Bimanual coupling paradigm as an effective tool to investigate productive behaviors in motor and body awareness impairments

When humans move simultaneously both hands strong coupling effects arise and neither of the two hands is able to perform independent actions. It has been suggested that such motor constraints are tightly linked to action representation rather than to movement execution. Hence, bimanual tasks can represent an ideal experimental tool to investigate internal motor representations in those neurological conditions in which the movement of one hand is impaired. Indeed, any effect on the “moving” (healthy) hand would be caused by the constraints imposed by the ongoing motor program of the ‘impaired’ hand. Here, we review recent studies that successfully utilized the above-mentioned paradigms to investigate some types of productive motor behaviors in stroke patients. Specifically, bimanual tasks have been employed in left hemiplegic patients who report illusory movements of their contralesional limbs (anosognosia for hemiplegia). They have also been administered to patients affected by a specific monothematic delusion of body ownership, namely the belief that another person’s arm and his/her voluntary action belong to them. In summary, the reviewed studies show that bimanual tasks are a simple and valuable experimental method apt to reveal information about the motor programs of a paralyzed limb. Therefore, it can be used to objectively examine the cognitive processes underpinning motor programming in patients with different delusions of motor behavior. Additionally, it also sheds light on the mechanisms subserving bimanual coordination in the intact brain suggesting that action representation might be sufficient to produce these effects

Interpersonal interactions and empathy modulate perception of threat and defensive responses

The defensive peripersonal space (DPPS) is a vital "safety margin" surrounding the body. When a threatening stimulus is delivered inside the DPPS, subcortical defensive responses like the hand-blink reflex (HBR) are adjusted depending on the perceived threat content. In three experiments, we explored whether and how defensive responses are affected by the interpersonal interaction within the DPPS of the face. In Experiment 1, we found that the HBR is enhanced when the threat is brought close to the face not only by one's own stimulated hand, but also by another person's hand, although to a significantly lesser extent. In Experiments 2 and 3, we found that the HBR is also enhanced when the hand of the participant enters the DPPS of another individual, either in egocentric or in allocentric perspective. This enhancement is larger in participants with strong empathic tendency when the other individual is in a third person perspective. These results indicate that interpersonal interactions shape perception of threat and defensive responses. These effects are particularly evident in individuals with greater tendency to having empathic concern to other people

Aportes de la Historia de los Objetos a la pedagogía del Diseño Industrial

El problema básico de la pedagogía del Diseño Industrial está referido a la escisión del hacer con el pensar. Esta escisión tiene una historia dentro del pensamiento occidental, que es necesario superar. La investigación sobre Objetos de Uso Cotidiano en el Ámbito Doméstico de la Argentina se propone como espacio de reflexión y análisis sobre la propia experiencia y la del entorno familiar, barrial y regional, en la interrelación con las tecnologías. En el presente trabajo se explicitan las razones por las que se seleccionaron las categorías de análisis teórico para la aplicación en el campo de los objetos

Pain and Body Awareness: Evidence from Brain-Damaged Patients with Delusional Body Ownership

A crucial aspect for the cognitive neuroscience of pain is the interplay between pain perception and body awareness. Here we report a novel neuropsychological condition in which right brain-damaged patients displayed a selective monothematic delusion of body ownership. Specifically, when both their own and the co-experimenter's left arms were present, these patients claimed that the latter belonged to them. We reasoned that this was an ideal condition to examine whether pain perception can be "referred" to an alien arm subjectively experienced as one's own. Seventeen patients (11 with, 6 without the delusion), and 10 healthy controls were administered a nociceptive stimulation protocol to assess pain perception. In the OWN condition, participants placed their arms on a table in front of them. In the ALIEN condition, the co-experimenter's left (or right) arm was placed alongside the participants' left (or right) arm, respectively. In the OWN condition, left (or right) participants' hand dorsum were stimulated. In the ALIEN condition, left (or right) co-experimenter's hand dorsum was stimulated. Participants had to rate the perceived pain on a 0-5 Likert scale (0\u2009=\u2009no pain, 5\u2009=\u2009maximal imaginable pain). Results showed that healthy controls and patients without delusion gave scores higher than zero only when their own hands were stimulated. On the contrary, patients with delusion gave scores higher than zero both when their own hands (left or right) were stimulated and when the co-experimenter's left hand was stimulated. Our results show that in pathological conditions, a body part of another person can become so deeply embedded in one's own somatosensory representation to effect the subjective feeling of pain. More in general, our findings are in line with a growing number of evidence emphasizing the role of the special and unique perceptual status of body ownership in giving rise to the phenomenological experience of pain

