A behavioural genetics analysis of Altruism and its relation to the Dark Triad

The current study was the first to report a behavioural genetics analysis of altruism and its relationship with the dark triad traits of personality (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy). 228 adult twins completed questionnaires of the dark triad and altruism. A significant correlation between altruism and narcissism was revealed. Altruism was found to be influenced in part by genetic factors as well as non-shared environmental factors. Implications and limitations are discussed

Sequential slice object labeling in tomographic data via trajectory estimation

The increasing usage of volumetric imaging modalities, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) in areas such as medicine and nondestructive evaluation (NDE) has placed a great importance on 3D visualization techniques. This growth of volume data in the form of cross sections has created the need for object labeling in volume data sets for 3D visualization. A sequential, slice-to-slice approach is proposed that is less computational and memory intensive than 3D connected-component labeling while achieving better results than the 2D overlap sequential processing approach. Labeling occurs while tracking each object through the 3D volume via updated trajectory approximation. This thesis is motivated by the desire to develop a labeling technique that captures key aspects of the human visual approach to the task. The proposed approach, while labeling 3D data, also provides a computationally efficient method by sequential processing of 2D slices instead of the whole 3D volume at once. Additionally, the proposed trajectory tracking approach performs correctly in many cases where current 2D sequential labeling techniques fail. Trajectory tracking for labeling is a new approach, representing the 3D objects as curves and performing 3D curve tracing to label the approximate trajectories of the objects. The labeled trajectories are then mapped back to the 3D objects to complete the labeling process. Development of the proposed labeling approach is discussed while multiple examples are presented. These examples are used to illustrate that the proposed approach performs correctly where the current overlap approach fails; examples are also used to show that the behavior of the proposed approach parallels that of the typical human approach to object tracking

Landing Throttleable Hybrid Rockets with Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning in a Simulated Environment

In this paper, I develop a hierarchical Markov Decision Process (MDP) structure for completing the task of vertical rocket landing. I start by covering the background of this problem, and formally defining its constraints. In order to reduce mistakes while formulating different MDPs, I define and develop the criteria for a standardized MDP definition format. I then decompose the problem into several sub-problems of vertical landing, namely velocity control and vertical stability control. By exploiting MDP coupling and symmetrical properties, I am able to significantly reduce the size of the state space compared to a unified MDP formulation. This paper contains two major contributions: 1) the development of a standardized MDP definition framework and 2) a hierarchical MDP structure that is able to successfully land the rocket within the goal bounds more than 95% of the time. I validate this approach by comparing its performance to a baseline RRT search, underlining the advantages of rapid-decision making compared to online planning in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Validasi Metode dan Penetapan Kadar Nitrit (NO2) pada Hasil Rebusan Sayuran Hijau (Kangkung, Brokoli, Seledri) Menggunakan Spektrofotometer UV-Vis

Telah dilakukan penelitian tentang penetapan kadar nitrit (NO2) pada beberapa sayuran yaitu kangkung, brokoli, dan seledri. Sayur kangkung diperoleh dari kebun warga daerah Kenten, Palembang, sedangkan sayur brokoli dan seledri diperoleh dari salah satu swalayan di kota Palembang. Kandungan nitrit ditentukan dari hasil air rebusan sampel sayuran dengan metode spektrofotometer UV-Vis. Dari hasil penelitian ini diperoleh nilai kandungan nitrit untuk hasil air rebusan sayuran dengan variasi waktu 5, 15, 20, 25, dan 30 menit. Untuk hasil air rebusan sayur kangkung diperoleh 0,664 mg/kg; 0,665 mg/kg; 0,685 mg/kg; 0,702 mg/kg; 0,710mg/kg. Untuk hasil air rebusan sayur brokoli diperoleh 0,646 mg/kg; 0,647 mg/kg; 0,650 mg/kg; 0,680 mg/kg; 0,704 mg/kg. Untuk hasil air rebusan sayur seledri diperoleh 0,718 mg/kg; 0,730 mg/kg; 0,818 mg/kg; 0,821 mg/kg; 0,849 mg/kg. Dari hasil perebusan pada sayuran kangkung, brokoli, seledri masih aman sesuai dengan ketentuan ADI (Acceptable Daily Intake)/ jumlah asupan harian menurut WHO (World Health Organization)

Impact of Baseline Magnetic Resonance Imaging on Neurologic, Functional, and Safety Outcomes in Patients With Acute Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury

