Great expectations: A predictive processing account of automobile driving

Predictive processing has been proposed as a unifying framework for understanding brain function, suggesting that cognition and behaviour can be fundamentally understood based on the single principle of prediction error minimisation. According to predictive processing, the brain is a statistical organ that continuously attempts get a grip on states in the world by predicting how these states cause sensory input and minimising the deviations between the predicted and actual input. While these ideas have had a strong influence in neuroscience and cognitive science, they have so far not been adopted in applied human factors research. The present paper represents a first attempt to do so, exploring how predictive processing concepts can be used to understand automobile driving. It is shown how a framework based on predictive processing may provide a novel perspective on a range of driving phenomena and offer a unifying framework for traditionally disparate human factors models

Effects of a training program after surgically treated ankle fracture: a prospective randomised controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite conflicting results after surgically treated ankle fractures few studies have evaluated the effects of different types of training programs performed after plaster removal. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a 12-week standardised but individually suited training program (training group) versus usual care (control group) after plaster removal in adults with surgically treated ankle fractures.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In total, 110 men and women, 18-64 years of age, with surgically treated ankle fracture were included and randomised to either a 12-week training program or to a control group. Six and twelve months after the injury the subjects were examined by the same physiotherapist who was blinded to the treatment group. The main outcome measure was the Olerud-Molander Ankle Score (OMAS) which rates symptoms and subjectively scored function. Secondary outcome measures were: quality of life (SF-36), timed walking tests, ankle mobility tests, muscle strength tests and radiological status.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>52 patients were randomised to the training group and 58 to the control group. Five patients dropped out before the six-month follow-up resulting in 50 patients in the training group and 55 in the control group. Nine patients dropped out between the six- and twelve-month follow-up resulting in 48 patients in both groups. When analysing the results in a mixed model analysis on repeated measures including interaction between age-group and treatment effect the training group demonstrated significantly improved results compared to the control group in subjects younger than 40 years of age regarding OMAS (p = 0.028), muscle strength in the plantar flexors (p = 0.029) and dorsiflexors (p = 0.030).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results of this study suggest that when adjusting for interaction between age-group and treatment effect the training model employed in this study was superior to usual care in patients under the age of 40. However, as only three out of nine outcome measures showed a difference, the beneficial effect from an additional standardised individually suited training program can be expected to be limited. There is need for further studies to elucidate how a training program should be designed to increase and optimise function in patients middle-aged or older.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Current Controlled Trials ACTRN12609000327280</p

Outcome and patients' satisfaction after functional treatment of acute lateral ankle injuries at emergency departments versus family doctor offices

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In some Western countries, more and more patients seek initial treatment even for minor injuries at emergency units of hospitals. The initial evaluation and treatment as well as aftercare of these patients require large amounts of personnel and logistical resources, which are limited and costly, especially if compared to treatment by a general practitioner. In this study, we investigated whether outsourcing from our level 1 trauma center to a general practitioner has an influence on patient satisfaction and compliance.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This prospective, randomized study, included n = 100 patients who suffered from a lateral ankle ligament injury grade I-II (16, 17). After radiological exclusion of osseous lesions, the patients received early functional treatment and were shown physical therapy exercises to be done at home, without immobilization or the use of stabilizing ortheses. The patients were randomly assigned into two groups of 50 patients each: Group A (ER): Follow-up and final examination in the hospital's emergency unit. Group B (GP): Follow-up by general practitioner, final examination at hospital's emergency unit. The patients were surveyed regarding their satisfaction with the treatment and outcome of the treatment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Female and male patients were equally represented in both groups. The age of the patients ranged from 16 – 64 years, with a mean age of 34 years (ER) and 35 years (GP). 98% (n = 98) of all patients were satisfied with their treatment, and 93% (n = 93) were satisfied with the outcome. For these parameters no significant difference between the two groups could be noted (p = 0.7406 and 0.7631 respectively). 39% of all patients acquired stabilizing ortheses like ankle braces (Aircast, Malleoloc etc.) on their own initiative. There was a not significant tendency for more self-acquired ortheses in the group treated by general practicioners (p = 0,2669).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Patients who first present at the ER with a lateral ankle ligament injury grade I-II can be referred to a general practitioner for follow-up treatment without affecting patient satisfaction regarding treatment and treatment outcome.</p

Glucosylsphingosine Is a Highly Sensitive and Specific Biomarker for Primary Diagnostic and Follow-Up Monitoring in Gaucher Disease in a Non-Jewish, Caucasian Cohort of Gaucher Disease Patients

