Effects of conventional and high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on driving abilities: A tDCS-driving simulator study

Due to the multitasking nature of driving, drivers are physiologically distracted by both relevant and irrelevant environmental stimuli. The ability to select relevant stimuli and suppress irrelevant distractors during driving are two relevant factors for safety. There is a lot of evidence suggesting that the frontal eye field (FEF) plays an important role in target selection and distractors suppression, as well as in attentional mechanisms crucial for safety driving performance. Taking these two points into account, this study was designed to examine the effects of different transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) montages over right FEF to determine whether stimulation of FEF could improve attentional mechanisms in a simulated driving environment. Twenty-seven adult participants took part in the study. A specific driving simulator task was developed in which participants had to respond to brake light events of a preceding car in front of them while driving. The second distracting task consisted of road signs of countries and cities that appeared together with braking lights or alone. Participants were required to respond to one of the two categories with their right hand. These two tasks could be performed alone or in a combined condition. Each participant completed three sessions comparing the effects of different tDCS montages, i.e. conventional, focal 4*1 ring high-definition (HD-tDCS) and sham stimulations over the right FEF. Results indicated an overall better performance under the focal HD-tDCS condition. In particular, participants improved their performance both in braking light RTs and in the second distracting task. Taken together these results are interesting from a theoretical and methodological point of view, by demonstrating a direct effect of anodal focal HD-tDCS on FEF in attentional response during an ecological driving task

Anticancer ruthenium(ii) tris(pyrazolyl)methane complexes with bioactive co-ligands

In comparison with RuII-arene compounds, the medicinal potential of homologous RuII-tpm compounds [tpm = tris(pyrazolyl)methane] is underexplored. Pyridine, 4-pyridinemethanol and four functionalized pyridines, synthesized from the esterification of 4-pyridinemethanol with bioactive carboxylic acids (i.e., ethacrynic acid, ibuprofen, flurbiprofen and naproxen), react with the precursor [RuCl(κ3-tpm)(PPh3)2]Cl (1) to afford [RuCl(κ3-tpm)(PPh3)(L)]Cl (2-7, L = pyridine ligand), in 78-91% yields. All products were fully characterized by HR-ESI mass spectrometry, IR and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy and the solid-state structures of two of the complexes, i.e. where L = pyridine and 4-pyridinemethanol, were ascertained by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The {Ru-tpm-PPh3} assembly is stable in D2O and in biological medium (DMEM) at 37 °C, with a tendency to slowly dissociate the pyridine ligand. The antiproliferative activity of the complexes was assessed on the cancerous A2780 and A2780cisR cell lines, and the nontumoral HEK 293T cell line; moreover inhibition assays were carried out on the complexes towards COX-2 and GSTP1 enzymes

Framing automatic grading techniques for open-ended questionnaires responses. A short survey

The assessment of students' performances is one of the essential components of teaching activities, and it poses different challenges to teachers and instructors, especially when considering the grading of responses to open-ended questions (i.e., short-answers or essays). Open-ended tasks allow a more in-depth assessment of students' learning levels, but their evaluation and grading are time-consuming and prone to subjective bias. For these reasons, automatic grading techniques have been studied for a long time, focusing mainly on short-answers rather than long essays. Given the growing popularity of Massive Online Open Courses and the shifting from physical to virtual classrooms environments due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the adoption of questionnaires for evaluating learning performances has rapidly increased. Hence, it is of particular interest to analyze the recent effort of researchers in the development of techniques designed to grade students' responses to open-ended questions. In our work, we consider a systematic literature review focusing on automatic grading of open-ended written assignments. The study encompasses 488 articles published from 1984 to 2021 and aims at understanding the research trends and the techniques to tackle essay automatic grading. Lastly, inferences and recommendations are given for future works in the Learning Analytics field

Short-term morphological changes in asymptomatic perimandibular muscles after dry needling assessed with rehabilitative ultrasound imaging: A proof-of-concept study

