The Role of Posterior Parietal Brain Regions in Creative Divergent Thinking by Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)

Creativity is defined as producing original and valuable ideas. Cognitive and neuroscience studies have investigated nonverbal and neural underpinnings of creativity through transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). In the current experiment the study included 40 students of faculty of psychology from the University of Tehran. Participants were randomly assigned to either experimental or sham groups by accessible sampling. Descriptive statistical analysis like frequency, frequency percentage, average, standard deviation, variance, Pierson correlation and inferential statistic like variance analysis of multiple variables were conducted. The results show that left cathode-right anodal tDCS stimulation of posterior parietal cortex (PPC; P3-P4 based on 10-20 international system) had a significant effect on within and between subject scores of FPT in the experimental group in comparison with the sham group. Findings of current study imply that PPC has a role in neural underpinnings and enhancement of creativity

Comparison of Semantic Memory Function between Bilingual and Monolingual Children with Specific Learning Difficulties

The purpose of the present study was to compare semantic memory in monolingual and bilingual children with specific learning disabilities. The research design was fundamental and causal-comparative. A number of 60 children including 30 monolingual (Persian, 15 boys and 15 girls) children from Tehran and 30 bilingual children (Kurdish-Persian, 15 boys and 15 girls) from Javanrood city in 2019-2020 were recruited from special learning disabilities rehabilitation centers using accessible sampling. Data were collected using 4-versions of the Wechsler Intelligence Test (WISC-IV) and the Semantic Memory Test (SMT). Descriptive and inferential statistical methods such as mean, standard deviation, independent t-test, and Friedman test were performed using SPSS-21. The results showed that the semantic memory performance of the monolingual children was better than that of the bilingual children (t=5.40, P<0/05). Moreover, a significant relationship was found between the frequency of letters in Persian and performance in the letter fluency test (2=86.50, P<0.01). The results of the study show that despite the children without specific learning disabilities, monolingual children have better semantic memory function than bilingual children with SL

Scalable online learning for flink: SOLMA library

Driven by the needs of Flink to expand the offline engine to a hybrid one, a new machine learning (ML) library, called SOLMA is proposed. This library aims to cover online learning algorithms for data streams. In this setting, data streams are processed sequentially example by example. SOLMA, which is under development, currently contains two classes of algorithms: (i) basic streaming routines such as online sampling, online PCA, online statistical moments and (ii) advanced online ML algorithms covering in particular classification, regression and drift/anomaly detection and handling. This paper briefly highlights the concepts underlying SOLMA

Regulatory CD8 T cells that recognize Qa-1 expressed by CD4 T-helper cells inhibit rejection of heart allografts

Induction of longstanding immunologic tolerance is essential for survival of transplanted organs and tissues. Despite recent advances in immunosuppression protocols, allograft damage inflicted by antibody specific for donor organs continues to represent a major obstacle to graft survival. Here we report that activation of regulatory CD8 T cells (CD8 Treg) that recognize the Qa-1 class Ib major histocompatibility complex (MHC), a mouse homolog of human leukocyte antigen-E (HLA-E), inhibits antibody-mediated immune rejection of heart allografts. We analyzed this response using a mouse model that harbors a point mutation in the class Ib MHC molecule Qa-1, which disrupts Qa-1 binding to the T cell receptor (TCR)-CD8 complex and impairs the CD8 Treg response. Despite administration of cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) immunoglobulin (Ig), Qa-1 mutant mice developed robust donor-specific antibody responses and accelerated heart graft rejection. We show that these allo-antibody responses reflect diminished Qa-1-restricted CD8 Treg-mediated suppression of host follicular helper T cell-dependent antibody production. These findings underscore the critical contribution of this Qa-1/HLA-E-dependent regulatory pathway to maintenance of transplanted organs and suggest therapeutic approaches to ameliorate allograft rejection

Characterization of greater middle eastern genetic variation for enhanced disease gene discovery

The Greater Middle East (GME) has been a central hub of human migration and population admixture. The tradition of consanguinity, variably practiced in the Persian Gulf region, North Africa, and Central Asia1-3, has resulted in an elevated burden of recessive disease4. Here we generated a whole-exome GME variome from 1,111 unrelated subjects. We detected substantial diversity and admixture in continental and subregional populations, corresponding to several ancient founder populations with little evidence of bottlenecks. Measured consanguinity rates were an order of magnitude above those in other sampled populations, and the GME population exhibited an increased burden of runs of homozygosity (ROHs) but showed no evidence for reduced burden of deleterious variation due to classically theorized ‘genetic purging’. Applying this database to unsolved recessive conditions in the GME population reduced the number of potential disease-causing variants by four- to sevenfold. These results show variegated genetic architecture in GME populations and support future human genetic discoveries in Mendelian and population genetics

