From signals to music: a bottom-up approach to the structure of neuronal activity

Introduction: The search for the “neural code” has been a fundamental quest in neuroscience, concerned with the way neurons and neuronal systems process and transmit information. However, the term “code” has been mostly used as a metaphor, seldom acknowledging the formal definitions introduced by information theory, and the contributions of linguistics and semiotics not at all. The heuristic potential of the latter was suggested by structuralism, which turned the methods and findings of linguistics to other fields of knowledge. For the study of complex communication systems, such as human language and music, the necessity of an approach that considers multilayered, nested, structured organization of symbols becomes evident. We work under the hypothesis that the neural code might be as complex as these human-made codes. To test this, we propose a bottom-up approach, constructing a symbolic logic in order to translate neuronal signals into music scores. Methods: We recorded single cells’ activity from the rat’s globus pallidus pars interna under conditions of full alertness, blindfoldedness and environmental silence. We analyzed the signals with statistical, spectral, and complex methods, including Fast Fourier Transform, Hurst exponent and recurrence plot analysis. Results: The results indicated complex behavior and recurrence graphs consistent with fractality, and a Hurst exponent >0.5, evidencing temporal persistence. On the whole, these features point toward a complex behavior of the time series analyzed, also present in classical music, which upholds the hypothesis of structural similarities between music and neuronal activity. Furthermore, through our experiment we performed a comparison between music and raw neuronal activity. Our results point to the same conclusion, showing the structures of music and neuronal activity to be homologous. The scores were not only spontaneously tonal, but they exhibited structure and features normally present in human-made musical creations. Discussion: The hypothesis of a structural homology between the neural code and the code of music holds, suggesting that some of the insights introduced by linguistic and semiotic theory might be a useful methodological resource to go beyond the limits set by metaphoric notions of “code.”Fil: Noel, Gabriel David. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Altos Estudios Sociales; ArgentinaFil: Mugno, Lionel E.. Conservatorio "Alfredo Luis Schiuma"; ArgentinaFil: Andres, Daniela Sabrina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Instituto de Tecnologias Emergentes y Ciencias Aplicadas. - Universidad Nacional de San Martin. Instituto de Tecnologias Emergentes y Ciencias Aplicadas.; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martin. Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnologia. Laboratorio de Neuroingenieria.; Argentin

Cancer prevalence in Central Europe: the EUROPREVAL Study

Background: Information on cancer prevalence is either absent or largely unavailable for central European countries. Materials and methods: Austria, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland cover a population of 13 million inhabitants. Cancer registries in these countries supplied incidence and survival data for 465 000 cases of cancer. The prevalence of stomach, colon, rectum, lung, breast, cervix uteri, corpus uteri and prostate cancer, as well as skin melanoma, Hodgkin's disease, leukaemia and all malignant neoplasms combined was estimated for the end of 1992. Results: A large heterogeneity was observed within central European countries. For all cancers combined, estimates ranged from 730 per 100 000 in Poland (men) to 3350 per 100 000 in Germany (women). Overall cancer prevalence was the highest in Germany and Switzerland, and the lowest in Poland and Slovenia. In Slovakia, prevalence was higher than average for men and lower than average for women. This was observed for almost all ages. As shown by incidence data, breast cancer was the most frequent malignancy among women in all countries. Among men, prostate cancer was the leading malignancy in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and lung cancer was the major cancer in Slovenia, Slovakia and Poland. The Netherlands had a high prevalence of both prostate and lung cancer. Time-related magnitude of prevalence within each country and the variability of such proportions across the countries has been estimated and cancer prevalence is given by time since diagnosis (1 year, 1-5 years, 5-10 years, >10 years) for each site. The weight of 1-year prevalence (248 per 100 000 among men and 253 per 100 000 among women) was 10 years before), reflecting long-term survival, and number of people considered as cured from cancer were 490 per 100 000 for men and 1028 per 100 000 for women, with a range between 26% (The Netherlands, men) and 50% (Slovakia, women). Conclusion: It is clear from observing countries in Central Europe, that high cancer prevalence is associated with well-developed economies. This burden of cancer could be interpreted as a paradoxical effect of better treatments and thereby survival. It could also be taken as a sign for not being satisfied with the advances in treating patients diagnosed with cancer, and for supporting more primary preventio

Can i have a second child? dilemmas of mothers of children with pervasive developmental disorder: a qualitative study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) has an uncertain etiology, no method of treatment, and results in communication deficiencies and other behavioral problems. As the reported recurrence risk is 5%-10% and there are no methods of either prevention or prenatal testing, mothers of PDD children may face unique challenges when contemplating second pregnancies. The purpose of this study was to explore the mothers' lived experiences of second child-related decision-making after the birth of a child with PDD.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The participants for this study were restricted to mothers living within the greater Tokyo metropolitan area who had given birth to a first child with PDD within the past 18 years. The ten participants were encouraged to describe their experiences of second-child related decision-making after the birth of a child with PDD on the basis of semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was performed by using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), which is concerned with understanding what the participant thinks or believes about the topic under discussion.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified two superordinate themes. The first was balancing hopes and fears, in which hope was the potential joy to be gained by the birth of a new child without PDD and fears were characterized as uncertainty of PDD and perception of recurrence risk, burden on later-born children, and negative effects on a child with PDD.</p> <p>The second superordinate theme was assessing the manageability of the situation, which was affected by factors as diverse as severity of PDD, relationship between mother and father, and social support and acceptance for PDD. Our 10 participants suffered from extreme psychological conflict, and lack of social support and acceptance for PDD created numerous practical difficulties in having second children.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our participants faced various difficulties when considering second pregnancies after the birth of children with PDD in the Japanese society. As lack of social support and acceptance for PDD also played a large role in second child-related decision-making, creating a social environment that more fully accepts those disabled and providing flexible support systems for families of children with PDD are crucial.</p

