Abstract Flexible spatial navigation depends on cognitive mapping, a function that declines with increasing age. In young adults , a brief period of post-navigation rest promotes the ...consolidation/integration of spatial memories into accurate cognitive maps. We examined (1) whether rest promotes spatial memory consolidation/integration in older adults and (2) whether the magnitude of the rest benefit changes with increasing age. Young and older adults learned a route through a virtual environment, followed by a 10min delay comprising either wakeful rest or a perceptual task, and a subsequent cognitive mapping task, requiring the pointing to landmarks from different locations. Pointing accuracy was lower in the older than younger adults. However, there was a comparable rest-related enhancement in pointing accuracy in the two age groups. Together our findings suggest that (i) the age-related decline in cognitive mapping cannot be explained by increased consolidation interference in older adults, and (ii) as we grow older rest continues to support the consolidation/integration of spatial memories.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
REST architectural style has become a prevalent choice for distributed resources, such as the northbound API of software-defined networking (SDN). As services often undergo frequent changes and ...updates, the corresponding REST APIs need to change and update accordingly. To allow REST APIs to change and evolve without breaking its clients, a REST API can be designed to facilitate hypertext-driven navigation and its related mechanisms to deal with structure changes in the API. This paper addresses the issues in hypertext-driven navigation in REST APIs from three aspects. First, we present REST Chart, a Petri-Net-based REST service description framework and language to design extensible REST APIs, and it is applied to cope with the rapid evolution of SDN northbound APIs. Second, we describe some important design patterns, such as backtracking and generator, within the REST Chart framework to navigate through large scale APIs in the RESTful architecture. Third, we present a client side differential cache mechanism to reduce the overhead of hypertext-driven navigation, addressing a major issue that affects the application of REST API. The proposed approach is applied to applications in SDN, which is integrated with a generalized SDN controller, SOX. The benefits of the proposed approach are verified in different conditions. Experimental results on SDN applications show that on average, the proposed cache mechanism reduces the overhead of using the hypertext-driven REST API by 66%, while fully maintaining the desired flexibility and extensibility of the REST API.
Resting-state functional connectivity, as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), is often treated as a trait, used, for example, to draw inferences about individual differences in ...cognitive function, or differences between healthy or diseased populations. However, functional connectivity can also depend on the individual's mental state. In the present study, we examined the relative contribution of state and trait components in shaping an individual's functional architecture. We used fMRI data from a large, population-based human sample (N = 587, age 18-88 years), as part of the Cambridge Centre for Aging and Neuroscience (Cam-CAN), which were collected in three mental states: resting, performing a sensorimotor task, and watching a movie. Whereas previous studies have shown commonalities across mental states in the average functional connectivity across individuals, we focused on the effects of states on the pattern of individual differences in functional connectivity. We found that state effects were as important as trait effects in shaping individual functional connectivity patterns, each explaining an approximately equal amount of variance. This was true when we looked at aging, as one specific dimension of individual differences, as well as when we looked at generic aspects of individual variation. These results show that individual differences in functional connectivity consist of state-dependent aspects, as well as more stable, trait-like characteristics. Studying individual differences in functional connectivity across a wider range of mental states will therefore provide a more complete picture of the mechanisms underlying factors such as cognitive ability, aging, and disease.
The brain's functional architecture is remarkably similar across different individuals and across different mental states, which is why many studies use functional connectivity as a trait measure. Despite these trait-like aspects, functional connectivity varies over time and with changes in cognitive state. We measured connectivity in three different states to quantify the size of the trait-like component of functional connectivity, compared with the state-dependent component. Our results show that studying individual differences within one state (such as resting) uncovers only part of the relevant individual differences in brain function, and that the study of functional connectivity under multiple mental states is essential to disentangle connectivity differences that are transient versus those that represent more stable, trait-like characteristics of an individual.
