random movements generation in western and eastern cultures

Recent investigations document a space number association effect in decisional processes of left-to-right reading cultures. Here, we expanded on this issue by studying motor decisional processes in a group of bilingual Iranians (i.e., which read text from right to left and numbers from left to right) and a group of monolingual Australians, submitted to four different numerical cues (i.e., digits written in Arabic, digits written in East Arabic, English number words, Farsi number words). According to previous evidence, we found that both Arabic digits and English number words affect the performance of the Australian participants; on the contrary, no effect has been reported for all four codes in the performance of the Iranian participants. The current findings are discussed according to the absence of a consistence in the reading direction between numbers and words (i.e., Iranian participants) as well as the specific Inter Stimulus Interval (ISI) adopted for displaying all four codes

Sit-to-Walk predicts Freezing of Gait status over than cognitive load: an experimental study with Linear Discriminant Analysis.

Freezing of Gait (FoG) is one of the most debilitating symptom of patients with Parkinson Disease (PwP) as it could leads to fall and loss of independence. We evaluated the motor behavior in simple and complex gait movements with three groups of participants: PwP with and without FoG in ON state condition, and participants without neurologic and gait disorders. All participants were required to walk, to begin to walk (Step Initiation), and raise from a chair for walking (Sit-to-Walk). Analysis of variance helped to identify task-specific kinematic and kinetic variables which differentiate among the three groups. Classification accuracy of such variables was obtained by training a Linear Discriminant Analysis \u2013 LDA algorithm on reduced sub-samples, and by testing it on the left out subjects

Electromechanical and robotic devices for gait and balance rehabilitation of children with neurological disability: a systematic review

In the last two decades, a growing interest has been focused on gait and balance robot-assisted rehabilitation in children with neurological disabilities. Robotic devices allow the implementation of intensive, task-specific training fostering functional recovery and neuroplasticity phenomena. However, limited attention has been paid to the protocols used in this research framework. This systematic review aims to provide an overview of the existing literature on robotic systems for the rehabilitation of gait and balance in children with neurological disabilities and their rehabilitation applications. The literature search was carried out independently and synchronously by three authors on the following databases: MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, PeDro, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. The data collected included three subsections referring to clinical, technical, and regulatory aspects. Thirty-one articles out of 81 found on the primary literature search were included in the systematic review. Most studies involved children with cerebral palsy. Only one-third of the studies were randomized controlled trials. Overall, 17 devices (nine end-effector systems and eight exoskeletons) were investigated, among which only 4 (24%) were bore the CE mark. Studies differ on rehabilitation protocols duration, intensity, and outcome measures. Future research should improve both rehabilitation protocols\u2019 and devices\u2019 descriptions

Gamification in Rehabilitation: The Role of Subjective Experience in a Multisensory Learning Context – A Narrative Review

Game-based approaches are emerging in many fields, such as education, social sciences, marketing and government. Most studies debate its role in consolidating learning, guided by both internal and external rewards

The common European mosquitoes Culex pipiens and Aedes albopictus are unable to transmit SARS-CoV-2 after a natural-mimicking challenge with infected blood

Background: On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak to be a pandemic. As the mosquito season progressed, the understandable concern that mosquitoes could transmit the virus began to increase among the general public and public health organisations. We have investigated the vector competence of Culex pipiens and Aedes albopictus, the two most common species of vector mosquitoes in Europe, for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Due to the very unusual feeding behaviour of Ae. albopictus, we also evaluated the role of this mosquito in a potential mechanical transmission of the virus. Methods: For the vector competence study, mosquitoes were allowed\ua0to take several\ua0infectious blood meals. The mosquitoes were then collected and analysed at 0, 3, 7 and 10 days post-feeding. For the mechanical transmission test, Ae. albopictus females were allowed to feed for a short time on a feeder containing infectious blood and then on a feeder containing virus-free blood. Both mosquitoes and blood were tested for viral presence. Results: Culex pipiens and Ae. albopictus were found not be competent vectors for SARS-CoV-2, and Ae. albopictus was unable to mechanically transmit the virus. Conclusions: This is the first study to show that the most common species of vector mosquitoes in Europe do not transmit SARS-CoV-2 and that Ae. albopictus is unable to mechanically transmit the virus from a positive host to a healthy host through host-feeding.[Figure not available: see fulltext.