A miniature UV-VIS spectrometer for the surface of Mars

A miniature spectrometer is in the process of development for a future Mars mission, to measure the UV-VIS spectrum encountered at the martian surface. With an intended mass of ~100 g, the spectrometer is planned as part of the ESA ExoMars mission

The view from elsewhere: perspectives on ALife Modeling

Many artificial life researchers stress the interdisciplinary character of the field. Against such a backdrop, this report reviews and discusses artificial life, as it is depicted in, and as it interfaces with, adjacent disciplines (in particular, philosophy, biology, and linguistics), and in the light of a specific historical example of interdisciplinary research (namely cybernetics) with which artificial life shares many features. This report grew out of a workshop held at the Sixth European Conference on Artificial Life in Prague and features individual contributions from the workshop's eight speakers, plus a section designed to reflect the debates that took place during the workshop's discussion sessions. The major theme that emerged during these sessions was the identity and status of artificial life as a scientific endeavor

What are children's trusts? Early findings from a national survey

<i>Background:</i> The Children Act 2004 and National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services require fuller integration of health, education and social services for children and young people in England and Wales. The UK government supported the establishment of 35 experimental children's trust pathfinders (henceforth called children's trusts) in England. <i>Methods:</i> A questionnaire was completed by managers in all 35 children's trusts a year after their start. Children's trust documents were examined. Census and performance indicators were compared between children's trust areas and the rest of England. <i>Results</i> Children's trust areas had demographic and social characteristics typical of England. All children's trusts aimed to improve health, education and social services by greater managerial and service integration. All had boards representing the three sectors; other agencies’ representation varied. Two-thirds of children's trusts had moved towards pooling budgets in at least some service areas. At this stage in their development, some had prioritized joint procurement or provision of services, with formal managerial structures, while others favoured an informal strategic planning, co-ordination and information sharing approach. The commonest priorities for services development were for disabled children (16 children's trusts), followed by early intervention (11) and mental health services (8). <i>Conclusions:</i> The diverse strategies adopted by these 35 children's trusts during their first year is due to their own characteristics and to the way government strategy developed during this period. Whilst some prioritized organizational development, joint financing and commissioning, and information sharing, others laid more emphasis on mechanisms for bringing front-line professionals closer together. Their experiences are of value to others deciding how best to integrate children's services

Predictive validity of the UK clinical aptitude test in the final years of medical school:a prospective cohort study

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Neuronal assembly dynamics in supervised and unsupervised learning scenarios

The dynamic formation of groups of neurons—neuronal assemblies—is believed to mediate cognitive phenomena at many levels, but their detailed operation and mechanisms of interaction are still to be uncovered. One hypothesis suggests that synchronized oscillations underpin their formation and functioning, with a focus on the temporal structure of neuronal signals. In this context, we investigate neuronal assembly dynamics in two complementary scenarios: the first, a supervised spike pattern classification task, in which noisy variations of a collection of spikes have to be correctly labeled; the second, an unsupervised, minimally cognitive evolutionary robotics tasks, in which an evolved agent has to cope with multiple, possibly conflicting, objectives. In both cases, the more traditional dynamical analysis of the system’s variables is paired with information-theoretic techniques in order to get a broader picture of the ongoing interactions with and within the network. The neural network model is inspired by the Kuramoto model of coupled phase oscillators and allows one to fine-tune the network synchronization dynamics and assembly configuration. The experiments explore the computational power, redundancy, and generalization capability of neuronal circuits, demonstrating that performance depends nonlinearly on the number of assemblies and neurons in the network and showing that the framework can be exploited to generate minimally cognitive behaviors, with dynamic assembly formation accounting for varying degrees of stimuli modulation of the sensorimotor interactions

Acute effects of contract-relax stretching, static stretching and isometric contractions on muscle-tendon mechanics

