PrAGMATiC: a Probabilistic and Generative Model of Areas Tiling the Cortex

Much of the human cortex seems to be organized into topographic cortical maps. Yet few quantitative methods exist for characterizing these maps. To address this issue we developed a modeling framework that can reveal group-level cortical maps based on neuroimaging data. PrAGMATiC, a probabilistic and generative model of areas tiling the cortex, is a hierarchical Bayesian generative model of cortical maps. This model assumes that the cortical map in each individual subject is a sample from a single underlying probability distribution. Learning the parameters of this distribution reveals the properties of a cortical map that are common across a group of subjects while avoiding the potentially lossy step of co-registering each subject into a group anatomical space. In this report we give a mathematical description of PrAGMATiC, describe approximations that make it practical to use, show preliminary results from its application to a real dataset, and describe a number of possible future extensions

Subjective aggression during alcohol and cannabis intoxication before and after aggression exposure

RATIONALE: Alcohol and cannabis use have been implicated in aggression. Alcohol consumption is known to facilitate aggression, whereas a causal link between cannabis and aggression has not been clearly demonstrated.OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the acute effects of alcohol and cannabis on subjective aggression in alcohol and cannabis users, respectively, following aggression exposure. Drug-free controls served as a reference. It was hypothesized that aggression exposure would increase subjective aggression in alcohol users during alcohol intoxication, whereas it was expected to decrease subjective aggression in cannabis users during cannabis intoxication.METHODS: Heavy alcohol (n = 20) and regular cannabis users (n = 21), and controls (n = 20) were included in a mixed factorial study. Alcohol and cannabis users received single doses of alcohol and placebo or cannabis and placebo, respectively. Subjective aggression was assessed before and after aggression exposure consisting of administrations of the point-subtraction aggression paradigm (PSAP) and the single category implicit association test (SC-IAT). Testosterone and cortisol levels in response to alcohol/cannabis treatment and aggression exposure were recorded as secondary outcome measures.RESULTS: Subjective aggression significantly increased following aggression exposure in all groups while being sober. Alcohol intoxication increased subjective aggression whereas cannabis decreased the subjective aggression following aggression exposure. Aggressive responses during the PSAP increased following alcohol and decreased following cannabis relative to placebo. Changes in aggressive feeling or response were not correlated to the neuroendocrine response to treatments.CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that alcohol facilitates feelings of aggression whereas cannabis diminishes aggressive feelings in heavy alcohol and regular cannabis users, respectively.</p

Periconceptional maternal and paternal alcohol consumption and embryonic and fetal development:the Rotterdam periconception cohort

Research question: What is the impact of maternal and paternal alcohol consumption in the periconception period on embryonic and fetal development assessed using three-dimensional ultrasound and virtual reality techniques? Design: This prospective observational study was embedded in the Rotterdam periconception cohort (Predict study). Participating women received longitudinal three-dimensional transvaginal ultrasound examinations from week 7 to week 12 of gestation to measure crown–rump length and embryonic volume. Mid-pregnancy fetal size parameters and birth weight were retrieved from medical files. Participants completed a periconception exposure questionnaire and a validated food frequency questionnaire. Linear mixed models were used to analyse the association between parental alcohol consumption, and embryonic and fetal developmental parameters. Results: In total, 1141 female and 987 male participants were included in the analyses. Moderate maternal alcohol consumption in the periconception period resulted in a smaller head circumference (β = -1.85, SE = 0.84, P = 0.03), abdominal circumference (β = -2.65, SE = 0.93, P = 0.004), femur length (β = -0.56, SE = 0.22, P = 0.01) and estimated fetal weight (β = -9.36, SE = 4.35, P = 0.03) at 20 weeks of gestation. Paternal alcohol consumption showed significant positive associations, mainly with fetal size parameters (abdominal circumference: β = 0.033, SE = 0.01, P = 0.008; estimated fetal weight: β = 0.131, SE = 0.06, P = 0.03). Conclusions: Moderate maternal alcohol consumption is negatively associated with fetal growth parameters. Moreover, alcohol is proven to be a strong teratogen, and its consumption before and during pregnancy should be discouraged in both women and men as it affects several parameters of embryonic and fetal development.</p

Mode locking of vortex matter driven through mesoscopic channels

We investigated the driven dynamics of vortices confined to mesoscopic flow channels by means of a dc-rf interference technique. The observed mode-locking steps in the $IV$-curves provide detailed information on how the number of rows and lattice structure in the channel change with magnetic field. Minima in flow stress occur when an integer number of rows is moving coherently, while maxima appear when incoherent motion of mixed $n$ and $n\pm 1$ row configurations is predominant. Simulations show that the enhanced pinning at mismatch originates from quasi-static fault zones with misoriented edge dislocations induced by disorder in the channel edges.Comment: some minor changes were made, 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

GPs’ strategies in exploring the preschool child’s wellbeing in the paediatric consultation

