Structural Loop Between the Cerebellum and the Superior Temporal Sulcus: Evidence from Diffusion Tensor Imaging

The cerebellum is believed to play an essential role in a variety of motor and cognitive functions through reciprocal interaction with the cerebral cortex. Recent findings suggest that cerebellar involvement in the network specialized for visual body motion processing may be mediated through interaction with the right superior temporal sulcus (STS). Yet, the underlying pattern of structural connectivity between the STS and the cerebellum remains unidentified. In the present work, diffusion tensor imaging analysis on seeds derived from functional magnetic resonance imaging during a task on point-light biological motion perception uncovers a structural pathway between the right posterior STS and the left cerebellar lobule Crus I. The findings suggest existence of a structural loop underpinning bidirectional communication between the STS and cerebellum. This connection might also be of potential value for other visual social abilitie

Longer Gestation Among Children Born Full Term Influences Cognitive and Motor Development

Children born preterm show persisting impairments in cognitive functioning, school achievement, and brain development. Most research has focused on implications of birth prior to 37 gestational weeks; however, the fetal central nervous system continues to make fundamental changes throughout gestation. Longer gestation is associated with reduced morbidity and mortality even among infants born during the period clinically defined as full term (37–41 gestational weeks). The implications of shortened gestation among term infants for neurodevelopment are poorly understood. The present study prospectively evaluates 232 mothers and their full term infants (50.4% male infants) at three time points across the first postnatal year. We evaluate the association between gestational length and cognitive and motor development. Infants included in the study were full term (born between 37 and 41 weeks gestation). The present study uses the combination of Last Menstrual Period (LMP) and early ultrasound for accurate gestational dating. Hierarchical Linear Regression analyses revealed that longer gestational length is associated with higher scores on the Bayley scales of mental and motor development at 3, 6 and 12 months of age after considering socio-demographic, pregnancy, and infant-level covariates. Findings were identical using revised categories of early, term, and late term proposed by the Working Group for Defining Term Pregnancy. Our findings indicate that longer gestation, even among term infants, benefits both cognitive and motor development

Educational technologies as a means of developing students' independence

The current stage of development of society is characterized by the development of scientific and technological progress, the emergence of various innovative processes that affect the course of development of all spheres of life, including higher education. With the emergence of a competency-based approach and a corresponding change in educational goals, higher education institutions, fulfilling the requirements of the Federal state educational standards, should use innovative educational technologies in the preparation of students to form their professional competence. The purpose of the article is to consider the experience of implementing educational technologies as a tool for developing students' independence. The independence of the student is an integral part of the development of his competence. The article presents an examination of the concepts of “independence” and “educational technology” from various points of view. The dependence of independence on the use of innovative educational technologies in the educational process is traced. The stages of the process of organizing students' independent work using innovative educational technologies are highlighted. The presented study on identifying students' level of independence when studying the discipline “Teaching Technologies of the Teachers of the Past” allows us to conclude that students are more successful with the active implementation of educational technologies, since they make the process more active and creative, make the interaction process more efficient. The study was conducted over two years (in 2018 and 2019). We checked the level of independence of students before the introduction of innovative technologies in the study of the discipline "Technology of teaching teachers of the past" and after. The more often educational technologies are used in the educational process, the more students get used to independent work, the better it becomes. The use of educational technologies allows the formation of a highly educated competent specialist who independently and creatively solves professional problems

Integrated Management of Flows in Petroleum Products Supply Chains in the Field of Hydrocarbons Deep Processing