In this paper, we present a groupwise graph-theory-based parcellation approach to define nodes for network analysis. The application of network-theory-based analysis to extend the utility of ...functional MRI has recently received increased attention. Such analyses require first and foremost a reasonable definition of a set of nodes as input to the network analysis. To date many applications have used existing atlases based on cytoarchitecture, task-based fMRI activations, or anatomic delineations. A potential pitfall in using such atlases is that the mean timecourse of a node may not represent any of the constituent timecourses if different functional areas are included within a single node. The proposed approach involves a groupwise optimization that ensures functional homogeneity within each subunit and that these definitions are consistent at the group level. Parcellation reproducibility of each subunit is computed across multiple groups of healthy volunteers and is demonstrated to be high. Issues related to the selection of appropriate number of nodes in the brain are considered. Within typical parameters of fMRI resolution, parcellation results are shown for a total of 100, 200, and 300 subunits. Such parcellations may ultimately serve as a functional atlas for fMRI and as such three atlases at the 100-, 200- and 300-parcellation levels derived from 79 healthy normal volunteers are made freely available online along with tools to interface this atlas with SPM, BioImage Suite and other analysis packages.
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•Resting-state connectivity data parcellated using graph theory approach.•Yields groupwise whole-brain parcellation of the order of 300 nodes•Uniform timecourses within nodes•Ideal for network analysis of functional connectivity•Functional atlas available online
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Both daily demands as well as training and competition characteristics in sports can result in a psychobiological state of mental fatigue leading to feelings of tiredness, lack of energy, an ...increased perception of effort, and performance decrements. Moreover, optimal performance will only be achievable if the balance between recovery and stress states is re-established. Consequently, recovery strategies are needed aiming at mental aspects of recovery. The aim of the study was to examine acute effects of potential mental recovery strategies (MR) on subjective-psychological and on cognitive performance outcomes after a mentally fatiguing task. A laboratory-based randomized cross-over study with twenty-four students (22.8 ± 3.6 years) was applied. Participants were run through a powernap intervention (PN), a systematic breathing intervention (SB), a systematic breathing plus mental imagery intervention (SB+), and a control condition (CC) with one trial a week over four consecutive weeks. Mental fatigue was induced by completion of the 60-min version of the AX-continuous performance test (AX-CPT). The Short Recovery and Stress Scale (SRSS) and Visual Analog Scales (VAS) were assessed to measure effects on perceptual outcomes. Cognitive performance was measured with a reaction time test of the Vienna Test System (VTS). During all three recovery interventions and CC portable polysomnography was applied. Results showed a significant increase from pre-AX-CPT to pre-MR on fatigue states and recovery-stress states indicating that the induction of mental fatigue was effective. Moreover, results underlined that analysis yielded no significant differences between recovery interventions and the control condition but they revealed significant time effects for VAS, SRSS items, and cognitive performance. However, it could be derived that the application of a rest break with 20 min of mental recovery strategies appears to enhance recovery on a mainly mental and emotional level and to reduce perceived mental fatigue.
Testicular Adrenal Rest Tumors, also known as Testicular Tumors of the Androgenital Syndrome, are benign tumors found in the testes of patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. While considered ...benign, they are significant in that they can proliferate within the rete testis and cause infertility. We present a patient who appeared to have findings consistent with testicular adrenal rest tumors and is in the process of malignancy rule out.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ
Laryngeal and pharyngeal activity during inner singing is discussed in the context of vocal hygiene. Inner singing is defined as imagined singing, reading music silently, and listening to vocal ...music. When vocal rest is prescribed, doctors, speech therapists, and voice pedagogues recommend avoiding listening to music or reading music silently, since it is suggested that inner singing unconsciously influences the glottis, and thus moves the vocal folds involuntarily. The aim of this study was to compare the degree to which involuntary laryngeal and/or pharyngeal activity occur during inner singing, inner speech, and at rest, and to evaluate if current recommendations concerning vocal hygiene are still reasonable.
Thirty vocally healthy participants were examined transnasally with a flexible videoendoscope. The sample consisted of 10 nonsingers, 10 lay singers, and 10 professional singers. Participants were examined during five tasks including rest, silent reading, imagining a melody, listening to music, and reading music. Two medical doctors specializing in phoniatrics analyzed the videos both qualitatively and quantitatively.
During the endoscopic examination, the raters identified movements at the base of the tongue, the posterior and lateral pharynx wall, the arytenoid cartilage, and the vocal folds. The inner singing tasks showed significantly more laryngeal movements as well as significantly more glottal closures than the control tasks (at rest, silent reading). Pharyngeal structures did not show an increase in activity during inner singing. These findings were independent of the level of proficiency in singing.
