Experimental protocol to investigate cortical, muscular and body representation alterations in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis

Background: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is the most common form of scoliosis. AIS is a three-dimensional morphological spinal deformity that affects approximately 1-3% of adolescents. Not all factors related to the etiology of AIS have yet been identified. Objective: The primary aim of this experimental protocol is to quantitatively investigate alterations in body representation in AIS, and to quantitatively and objectively track the changes in body sensorimotor representation due to treatment. Methods: Adolescent girls with a confirmed diagnosis of mild (Cobb angle: 10°-20°) or moderate (21°-35°) scoliosis as well as age and sex-matched controls will be recruited. Participants will be asked to perform a 6-min upright standing and two tasks-named target reaching and forearm bisection task. Eventually, subjects will fill in a self-report questionnaire and a computer-based test to assess body image. This evaluation will be repeated after 6 and 12 months of treatment (i.e., partial or full-time brace and physiotherapy corrective postural exercises). Results: We expect that theta brain rhythm in the central brain areas, alpha brain rhythm lateralization and body representation will change over time depending on treatment and scoliosis progression as a compensatory strategy to overcome a sensorimotor dysfunction. We also expect asymmetric activation of the trunk muscle during reaching tasks and decreased postural stability in AIS. Conclusions: Quantitatively assess the body representation at different time points during AIS treatment may provide new insights on the pathophysiology and etiology of scoliosis

Brain oscillatory activity in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

Pathophysiology of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) is not yet completely understood. This exploratory study aims to investigate two aspects neglected in clinical practice: a defective postural central nervous system control in AIS, and alterations of body schema due to scoliosis spinal deformities. We recorded EEG data and balance data in four different standing positions in 14 adolescents with AIS and in 14 controls. A re-adaptation of the Image Marking Procedure (IMP) assessed body schema alterations on the horizontal (Body Perception Indices (BPIs)) and vertical direction (interacromial and bisiliac axes inclinations). Our results revealed no differences in balance control between groups; higher EEG alpha relative power over sensorimotor areas ipsilateral to the side of the curve and a significant increase of theta relative power localized over the central areas in adolescents with AIS. The difference in BPI shoulder and BPI waist significantly differed between the two groups. The inclinations of the perceived interacromial axes in adolescents with AIS was opposite to the real inclination. Increased theta activity and alpha lateralization observed may be a compensatory strategy to overcome sensorimotor dysfunction mirrored by altered body schema. Scoliosis onset might be preceded by sensorimotor control impairments that last during curve progression

A model to differentiate WAD patients and people with abnormal pain behaviour based on biomechanical and self-reported tests

[EN] The prevalence of malingering among individuals presenting whiplash-related symptoms is significant and leads to a huge economic loss due to fraudulent injury claims. Various strategies have been proposed to detect malingering and symptoms exaggeration. However, most of them have been not consistently validated and tested to determine their accuracy in detecting feigned whiplash. This study merges two different approaches to detect whiplash malingering (the mechanical approach and the qualitative analysis of the symptomatology) to obtain a malingering detection model based on a wider range of indices, both biomechanical and self-reported. A sample of 46 malingerers and 59 genuine clinical patients was tested using a kinematic test and a self-report questionnaire asking about the presence of rare and impossible symptoms. The collected measures were used to train and validate a linear discriminant analysis (LDA) classification model. Results showed that malingerers were discriminated from genuine clinical patients based on a greater proportion of rare symptoms vs. possible self-reported symptoms and slower but more repeatable neck motions in the biomechanical test. The fivefold cross-validation of the LDA model yielded an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.84, with a sensitivity of 77.8% and a specificity of 84.7%.Open access funding provided by Universita degli Studi di Padova within the CRUI-CARE Agreement. This work was supported by funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 777090Monaro, M.; De Rosario Martínez, H.; Baydal Bertomeu, JM.; Bernal-Lafuente, M.; Masiero, S.; Macía-Calvo, M.; Cantele, F.... (2021). A model to differentiate WAD patients and people with abnormal pain behaviour based on Biomechanical and self-reported tests. 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α-Synuclein is a Novel Microtubule Dynamase.

α-Synuclein is a presynaptic protein associated to Parkinson's disease, which is unstructured when free in the cytoplasm and adopts α helical conformation when bound to vesicles. After decades of intense studies, α-Synuclein physiology is still difficult to clear up due to its interaction with multiple partners and its involvement in a pletora of neuronal functions. Here, we looked at the remarkably neglected interplay between α-Synuclein and microtubules, which potentially impacts on synaptic functionality. In order to identify the mechanisms underlying these actions, we investigated the interaction between purified α-Synuclein and tubulin. We demonstrated that α-Synuclein binds to microtubules and tubulin α2β2 tetramer; the latter interaction inducing the formation of helical segment(s) in the α-Synuclein polypeptide. This structural change seems to enable α-Synuclein to promote microtubule nucleation and to enhance microtubule growth rate and catastrophe frequency, both in vitro and in cell. We also showed that Parkinson's disease-linked α-Synuclein variants do not undergo tubulin-induced folding and cause tubulin aggregation rather than polymerization. Our data enable us to propose α-Synuclein as a novel, foldable, microtubule-dynamase, which influences microtubule organisation through its binding to tubulin and its regulating effects on microtubule nucleation and dynamics