Facial anatomical structures are not easily accessible to manual palpation. The aim of our study is to objectively assess temporomandibular joint and perimandibular muscles dimensions by means of sonographic measurements before and after dry needling (DN) in asymptomatic subjects. Seventeen subjects participated in this before-after study with a within-subject control. After random allocation, one side of the face was used for the intervention and the contralateral as control. DN was performed on the temporal, masseter, and sternocleidomastoid muscles. Each subject was examined bilaterally before, immediately after, and one month after the intervention through Rehabilitative Ultrasound Imaging (RUSI) of the temporomandibular articular disc and the three target muscles. Maximum mouth opening was measured at baseline and at one month. After a single DN session, articular disc thickness significantly decreased; muscles' thicknesses (except for temporal thickness) significantly decreased immediately and at follow-up on the treated side; no significant changes resulted for the control side. The maximum mouth opening increased from 4.77 mm to 4.86 mm. RUSI may be useful to assess the dimensions and thickness of the temporomandibular disc and muscles before and after an intervention. DN influences muscle morphology, and it has a positive influence on mouth opening in the short term

Characterization of the water diffusion in GEM foil material

Systematic studies on the GEM foil material are performed to measure the moisture diffusion rate and saturation level.These studies are important because the presence of this compound inside the detector’s foil can possibly change its mechanical and electrical properties,and in such a way,the detector performance can be affected.To understand this phenomenon,a model is developed with COMSOL Multiphysicsv.4.3 which described the adsorption and diffusion within the geometry of GEM foil,the concentration profiles and the time required to saturate the foil.The COMSOL model is verified by experimental observations on a GEM foil sample.This note will describe the model and its experimental verification results

Emerging topics in Brexit debate on Twitter around the deadlines a probabilistic topic modelling approach

The present study is focused on the online debate relating to the Brexit process, three years and half since the historical referendum that has sanctioned the divide of the United Kingdom from the European Union. In our analysis we consider a corpus of approximately 33 million Brexit related tweets, shared on Twitter for 58 weeks, spanning from 31 December 2019 to 9 February 2020. Due to its great accessibility to data, Twitter constitutes a convenient data source to monitor and evaluate a wide variety of topics. In addition, Twitter’s marked orientation towards news and the dissemination of information makes this microblogging network more connected to politics compared to other platforms. Through static and dynamic topic modelling techniques, we were able to identify the topics that have attracted the most attention from Twitters users and to characterise their temporal evolution. The topics retrieved by the static model highlight the major events of the Brexit process while the dynamic analysis recovered the persistent themes of discussion and debate over the entire period

Ruthenium(II) Tris-Pyrazolylmethane Complexes in Transfer Hydrogenation Reactions

While ruthenium(II) arene complexes have been widely investigated for their potential in catalytic transfer hydrogenation, studies on homologous compounds replacing the arene ligand with the six-electron donor tris(1-pyrazolyl)methane (tpm) are almost absent in the literature. The reactions of [RuCl(κ3-tpm)(PPh3)2]Cl, 1, with a series of nitrogen ligands (L) proceeded with selective PPh3 mono-substitution, affording the novel complexes [RuCl(κ3-tpm)(PPh3)(L)]Cl (L=NCMe, 2; NCPh, 3; imidazole, 4) in almost quantitative yields. Products 2–4 were fully characterized by IR and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, moreover the molecular structure of 4 was ascertained by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Compounds 2–4 were evaluated as catalytic precursors in the transfer hydrogenation of a series of ketones with isopropanol as the hydrogen source, and 2 exhibited the highest activity. Extensive NMR experiments and DFT calculations allowed to elucidate the mechanism of the transfer hydrogenation process, suggesting the crucial role played by the tpm ligand, reversibly switching from tri- to bidentate coordination during the catalytic cycle

The CXCR1/CXCR2 Inhibitor Reparixin Alters the Development of Myelofibrosis in the Gata1 low Mice