Study Design: Systematic review. Objective: To perform a systematic review to evaluate the utility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with acute spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods: An electronic search of Medline, EMBASE, the Cochrane Collaboration Library, and Google Scholar was conducted for literature published through May 12, 2015, to answer key questions associated with the use of MRI in patients with acute SCI. Results: The literature search yielded 796 potentially relevant citations, 8 of which were included in this review. One study used MRI in a protocol to decide on early surgical decompression. The MRI-protocol group showed improved outcomes; however, the quality of evidence was deemed very low due to selection bias. Seven studies reported MRI predictors of neurologic or functional outcomes. There was moderate-quality evidence that longer intramedullary hemorrhage (2 studies) and low-quality evidence that smaller spinal canal diameter at the location of maximal spinal cord compression and the presence of cord swelling are associated with poor neurologic recovery. There was moderate-quality evidence that clinical outcomes are not predicted by SCI lesion length and the presence of cord edema. Conclusions: Certain MRI characteristics appear to be predictive of outcomes in acute SCI, including length of intramedullary hemorrhage (moderate-quality evidence), canal diameter at maximal spinal cord compression (low-quality evidence), and spinal cord swelling (low-quality evidence). Other imaging features were either inconsistently (presence of hemorrhage, maximal canal compromise, and edema length) or not associated with outcomes. The paucity of literature highlights the need for well-designed prospective studies. © 2017, © The Author(s) 2017

Interventions that Address Quality of Life for those Transitioning to Long Term Care

This research was proposed by community collaborator Lauren Gilliland, OTR/L, the director of occupational therapy at the Villages, a skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility, in central Florida. Gilliland was interested in adding new interventions to her current practice, especially with older adults affected by transitioning to a long term care facility, who experience a shift of daily roles, routines, and identity that may impact their quality of life. The focus of this evidence-based project was to explore current literature of occupational therapy interventions aiming to improve quality of life for older adults, specifically transitioning into long term care facilities. The CAT findings provided various occupational therapy interventions that have been found to improve quality of life for this population. The interventions were organized into themes of culture and art, music, spirituality, exercise-based interventions, dog-assisted therapy, and altruistic activities to help residents transitioning into long-term care to maintain their well-being. The knowledge translation activity encompassed creating and organizing a resource notebook of the recommended interventions found in the research. Our collaborating practitioner was eager for us to generate a knowledge translation product that gave the care team specific interventions that can be used in their everyday practice to improve the overall quality of life of their clients. Benefits and considerations included in the notebook present a variety of interventions that can be used in this setting. The ease and efficiency of the notebook’s use was evaluated by Gilliland and the rehabilitation team with a survey. To ensure a more holistic perspective for occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) when considering interventions, future recommendations are to include quality of life outcomes in diagnosis-specific populations such as Alzheimer’s and dementia for a broader scope, create a deeper and more defined understanding of a client’s transition experience into long term care, and utilize a more standardized assessment for measuring quality of life

Heterogeneous motor BOLD-fMRI responses in brain areas exhibiting negative BOLD cerebrovascular reactivity indicate that steal phenomenon does not always result from exhausted cerebrovascular reserve capacity

Introduction: Brain areas exhibiting negative blood oxygenation-level dependent cerebrovascular reactivity (BOLD-CVR) responses to carbon dioxide (CO2) are thought to suffer from a completely exhausted autoregulatory cerebrovascular reserve capacity and exhibit vascular steal phenomenon. If this assumption is correct, the presence of vascular steal phenomenon should subsequently result in an equal negative fMRI signal response during a motor-task based BOLD-fMRI study (increase in metabolism without an increase in cerebral blood flow due to exhausted reserve capacity) in otherwise functional brain tissue. To investigate this premise, the aim of this study was to further investigate motor-task based BOLD-fMRI signal responses in brain areas exhibiting negative BOLD-CVR. Material and methods: Seventy-one datasets of patients with cerebrovascular steno-occlusive disease without motor defects, who underwent a CO2-calibrated motor task-based BOLD-fMRI study with a fingertapping paradigm and a subsequent BOLD-CVR study with a precisely controlled CO2-challenge during the same MRI examination, were included. We compared BOLD-fMRI signal responses in the bilateral pre- and postcentral gyri - i.e. Region of Interest (ROI) with the corresponding BOLD-CVR in this ROI. The ROI was determined using a second level group analysis of the BOLD-fMRI task study of 42 healthy individuals undergoing the same study protocol. Results: An overall decrease in BOLD-CVR was associated with a decrease in BOLD-fMRI signal response within the ROI. For patients exhibiting negative BOLD-CVR, we found both positive and negative motor-task based BOLD-fMRI signal responses. Conclusion: We show that the presence of negative BOLD-CVR responses to CO2 is associated with heterogeneous motor task-based BOLD-fMRI signal responses, where some patients show -more presumed- negative BOLD-fMRI signal responses, while other patient showed positive BOLD-fMRI signal responses. This finding may indicate that the autoregulatory vasodilatory reserve capacity does not always need to be completely exhausted for vascular steal phenomenon to occur

