Exercise and physical activity eHealth in COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study of effects on motivations, behavior change mechanisms, and behavior

Objectives: The aims of this research were (1) to compare the levels of physical activity of eHealth users and non-users, (2) to determine the effects of these technologies on motivations, and (3) to establish the relationship that could exist between psychological constructs and physical activity behaviors. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 569 adults who responded to an online questionnaire during confinement in France. The questions assessed demographics, usage of eHealth for exercise and physical activity, and behavioral levels. The questionnaire also measured the constructs of Social Cognitive Theory, the Theory of Planned Behavior, and automaticity facets toward eHealth for exercise and physical activity. Results: Participants who were users of eHealth for exercise and physical activity presented significantly higher levels of vigorous physical activity and total physical activity per week than non-users (p < 0.001). The chi-square test showed significant interactions between psychological constructs toward eHealth (i.e., self-efficacy, behavioral attitudes, intentions, and automaticity) and physical activity levels (all interactions were p < 0.05). Self-efficacy was significantly and negatively correlated with walking time per week. Concerning the automaticity facets, efficiency was positive and significantly correlated with vigorous physical activity levels per week (p < 0.05). Then, regressions analyses showed that self-efficacy and automaticity efficiency explained 5% of the variance of walking minutes per week (ß = −0.27, p < 0.01) and vigorous physical activity per week (ß = 0.20, p < 0.05), respectively. Conclusion: This study has shown that people during confinement looked for ways to stay active through eHealth. However, we must put any technological solution into perspective. The eHealth offers possibilities to stay active, however its benefits and the psychological mechanisms affected by it remains to be demonstrated: eHealth could be adapted to each person and context

Acid-Stable Serine Proteinase Inhibitors in the Urine of Alzheimer Disease Subjects

A comparative study of the levels of acid-stable proteinase inhibitors (kallikrein and trypsin inhibitors) in the urine of healthy and Alzheimer subjects, of both sexes, has been performed. A preliminary characterization of the purified inhibitors indicates that the urinary antitryptic activity is accounted for by the presence of the well known Urinary Trypsin Inhibitor (UTI) while an apparently new molecule appears to be responsible for the anti kallikrein activity. The urinary levels of kallikrein inhibitors are very similar in healthy and sick subjects while the levels of trypsin inhibitors appear significatively increased in Alzheimer subjects of both sexes. The data presented here support the hypothesis that unpaired proteolytic processes could be involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease and suggest that the levels of urinary acid-stable inhibitors may prove to be useful markers of the disease

Specificity of weightlifting bench exercises in kayaking sprint performance: A perspective for neuromuscular training

Several studies showed significant differences between bench lift exercises without investigating which is more related, in biomechanical and neuromuscular terms, to improve the sprint flatwater kayak performance. This study aims to compare the power-load and velocity-load neuromuscular parameters performed in prone bench pull (PBP), and bench press (BP) exercises to identify which of them meet the gesture specificity in sprint flatwater kayak performance. Ten elite kayakers participated in this study. Power-load, velocity-load relationships, the maximum dynamic strength, and the kayak sprint performance test were assessed. The power-load and velocity-load relationships showed significant differences between the PBP and BP for each considered load. The kayakers showed a significant correlation between maximum power performed on the PBP and the maximum velocity reached in the kayak sprint (r = 0.80, p < 0.01) and the stroke frequency (r = 0.61, p < 0.05). Conversely, the maximum power performed on the BP did not correlate with the kinematic parameters analyzed. In addition, the maximum dynamic strength in the PBP and BP did not correlate with the maximum velocity and stroke frequency. Furthermore, no significant difference was observed in both the bench exercises for the maximum dynamic strength (p > 0.05). The results of this study suggest that the maximal muscular power expressed in PBP exercise only seems to be more specific in kayak velocity performance compared with maximal dynamic strength and with all dynamic parameters recorded in the BP. This will allow coaches and trainers to use specific bench exercises for specific neuromuscular kayakers’ adaptations during the whole competitive season

Recognizing Speech in a Novel Accent: The Motor Theory of Speech Perception Reframed

