•Brief practice with an approximate number task enhances arithmetic in young children.•Enhancements are specific to math, as they are not seen for a reading task.•Approximate number capacities may be ...causally involved in exact arithmetic.
Recent research reveals a link between individual differences in mathematics achievement and performance on tasks that activate the approximate number system (ANS): a primitive cognitive system shared by diverse animal species and by humans of all ages. Here we used a brief experimental paradigm to test one causal hypothesis suggested by this relationship: activation of the ANS may enhance children’s performance of symbolic arithmetic. Over 2 experiments, children who briefly practiced tasks that engaged primitive approximate numerical quantities performed better on subsequent exact, symbolic arithmetic problems than did children given other tasks involving comparison and manipulation of non-numerical magnitudes (brightness and length). The practice effect appeared specific to mathematics, as no differences between groups were observed on a comparable sentence completion task. These results move beyond correlational research and provide evidence that the exercise of non-symbolic numerical processes can enhance children’s performance of symbolic mathematics.
Background
COVID‐19 restrictions have significantly limited access to in‐person educational and healthcare services for all, including individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities ...(IDDs). The objectives of this online survey that included both national and international families were to capture changes in access to healthcare and educational services for individuals with IDDs that occurred shortly after restrictions were initiated and to survey families on resources that could improve services for these individuals.
Methods
This was an online survey for caregivers of individuals with (1) a genetic diagnosis and (2) a neurodevelopmental diagnosis, including developmental delay, intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder or epilepsy. The survey assessed (1) demographics, (2) changes in access to educational and healthcare services and (3) available and preferred resources to help families navigate the changes in service allocation.
Results
Of the 818 responses (669 within the USA and 149 outside of the USA), most families reported a loss of at least some educational or healthcare services. Seventy‐four per cent of parents reported that their child lost access to at least one therapy or education service, and 36% of respondents lost access to a healthcare provider. Only 56% reported that their child received at least some continued services through tele‐education. Those that needed to access healthcare providers did so primarily through telemedicine. Telehealth (both tele‐education and telemedicine) was reported to be helpful when available, and caregivers most often endorsed a need for an augmentation of these remote delivery services, such as 1:1 videoconference sessions, as well as increased access to 1:1 aides in the home.
Conclusions
COVID‐19 restrictions have greatly affected access to services for individuals with syndromic IDDs. Telehealth may provide opportunities for delivery of care and education in a sustainable way, not only as restrictions endure but also after they have been lifted.
Studies of human adults, infants, and non-human animals demonstrate that non-symbolic numerical cognition is supported by at least two distinct cognitive systems: a "parallel individuation system" ...that encodes the numerical identity of individual items and an "approximate number system" that encodes the approximate numerical magnitude, or numerosity, of a set. The exact nature and role of these systems, however, have been debated for over a 100-years. Some argue that the non-symbolic representation of small numbers (<4) is carried out solely by the parallel individuation system and the non-symbolic representation of large numbers (>4) is carried out solely by the approximate number system. Others argue that all numbers are represented by the approximate number system. This debate has been fueled largely by some studies showing dissociations between small and large number processing and other studies showing similar processing of small and large numbers. Recent work has addressed this debate by showing that the two systems are present and distinct from early infancy, persist despite the acquisition of a symbolic number system, activate distinct cortical networks, and engage differentially based attentional constraints. Based on the recent discoveries, I provide a hypothesis that may explain the puzzling findings and makes testable predictions as to when each system will be engaged. In particular, when items are presented under conditions that allow selection of individuals, they will be represented as distinct mental items through parallel individuation and not as a numerical magnitude. In contrast, when items are presented outside attentional limits (e.g., too many, too close together, under high attentional load), they will be represented as a single mental numerical magnitude and not as distinct mental items. These predictions provide a basis on which researchers can further investigate the role of each system in the development of uniquely human numerical thought.
