold criteria for alexithymia. CONCLUSIONS: Because alexithymia is a mental state denoting the inability to identify emotions at a cognitive level, one hypothesis is that some patients misattribute autonomic symptoms of anxiety, for example, tremor, paraesthesiae, paralysis, to that of a physical illness. Further work is required to understand the contribution of OCPD to the development of FMS

Constituição da profissionalização: uma perspectiva a partir da subjetividade docente

A profissão docente vem sendo gradativamente marcada por reformas políticas que visam ao atendimento das necessidades emergenciais que o sistema socioeconômico e cultural exige. Assim, a cada tentativa de adequação do ensino para atendimento das demandas do novo capitalismo, criam-se meios para alcançar modelos padronizados ou hegemônicos na formação docente. Essa tendência tem criado um momento de mal-estar na área, ou seja, um contexto de incertezas que têm gerado respostas genéricas, sem contextualização da profissão professor à práxis. Ainda assim, há professores que se mantêm em seu ofício e que, paradoxalmente, se mostram satisfeitos na carreira. O presente artigo centra-se em retomar os resultados de um estudo que investigou aspectos que permeiam justificativas de permanência e de escolha da profissão docente, sobretudo a partir da perspectiva da subjetividade docente (MUNARI, 2016). Como referencial teórico, a pesquisa contou com os estudos desenvolvidos principalmente por Nóvoa (1991, 2002), Gatti (2010); Gatti e Sá Barreto (2009) e Tardif (2002, 2013), como embasamento para a abordagem da formação docente. Os trabalhos elaborados nos últimos anos por Sousa e Novaes (2013), Wittorski (2004, 2014a,2014b), Tenti Fanfani (2005, 2007) e Tedesco (2006,2012) contribuíram sobremaneira para as tratativas do construto da subjetividade docente. Em se tratando de aspectos metodológicos, a pesquisa optou por instrumentos que tiveram a análise de conteúdo Franco (2005); e fez uso de relatos através da observação participante(LAPASSADE, 2005). A elegibilidade dos sujeitos trouxe para o processo 26 professores dos primeiros anos do Ensino Fundamental da rede pública municipal de ensino, da cidade de Nazaré Paulista (interior do estado de São Paulo). Como resultado mais representativo, a análise dos dados apresentou à constituição da profissionalização docente aspectos pautados na afetividade, concomitantemente traduzidos como competências profissionais. Fato este que foi de encontro com uma das hipóteses elencadas acerca do fator condicionante, de permanência e escolha pela profissão, como sendo o aspecto vocacional em sua aparente representação histórico-social

Visual perception and dissociation during Mirror Gazing Test in patients with anorexia nervosa : a preliminary study

Purpose: It has been widely shown that dissociative features might play a fundamental role in producing body image distortions in patients affected by eating disorders. Here, we hypothesize that the Mirror Gazing Test (MGT), a task consisting in mirror exposure in a condition of sensory deprivation, would elicit dissociative symptoms in a group of patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). Methods: Fourteen patients with AN and fourteen healthy controls (HC) underwent a 10&nbsp;min MGT and completed the Strange Face Questionnaire and a short version of the Clinician-Administered Dissociative States Scale, along with a psychological assessment for eating disorders psychopathology, anxiety and depression. Results: AN patients reported a higher number of strange-face apparitions and dissociative sensations than HC during the MGT. Dissociative identity (compartmentalization of two or more identities) and depersonalization (detachment of bodily-self) were much higher in patients with AN than in HC. These findings were correlated with body dissatisfaction and disruption in interoceptive awareness. Conclusion: Dissociation and body image dysfunction are strongly connected in the pathophysiology of anorexia nervosa. Future research should investigate the same aspects in other psychiatric conditions characterized by body image distortions, such as Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Level of evidence: I, Experimental studies

The anticipation, perception of affective touch in women with, recovered from Anorexia Nervosa

Disruptions in reward processing and anhedonia have long been observed in Anorexia Nervosa (AN). Interoceptive deficits have also been observed in AN, including reduced tactile pleasure. However, the extent to which this tactile anhedonia is specifically liked to an impairment in a specialized, interoceptive C-tactile system originating at the periphery, or a more top-down mechanism in the processing of tactile pleasantness remains debated. Here, we investigated differences between patients with and recovered from AN and healthy controls in the perception of pleasantness of touch delivered in a CT-optimal versus a CT-non-optimal manner, and in their top-down, anticipatory beliefs about the perceived pleasantness of touch. To this end, we measured the anticipated pleasantness of various materials touching the skin and the perceived pleasantness of light, dynamic touch applied to theforearmof 27 women with AN, 24 women who have recovered and 30 healthy controls using C Tactile (CT) afferents-optimal (slow) and non-optimal (fast) velocities. Our results showed that both clinical groups anticipated tactile experiences and rated delivered tactile stimuli as less pleasant than healthy controls, but the latter difference was not related to the CT optimality of the stimulation. Instead, differences in the perception of CT-optimal touch were predicted by differences in top-down beliefs, alexithymia and interoceptive sensibility. Thus, tactile anhedonia in AN might persist as a trait even after otherwise successful recovery of AN and it is not linked to a bottom-up interoceptive deficit in the CT system, but rather to a learned, defective top-down anticipation of tactile pleasantness

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Decision Making under Ambiguity: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.

In the last decade, decision-making has been proposed to have a central role in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) aetiology, since patients show pathological doubt and an apparent inability to make decisions. Here, we aimed to comprehensively review decision making under ambiguity, as measured by the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), in OCD, using a meta-analytic approach. According to PRISMA Guidelines, we selected 26 studies for a systematic review and, amongst them, 16 studies were included in a meta-analysis, comprising a total of 846 OCD patients and 763 healthy controls (HC). Our results show that OCD patients perform significantly lower than HC at the IGT, pointing towards the direction of a decision making impairment. In particular, this deficit seems to emerge mainly in the last three blocks of the IGT. IGT scores in OCD patients under the age of 18 were still significantly lower than in HC. Finally, no difference emerged between medicated and unmedicated patients, since they both scored significantly lower at the IGT compared to HC. In conclusion, our results are in line with the hypothesis according to which decision making impairment might represent a potential endophenotype lying between the clinical manifestation of OCD and its neurobiological aetiology

Conditional displacement operator for traveling fields

We show that the conditional displacement operator $\hat{U}_{CD}=\exp [\hat{b}^{\dagger}\hat{b}(\beta \hat{a}^{\dagger}-\beta ^{\ast}\hat{a})]$ acting upon an arbitrary state of traveling waves can be well approximated by the action of a Kerr medium placed between two beam splitters whose respective second ports are fed by highly excited coherent states. Applications to the generation of nonclassical states and measurement of Wigner function of arbitrary states are also considered