Burden of disease scenarios for 204 countries and territories, 2022–2050: a forecasting analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Future trends in disease burden and drivers of health are of great interest to policy makers and the public at large. This information can be used for policy and long-term health investment, planning, and prioritisation. We have expanded and improved upon previous forecasts produced as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) and provide a reference forecast (the most likely future), and alternative scenarios assessing disease burden trajectories if selected sets of risk factors were eliminated from current levels by 2050. Methods: Using forecasts of major drivers of health such as the Socio-demographic Index (SDI; a composite measure of lag-distributed income per capita, mean years of education, and total fertility under 25 years of age) and the full set of risk factor exposures captured by GBD, we provide cause-specific forecasts of mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) by age and sex from 2022 to 2050 for 204 countries and territories, 21 GBD regions, seven super-regions, and the world. All analyses were done at the cause-specific level so that only risk factors deemed causal by the GBD comparative risk assessment influenced future trajectories of mortality for each disease. Cause-specific mortality was modelled using mixed-effects models with SDI and time as the main covariates, and the combined impact of causal risk factors as an offset in the model. At the all-cause mortality level, we captured unexplained variation by modelling residuals with an autoregressive integrated moving average model with drift attenuation. These all-cause forecasts constrained the cause-specific forecasts at successively deeper levels of the GBD cause hierarchy using cascading mortality models, thus ensuring a robust estimate of cause-specific mortality. For non-fatal measures (eg, low back pain), incidence and prevalence were forecasted from mixed-effects models with SDI as the main covariate, and YLDs were computed from the resulting prevalence forecasts and average disability weights from GBD. Alternative future scenarios were constructed by replacing appropriate reference trajectories for risk factors with hypothetical trajectories of gradual elimination of risk factor exposure from current levels to 2050. The scenarios were constructed from various sets of risk factors: environmental risks (Safer Environment scenario), risks associated with communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases (CMNNs; Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination scenario), risks associated with major non-communicable diseases (NCDs; Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario), and the combined effects of these three scenarios. Using the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways climate scenarios SSP2-4.5 as reference and SSP1-1.9 as an optimistic alternative in the Safer Environment scenario, we accounted for climate change impact on health by using the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change temperature forecasts and published trajectories of ambient air pollution for the same two scenarios. Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy were computed using standard methods. The forecasting framework includes computing the age-sex-specific future population for each location and separately for each scenario. 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) for each individual future estimate were derived from the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles of distributions generated from propagating 500 draws through the multistage computational pipeline. Findings: In the reference scenario forecast, global and super-regional life expectancy increased from 2022 to 2050, but improvement was at a slower pace than in the three decades preceding the COVID-19 pandemic (beginning in 2020). Gains in future life expectancy were forecasted to be greatest in super-regions with comparatively low life expectancies (such as sub-Saharan Africa) compared with super-regions with higher life expectancies (such as the high-income super-region), leading to a trend towards convergence in life expectancy across locations between now and 2050. At the super-region level, forecasted healthy life expectancy patterns were similar to those of life expectancies. Forecasts for the reference scenario found that health will improve in the coming decades, with all-cause age-standardised DALY rates decreasing in every GBD super-region. The total DALY burden measured in counts, however, will increase in every super-region, largely a function of population ageing and growth. We also forecasted that both DALY counts and age-standardised DALY rates will continue to shift from CMNNs to NCDs, with the most pronounced shifts occurring in sub-Saharan Africa (60·1% [95% UI 56·8–63·1] of DALYs were from CMNNs in 2022 compared with 35·8% [31·0–45·0] in 2050) and south Asia (31·7% [29·2–34·1] to 15·5% [13·7–17·5]). This shift is reflected in the leading global causes of DALYs, with the top four causes in 2050 being ischaemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, compared with 2022, with ischaemic heart disease, neonatal disorders, stroke, and lower respiratory infections at the top. The global proportion of DALYs due to YLDs likewise increased from 33·8% (27·4–40·3) to 41·1% (33·9–48·1) from 2022 to 2050, demonstrating an important shift in overall disease burden towards morbidity and away from premature death. The largest shift of this kind was forecasted for sub-Saharan Africa, from 20·1% (15·6–25·3) of DALYs due to YLDs in 2022 to 35·6% (26·5–43·0) in 2050. In the assessment of alternative future scenarios, the combined effects of the scenarios (Safer Environment, Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination, and Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenarios) demonstrated an important decrease in the global burden of DALYs in 2050 of 15·4% (13·5–17·5) compared with the reference scenario, with decreases across super-regions ranging from 10·4% (9·7–11·3) in the high-income super-region to 23·9% (20·7–27·3) in north Africa and the Middle East. The Safer Environment scenario had its largest decrease in sub-Saharan Africa (5·2% [3·5–6·8]), the Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario in north Africa and the Middle East (23·2% [20·2–26·5]), and the Improved Nutrition and Vaccination scenario in sub-Saharan Africa (2·0% [–0·6 to 3·6]). Interpretation: Globally, life expectancy and age-standardised disease burden were forecasted to improve between 2022 and 2050, with the majority of the burden continuing to shift from CMNNs to NCDs. That said, continued progress on reducing the CMNN disease burden will be dependent on maintaining investment in and policy emphasis on CMNN disease prevention and treatment. Mostly due to growth and ageing of populations, the number of deaths and DALYs due to all causes combined will generally increase. By constructing alternative future scenarios wherein certain risk exposures are eliminated by 2050, we have shown that opportunities exist to substantially improve health outcomes in the future through concerted efforts to prevent exposure to well established risk factors and to expand access to key health interventions