Development of MELCOR v2.2 input for the simulation of QUENCH-06 experiment

LAUREA MAGISTRALEL’obiettivo del seguente lavoro di tesi è la creazione di un input dell’impianto QUENCH-06 per il codice MELCOR v2.2, nell’ottica di validarne i modelli di Riscaldamento del Nocciolo e della Degradazione. Partendo dalla raccolta dei dati sperimentali forniti dal KIT, e analizzando i precedenti lavori svolti su QUENCH-06, l’input viene sviluppato ex novo, adottando modelli, correlazioni e funzionalità aggiornate tali da renderlo potenzialmente il riferimento da adottare nel codice MELCOR per la simulazione di un qualsiasi esperimento della serie QUENCH. Le caratteristiche dell’input sono una nodalizzazione che permette una fine descrizione della regione attiva del test, un preciso settaggio delle condizioni al contorno e infine un dettagliato sistema di isolamento termico. L’accuratezza del modello viene valutata sia qualitativamente che quantitativamente attraverso il confronto di alcune Figure di Merito (quali produzione di idrogeno, massima temperatura di guaina, profilo di corrosione), selezionate sulla base di giudizio ingegneristico e importanza fisica, rispetto ai dati sperimentali. In aggiunta, l’applicazione dell’input viene estesa al fine di stabilire una analisi di sensitività atta a testare il comportamento dello strumento rispetto ad alcune correlazioni di ossidazione Zircaloy-Acqua. Il modello Reference fornisce dei risultati che ben rappresentano le fenomenologie che si verificano in QUENCH-06. Nella fase di preossidazione e di riscaldamento, cioè fino all’iniezione veloce, la produzione cumulata di idrogeno, le temperature superficiali delle strutture e i profili di corrosione sono predetti in linea con le misure sperimentali. Sfortunatamente, le modifiche fin qui introdotte non sono riuscite a risolvere la sovrastima del gradiente di temperatura radiale. Ciononostante, l’analisi FFBTM della accuratezza quantitativa delle previsioni indica un buon risultato fino a questo stadio. Nella fase tra le due iniezioni, il modello non riesce a descrivere la veloce ri-evaporazione parziale dell’acqua, fenomeno per il quale sono previsti studi futuri al fine di riadattare e migliorare l’input. L'analisi di sensitività invece sottolinea come l’adozione delle correlazioni di ossidazione di Cathcart-Pawel nel regime di bassa temperatura, e della Volchek per temperature superficiali maggiori di 1900 K producano risultati ancora più accurati della formulazione di default, e pertanto ne è suggerita l’adozione ai futuri utilizzatori dell’input.Purpose of the current work is the development of the MELCOR v2.2 input of the QUENCH-06 test facility for the validation of Core Heat up and Degradation embedded models. Having as reference the past QUENCH analyses available on public technical literature and experimental data deployed by KIT, the author develops from scratch the input deck adopting several correlations and up-to-date features such to make it potentially the state of art MELCOR tool for the description of any QUENCH series experiment. Characteristics of QUENCH-06 MELCOR Input is a nodalization that allows for a fine representation of test active region, a precise definition of boundary conditions and ultimately a detailed thermal insulation system. The accuracy of the final configuration is qualitative and quantitative assessed by comparing some predicted Figures of Merit (such as hydrogen generation, maximum cladding temperature and corrosion profiles), selected on engineering judgement and on physical importance, against experimental measurements. In addition, application of the input is stretched to include in the calculations a sensitivity analysis to test the behavior of several Zircaloy-Steam oxidation correlations. The results of Reference input is a good overall representation of the test phenomenologies. Until fast water preinjection, i.e., preoxidation phase and power ramping, predicted hydrogen production is well estimated, as the bundle temperatures and the corrosion profiles. However, current efforts are still not able to reduce an overestimated radial temperature gradient. Nonetheless, Fast Fourier Based Transform Method (FFTBM) analysis estimates a good accuracy of the input result at these stages. Between the two injections, the sudden partial re-evaporation of liquid water is hardly detected by the simulation, and therefore further studies are needed to address such phenomenon. As concern the outcome of the sensitivity analysis, coupling Cathcart-Pawel formulation in low temperature regime and Volchek correlation when surface temperature becomes higher than 1900 K delivers results even more closer to the experimental trends than the reference calculation, and hence it is suggested to future users to adopt this description in oncoming simulations

454— Effects of Meiotic Drive on Developing Eyestalks in Stalk-eyed Flies

Teleopsis dalmanni, commonly known as Stalk-Eyed flies, are known for their sexually dimorphic eye-stalks which females use to pick mates. In the wild, some individuals contain meiotic drive which is known to influence eye-stalk length and sex ratios. Our goal was to identify genes in developing eye tissue that are affected by meiotic drive. We are studying males with drive because they tend to have shorter eye stalks, then we will determine what genes are being disrupted or changed due to meiotic drive being present in that individual. We want to study this because males with shorter eye stalks have a lower fitness. Since eye stalks are a sexual ornamentation females prefer to mate with males with larger eye stalks. To identify these candidate genes, we dissected eye antennal discs from 3rd instar larvae, froze them in liquid nitrogen for later use, and retained carcasses. We extracted DNA from the carcasses, and performed PCR for markers diagnosing the sex and meiotic drive status of individuals, then sent them for fragment analysis. We identified 31 male and 66 female Stalk-Eyed larvae and approximately one third of males and females within the population had meiotic drive. Based on this information, we are using the larvae’ eye-antennal imaginal discs from our dissections to measure differential gene expression using RNA from meiotic and non-meiotic drive individuals of each sex. After pooling tissues together by drive, and sex we were able to do RNA extractions using RNeasy RNA extraction kit. We will send these samples for RNA sequence analysis to determine which genes are being affected by meiotic drive