Background: Although General Practitioners (GPs) are uniquely placed to identify children with emotional, social, and behavioural problems, they succeed in identifying only a small number of them. The aim of this article is to explore the strategies, methods, and tools employed by GPs in the assessment of the preschool child’s emotional, mental, social, and behavioural health. We look at how GPs address parental care of the child in general and in situations where GPs have a particular awareness of the child. Method: Twenty-eight Danish GPs were purposively selected to take part in a qualitative study which combined focus-group discussions, observation of child consultations, and individual interviews with GPs. Results: Analysis of the data suggests that GPs have developed a set of methods, and strategies to assess the preschool child and parental care of the child. They look beyond paying narrow attention to the physical health of the child and they have expanded their practice to include the relations and interactions in the consultation room. The physical examination of the child continues to play a central role in doctor-child communication. Conclusion: The participating GPs’ strategies helped them to assess the wellbeing of the preschool child but they often find it difficult to share their impressions with parents

The impact of COVID-19 infection, the pandemic and its associated control measures on patients with Pompe disease

Background: Patients with Pompe disease, a rare metabolic myopathy, were thought to be at increased risk of severe COVID-19 disease during the pandemic. In addition, the lockdown may have affected their regular treatment. Objective: To assess the perceived effect of COVID-19 infection and of the pandemic on the treatment, and physical and mental health of patients with Pompe disease. Methods: Patients with Pompe disease over 16 years of age participated in an international, cross-sectional, online survey (September 20, 2022–November 7, 2022). The questionnaire, available in eight languages, consisted of 89 questions divided into 3 parts: (A) severity of Pompe disease, (B) COVID-19 precautions and infection(s) and (C) effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Among 342 respondents, originating from 25 different countries, 47.6% experienced one or more COVID-19 infections. While most recovered within 4 weeks (69.7%) and only eight patients needed to be admitted to the hospital, 42.2% of patients experienced an impact of the infection on their overall condition, respiratory status and/or mobility status. More severely affected patients took more stringent control measures. The pandemic additionally caused interruptions in medical care in many patients (56.0%) and 17.2% of patients experienced interruptions of enzyme replacement therapy. The pandemic also affected many patients’ disease severity (27.7%), mental health (55.4%) and feeling of loneliness (43.4%). Conclusion: COVID-19 infection(s) and the pandemic affected the treatment, physical health and mental health of patients with Pompe disease, emphasizing the importance of continued patient centered care during a difficult time such as the COVID-19 pandemic.</p

Patterned Irradiation of YBa_2Cu_3O_(7-x) Thin Films

We present a new experiment on YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-x} (YBCO) thin films using spatially resolved heavy ion irradiation. Structures consisting of a periodic array of strong and weak pinning channels were created with the help of metal masks. The channels formed an angle of +/-45 Deg with respect to the symmetry axis of the photolithographically patterned structures. Investigations of the anisotropic transport properties of these structures were performed. We found striking resemblance to guided vortex motion as it was observed in YBCO single crystals containing an array of unidirected twin boundaries. The use of two additional test bridges allowed to determine in parallel the resistivities of the irradiated and unirradiated parts as well as the respective current-voltage characteristics. These measurements provided the input parameters for a numerical simulation of the potential distribution of the Hall patterning. In contrast to the unidirected twin boundaries in our experiment both strong and weak pinning regions are spatially extended. The interfaces between unirradiated and irradiated regions therefore form a Bose-glass contact. The experimentally observed magnetic field dependence of the transverse voltage vanishes faster than expected from the numerical simulation and we interpret this as a hydrodynamical interaction between a Bose-glass phase and a vortex liquid.Comment: 7 pages, 8 Eps figures included. Submitted to PR

Maternal psychological distress in primary care and association with child behavioural outcomes at age three

Observational studies indicate children whose mothers have poor mental health are at increased risk of socio-emotional behavioural difficulties, but it is unknown whether these outcomes vary by the mothers’ mental health recognition and treatment status. To examine this question, we analysed linked longitudinal primary care and research data from 1078 women enrolled in the Born in Bradford cohort. A latent class analysis of treatment status and self-reported distress broadly categorised women as (a) not having a common mental disorder (CMD) that persisted through pregnancy and the first 2 years after delivery (N = 756, 70.1 %), (b) treated for CMD (N = 67, 6.2 %), or (c) untreated (N = 255, 23.7 %). Compared to children of mothers without CMD, 3-year-old children with mothers classified as having untreated CMD had higher standardised factor scores on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (d = 0.32), as did children with mothers classified as having treated CMD (d = 0.27). Results were only slightly attenuated in adjusted analyses. Children of mothers with CMD may be at risk for socio-emotional and behavioural difficulties. The development of effective treatments for CMD needs to be balanced by greater attempts to identify and treat women. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00787-015-0777-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

How Gibbs distributions may naturally arise from synaptic adaptation mechanisms. A model-based argumentation

This paper addresses two questions in the context of neuronal networks dynamics, using methods from dynamical systems theory and statistical physics: (i) How to characterize the statistical properties of sequences of action potentials ("spike trains") produced by neuronal networks ? and; (ii) what are the effects of synaptic plasticity on these statistics ? We introduce a framework in which spike trains are associated to a coding of membrane potential trajectories, and actually, constitute a symbolic coding in important explicit examples (the so-called gIF models). On this basis, we use the thermodynamic formalism from ergodic theory to show how Gibbs distributions are natural probability measures to describe the statistics of spike trains, given the empirical averages of prescribed quantities. As a second result, we show that Gibbs distributions naturally arise when considering "slow" synaptic plasticity rules where the characteristic time for synapse adaptation is quite longer than the characteristic time for neurons dynamics.Comment: 39 pages, 3 figure