Changes in motor synergies for tracking movement and responses to perturbations depend on task-irrelevant dimension constraints

We investigated the changes in the motor synergies of target-tracking movements of hands and the responses to perturbation when the dimensionalities of target positions were changed. We used uncontrolled manifold (UCM) analyses to quantify the motor synergies. The target was changed from one to two dimensions, and the direction orthogonal to the movement direction was switched from task-irrelevant directions to task-relevant directions. The movement direction was task-relevant in both task conditions. Hence, we evaluated the effects of constraints on the redundant dimensions on movement tracking. Moreover, we could compare the two types of responses to the same directional perturbations in one- and two-dimensional target tasks. In the one-dimensional target task, the perturbation along the movement direction and the orthogonal direction were task-relevant and -irrelevant perturbations, respectively. In the two-dimensional target task, the both perturbations were task-relevant perturbations. The results of the experiments showed that the variabilities of the hand positions in the two-dimensional target-tracking task decreased, but the variances of the joint angles did not significantly change. For the task-irrelevant perturbations, the variances of the joint angles within the UCM that did not affect hand position (UCM component) increased. For the task-relevant perturbations, the UCM component tended to increase when the available UCM was large. These results suggest that humans discriminate whether the perturbations were task-relevant or -irrelevant and then adjust the responses of the joints by utilizing the available UCM

Characterization and profiling of immunomodulatory genes of equine mesenchymal stromal cells from non-invasive sources

Introduction: Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have been extensively studied for their promising capabilities in regenerative medicine. Although bone marrow is the best-known source for isolating equine MSCs, non-invasive alternative sources such as umbilical cord blood (UCB), umbilical cord matrix (UCM), and peripheral blood (PB) have also been reported. Methods: Equine MSCs from three non-invasive alternative sources were isolated from six individual mares (PB) and their foals (UCB and UCM) at parturition. To minimize inter-horse variability, the samples from the three sources were matched within the same mare and for UCB and UCM even within the same foal from that specific mare. The following parameters were analyzed: (i) success rate of isolation, (ii) proliferation capacity, (iii) tri-lineage differentiation ability, (iv) immunophenotypical protein, and (v) immunomodulatory mRNA profiles. Linear regression models were fit to determine the association between the source of MSCs (UCB, UCM, PB) and (i) the moment of first observation, (ii) the moment of first passage, (iii) cell proliferation data, (iv) the expression of markers related to cell immunogenicity, and (v) the mRNA profile of immunomodulatory factors, except for hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) as no normal distribution could be obtained for the latter variable. To evaluate the association between the source of MSCs and the mRNA expression of HGF, the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test was performed instead. Results: While equine MSCs could be isolated from all the UCB and PB samples, isolation from UCM was successful in only two samples because of contamination issues. Proliferation data showed that equine MSCs from all three sources could be easily expanded, although UCB-derived MSCs appeared significantly faster in culture than PB- or UCM-derived MSCs. Equine MSCs from both UCB and PB could be differentiated toward the osteo-, chondro-, and adipogenic lineage, in contrast to UCM-derived MSCs in which only chondro-and adipogenic differentiation could be confirmed. Regardless of the source, equine MSCs expressed the immunomodulatory genes CD40, CD80, HGF, and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF beta). In contrast, no mRNA expression was found for CD86, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha). Conclusions: Whereas UCM seems less feasible because of the high contamination risks and low isolation success rates, UCB seems a promising alternative MSC source, especially when considering allogeneic MSC use

Assessment of research needs for sustainability of unconventional machining processes

AbstractThe use of unconventional machining (UCM) practices is increasing for product manufacture particularly when machining difficult to cut materials and when high precision is required. There is plenty of research conducted on improving sustainability of traditional machining. However, sustainability studies on unconventional/non-traditional machining practices are few. This review aims to determine the current state of the art in sustainability assessment of unconventional machining practices and identify gaps in research. An extensive review was carried out and analysed using a qualitative data analysing software. The analysis shows that only 25 publications directly and indirectly discuss the matter of sustainability of UCM. Out of this almost 70% of publications were recorded after year 2006 showing a clear evidence of uncovered research gap in the field with a growing interest. Despite this trend, evidence on studies which are explicitly dedicated to analyse the sustainability of UCM are rare

INSTEP SOCCER KICK TECHNIQUE AND PERFORMANCE THROUGH AN ANALYSIS OF MOVEMENT VARlABILlN

The purpose of this study was to investigate the structure of movement variability (MV) for hit and missed instep kicks using the uncontrolled manifold (UCM) analysis. University soccer players (n=1 1 ) performed a maximal instep kick at a target 11 metres (m) away. Hit and missed kicks were analysed using the UCM method. Dependent measures for UCM analysis were UCM variability measures and strength of synergy across six performance variables. Clear differences were noted between hit and missed kicks based on the UCM analysis. The UCM analysis provided a powerful tool for showing clear differences between hit and missed kicks and suggest that accurate kicking performance could be dependent on the structure of MV within the human motor system

Biblioteca Histórica "Marqués de Valdecilla": memoria 2012

Un total de 3.851 usuarios presenciales han consultado 9.781 libros y documentos en el año 2012, lo que supone la estabilización del servicio con relación a años anteriores (3.787 usuarios y 9.335 libros y documentos consultados en 2011). Este año, a efectos estadísticos, se desglosa por primera vez la consulta de los Archivos personales (Rubén Darío, Lasso de la Vega, Tomás Navarro Tomás, Archivo BUC, etc.) que hasta ahora eran contabilizados en el apartado de Fondo Antiguo

Green Function Approach to Interface States in Band Inverted Junctions

We calculate interface states in semiconductor heterostructures with band inversion using a Green function approach and the so called {\em point interaction potentials}. Effects of external fields can be included in a straightforward fashion.Comment: 6 pages, REVTEX, UCM-37-199

Estimating Output Gap for the Indian Economy: Comparing Results from Unobserved-Components Models and the Hodrick-Prescott Filter

Output gap estimates are constructed for India using unobserved components model (UCM) approach on the lines of Watson (1986) and Kuttner (1994). Results from UCMs are not found to be any less sensitive to data revisions when compared to those from the Hodrick-Prescott filter. This, however, could be because of lack of sufficient ‘revised-data’ on which the sensitivity of the results can be tested. Based on standard deviation of change in potential output to data revisions and its ‘economic’ content, the UCM using trimmed mean as the numeraire for inflation comes forth as the best choice. Alternative estimates of “core” inflation, included as a state variable in one of the UCMs, are also provided