When total vocal rest is prescribed, patients should also be advised to avoid music imagination. Still, further research is needed to survey in detail the actual effects of these involuntary movements during inner singing on the regeneration process of vocal fold healing.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ
Abstract Importance Testicular adrenal rest tumors (TARTs), often found in male patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), are benign lesions causing testicular damage and infertility. We ...hypothesize that chronically elevated adrenocorticotropic hormone exposure during early life may promote TART development. Objective This study aimed to examine the association between commencing adequate glucocorticoid treatment early after birth and TART development. Design and participants This retrospective multicenter (n = 22) open cohort study collected longitudinal clinical and biochemical data of the first 4 years of life using the I-CAH registry and included 188 male patients (median age 13 years; interquartile range: 10-17) with 21-hydroxylase deficiency (n = 181) or 11-hydroxylase deficiency (n = 7). All patients underwent at least 1 testicular ultrasound. Results TART was detected in 72 (38%) of the patients. Prevalence varied between centers. When adjusted for CAH phenotype, a delayed CAH diagnosis of >1 year, compared with a diagnosis within 1 month of life, was associated with a 2.6 times higher risk of TART diagnosis. TART onset was not predicted by biochemical disease control or bone age advancement in the first 4 years of life, but increased height standard deviation scores at the end of the 4-year study period were associated with a 27% higher risk of TART diagnosis. Conclusions and relevance A delayed CAH diagnosis of >1 year vs CAH diagnosis within 1 month after birth was associated with a higher risk of TART development, which may be attributed to poor disease control in early life.
Objectives “Rest” has two aspects: “repose,” to recover from physical or mental fatigue, and “restore,” to re-establish physical, mental, and social health. Many male workers work for prolonged ...hours, and despite stress, they do not apply coping behaviors, unlike female workers. Consequently, taking sufficient rest is difficult for male workers. The aim of this study was to develop a scale incorporating multiple factors to evaluate the state in which male workers take rest.Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted involving 330 male workers aged 20–59 years who had been engaged in two manufacturing industries. The questionnaire items were created with reference to an interview survey of male workers in the literature. After discussing with industrial hygiene experts and conducting a pretest to obtain surface validity, 70 items were used for analyses. In the exploratory factor analysis, promax rotation was used with the maximum likelihood method. In the confirmatory factor analysis, goodness of fit was confirmed with the covariance structure analysis. Health-related quality of life, job stress, work engagement, sleep, and self-assessment of rest were used to examine concurrent validity.Results With the exploratory factor analysis, we introduced a scale containing 15 items, including three subscales: filling with spirit, enthusiasm for work, and recovery from fatigue. The reliability coefficient (Cronbach's alpha) of the three subscales and the overall scale ranged from 0.79 to 0.88 and 0.89, ensuring internal consistency. The confirmatory factor analysis showed a generally good fit. Their scores were correlated with many items of the health-related quality of life, job stress, work engagement, sleep, and self-assessment of rest.Conclusions A 15-item “Rest Evaluation Scale” was created to evaluate the state in which male workers in the manufacturing industries take rest. Since the validity, reliability, and concurrent validity of this scale were satisfactory, this scale was considered to be an index evaluating the state of rest of male workers.
Over the last few years, the convincing forward steps in the development of Internet of Things (IoT)-enabling solutions are spurring the advent of novel and fascinating applications. Among others, ...mainly radio frequency identification (RFID), wireless sensor network (WSN), and smart mobile technologies are leading this evolutionary trend. In the wake of this tendency, this paper proposes a novel, IoT-aware, smart architecture for automatic monitoring and tracking of patients, personnel, and biomedical devices within hospitals and nursing institutes. Staying true to the IoT vision, we propose a smart hospital system (SHS), which relies on different, yet complementary, technologies, specifically RFID, WSN, and smart mobile, interoperating with each other through a Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP)/IPv6 over low-power wireless personal area network (6LoWPAN)/representational state transfer (REST) network infrastructure. The SHS is able to collect, in real time, both environmental conditions and patients' physiological parameters via an ultra-low-power hybrid sensing network (HSN) composed of 6LoWPAN nodes integrating UHF RFID functionalities. Sensed data are delivered to a control center where an advanced monitoring application (MA) makes them easily accessible by both local and remote users via a REST web service. The simple proof of concept implemented to validate the proposed SHS has highlighted a number of key capabilities and aspects of novelty, which represent a significant step forward compared to the actual state of the art.
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