Arachidonic acid (AA) and its metabolites have recently generated a heightened interest due to growing evidence of their significant role in cancer biology. Thus, inhibitors of the AA cascade, first ...and foremost COX inhibitors, which have originally been of interest in the treatment of inflammatory conditions and certain types of cardiovascular disease, are now attracting attention as an arsenal against cancer. An increasing number of investigations support their role in cancer chemoprevention, although the precise molecular mechanisms that link levels of AA, and its metabolites, with cancer progression have still to be elucidated.
This article provides an overview of the AA cascade and focuses on the roles of its inhibitors and their implication in cancer treatment. In particular, emphasis is placed on the inhibition of cell proliferation and neo-angiogenesis through inhibition of the enzymes COX-2, 5-LOX and CYP450. Downstream effects of inhibition of AA metabolites are analysed and the molecular mechanisms of action of a selected number of inhibitors of catalytic pathways reviewed. Lastly, the benefits of dietary omega-3 fatty acids and their mechanisms of action leading to reduced cancer risk and impeded cancer cell growth are mentioned. Finally, a proposal is put forward, suggesting a novel and integrated approach in viewing the molecular mechanisms and complex interactions responsible for the involvement of AA metabolites in carcinogenesis and the protective effects of omega-3 fatty acids in inflammation and tumour prevention.
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) disease (COVID-19) pandemic has caused millions of deaths worldwide. Genome-wide association studies identified the 3p21.31 region as ...conferring a twofold increased risk of respiratory failure. Here, using a combined multiomics and machine learning approach, we identify the gain-of-function risk A allele of an SNP, rs17713054G>A, as a probable causative variant. We show with chromosome conformation capture and gene-expression analysis that the rs17713054-affected enhancer upregulates the interacting gene, leucine zipper transcription factor like 1 (LZTFL1). Selective spatial transcriptomic analysis of lung biopsies from patients with COVID-19 shows the presence of signals associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a viral response pathway that is regulated by LZTFL1. We conclude that pulmonary epithelial cells undergoing EMT, rather than immune cells, are likely responsible for the 3p21.31-associated risk. Since the 3p21.31 effect is conferred by a gain-of-function, LZTFL1 may represent a therapeutic target.
Successful human social life requires imagining what others believe or think to understand and predict behavior. This ability, often referred to as theory of mind (ToM), reliably engages a ...specialized network of temporal and prefrontal brain regions in older children and adults, including selective recruitment of the temporal-parietal junction (TPJ). To date, how and when this specialized brain organization for ToM arises is unknown due to limitations in functional neuroimaging at younger ages. Here, we used the emerging technique of functional near-infrared spectroscopy to measure the functional brain response across parietal, temporal, and prefrontal regions in 7-month-old male and female infants as they viewed different video scenarios of a person searching for a hidden object. Over different conditions, we manipulated whether the person held an accurate (true) or inaccurate (false) belief about the location of the hidden object in the videos. In two separate experiments, we observed that activity from the TPJ, but not other temporal and prefrontal regions, spontaneously tracked with the beliefs of the other person, responding more during scenarios when the other person's belief regarding the location of the object was false compared with scenarios when her belief was true. These results mirror those obtained with adults to show that the TPJ already shows some functional organization relevant to high-level social cognition by around 7 months of age. Furthermore, these results suggest that infants may draw on similar core mechanisms to implicitly track beliefs, as adults do when reasoning explicitly about them.
Humans selectively engage a network of brain regions, including the temporal-parietal junction (TPJ), to track what others think, an ability referred to as theory of mind. How and when this specialized brain organization for high-level social cognition arises is unknown. Using the emerging technique of near-infrared spectroscopy with 7-month-old infants, we observed that activity of the TPJ, but not other temporal and frontal regions, distinguished between scenarios when another person's belief about the location of the object was false compared with scenarios when the belief was true. These results suggest that a basic neural architecture to understand and predict the actions of others based on their beliefs may be present from the first year of life.