Hemodynamic Failure Staging With Blood Oxygenation Level-Dependent Cerebrovascular Reactivity and Acetazolamide-Challenged (15^{15}O-)H2_{2}O-Positron Emission Tomography Across Individual Cerebrovascular Territories

BACKGROUND Staging of hemodynamic failure (HF) in symptomatic patients with cerebrovascular steno-occlusive disease is required to assess the risk of ischemic stroke. Since the gold standard positron emission tomography-based perfusion reserve is unsuitable as a routine clinical imaging tool, blood oxygenation level-dependent cerebrovascular reactivity (BOLD-CVR) with CO$_{2}$ is a promising surrogate imaging approach. We investigated the accuracy of standardized BOLD-CVR to classify the extent of HF. METHODS AND RESULTS Patients with symptomatic unilateral cerebrovascular steno-occlusive disease, who underwent both an acetazolamide challenge ($^{15}$O-)H$_{2}$O-positron emission tomography and BOLD-CVR examination, were included. HF staging of vascular territories was assessed using qualitative inspection of the positron emission tomography perfusion reserve images. The optimum BOLD-CVR cutoff points between HF stages 0-1-2 were determined by comparing the quantitative BOLD-CVR data to the qualitative ($^{15}$O-)H$_{2}$O-positron emission tomography classification using the 3-dimensional accuracy index to the randomly assigned training and test data sets with the following determination of a single cutoff for clinical application. In the 2-case scenario, classifying data points as HF 0 or 1-2 and HF 0-1 or 2, BOLD-CVR showed an accuracy of >0.7 for all vascular territories for HF 1 and HF 2 cutoff points. In particular, the middle cerebral artery territory had an accuracy of 0.79 for HF 1 and 0.83 for HF 2, whereas the anterior cerebral artery had an accuracy of 0.78 for HF 1 and 0.82 for HF 2. CONCLUSIONS Standardized and clinically accessible BOLD-CVR examinations harbor sufficient data to provide specific cerebrovascular reactivity cutoff points for HF staging across individual vascular territories in symptomatic patients with unilateral cerebrovascular steno-occlusive disease

Functional brain activity constrained by structural connectivity reveals cohort-specific features for serum neurofilament light chain

Background: Neuro-axonal brain damage releases neurofilament light chain (NfL) proteins, which enter the blood. Serum NfL has recently emerged as a promising biomarker for grading axonal damage, monitoring treatment responses, and prognosis in neurological diseases. Importantly, serum NfL levels also increase with aging, and the interpretation of serum NfL levels in neurological diseases is incomplete due to lack of a reliable model for age-related variation in serum NfL levels in healthy subjects. Methods: Graph signal processing (GSP) provides analytical tools, such as graph Fourier transform (GFT), to produce measures from functional dynamics of brain activity constrained by white matter anatomy. Here, we leveraged a set of features using GFT that quantified the coupling between blood oxygen level dependent signals and structural connectome to investigate their associations with serum NfL levels collected from healthy subjects and former athletes with history of concussions. Results: Here we show that GSP feature from isthmus cingulate in the right hemisphere (r-iCg) is strongly linked with serum NfL in healthy controls. In contrast, GSP features from temporal lobe and lingual areas in the left hemisphere and posterior cingulate in the right hemisphere are the most associated with serum NfL in former athletes. Additional analysis reveals that the GSP feature from r-iCg is associated with behavioral and structural measures that predict aggressive behavior in healthy controls and former athletes. Conclusions: Our results suggest that GSP-derived brain features may be included in models of baseline variance when evaluating NfL as a biomarker of neurological diseases and studying their impact on personality traits