Gaucher disease (GD) is the most common lysosomal storage disorder (LSD). Based on a deficient β-glucocerebrosidase it leads to an accumulation of glucosylceramide. Standard diagnostic procedures include measurement of enzyme activity, genetic testing as well as analysis of chitotriosidase and CCL18/PARC as biomarkers. Even though chitotriosidase is the most well-established biomarker in GD, it is not specific for GD. Furthermore, it may be false negative in a significant percentage of GD patients due to mutation. Additionally, chitotriosidase reflects the changes in the course of the disease belatedly. This further enhances the need for a reliable biomarker, especially for the monitoring of the disease and the impact of potential treatments.Here, we evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of the previously reported biomarker Glucosylsphingosine with regard to different control groups (healthy control vs. GD carriers vs. other LSDs).Only GD patients displayed elevated levels of Glucosylsphingosine higher than 12 ng/ml whereas the comparison controls groups revealed concentrations below the pathological cut-off, verifying the specificity of Glucosylsphingosine as a biomarker for GD. In addition, we evaluated the biomarker before and during enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) in 19 patients, demonstrating a decrease in Glucosylsphingosine over time with the most pronounced reduction within the first 6 months of ERT. Furthermore, our data reveals a correlation between the medical consequence of specific mutations and Glucosylsphingosine.In summary, Glucosylsphingosine is a very promising, reliable and specific biomarker for GD

The definition of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders: are we overestimating the real prevalence?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A substantial prevalence of mild neurocognitive disorders has been reported in HIV, also in patients treated with combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). This includes a new disorder that has been termed <it>asymptomatic neurocognitive impairment </it>(ANI).</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>ANI is identified by performance on formal neuropsychological testing that is at least 1 SD below the mean of normative scores in at least two cognitive domains out of at least five examined in patients without associated symptoms or evident functional impairment in daily living. While two tests are recommended to assess each domain, only one is required to fulfill this diagnostic criterion. Unfortunately, this definition necessitates that about 20% of the cognitively normal HIV-infected population is classified as suffering ANI. This liberal definition raises important ethical concerns and has as well diagnostic and therapeutic implications. Since neither its biological substrate, prognostic significance nor therapeutic implications are clearly established, we recommend that this diagnosis be modified or applied cautiously.</p> <p>Summary</p> <p>The diagnoses of less severe forms of neurocognitive disorders in HIV relies on the outcomes of neuropsychological testing, and a high proportion of HIV-infected patients with effective cART may be classified as neurocognitively abnormal using the current criteria. The definition of ANI is not stringent, and results in approximately 20% of the population being classified as abnormal. To us this seems an unacceptable false-positive rate.</p

Heavy Meson Production in Proton-Nucleus Reactions with Empirical Spectral Functions

We study the production of $K^+, \rho, \omega$ and $\phi$ mesons in $p + ^{12}C$ reactions on the basis of empirical spectral functions. The high momentum, high removal energy part of the spectral function is found to be negligible in all cases close to the absolute threshold. Furthermore, the two-step process ($pN \rightarrow \pi N N; \pi N \rightarrow N + K^+, \rho, \omega, \phi$) dominates the cross section at threshold energies in line with earlier calculations based on the folding model.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX, plus 14 postscript figures, submitted to Z. Phys.

Tasting Soil Fungal Diversity with Earth Tongues: Phylogenetic Test of SATé Alignments for Environmental ITS Data

An abundance of novel fungal lineages have been indicated by DNA sequencing of the nuclear ribosomal ITS region from environmental samples such as soil and wood. Although phylogenetic analysis of these novel lineages is a key component of unveiling the structure and diversity of complex communities, such analyses are rare for environmental ITS data due to the difficulties of aligning this locus across significantly divergent taxa. One potential approach to this issue is simultaneous alignment and tree estimation. We targeted divergent ITS sequences of the earth tongue fungi (Geoglossomycetes), a basal class in the Ascomycota, to assess the performance of SATé, recent software that combines progressive alignment and tree building. We found that SATé performed well in generating high-quality alignments and in accurately estimating the phylogeny of earth tongue fungi. Drawing from a data set of 300 sequences of earth tongues and progressively more distant fungal lineages, 30 insufficiently identified ITS sequences from the public sequence databases were assigned to the Geoglossomycetes. The association between earth tongues and plants has been hypothesized for a long time, but hard evidence is yet to be collected. The ITS phylogeny showed that four ectomycorrhizal isolates shared a clade with Geoglossum but not with Trichoglossum earth tongues, pointing to the significant potential inherent to ecological data mining of environmental samples. Environmental sampling holds the key to many focal questions in mycology, and simultaneous alignment and tree estimation, as performed by SATé, can be a highly efficient companion in that pursuit

Outcome and quality of life after surgically treated ankle fractures in patients 65 years or older