Predicting Mindfulness levels based on self-oriented, other-oriented, and socially prescribed perfectionism dimensions

The current study aims to predict the mindfulness levels based on three dimensions of perfectionism including self-oriented, other-oriented, and community-oriented. According to the aim of the study, descripted-correlation method was chosen. The Statistical population is comprised of all students of university of Tehran (in the academic year 2016–2017), and by using non-randomized available method, 265 students (230 males and 35 females) were selected. The Data collection tools include Tehran Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (TMPS) and Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale (MAAS), whose questionnaires were filled out by the sample population. Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression analysis were used to analyze the data. The findings showed a significant negative correlation between perfectionism and mindfulness. Linear regression model indicated that the triple dimensions of perfectionism could predict 18% of mindfulness changes significantly (p <0.05). Based on the findings of the present study, it can be concluded that the triple dimensions of perfectionism can affect the success of a person in mindful being. Adhering to standards and worrying about the expectations and negative reactions of others in the perfectionist will make them not be present enough here and now

The Effectiveness of Neurofeedback Training on Enhancing Discrete Skills of Athletes: A Review Study

Many techniques have been invented to enhance sport performance which nowadays are used by athletes in different sport fields. Among these techniques, neurofeedback as a noninvasive brain method has received much attention. The present study was conducted to report research results of athletes’ discrete skills by convenience sampling method. English articles were searched by keywords like “neurofeedback”, “EEG neurofedback”, “sport performance”, “athletic performance”, “shooting performance”, “archery”, “putting performance” and “golf” to collect data. The articles were collected from PsycINFO, PubMed, web of science, EBSCO and Google Scholar databases from 1990 to 2018. Persian articles were searched with same keywords in SID, Noormags, Magiran and Irandoc databases from 2001 to 2020. 16 articles had the inclusion criteria of the research and were selected. Then, the information of each article was extracted and reported in findings by an author using a specific checklist. Results showed that different recruited neurofeedback protocols in any study could affect the results of interventions and it is necessary to pay attention to this method in athletes. Based on these findings, neurofeedback training has positive effectiveness on enhancing sport performance in athletes

Processing and decisions relating to water resources data: The case of Morocco

The national water strategy has been an essential vector of government strategy for a long time. The management of water resources is an integral part of the economic development of Morocco. Nevertheless, the definition of the strategic axes of this component and the adequate decision-making depends directly on the collection and use of all the data relating to water resources. If big data technologies present a suitable solution to ensure optimal and rapid use of its data, the success of functional and technical designs can only be provided after total control of the processing and decision-making processes relating to the water domain. In this paper, we will try to identify the aspects relating to the processes of data collection, processing, consolidation, and decision-making through the use of the results of field surveys and interviews with business managers