The motor theory of speech perception holds that we perceive the speech of another in terms of a motor representation of that speech. However, when we have learned to recognize a foreign accent, it seems plausible that recognition of a word rarely involves reconstruction of the speech gestures of the speaker rather than the listener. To better assess the motor theory and this observation, we proceed in three stages. Part 1 places the motor theory of speech perception in a larger framework based on our earlier models of the adaptive formation of mirror neurons for grasping, and for viewing extensions of that mirror system as part of a larger system for neuro-linguistic processing, augmented by the present consideration of recognizing speech in a novel accent. Part 2 then offers a novel computational model of how a listener comes to understand the speech of someone speaking the listener's native language with a foreign accent. The core tenet of the model is that the listener uses hypotheses about the word the speaker is currently uttering to update probabilities linking the sound produced by the speaker to phonemes in the native language repertoire of the listener. This, on average, improves the recognition of later words. This model is neutral regarding the nature of the representations it uses (motor vs. auditory). It serve as a reference point for the discussion in Part 3, which proposes a dual-stream neuro-linguistic architecture to revisits claims for and against the motor theory of speech perception and the relevance of mirror neurons, and extracts some implications for the reframing of the motor theory

Modeling the Development of Goal-Specificity in Mirror Neurons

Neurophysiological studies have shown that parietal mirror neurons encode not only actions but also the goal of these actions. Although some mirror neurons will fire whenever a certain action is perceived (goal-independently), most will only fire if the motion is perceived as part of an action with a specific goal. This result is important for the action-understanding hypothesis as it provides a potential neurological basis for such a cognitive ability. It is also relevant for the design of artificial cognitive systems, in particular robotic systems that rely on computational models of the mirror system in their interaction with other agents. Yet, to date, no computational model has explicitly addressed the mechanisms that give rise to both goal-specific and goal-independent parietal mirror neurons. In the present paper, we present a computational model based on a self-organizing map, which receives artificial inputs representing information about both the observed or executed actions and the context in which they were executed. We show that the map develops a biologically plausible organization in which goal-specific mirror neurons emerge. We further show that the fundamental cause for both the appearance and the number of goal-specific neurons can be found in geometric relationships between the different inputs to the map. The results are important to the action-understanding hypothesis as they provide a mechanism for the emergence of goal-specific parietal mirror neurons and lead to a number of predictions: (1) Learning of new goals may mostly reassign existing goal-specific neurons rather than recruit new ones; (2) input differences between executed and observed actions can explain observed corresponding differences in the number of goal-specific neurons; and (3) the percentage of goal-specific neurons may differ between motion primitives

Prospects for K+→π+ννˉK^+ \to \pi^+ \nu \bar{ \nu } at CERN in NA62

The NA62 experiment will begin taking data in 2015. Its primary purpose is a 10% measurement of the branching ratio of the ultrarare kaon decay $K^+ \to \pi^+ \nu \bar{ \nu }$, using the decay in flight of kaons in an unseparated beam with momentum 75 GeV/c.The detector and analysis technique are described here.Comment: 8 pages for proceedings of 50 Years of CP

Rapid game jams with fluidic games: A user study & design methodology

We introduce rapid game jams, a style of game jam that takes only 1–2 h and is focused on design experimentation rather than on programming and technical implementation. To support that kind of rapid game-design experimentation, we have designed a class of games that we call fluidic games. These are mobile games in which the game mechanics and other aspects of the games are editable on the fly, directly on the device, allowing for frequent play/design context shifts. We have conducted four rapid game jams with 105 participants from a local Girlguiding organisation, in order to gain real-world experience with this concept. We analyse results from a survey instrument completed by 69 participants in two of these rapid game jams. In order to guide future work in addressing questions left open by this study, we did a qualitative analysis of the designed games to gain additional insights into participants’ design practice

Associations between cardiac arrhythmia, incident disability in activities of daily living and physical performance: the ILSA study

