Do pictures really say more than a thousand words? A network approach to early traumatic experience and empathic responding

Background:Empathy is essential for interpersonal relationships, yet remains difficult to measure. Some evidence suggests that early traumatic experiences leads to alterations in empathic responding. Objective:This study sought to differentiate connections between subtypes of childhood maltreatment, a pictorial test of affective empathy (PET), and self-reported empathy (Interpersonal Reactivity Index; IRI) by using network analysis approach to investigate the structure of relationships between childhood maltreatment and later empathic responding. Method:301 participants completed the PET, the Early Trauma Inventory Self Report-Short Form (ETISR-SF), the IRI, and questionnaires assessing current mood and perceived stress levels. Results:The PET showed a strong positive association with the IRI subscale empathic concern (EC), after conditioning on all other nodes in the network. EC proved to be a highly central node and was positively related to severity of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), yet not to childhood physical abuse or emotional maltreatment. Pathways between emotional maltreatment and physical abuse and the PET were indirect, passing through self-reported EC and CSA. Conclusions:Our study suggests that CSA more so than other childhood maltreatment experiences is associated with increased self-reported affective empathy, but is not captured directly through a pictorial test of affective empathy

Robot-assisted gait training to reduce pusher behavior

Objective To determine the effects of 2 weeks of intensive robot-assisted gait training (RAGT) on pusher behavior compared to nonrobotic physiotherapy (nR-PT). Methods In a single-blind, randomized, controlled trial with 2 parallel arms, we compared 2 weeks of daily RAGT (intervention group) with the same amount of nR-PT (control group). Patients with subacute stroke who had pusher behavior according to the Scale for Contraversive Pushing (SCP) were included. The primary research questions were whether changes in pusher behavior would differ between groups post intervention, and at a follow-up 2 weeks afterward (SCP and Burke Lateropulsion Scale, Class II evidence). Secondary outcomes included the Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment, the Functional Ambulation Classification, and the Subjective Visual Vertical. Results Thirty-eight patients were randomized. Thereof, 30 patients received the allocated intervention and were included in the analyses. RAGT led to a larger reduction of pusher behavior than nR-PT at post test (SCP: U = 69.00, r = -0.33, p = 0.037;Burke Lateropulsion Scale: U = 47.500, r = -0.50, p = 0.003) and at follow-up (SCP: U = 54.00, r = -0.44, p = 0.008). Pusher behavior had ceased in 6 of 15 participants in the intervention group and 1 of 15 participants in the control group at post test. At follow-up, 9 of 15 and 5 of 15 participants, respectively, no longer exhibited the behavior. Conclusions Two weeks of RAGT seems to persistently reduce pusher behavior, possibly by recalibrating the disturbed inner reference of verticality. The potential benefits of RAGT on pusher behavior and verticality perception require further investigation. Trial registration German Clinical Trials Register (registration number: DRKS00003444). Classification of evidence This study provides Class II evidence that RAGT is beneficial to reduce pusher behavior in patients with stroke

RCEP IP Chapter: Another TRIPS-Plus Agreement?

Peer reviewe

Ensembles of adaptive spatial filters increase BCI performance: an online evaluation

Objective: In electroencephalographic (EEG) data, signals from distinct sources within the brain are widely spread by volume conduction and superimposed such that sensors receive mixtures of a multitude of signals. This reduction of spatial information strongly hampers single-trial analysis of EEG data as, for example, required for brain–computer interfacing (BCI) when using features from spontaneous brain rhythms. Spatial filtering techniques are therefore greatly needed to extract meaningful information from EEG. Our goal is to show, in online operation, that common spatial pattern patches (CSPP) are valuable to counteract this problem. Approach: Even though the effect of spatial mixing can be encountered by spatial filters, there is a trade-off between performance and the requirement of calibration data. Laplacian derivations do not require calibration data at all, but their performance for single-trial classification is limited. Conversely, data-driven spatial filters, such as common spatial patterns (CSP), can lead to highly distinctive features; however they require a considerable amount of training data. Recently, we showed in an offline analysis that CSPP can establish a valuable compromise. In this paper, we confirm these results in an online BCI study. In order to demonstrate the paramount feature that CSPP requires little training data, we used them in an adaptive setting with 20 participants and focused on users who did not have success with previous BCI approaches. Main results: The results of the study show that CSPP adapts faster and thereby allows users to achieve better feedback within a shorter time than previous approaches performed with Laplacian derivations and CSP filters. The success of the experiment highlights that CSPP has the potential to further reduce BCI inefficiency. Significance: CSPP are a valuable compromise between CSP and Laplacian filters. They allow users to attain better feedback within a shorter time and thus reduce BCI inefficiency to one-fourth in comparison to previous non-adaptive paradigms.The work of Claudia Sannelli, Carmen Vidaurre and Klaus-Robert Müller was funded by the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) under Grant 01IS14013A-E and Grant 01GQ1115, as well as by the Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft (DFG) under Grant MU 987/19-1, MU987/14-1 and DFG MU 987/3-2. Additionally, the work of Klaus-Robert Müller was funded by the Brain Korea 21 Plus Program. The work of Benjamin Blankertz was funded by the BMBF contract 01GQ0850