The emerging wave of agility-oriented business networks in Italy: a new strategy for facing global competition

In this paper, we present a novel manner of inter-firm networkingthat is emerging in Italy, based on the contratto di rete (business-networkcontract). This is a recently established form of business-network agreement,which allows flexible but institutionally founded inter-firm collaboration.Through a comparative study, we investigate three successful cases of thesenew-generation business networks; the analysis outlines under what conditionsthe network contract can be leveraged to improve the ability of the participatingfirms to face the new global competitive environment. Some commoninteresting success factors are identified in the three cases under study, such as:the shared belief that a new way of doing business is needed; the reciprocaltrust between firms; the commitment and personality of the entrepreneursinvolved; the balance of cooperation and competition in intra-networkrelationships; and the co-evolving perception of network success. Thepartnering firms under study are using these networks to become capable ofplaying new roles and to re-define their identity in the business environment.We propose the label ‘agility-oriented’ for this type of network and argue thatvery interesting questions for further research are raised by this emergingphenomenon

Body Image and Body Schema in Adolescents with Idiopathic Scoliosis: A Scoping Review

Alterations in body representations (i.e., body image and body schema) are increasingly getting attention in clinical practice. Adolescents affected by idiopathic scoliosis experience body image dissatisfaction, and alterations in body schema have been suggested to be a consequence of the disease development. Although research has recognized the predisposing role of body representation disorders to psychopathologies, these aspects have been largely overlooked in this clinical population. This scoping review aims to establish the state of the art on the widely neglected aspects of body image and body schema disorders in adolescents affected by idiopathic scoliosis. PubMed, Scopus, PsycInfo, and MEDLINE were consulted to select articles published between 2000 and 2021. Three independent reviewers identified 27 articles by following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping review guidelines. Body image was assessed in 24 of the 27 studies. Body image disorders were reported, with more severe scoliosis cases showing higher body image dissatisfaction. Surgery seems to be the best approach to improve body image outcomes, but studies did not reveal clear associations between clinical measures of scoliosis severity (e.g., Cobb angle, hump height) and body image. Disorders of body schema have been reported, but the finding might have been biased by the paucity of studies on this aspect of body representations (4/27). This review highlighted the wide prevalence of psychological distress and body schema alterations among adolescents affected by idiopathic scoliosis; but it also revealed that both are disregarded and not properly evaluated

The variance of icosahedral virus models is a key indicator in the structure determination. A model free reconstruction of viruses, suitable for refractory particles.

A model-free method to determine the three-dimensional structure of icosahedral viruses is described. The novel strategy is based upon the approximate principle that correct virus structures have high variance as do all other well-detailed structures, even wrong ones. The original projections of individual particles are reduced to a radius of 25 pixels and are used to compute single particle reconstruction models by assigning them 1800 different Euler triads. The variance of the models obtained from all projections is stored in maps and a decimation process is carried out. In a first stage, thresholds are adopted for the variance values, and in a second stage, carried out by correspondence analysis and classification, 30 clusters of models are sorted out. The clusters are refined to yield models contained in boxes of 643 voxels. The refined models with highest variance and closest similarity represent the correct solution. Once enlarged, these models can be used to align all available projections in their original scale in a customary projection-matching process. The method has proved successful in determining the structures of poliovirus, of the empty and filled capsids of L-A virus, and of a modified capsid of hepatitis B virus

Actors Creating Institutional Niches for Agile Innovation Networks: An Exploratory Study

The literature has concentrated on several and often seemingly contradictory social antecedents of effectiveinnovation in business networks so far. This theoretical diversity stems from views such as the resource dependence theory,the agency theory, the collaborative networks literature, the knowledge network view, the institutional theories and theorganisational ecology theories. These six views have developed almost independently so far, with only partial reciprocalintegration. A reason is that the key success factors identified in each theory are potentially contradictory with thoseidentified in other theories. For example, the forces allowing coordination according to the collaborative networks theory(i.e. trust and reciprocation) inhibit, and are inhibited by, the forces allowing coordination according to the resourcedependence theory (i.e. power and control). The in-depth study of such paradoxes is in its infancy; this results in a veryrelevant gap between scholarly understanding and the complexity of real-world innovation networks.In order to contributeto address this gap, we present an explorative case study on a successful innovation-oriented business network in Italy. Wefound that all of the success factors mentioned by the six theories listed above seem to play a role in the case under analysis.Even more importantly, we found that a further success factor emerges, which has not been taken into consideration by thesix mainstream theories we considered. In fact, in the case under analysis the partnering organisations are linked by a specificinnovation-oriented business network contract. This contract is much lighter than traditional partnership agreements, suchas joint ventures; nevertheless, according to our findings, it plays a key role in the successfully innovative nature of thenetwork. What has made the difference is not just the contract content per se, with its norms and sanctions, but the processthrough which the contract has been discussed and agreed upon by the partnering organisations. This process is perceivedas the co-creation of a shared, ad-hoc micro-environment, which we label as an institutional niche. We conclude by arguingthat the effectiveness and further adaptability of the institutional niche built by the actors is a key factor to maintain thedynamic equilibrium between the contradictory forces identified by the six mainstream theories described above

Icosahedral viruses; Electron microscopy; Structure variance

VIVA (from virus variance), a library to reconstruct icosahedral viruses based on the variance of structural model