A major role for human (h)CXCL8 (interleukin-8) in the pathobiology of myelofibrosis (MF) has been suggested by observations indicating that MF megakaryocytes express increased levels of hCXCL8 and that plasma levels of this cytokine in MF patients are predictive of poor patient outcomes. Here, we demonstrate that, in addition to high levels of TGF-β, the megakaryocytes from the bone marrow of the Gata1low mouse model of myelofibrosis express high levels of murine (m)CXCL1, the murine equivalent of hCXCL8, and its receptors CXCR1 and CXCR2. Treatment with the CXCR1/R2 inhibitor, Reparixin in aged-matched Gata1low mice demonstrated reductions in bone marrow and splenic fibrosis. Of note, the levels of fibrosis detected using two independent methods (Gomori and reticulin staining) were inversely correlated with plasma levels of Reparixin. Immunostaining of marrow sections indicated that the bone marrow from the Reparixin-treated group expressed lower levels of TGF-β1 than those expressed by the bone marrow from vehicle-treated mice while the levels of mCXCL1, and expression of CXCR1 and CXCR2, were similar to that of vehicle-treated mice. Moreover, immunofluorescence analyses performed on bone marrow sections from Gata1low mice indicated that treatment with Reparixin induced expression of GATA1 while reducing expression of collagen III in megakaryocytes. These data suggest that in Gata1low mice, Reparixin reduces fibrosis by reducing TGF-β1 and collagen III expression while increasing GATA1 in megakaryocytes. Our results provide a preclinical rationale for further evaluation of this drug alone and in combination with current JAK inhibitor therapy for the treatment of patients with myelofibrosis

HER2 Overexpression and Cytogenetical Patterns in Canine Mammary Carcinomas

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is a tyrosine kinase receptor that promotes tumor cell growth and is implicated in the pathogenesis of human breast cancer. The role of HER2 in canine mammary carcinomas (CMCs) is not clear. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the protein expression and cytogenetic changes of HER2 and their correlation with other clinical-pathological parameters in CMC. We retrospectively selected 112 CMCs. HER2, ER, and Ki67 were assessed by immunohistochemistry. HER2 antibody validation was investigated by immunoblot on mammary tumor cell lines. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed with probes for HER2 and CRYBA1 (control gene present on CFA9). HER2 protein overexpression was detected in 15 carcinomas (13.5%). A total of 90 carcinomas were considered technically adequate by FISH, and 8 out of 90 CMC (10%) were HER2 amplified, 3 of which showed a cluster-type pattern. HER2 overexpression was correlated with an increased number of HER2 gene copies (p = 0.01; R = 0.24) and overall survival (p = 0.03), but no correlation with ER, Ki67, grade, metastases, and tumor-specific survival was found. Surprisingly, co-amplification or polysomy was identified in three tumors, characterized by an increased copy number of both HER2 and CRYBA1. A morphological translocation-fusion pattern was recognized in 20 carcinomas (22%), with a co-localized signal of HER2 and CRYBA1. HER2 is not associated with clinical-pathological parameters of increased malignancy in canine mammary tumors, but it is suitable for studying different amplification patterns

Factors associated with leisure-time physical activity among patients undergoing hemodialysis

Background End-stage renal disease patients are characterized by low levels of physical activity, especially during leisure time. However, the recognition of variables associated with patterns of physical activity in this population has been little explored. Thus, the objective was to assess factors associated with levels of physical activity during leisure time among patients on haemodialysis. Methods Ninety-eight patients (51.6 ± 15.7 years, 57 M/41 F) from two dialysis centres in São Paulo, Brazil participated in this cross-sectional study. Participants were divided into those who never exercised during leisure-time (inactive) and those who exercised at least once a week (active). The independent factors assessed were: socio-demographic data, comorbidities, personal barriers to exercise and physical activity records from childhood to adulthood (tracking of physical activity). Results Only 27 % of patients were engaged in PA during their leisure time at least once a week. Patients who engaged in regular physical activity during adulthood before the initiation of the hemodialysis treatment (adjusted OR: 7.24 95 % IC: 1.99; 26.50), those who developed the renal disease through diseases other than diabetes or hypertension (adjusted OR: 4.82; 95 % IC: 1.48; 15.68), and those who had no cardiovascular diseases (adjusted OR: 11.33; 95 % IC: 1.23; 103.8) where more likely to be active during their leisure-time. Conclusion Comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension and diabetes mellitus as well as the level of physical activity prior to end-stage renal disease could predict leisure-time physical activity among patients receiving hemodialysis therapy