Maximum joint range of motion (ROM) and resistance to joint rotation within that range (i.e. resistance to stretch) are important physical characteristics that influence the capacity to perform activities of daily living and athletic tasks [1], and are affected considerably by aging and disease [2]. The loading characteristics of different muscle stretching techniques likely influence the specific mechanisms responsible for acute increases in range of motion (ROM). Identifying mechanisms allows the determination a priori as to whether these interventions might be useful in different clinical populations, why such stretch interventions elicit different responses in different individuals, and to optimize/improve the methodology of, and response to, the stretch technique. Therefore, the effects of contract-relax proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (CR) stretching, static stretching (SS) and maximal isometric contraction (Iso) interventions were studied in 17 healthy human volunteers. Methods: Passive ankle moment was recorded on an isokinetic dynamometer with electromyographic (EMG) recording from the triceps surae, simultaneous real-time motion analysis, and ultrasound imaging recorded gastrocnemius medialis muscle and Achilles tendon elongation. The subjects then performed each intervention randomly on separate days before reassessment. The SS condition included 4 x 15 s plantar flexor stretches with 15 s rest between stretches, the CR condition included 10 s stretches followed immediately by a 5-s ramped maximal isometric plantar flexor contraction in a fully stretched position, repeated four times giving a total duration of 60 s; identical to the SS condition. The Iso condition included 4 x 5 s ramped maximal isometric plantar flexor contractions performed in the anatomical position, with 15 s rest between contractions. Results: Significant increases in dorsiflexion ROM (2.5-5.3°; P 0.05), while significant reductions in muscle stiffness (see Figure 1, B) occurred after CR and SS (16.0-20.5%; P 0.05). Increases in peak passive moment (stretch tolerance) occurred after Iso (6.8%; P 0.05). Significant correlations (rs = 0.69-0.82; P < 0.01) were observed between the changes in peak passive moment and maximum ROM in all conditions. Conclusion: While similar ROM increases occurred after isometric contractions and static stretching, changes in muscle and tendon stiffness were distinct. The concomitant reductions in muscle and tendon stiffness after contract-relax stretching suggest a broader adaptive mechanical response that likely explains its superior efficacy to acutely increase ROM. These are the first data to confirm that acute changes in tendon stiffness may contribute to PNF stretching’s superior efficacy to increase ROM, above other stretching modes. However, while mechanical changes appear tissue-specific between interventions, significant correlations between the change in peak passive moment and the change in ROM were observed in all conditions, indicative of a neurological adaptation (i.e. increased stretch tolerance) also being important for the acute increases in ROM. The reduction in tendon stiffness and increase in ROM detected following the Iso condition have important methodological implications as these data indicate that the performance of contractions ‘on stretch’ during PNF stretching may not be needed. Modifying PNF stretching to perform the contraction phase in the anatomical, rather than highly stretched position, removes the need for partner assistance, decreases the likelihood of inducing pain, tissue damage and muscle strain injury during the technique, which may enhance PNF’s suitability and practicality for athletic and clinical populations

The development and validation of a human screening model of tobacco abstinence

Introduction Given the low efficacy of smoking cessation methods, an experimental medicine model indicating smoking abstinence would be of great benefit to the development of new treatments. Hence the sensitivity of cognitive tasks and ambulatory craving measures to smoking abstinence were investigated. Methods Cognitive tasks and ambulatory ratings of craving were assessed for sensitivity to acute abstinence (experiment 1), and nicotine replacement therapy administration (NRT) (experiment 2). Results In experiment 1 go/no-go performance was improved (Mean Difference [MD] -0.99, 95% CI: −1.90 to −0.08) and craving was lower (Regression Coefficient [RC] −33.39, 95% CI: -39.96 to -26.82) in satiated compared with abstinent smokers. There was no clear evidence that N-back (MD 0.64, 95% CI: −0.42 to 2.51), delay discounting (MD 0.01, 95% CI: 0.001 to 0.005) or dot probe performance (MD 0.61, 95% CI: −0.87 to 1.54) were sensitive to acute abstinence. In experiment 2 go/no-go performance was improved (MD 1.12, 95% CI: 0.16–2.08) and craving was lower (RC −18.59, 95% CI: −24.63 to −12.55) smokers abstinent overnight receiving NRT compared with placebo. There was no clear evidence that N-back (MD −0.25, 95% CI: −1.45 to 0.94), delay discounting (MD 0.01, 95% CI: -0.002 to 0.004) or dot probe performance (MD −0.49, 95% CI: −1.61 to −0.64) were sensitive to NRT. Conclusions Findings from two experiments converge to suggest that abstinence in smokers reliably increases ambulatory craving assessments and, to a lesser extent, decreases go/no-go task performance. These findings can be utilized in the development of an experimental medicine model to test novel treatments for smoking cessation

