753 research outputs found
How Does Task Presentation Impact Motor Inhibition Performance in Young Children?
Peg tapping tasks are commonly used as a measure of inhibitory skill in young children. However, differences in the way the task is presented may influence children’s performance. For example, if a peg tapping task is presented at regular intervals, children can entrain to the presentation pulse, which may in turn support their performance. This study assessed how speed and regularity of presentation may support or impair children’s responses. An experimenter was filmed delivering the tapping task at two different speeds (120 bpm/3,000 ms per trial and 150 bpm/2,400 ms per trial). Additionally, they were filmed delivering the task at regular intervals (i.e., the onset of each trial was predictable), or at irregular intervals (the onset of each trial was unpredictable). N = 103 children aged between 5 and 6 years old were tested on the task. They completed one block with 20 regular interval trials and another block with 20 irregular interval trials. Block presentation order was randomized. Children who achieved over 90% accuracy on the task were then presented with two more blocks at 150 bpm. Children’s response accuracy was measured. Our results show a difference in children’s accuracy across all conditions with trials presented in an irregular manner producing poorer performance on the task. The study demonstrates how speed and regularity of presentation can affect children’s scores on a tapping task used to measure inhibition. Demands on working memory, motor ability, and speed of processing are all affected by adjustments in presentation. Entrainment to a pulse is also a potential mechanism employed by children to support their performance on this task
Sprouty2 mediated tuning of signalling is essential for somite myogenesis
Background: Negative regulators of signal transduction cascades play critical roles in controlling different aspects of normal embryonic development. Sprouty2 (Spry2) negatively regulates receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) and FGF signalling and is important in differentiation, cell migration and proliferation. In vertebrate embryos, Spry2 is expressed in paraxial mesoderm and in forming somites. Expression is maintained in the myotome until late stages of somite differentiation. However, its role and mode of action during somite myogenesis is still unclear. Results: Here, we analysed chick Spry2 expression and showed that it overlaps with that of myogenic regulatory factors MyoD and Mgn. Targeted mis-expression of Spry2 led to inhibition of myogenesis, whilst its C-terminal domain led to an increased number of myogenic cells by stimulating cell proliferation. Conclusions: Spry2 is expressed in somite myotomes and its expression overlaps with myogenic regulatory factors. Overexpression and dominant-negative interference showed that Spry2 plays a crucial role in regulating chick myogenesis by fine tuning of FGF signaling through a negative feedback loop. We also propose that mir-23, mir-27 and mir-128 could be part of the negative feedback loop mechanism. Our analysis is the first to shed some light on in vivo Spry2 function during chick somite myogenesis
The Soft-Collinear Bootstrap: N=4 Yang-Mills Amplitudes at Six and Seven Loops
Infrared divergences in scattering amplitudes arise when a loop momentum
becomes collinear with a massless external momentum . In gauge
theories, it is known that the L-loop logarithm of a planar amplitude has much
softer infrared singularities than the L-loop amplitude itself. We argue that
planar amplitudes in N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory enjoy softer than expected
behavior as already at the level of the integrand. Moreover,
we conjecture that the four-point integrand can be uniquely determined, to any
loop-order, by imposing the correct soft-behavior of the logarithm together
with dual conformal invariance and dihedral symmetry. We use these simple
criteria to determine explicit formulae for the four-point integrand through
seven-loops, finding perfect agreement with previously known results through
five-loops. As an input to this calculation we enumerate all four-point dual
conformally invariant (DCI) integrands through seven-loops, an analysis which
is aided by several graph-theoretic theorems we prove about general DCI
integrands at arbitrary loop-order. The six- and seven-loop amplitudes receive
non-zero contributions from 229 and 1873 individual DCI diagrams respectively.Comment: 27 pages, 48 figures, detailed results including PDF and Mathematica
files available at http://goo.gl/qIKe8 v2: minor corrections v3: figure 7
corrected, Lemma 2 remove
Note on New KLT relations
In this short note, we present two results about KLT relations discussed in
recent several papers. Our first result is the re-derivation of Mason-Skinner
MHV amplitude by applying the S_{n-3} permutation symmetric KLT relations
directly to MHV amplitude. Our second result is the equivalence proof of the
newly discovered S_{n-2} permutation symmetric KLT relations and the well-known
S_{n-3} permutation symmetric KLT relations. Although both formulas have been
shown to be correct by BCFW recursion relations, our result is the first direct
check using the regularized definition of the new formula.Comment: 15 Pages; v2: minor correction
Dualities for Loop Amplitudes of N=6 Chern-Simons Matter Theory
In this paper we study the one- and two-loop corrections to the four-point
amplitude of N=6 Chern-Simons matter theory. Using generalized unitarity
methods we express the one- and two-loop amplitudes in terms of dual-conformal