Metabolomics of dietary fatty acid restriction in patients with phenylketonuria

Patients with phenylketonuria (PKU) have to follow a lifelong phenylalanine restricted diet. This type of diet markedly reduces the intake of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids especially long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA). Long-chain saturated fatty acids are substrates of mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation for acetyl-CoA production. LC-PUFA are discussed to affect inflammatory and haemostaseological processes in health and disease. The influence of the long term PKU diet on fatty acid metabolism with a special focus on platelet eicosanoid metabolism has been investigated in the study presented here. 12 children with PKU under good metabolic control and 8 healthy controls were included. Activated fatty acids (acylcarnitines C6-C18) in dried blood and the cholesterol metabolism in serum were analyzed by liquid chromatographic tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Fatty acid composition of plasma glycerophospholipids was determined by gas chromatography. LC-PUFA metabolites were analyzed in supernatants by LC-MS/MS before and after platelet activation and aggregation using a standardized protocol. Patients with PKU had significantly lower free carnitine and lower activated fatty acids in dried blood compared to controls. Phytosterols as marker of cholesterol (re-) absorption were not influenced by the dietary fatty acid restriction. Fatty acid composition in glycerophospholipids was comparable to that of healthy controls. However, patients with PKU showed significantly increased concentrations of y-linolenic acid (C18:3n-6) a precursor of arachidonic acid. In the PKU patients significantly higher platelet counts were observed. After activation with collagen platelet aggregation and thromboxane B(2) and thromboxane B(3) release did not differ from that of healthy controls. Long-term dietary fatty acid restriction influenced the intermediates of mitochondrial beta-oxidation. No functional influence on unsaturated fatty acid metabolism and platelet aggregation in patients with PKU was detected

Brand activism in the 21st century : what makes brand activism authentic among millennials?

The increasing presence and popularity of brand activism is creating new opportunities for brands to demonstrate their support for social and political issues by taking a stance on these controversial issues and communicating this. The expectation of brands to participate in brand activism is particularly prevalent among millennials, who constitute a large share of the population and have significant spending power but are also increasingly skeptical of marketing ploys. Thus, participating in brand activism carries substantial risks for brands. It can lead to backlash and have negative financial implications if the efforts are not deemed authentic. However, the concept of brand activism authenticity in general and with a focus on millennials has not received adequate attention in research. Since brand activism authenticity is a relatively novel topic and is crucial to the initiative’s success, and because of the critical role millennials play in society, both practitioners and academics have an interest in addressing this research gap. Therefore, the overall purpose of this study was to delve into the factors that make brand activism authentic among millennials. Insights were first gathered through existing research on authenticity, both within brand activism and CSR, which allowed for the construction of a conceptual model of brand activism authenticity. The conceptual model proposes the following factors of brand activism: impact, fit, self-serving motives, and brand attitude. Brand attitude was found to have a mediating effect in other contexts within the existing research. As such, it was also tested whether brand attitude mediates the effect of impact, fit and self-serving motives on brand activism authenticity. Thus, this study explores the factors of brand activism authenticity by adopting a deductive research approach and conducting primary quantitative research through an online survey. The results of the quantitative analysis revealed that three of the four proposed factors affect the perceived authenticity of brand activism among millennials. In order of their strength, the factors that significantly affect the authenticity of brand activism are fit, impact, and brand attitude. Self-serving motives were not found to affect the authenticity of brand activism initiatives. The study additionally finds that brand attitude mediates the effect that fit and impact have on brand activism authenticity. Considering that brand activism authenticity is a novel topic and that no quantitative research has been conducted, the findings of this study provide several implications for managers and academics. For example, considering the importance of fit in authenticity, managers should make efforts to gain an understanding of what issues consumers are concerned with when choosing a brand activism initiative to ensure alignment. Moreover, several recommendations for future research were suggested, such as testing further factors of authenticity in the context of brand activism

Characterization of thermoplastic starch/poly(lactic acid) blends obtained by extrusion and thermopressing

Blends of poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/thermoplastic starch (TPS) were prepared by extrusion and thermopressing, with proportions of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 g of PLA per g TPS. Thermoplastic starch was obtained from the extrusion of 0.30 g or 0.25 g of glycerol per g of starch. The mechanical properties and water vapor permeability were tested and water sorption isotherms were obtained. The morphological characteristics of the samples were observed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the thermal properties of the pure polymers and the blends by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The SEM and DSC results indicated the immiscibility of the TPS/PLA blends and the presence of two phases. For blends with 20% and 30% of PLA increases in the tensile strength and modulus were observed. The lowest water vapor permeability was observed for the blend with 30% of PLA, which is related to the lowest diffusion coefficient value observed for this sample