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite high incidence of ankle fractures in the elderly, studies evaluating outcome and impact of quality of life in this age group specifically are sparse. The aim of this study was to evaluate outcome and quality of life 6 and 12 months after injury in patients 65 years or older who had been operated on due to an ankle fracture.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Sixty patients 65 years or older were invited to participate in the study. 6 and 12 months after the injury a questionnaire including inquiry to participate, the Olerud-Molander Ankle Score (OMAS), Short-Form 36 (SF-36), Linear Analogue Scale (LAS), Self-rated Ankle Function and some supplementary questions was sent home to the patients. The supplementary questions concerned subjective experience of ankle instability, sporting and physical activity level before injury and recaptured activity level at follow-ups, need of walking aid before injury, state of living before injury and at follow-ups and co-morbidities. After the 12-month follow-up the patients were also called for a radiological examination.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fifty patients (83%) answered the questionnaire at 6-month and 46 (77%) at the 12-month follow-up. Although, 45 (90%) fractures were low-energy trauma 44 (88%) were bi- or trimalleolar and post-operative reduction results were complete in 23 (46%) ankles. The median OMAS improved from 60 (Interquartile range (IQR) 36) at 6-month to 70 (IQR 35) at 12-month (p = 0.002), but at 12-month still sixty percent or more of the patients reported pain, swelling, problems when stair-climbing and reduced activities of daily life. Twenty (40%) rated their ankle function as 'good' or 'very good' at 6-month and 30 (60%) at 12-month. Forty-one (82%) were physically active before injury but still one year after only 18/41 had returned to their pre-injury physical activity level. According to SF-36 four dimensions differed from the age- and gender matched normative data of the Swedish population, 'physical function', 'role physical' and 'role emotional' were below norms at 6-month for women (p = 0.010, p = 0.024 and 0.031) and 'general health' was above norms at 12-month for men (p = 0.044).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>One year after surgically treated ankle fractures a majority of patients continue to have symptoms and reported functional limitations. However, SF-36 scores indicate that only females had functional status below the age- and gender matched normative data of the Swedish population.</p

Tidying Up International Nucleotide Sequence Databases: Ecological, Geographical and Sequence Quality Annotation of ITS Sequences of Mycorrhizal Fungi

Sequence analysis of the ribosomal RNA operon, particularly the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, provides a powerful tool for identification of mycorrhizal fungi. The sequence data deposited in the International Nucleotide Sequence Databases (INSD) are, however, unfiltered for quality and are often poorly annotated with metadata. To detect chimeric and low-quality sequences and assign the ectomycorrhizal fungi to phylogenetic lineages, fungal ITS sequences were downloaded from INSD, aligned within family-level groups, and examined through phylogenetic analyses and BLAST searches. By combining the fungal sequence database UNITE and the annotation and search tool PlutoF, we also added metadata from the literature to these accessions. Altogether 35,632 sequences belonged to mycorrhizal fungi or originated from ericoid and orchid mycorrhizal roots. Of these sequences, 677 were considered chimeric and 2,174 of low read quality. Information detailing country of collection, geographical coordinates, interacting taxon and isolation source were supplemented to cover 78.0%, 33.0%, 41.7% and 96.4% of the sequences, respectively. These annotated sequences are publicly available via UNITE (http://unite.ut.ee/) for downstream biogeographic, ecological and taxonomic analyses. In European Nucleotide Archive (ENA; http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/), the annotated sequences have a special link-out to UNITE. We intend to expand the data annotation to additional genes and all taxonomic groups and functional guilds of fungi

Protein crystals in adenovirus type 5-infected cells: requirements for intranuclear crystallogenesis, structural and functional analysis

Intranuclear crystalline inclusions have been observed in the nucleus of epithelial cells infected with Adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5) at late steps of the virus life cycle. Using immuno-electron microscopy and confocal microscopy of cells infected with various Ad5 recombinants modified in their penton base or fiber domains, we found that these inclusions represented crystals of penton capsomers, the heteromeric capsid protein formed of penton base and fiber subunits. The occurrence of protein crystals within the nucleus of infected cells required the integrity of the fiber knob and part of the shaft domain. In the knob domain, the region overlapping residues 489–492 in the FG loop was found to be essential for crystal formation. In the shaft, a large deletion of repeats 4 to 16 had no detrimental effect on crystal inclusions, whereas deletion of repeats 8 to 21 abolished crystal formation without altering the level of fiber protein expression. This suggested a crucial role of the five penultimate repeats in the crystallisation process. Chimeric pentons made of Ad5 penton base and fiber domains from different serotypes were analyzed with respect to crystal formation. No crystal was found when fiber consisted of shaft (S) from Ad5 and knob (K) from Ad3 (heterotypic S5-K3 fiber), but occurred with homotypic S3K3 fiber. However, less regular crystals were observed with homotypic S35-K35 fiber. TB5, a monoclonal antibody directed against the Ad5 fiber knob was found by immunofluorescence microscopy to react with high efficiency with the intranuclear protein crystals in situ. Data obtained with Ad fiber mutants indicated that the absence of crystalline inclusions correlated with a lower infectivity and/or lower yields of virus progeny, suggesting that the protein crystals might be involved in virion assembly. Thus, we propose that TB5 staining of Ad-infected 293 cells can be used as a prognostic assay for the viability and productivity of fiber-modified Ad5 vectors