integrals. Explicit integration by using dimensional reduction gives vanishing
one-loop result as expected, while the two-loop result is non-vanishing and
matches with the Wilson loop computation. Furthermore, the two-loop correction
takes the same form as the one-loop correction to the four-point amplitude of
N=4 super Yang-Mills. We discuss possible higher loop extensions of this
correspondence between the two theories. As a side result, we extend the method
of dimensional reduction for three dimensions to five dimensions where dual
conformal symmetry is most manifest, demonstrating significant simplification
to the computation of integrals.Comment: 32 pages and 6 figures. v2: minus sign corrections, ref updated v3:
Published versio
Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (RTK) Mediated Tyrosine Phosphor-Proteome from Drosophila S2 (ErbB1) Cells Reveals Novel Signaling Networks
Protein phosphorylation mediates many critical cellular responses and is essential for many biological functions during development. About one-third of cellular proteins are phosphorylated, representing the phosphor-proteome, and phosphorylation can alter a protein's function, activity, localization and stability. Tyrosine phosphorylation events mediated by aberrant activation of Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (RTK) pathways have been proven to be involved in the development of several diseases including cancer. To understand the systems biology of RTK activation, we have developed a phosphor-proteome focused on tyrosine phosphorylation events under insulin and EGF signaling pathways using the PhosphoScan® technique coupled with high-throughput mass spectrometry analysis. Comparative proteomic analyses of all these tyrosine phosphorylation events revealed that around 70% of these pY events are conserved in human orthologs and paralogs. A careful analysis of published in vivo tyrosine phosphorylation events from literature and patents revealed that around 38% of pY events from Drosophila proteins conserved on 185 human proteins are confirmed in vivo tyrosine phosphorylation events. Hence the data are validated partially based on available reports, and the credibility of the remaining 62% of novel conserved sites that are unpublished so far is very high but requires further follow-up studies. The novel pY events found in this study that are conserved on human proteins could potentially lead to the discovery of drug targets and biomarkers for the detection of various cancers and neurodegenerative diseases
Disarticulation and the Crisis of Neoliberalism in the United States
Neoliberal policies instituted since the 1980s have transformed the United States economy in ways that have produced serious structural distortions in the basic operation of capitalism. Using Samir Amin’s concept of disarticulation, previously applied exclusively to the periphery of the world economy, this article argues that the twin and mutually reinforcing features of neoliberalism – global corporate restructuring and financialization – have now generated disarticulation in the core nations. This disarticulated structure is responsible for the economic stagnation and sharply unequal income/wealth distributional outcomes that characterize contemporary U.S. capitalism
A novel asynchronous access method with binary interfaces
© 2008 Silva et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens
A qualitative understanding of the effects of reusable sanitary pads and puberty education: Implications for future research and practice
BACKGROUND: The management of menstruation has come to the fore as a barrier to girls’ education attainment in
low income contexts. Interventions have been proposed and piloted, but the emerging nature of the field means
limited evidence is available to understand their pathways of effect.
// METHODS: This study describes and compares schoolgirls’ experiences of menstruation in rural Uganda at the
conclusion of a controlled trial of puberty education and sanitary pad provision to elucidate pathways of effect in
the interventions. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with schoolgirls who participated in the
Menstruation and the Cycle of Poverty trial concurrent with the final set of quantitative surveys. A framework
approach and cross-case analysis were employed to describe and compare the experiences of 27 menstruating girls
across the four intervention conditions; education (n = 8), reusable sanitary pads (n = 8), education with reusable
sanitary pads (n = 6), and control (n = 5).
// RESULTS: Themes included: menstrual hygiene, soiling, irritation and infection, physical experience, knowledge of
menstruation, psychological, social and cultural factors, and support from others. Those receiving reusable pads
experienced improvements in comfort and reliability. This translated into reduced fears around garment soiling and
related school absenteeism. Other menstrual hygiene challenges of washing, drying and privacy remained
prominent. Puberty education improved girls’ confidence to discuss menstruation and prompted additional support
from teachers and peers.
// CONCLUSIONS: Findings have important implications for the development and evaluation of future interventions. Results
suggest the provision of menstrual absorbents addresses one core barrier to menstrual health, but that interventions
addressing broader needs such as privacy may improve effectiveness. Puberty education sessions should increase
attention to body awareness and include strategies to address a wider range of practical menstrual challenges, including
pain management. Interviews revealed possibilities for improving quantitative surveys in future research
- …