•Compared and contrasted sensitivity of different methods of analysis for two infant functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) datasets and a third simulated dataset.•Find that approaches that ...employ functional data to identify channels of interest (fCOI) are more sensitive in detecting effects of interest than customary fixed-array analyses.•Find that within-subject fCOI approaches are more sensitive than a comparable between-subject approach.•Develop a set of guidelines for making analytic decisions.
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is increasingly used to study brain function in infants, but the development and standardization of analysis techniques for use with infant fNIRS data have not paced other technical advances. Here we quantify and compare the effects of different methods of analysis of infant fNIRS data on two independent fNIRS datasets involving 6–9-month-old infants and a third simulated infant fNIRS dataset. With each, we contrast results from a traditional, fixed-array analysis with several functional channel of interest (fCOI) analysis approaches. In addition, we tested the effects of varying the number and anatomical location of potential data channels to be included in the fCOI definition. Over three studies we find that fCOI approaches are more sensitive than fixed-array analyses, especially when channels of interests were defined within-subjects. Applying anatomical restriction and/or including multiple channels in the fCOI definition does not decrease and in some cases increases sensitivity of fCOI methods. Based on these results, we recommend that researchers consider employing fCOI approaches to the analysis of infant fNIRS data and provide some guidelines for choosing between particular fCOI approaches and settings for the study of infant brain function and development.
Numeracy is of critical importance for scholastic success and modern-day living, but the precise mechanisms that drive its development are poorly understood. Here we used novel experimental training ...methods to begin to investigate the role of symbols in the development of numeracy in preschool-aged children. We assigned pre-school children in the U.S. and Italy (N = 215; Mean age = 49.15 months) to play one of five versions of a computer-based numerical comparison game for two weeks. The different versions of the game were equated on basic features of gameplay and demands but systematically varied in numerical content. Critically, some versions included non-symbolic numerical comparisons only, while others combined non-symbolic numerical comparison with symbolic aids of various types. Before and after training we assessed four components of early numeracy: counting proficiency, non-symbolic numerical comparison, one-to-one correspondence, and arithmetic set transformation. We found that overall children showed improvement in most of these components after completing these short trainings. However, children trained on numerical comparisons with symbolic aids made larger gains on assessments of one-to-one correspondence and arithmetic transformation compared to children whose training involved non-symbolic numerical comparison only. Further exploratory analyses suggested that, although there were no major differences between children trained with verbal symbols (e.g., verbal counting) and non-verbal visuo-spatial symbols (i.e., abacus counting), the gains in one-to-one correspondence may have been driven by abacus training, while the gains in non-verbal arithmetic transformations may have been driven by verbal training. These results provide initial evidence that the introduction of symbols may contribute to the emergence of numeracy by enhancing the capacity for thinking about exact equality and the numerical effects of set transformations. More broadly, this study provides an empirical basis to motivate further focused study of the processes by which children's mastery of symbols influences children's developing mastery of numeracy.
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most commonly occurring form of dementia. It is predominantly a disease of later life, affecting 5% of those over 65 in the UK.
Review and update guidance to the NHS ...in England and Wales on the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) and memantine within their licensed indications for the treatment of AD, which was issued in November 2006 (amended September 2007 and August 2009).
Electronic databases were searched for systematic reviews and/or metaanalyses, randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and ongoing research in November 2009 and updated in March 2010; this updated search revealed no new includable studies. The databases searched included The Cochrane Library (2009 Issue 4, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials), MEDLINE, MEDLINE In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, EMBASE, PsycINFO, EconLit, ISI Web of Science Databases--Science Citation Index, Conference Proceedings Citation Index, and BIOSIS; the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) databases--NHS Economic Evaluation Database, Health Technology Assessment, and Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects.