The urgency of the problems stated in the article is reasoned by the fact that the requirements on the supply chain management system in the petrochemical industry become high on the basis of an integrated logistics concept. The purpose of the article is to develop methods to systematize the advantages of an integrated model of the petroleum products' supply chain. The leading approach to the study of this problem is the modeling method that allows assessing of the effectiveness of petroleum products' integrated supply chains. The article presents an analytical review of petroleum products' market development in the Tatarstan Republic. The content of integrated control of flows in the supply chain of petroleum products in the field of hydrocarbons' deep processing is disclosed. The submissions of the article have theoretical and practical significance for the development of models of the integrated supply chains management in the petrochemical industry. Keywords: Supply Chain, Industry, Petroleum Products, Integrated Management, Petrochemical and Gas Complex. JEL Classifications: F15, L22, M11

Angry facial expressions bias towards aversive actions

Social interaction requires fast and efficient processing of another person’s intentions. In face-to-face interactions, aversive or appetitive actions typically co-occur with emotional expressions, allowing an observer to anticipate action intentions. In the present study, we investigated the influence of facial emotions on the processing of action intentions. Thirty-two participants were presented with video clips showing virtual agents displaying a facial emotion (angry vs. happy) while performing an action (punch vs. fist-bump) directed towards the observer. During each trial, video clips stopped at varying durations of the unfolding action, and participants had to recognize the presented action. Naturally, participants’ recognition accuracy improved with increasing duration of the unfolding actions. Interestingly, while facial emotions did not influence accuracy, there was a significant influence on participants’ action judgements. Participants were more likely to judge a presented action as a punch when agents showed an angry compared to a happy facial emotion. This effect was more pronounced in short video clips, showing only the beginning of an unfolding action, than in long video clips, showing near-complete actions. These results suggest that facial emotions influence anticipatory processing of action intentions allowing for fast and adaptive responses in social interactions

Ancient DNA Analysis of the Oldest Canid Species from the Siberian Arctic and Genetic Contribution to the Domestic Dog

Modern Arctic Siberia provides a wealth of resources for archaeological, geological, and paleontological research to investigate the population dynamics of faunal communities from the Pleistocene, particularly as the faunal material coming from permafrost has proven suitable for genetic studies. In order to examine the history of the Canid species in the Siberian Arctic, we carried out genetic analysis of fourteen canid remains from various sites, including the well-documented Upper Paleolithic Yana RHS and Early Holocene Zhokhov Island sites. Estimated age of samples range from as recent as 1,700 years before present (YBP) to at least 360,000 YBP for the remains of the extinct wolf, Canis cf. variabilis. In order to examine the genetic affinities of ancient Siberian canids species to the domestic dog and modern wolves, we obtained mitochondrial DNA control region sequences and compared them to published ancient and modern canid sequences. The older canid specimens illustrate affinities with pre-domestic dog/wolf lineages while others appear in the major phylogenetic clades of domestic dogs. Our results suggest a European origin of domestic dog may not be conclusive and illustrates an emerging complexity of genetic contribution of regional wolf breeds to the modern Canis gene pool

Event-related alpha suppression in response to facial motion

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.While biological motion refers to both face and body movements, little is known about the visual perception of facial motion. We therefore examined alpha wave suppression as a reduction in power is thought to reflect visual activity, in addition to attentional reorienting and memory processes. Nineteen neurologically healthy adults were tested on their ability to discriminate between successive facial motion captures. These animations exhibited both rigid and non-rigid facial motion, as well as speech expressions. The structural and surface appearance of these facial animations did not differ, thus participants decisions were based solely on differences in facial movements. Upright, orientation-inverted and luminance-inverted facial stimuli were compared. At occipital and parieto-occipital regions, upright facial motion evoked a transient increase in alpha which was then followed by a significant reduction. This finding is discussed in terms of neural efficiency, gating mechanisms and neural synchronization. Moreover, there was no difference in the amount of alpha suppression evoked by each facial stimulus at occipital regions, suggesting early visual processing remains unaffected by manipulation paradigms. However, upright facial motion evoked greater suppression at parieto-occipital sites, and did so in the shortest latency. Increased activity within this region may reflect higher attentional reorienting to natural facial motion but also involvement of areas associated with the visual control of body effectors. © 2014 Girges et al