Exploring the interaction between handedness and body parts ownership by means of the Implicit Association Test

The experience of owning a body is built upon the integration of exteroceptive, interoceptive, and proprioceptive signals. Recently, it has been suggested that motor signals could be particularly important in producing the feeling of body part ownership. One thus may hypothesize that the strength of this feeling may not be spatially uniform; rather, it could vary as a function of the degree by which different body parts are involved in motor behavior. Given that our dominant hand plays a leading role in our motor behavior, we hypothesized that it could be more strongly associated with one’s self compared to its non-dominant counterpart. To explore whether this possible asymmetry manifests as a stronger implicit association of the right hand (vs left hand) with the self, we administered the Implicit Association Test to a group of 70 healthy individuals. To control whether this asymmetric association is human-body specific, we further tested whether a similar asymmetry characterizes the association between a right (vs left) animal body part with the concept of self, in an independent sample of subjects (N = 70, 140 subjects total). Our results revealed a linear relationship between the magnitude of the implicit association between the right hand with the self and the subject’s handedness. In detail, the strength of this association increased as a function of hand preference. Critically, the handedness score did not predict the association of the right-animal body part with the self. These findings suggest that, in healthy individuals, the dominant and non-dominant hands are differently perceived at an implicit level as belonging to the self. We argue that such asymmetry may stem from the different roles that the two hands play in our adaptive motor behavior

Coronary Artery Disease: A Study on the Joint Role of Birth Weight, Adenosine Deaminase, and Gender

An inverse relationship between birth weight and coronary artery diseases is well documented but it remains unclear which exposure in early life might underlie such association. Recently it has been reported an association between adenosine deaminase genetic polymorphism and coronary artery diseases. Gender differences in the degree of this association have been also observed. These observations prompted us to study the possible joint effects of BW, ADA, and gender on the susceptibility to coronary artery diseases. 222 subjects admitted to hospital for nonfatal coronary artery diseases, and 762 healthy consecutive newborns were studied. ADA genotypes were determined by DNA analysis. A highly significant complex relationship has emerged among ADA, birth weight, and gender concerning their role on susceptibility to coronary artery diseases in adult life. Odds ratio analysis suggests that low birth weight is more important in females than in males. ADA∗2 allele appears protective in males, while in females such effect is obscured by birth weight

Using Virtual Reality to Rehabilitate Neglect

Purpose: Virtual Reality (VR) platforms gained a lot of attention in the rehabilitation field due to their ability to engage patients and the opportunity they offer to use real world scenarios. As neglect is characterized by an impairment in exploring space that greatly affects daily living, VR could be a powerful tool compared to classical paper and pencil tasks and computer training. Nevertheless, available platforms are costly and obstructive. Here we describe a low cost platform for neglect rehabilitation, that using consumer equipments allows the patient to train at home in an intensive fashion. Method: We tested the platform on IB, a chronic neglect patient, who did not benefit from classical rehabilitation. Results: Our results show that IB improved both in terms of neglect and attention. Importantly, these ameliorations lasted at a follow up evaluation 5 months after the last treatment session and generalized to everyday life activities. Conclusions: VR platforms built using equipment technology and following theoretical principles on brain functioning may induce greater ameliorations in visuo-spatial deficits than classical paradigms possibly thanks to the real world scenarios in association with the "visual feedback" of the patient's own body operating in the virtual environmen

The surface proteomic profile of serum extracellular vesicles as a diagnostic and prognostic tool in breast cancer

The diagnosis of breast cancer in the early stage is essential for a favorable prognosis. Extracellular vesicles isolated from body fluids have a central role in breast cancer development due to their biochemical components. Among the biochemical components, surface proteins mediate vesicle interactions with elements of the extracellular milieu, the extracellular matrix, and neighboring cells. The identification of specific surface proteomic profile has been regarded as an easy and reproducible means to define cancer parameters, identify markers for a diagnosis, and determine targets for therapeutical treatments. In this review, we will focus on annexins, tetraspanins, integrins, immune checkpoint proteins, and growth factor receptors that have been identified on the surface of extracellular vesicles isolated from the serum of patients with breast cancer and that have been found to be relevant diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers

Asymptomatic lacrimal flow abnormalities in patients with septal deviations and turbinate hypertrophy

Background: This study aimed to investigate the lacrimal flow in patients affected by septal deviations and turbinate hypertrophy and to evaluate changes after rhinoseptoplasty with dacryocystography (DCT) and computed tomographic dacryocystography (CT-DCT). Methods: The study prospectively recruited patients having septal deviations with or without turbinate hypertrophy who underwent surgical evaluation for correction of their respiratory symptoms and were not referred for epiphora. Patients were excluded if they had undergone surgery for cranial vault defects or had experienced septal deviations after traumatic accidents. All patients were studied with DCT and CT-DCT preoperatively and postoperatively. Results: A total of 24 patients (10 men and 14 women) were recruited for the study. Of these patients, 11 (45.8%) had a reduced flow of the medium contrast due to a partial obstruction at the level of the internal ostium. All 11 patients had septal deviations and turbinate hypertrophy, whereas 8 patients had a unilateral obstruction (72.7%), and 3 patients had a bilateral obstruction (27.3%). All flows were corrected after surgery. Conclusions:The safe and well-tolerated radiologic techniques performed in this study provided detailed imaging of the lacrimal outflow system. A high incidence of partial obstruction to the internal ostium was found in patients with septal deviations, turbinate hypertrophy, and no lacrimal symptoms, suggesting a frequent presymptomatic condition

Calcareous nannofossils as tracers of paleoCO2

The Cretaceous has been characterized by intervals of super-greenhouse climate and profound environmental perturbations, including the early Aptian Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE 1) a and the latest Cenomanian OAE 2 being episodes of widespread organic matter burial in oxygen-depleted oceans. The OAE 1a and OAE 2 are thought to be related to the emplacement of the Ontong Java Plateau and the Caribbean Plateau, respectively. The volcanic acrivity of these Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) introduced in the atmosphere a large amount of CO2 with consequent impact on biota, climate and ocean chemistry. The perturbations of the C cycle are traced in the C isotopic record which shows a negative shift at the beginning of OAE 1a followed by a positive excursion, and a large positive anomaly marking the OAE 2. In this study, we intended to detected if and how these changes in pCO2 affected the biogenic carbonate production of calcareous nannoplankton. Coccolithophore algae are in fact extremely sensitive to changes in physical and chemical conditions of the oceans and laboratory experiments on living forms indicate that coccolith type, abundance and degree of mineralization depend on chemical-physical-trophic conditions of water as well as on pCO2. Our data revealed the presence of dwarf/malformed coccoliths during OAE 1a and OAE 2 interpreted to be the response of some coccolithophore species to increased surface-water acidification, thus providing indication of intervals of excess CO2. Following these observations, that suggest that past calcareous nannoplankton probably responded similarly to extant coccolithophores under fluctuating CO2, we reconstructed nannofossil calcite paleofluxes during the Aptian and used them to calculate paleoCO2. Calcite production resulted to be severly affected during OAE 1a, when the highest CO2 concetrations of the Aptian were reached under the most intense phase of Ontong Java. During the middle-late Aptian, paleofluxes were then characterized by fluctuations, suggestive for variable paleoCO2 depending on the interplay between CO2 emissions and uptake