Background: Cardiac arrhythmias are common conditions in older people. Unfortunately, there is limited literature on associations between cardiac arrhythmias and physical performance or disability. We therefore aimed to prospectively investigate associations between cardiac arrhythmias and changes in disability and physical performance during 8 years of follow-up, using data from the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging (ILSA). Methods: Cardiac arrhythmias diagnosis was posed through a screening phase, confirmed by a physician. The onset of disability in activities of daily living (ADL) and the changes in several physical performance tests during follow-up were considered as outcomes. Fully-adjusted and propensity-score Cox Proportional Hazard models and mixed models were used for exploring associations between cardiac arrhythmia and the outcomes of interest. Results: The prevalence of cardiac arrhythmia at baseline was 23.3%. People reporting cardiac arrhythmia at the baseline were significantly older, more frequently male, smokers and reported a higher presence of all medical conditions investigated (hypertension, heart failure, angina, myocardial infarction, diabetes, stroke), but no difference in dementia, Parkinsonism, cognitive or mood disorder. Cardiac arrhythmia at baseline was significantly associated with the incidence of disability in ADL (HR = 1.23; 95%: CI: 1.01–1.50; P = 0.0478 in propensity score analyses; HR = 1.28; 95% CI: 1.01–1.61; P = 0.0401 in fully adjusted models). Cardiac arrhythmia at baseline was also associated with a significant worsening in balance test (P = 0.0436). Conclusions: The presence of cardiac arrhythmia at baseline was associated with a significant higher risk of disability and of worsening in some physical performance tests, particularly those relating to balance. Screening and frequently assessing physical performance in older people affected by cardiac arrhythmia can be important to prevent a loss of physical performance, with further, potential, complications of medical management

Green qualities in the neighbourhood and mental health - results from a longitudinal cohort study in Southern Sweden

Background: Poor mental health is a major issue worldwide and causality is complex. For diseases with multifactorial background synergistic effects of person-and place-factors can potentially be preventive. Nature is suggested as one such positive place-factor. In this cohort study we tested the effect of defined green qualities (Serene, Space, Wild, Culture, Lush) in the environment at baseline on mental health at follow-up. We also studied interaction effects on mental health of those place factors and varied person factors (financial stress, living conditions, and physical activity). Methods: Data on person factors were extracted from a longitudinal (years 1999/2000 and 2005) population health survey (n = 24945). The participants were geocoded and linked to data on green qualities from landscape assessments, and stored in the Geographical Information System (GIS). Crude odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated, and multivariate logistic analyses were performed. Results: Mental health was not affected by access to the chosen green qualities, neither in terms of amount nor in terms of any specific quality. However, we found a reduced risk for poor mental health at follow-up among women, through a significant interaction effect between physical activity and access to the qualities Serene or Space. For men the tendencies were similar, though not significant. Regarding the other three green qualities, as well as amount of qualities, no statistically certain synergistic effects were found. Likewise, no significant synergies were detected between green qualities and the other person-factors. Only advanced exercise significantly reduced the risk for poor mental health among women, but not for men, compared to physical inactivity. Conclusions: The results do not directly support the hypothesis of a preventive mental health effect by access to the green qualities. However, the additive effect of serene nature to physical activity contributed to better mental health at follow-up. This tendency was equal for both sexes, but statistically significant only for women. Objective landscape assessments may be important in detangling geographic determinants of health. This study stresses the importance of considering interaction effects when dealing with disorders of multifactorial background

KLEVER: An experiment to measure BR(KL→π0ννˉK_L\to\pi^0\nu\bar{\nu}) at the CERN SPS

Precise measurements of the branching ratios for the flavor-changing neutral current decays $K\to\pi\nu\bar{\nu}$ can provide unique constraints on CKM unitarity and, potentially, evidence for new physics. It is important to measure both decay modes, $K^+\to\pi^+\nu\bar{\nu}$ and $K_L\to\pi^0\nu\bar{\nu}$, since different new physics models affect the rates for each channel differently. The goal of the NA62 experiment at the CERN SPS is to measure the BR for the charged channel to within 10%. For the neutral channel, the BR has never been measured. We are designing the KLEVER experiment to measure BR($K_L\to\pi^0\nu\bar{\nu}$) to $\sim$20% using a high-energy neutral beam at the CERN SPS starting in LHC Run 4. The boost from the high-energy beam facilitates the rejection of background channels such as $K_L\to\pi^0\pi^0$ by detection of the additional photons in the final state. On the other hand, the layout poses particular challenges for the design of the small-angle vetoes, which must reject photons from $K_L$ decays escaping through the beam exit amidst an intense background from soft photons and neutrons in the beam. Background from $\Lambda \to n\pi^0$ decays in the beam must also be kept under control. We present findings from our design studies for the beamline and experiment, with an emphasis on the challenges faced and the potential sensitivity for the measurement of BR($K_L\to\pi^0\nu\bar{\nu}$).Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures. Submitted as input to the 2020 update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics. v2: Included authors unintentionally omitted in v