Effects of contract–relax, static stretching, and isometric contractions on muscle–tendon mechanics

Introduction: Loading characteristics of stretching techniques likely influence the specific mechanisms responsible for acute increases in range of motion (ROM). Therefore, the effects of a version of contract–relax (CR) proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching, static stretching (SS), and maximal isometric contraction (Iso) interventions were studied in 17 healthy human volunteers. Methods: Passive ankle moment was recorded on an isokinetic dynamometer, with EMG recording from the triceps surae, simultaneous real-time motion analysis, and ultrasound-imaging-recorded gastrocnemius medialis muscle and Achilles tendon elongation. Subjects then performed each intervention randomly on separate days before reassessment. Results: Significant increases in dorsiflexion ROM (2.5°–5.3°; P 0.05), whereas significant reductions in muscle stiffness occurred after CR stretching and SS (16.0%–20.5%; P 0.05). Increases in peak passive moment (stretch tolerance) occurred after Iso (6.8%; P 0.05). Significant correlations (rs = 0.69–0.82; P < 0.01) were observed between changes in peak passive moment and maximal ROM under all conditions. Conclusions: Although similar ROM increases occur after Iso and SS, changes in muscle and tendon stiffness are distinct. Concomitant reductions in muscle and tendon stiffness after CR stretching suggest a broader adaptive response that likely explains its superior efficacy in acutely increasing ROM. Although mechanical changes appear tissue-specific between interventions, similar increases in stretch tolerance after all interventions are strongly correlated with changes in ROM

Behavioral tasks sensitive to acute abstinence and predictive of smoking cessation success:a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Performance on cognitive tasks may be sensitive to acute smoking abstinence and may also predict whether quit attempts fail. Our aim was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify cognitive tasks sensitive to acute abstinence and predictive of smoking cessation success.METHODS: Embase, Medline, PsycInfo and Web of Science were searched up to March 2016. Studies were included if they enrolled adults and assessed smoking using used a quantitative measure. Studies were combined in a random effects meta-analysis.RESULTS: We included 42 acute abstinence studies and 13 cessation studies were included. There was evidence for an effect of abstinence on delay discounting [d = 0.26, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.45, p = 0.005], response inhibition [d = 0.48, 95% CI 0.26 to 0.70, p &lt; 0.001], mental arithmetic [d = 0.38, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.70, p = 0.018], and recognition memory [d = 0.46, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.70, p &lt; 0.001]. In contrast performance on the Stroop [d =0 .17, 95% CI -0.17 to 0.51, p = 0.333] and smoking Stroop [d = 0.03, 95% CI -0.11 to 0.17, p = 0.675] task was not influenced by abstinence. We found only weak evidence for an effect of acute abstinence on dot probe task performance [d = 0.15, 95% CI -0.01 to 0.32, p = 0.072]. The design of the cessation studies was too heterogeneous to permit meta-analysis.CONCLUSIONS: Compared with satiated smokers, acutely abstinent smokers display higher delay discounting, lower response inhibition, impaired arithmetic, and recognition memory performance. However, reaction time measures of cognitive bias appear to be unaffected by acute tobacco abstinence. Conclusions about cognitive tasks that predict smoking cessation success were limited by methodological inconsistencies.</p