Systematic Review of the Relationship Between Autism Stigma and Informal Caregiver Mental Health

Families play a crucial role in determining the mental health of the autistic individual(s) they are caring for. However, the stigma associated with autism can impair caregiver health. To investigate this, empirical evidence pertaining to stigma’s impact on informal caregivers’ mental health was systematically reviewed. All twelve included studies (n = 1442 informal caregivers) consistently reported the impact of autism related stigma upon caregiver mental health to be significant, meaningful and complex. A new theoretical framework describing the relationship between stigma and caregiver mental health is constructed. Moderating variables include those both changeable through intervention (e.g. hopelessness, self-esteem, self-compassion) and not changeable (gender, culture, financial burden and time since diagnosis). Implications and recommendations for professionals, interventions and future research are proposed

The management of acute venous thromboembolism in clinical practice. Results from the European PREFER in VTE Registry

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in Europe. Data from real-world registries are necessary, as clinical trials do not represent the full spectrum of VTE patients seen in clinical practice. We aimed to document the epidemiology, management and outcomes of VTE using data from a large, observational database. PREFER in VTE was an international, non-interventional disease registry conducted between January 2013 and July 2015 in primary and secondary care across seven European countries. Consecutive patients with acute VTE were documented and followed up over 12 months. PREFER in VTE included 3,455 patients with a mean age of 60.8 ± 17.0 years. Overall, 53.0 % were male. The majority of patients were assessed in the hospital setting as inpatients or outpatients (78.5 %). The diagnosis was deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) in 59.5 % and pulmonary embolism (PE) in 40.5 %. The most common comorbidities were the various types of cardiovascular disease (excluding hypertension; 45.5 %), hypertension (42.3 %) and dyslipidaemia (21.1 %). Following the index VTE, a large proportion of patients received initial therapy with heparin (73.2 %), almost half received a vitamin K antagonist (48.7 %) and nearly a quarter received a DOAC (24.5 %). Almost a quarter of all presentations were for recurrent VTE, with &gt;80 % of previous episodes having occurred more than 12 months prior to baseline. In conclusion, PREFER in VTE has provided contemporary insights into VTE patients and their real-world management, including their baseline characteristics, risk factors, disease history, symptoms and signs, initial therapy and outcomes

Stress among parents of children with and without autism spectrum disorder: a comparison involving physiological indicators and parent self-reports

Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have been reported as experiencing higher levels of stress and poorer physical health than parents of typically developing children. However, most of the relevant literature has been based on parental self-reports of stress and health. While research on physiological outcomes has grown in recent years, gaps still exist in our understanding of the physiological effects, if any, of stress related to parenting a child with ASD. The present study compared parent-reported stress, anxiety, and depression, as well as selected physiological measures of stress (i.e., cortisol, alpha-amylase, and ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate) between matched groups of parents of children with (N = 38) and without (N = 38) ASD. Participants completed questionnaires, collected saliva samples for the purpose of measuring cortisol and alpha-amylase, and wore an ambulatory blood pressure monitor for 24 h. Parents of children with ASD reported significantly higher levels of parental distress, anxiety, and depression than parents of typically developing children. Parent-reported distress, anxiety, depression, and health were not correlated with physiological measures. With the exception that parents of children with ASD had significantly lower cortisol levels 30 min after waking, no other significant group differences were found for physiological measures. Parents of children with ASD reported significantly higher use of a number of adaptive coping strategies (e.g., emotional support) in comparison to parents of typically developing children. Results are discussed in the context of implications for future research directions, stress research, and practical implications for parental support

Life expectancy and cancer survival in the EUROCARE-3 cancer registry areas

Mortality information is essential for estimating relative cancer survival (that excludes deaths from other causes). However, sufficiently detailed mortality data are not available for all areas covered by the cancer registries (CRs) participating in the EUROCARE-3 study. Mathematical methods were used to construct complete local mortality data (life tables) for each year of age (0–99), for each year (1978–2000) and by sex, from the incomplete life tables provided by CRs, presenting the results as life expectancy at birth (LE). Socio-economic data were obtained from the United Nations (UN) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The time and regional trends in LE provided by our estimates are closely similar to those published by the UN at the country level. According to UN data, LE (men plus women) varied from 70 years in Estonia to almost 79 years in Sweden in the period 1995–1999. LE increased markedly over the 20-year study period in most countries except Estonia and Denmark. LE correlated directly with GDP, national expenditure on health and relative survival for all cancers combined. We found that within-country LE variation was large in some countries (particularly the UK). Sweden, Iceland, Switzerland, and parts of Spain and Italy had high LE; eastern European countries had low LE. Detailed area-specific life tables are essential for reliable estimation of relative cancer survival and its comparison across populations, since LE varies markedly across Europe. Where not available, life tables can be constructed to the required level of detail using mathematical approaches