The clinical effectiveness systematic review was undertaken following the principles published by the NHS CRD. We included RCTs whose population was people with AD. The intervention and comparators depended on disease severity, measured by the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE).
mild AD (MMSE 21-26)--donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine; moderate AD (MMSE 10-20)--donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine and memantine; severe AD (MMSE < 10)--memantine. Comparators: mild AD (MMSE 21-26)--placebo or best supportive care (BSC); moderate AD (MMSE 10-20)--donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine, memantine, placebo or BSC; severe AD (MMSE < 10)--placebo or BSC. The outcomes were clinical, global, functional, behavioural, quality of life, adverse events, costs and cost-effectiveness. Where appropriate, data were pooled using pair-wise meta-analysis, multiple outcome measures, metaregression and mixedtreatment comparisons. The decision model was based broadly on the structure of the three-state Markov model described in the previous technology assessment report, based upon time to institutionalisation, parameterised with updated estimates of effectiveness, costs and utilities.
Notwithstanding the uncertainty of our results, we found in the base case that the AChEIs are probably cost saving at a willingness-to-pay (WTP) of £’30,000 per qualityadjusted life-year (QALY) for people with mild-to-moderate AD. For this class of drugs, there is a > 99% probability that the AChEIs are more cost-effective than BSC. These analyses assume that the AChEIs have no effect on survival. For the AChEIs, in people with mild to moderate AD, the probabilistic sensitivity analyses suggested that donepezil is the most cost-effective, with a 28% probability of being the most cost-effective option at a WTP of £’30,000 per QALY (27% at a WTP of £’20,000 per QALY). In the deterministic results, donepezil dominates the other drugs and BSC, which, along with rivastigmine patches, are associated with greater costs and fewer QALYs. Thus, although galantamine has a slightly cheaper total cost than donepezil (£’69,592 vs £’69,624), the slightly greater QALY gains from donepezil (1.616 vs 1.617) are enough for donepezil to dominate galantamine.The probability that memantine is cost-effective in a moderate to severe cohort compared with BSC at a WTP of £’30,000 per QALY is 38% (and 28% at a WTP of £’20,000 per QALY). The deterministic ICER for memantine is £’32,100 per/QALY and the probabilistic ICER is £’36,700 per/QALY.
Trials were of 6 months maximum follow-up, lacked reporting of key outcomes, provided no subgroup analyses and used insensitive measures. Searches were limited to English language, The model does not include behavioural symptoms and there is uncertainty about the model structure and parameters.
The additional clinical effectiveness evidence identified continues to suggest clinical benefit from the AChEIs in alleviating AD symptoms, although there is debate about the magnitude of the effect. Although there is also new evidence on the effectiveness of memantine, it remains less supportive of this drug’s use than the evidence for AChEIs. The conclusions concerning cost-effectiveness are quite different from the previous assessment. This is because both the changes in effectiveness and costs between drug use and non-drug use underlying the ICERs are very small. This leads to highly uncertain results, which are very sensitive to change. RESEARCH PRIORITIES: RCTs to include mortality, time to institutionalisation and quality of life, powered for subgroup analysis.
The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme.
Electron-Ion Collider: The next QCD frontier Accardi, A; Albacete, J L; Anselmino, M ...
The European physical journal. A, Hadrons and nuclei,
09/2016, Letnik:
52, Številka:
9
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
This White Paper presents the science case of an Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), focused on the structure and interactions of gluon-dominated matter, with the intent to articulate it to the broader ...nuclear science community. It was commissioned by the managements of Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab) with the objective of presenting a summary of scientific opportunities and goals of the EIC as a follow-up to the 2007 NSAC Long Range plan. This document is a culmination of a community-wide effort in nuclear science following a series of workshops on EIC physics over the past decades and, in particular, the focused ten-week program on “Gluons and quark sea at high energies” at the Institute for Nuclear Theory in Fall 2010. It contains a brief description of a few golden physics measurements along with accelerator and detector concepts required to achieve them. It has been benefited profoundly from inputs by the users’ communities of BNL and JLab. This White Paper offers the promise to propel the QCD science program in the US, established with the CEBAF accelerator at JLab and the RHIC collider at BNL, to the next QCD frontier.
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