Assessing individual sensitivity to the Thermal Grill Illusion: A two-dimensional adaptive psychophysical approach.

In the Thermal Grill Illusion (TGI), the spatial alternation of non-noxious warm and cool temperatures elicits burning sensations that resemble the presence of noxious stimuli. Previous research has largely relied on the use of specific temperature values (i.e.

Exercise, Neuroprotective Exerkines, and Parkinson's Disease: A Narrative Review.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a prevalent neurodegenerative disease in which treatment often includes an exercise regimen. Exercise is neuroprotective in animal models of PD, and, more recently, human clinical studies have verified exercise's disease-modifying effect. Aerobic exercise and resistance training improve many of PD's motor and non-motor symptoms, while neuromotor therapy and stretching/flexibility exercises positively contribute to the quality of life in people with PD.

Thermal contrast enhancement predicts paradoxical heat sensation.

Paradoxical Heat Sensation (PHS) is the remarkable feeling of warmth or heat pain while the skin is cooling. Despite its initial documentation over 100 years ago, a unified explanation for this perplexing experience remains elusive. Here we apply contrast enhancement principles, known for their instrumental role in understanding visual illusions, to the domain of thermosensation.

Disentangling the spinal mechanisms of illusory heat and burning sensations in the thermal grill illusion.

The thermal grill illusion (TGI), a phenomenon in which the juxtaposition of innocuous warm and cold temperatures on the skin elicits a burning sensation, offers a unique perspective to how pain occurs in response to harmless stimuli. We investigated the role of the spinal cord in the generation of the TGI across 2 experiments (total n = 80). We applied heat and cold stimuli to dermatomes, areas of skin innervated by a single spinal nerve, that mapped onto adjacent or nonadjacent spinal segments.

Analysis of eligibility criteria in Alzheimer's and related dementias clinical trials.

Overly restrictive clinical trial eligibility criteria can reduce generalizability, slow enrollment, and disproportionately exclude historically underrepresented populations. The eligibility criteria for 196 Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) trials funded by the National Institute on Aging were analyzed to identify common criteria and their potential to disproportionately exclude participants by race/ethnicity. The trials were categorized by type (48 Phase I/II pharmacological, 7 Phase III/IV pharmacological, 128 non-pharmacological, 7 diagnostic, and 6 neuropsychiatric) and target population (51 AD/ADRD, 58 Mild Cognitive Impairment, 25 at-risk, and 62 cognitively normal).

How prepared are newly qualified allied health professionals for practice in the UK? A systematic review.

Objectives: It is important that allied health professionals (AHPs) are prepared for clinical practice from the very start of their working lives to provide quality care for patients, for their personal well-being and for retention of the workforce. The aim of this study was to understand how well newly qualified AHPs were prepared for practice in the UK.

Design: Systematic review.

Beyond bias: A registered examination of the validity of using line bisection to measure non-lateralised attention.

Line bisection is a task widely used to assess lateral asymmetries of attention, in which participants are asked to mark the midpoint of a horizontal line. The directional bisection error (DBE) from the objective midpoint of the line is the traditional measure of performance. However, an alternative method of studying the bisection behaviour, the endpoint weightings method, has been proposed.

Antimicrobial FeO-CuO-PO glasses.

Glasses with high antimicrobial efficacy were developed in the FeO-CuO-PO ternary system to mitigate fomite-mediated transmission of infectious diseases in high-risk settings such as hospitals, daycares, and nursing homes. Binary CuO-PO glasses were not durable enough for use as high touch point articles, so FeO was added to the compositions to increase the chemical durability. The amount of Cu leachate decreased by at least 3 orders of magnitude when FeO was increased from 0 to 13.

No short-term treatment effect of prism adaptation for spatial neglect: An inclusive meta-analysis.

Despite 25 years of research on the topic, there is still no consensus on whether prism adaptation is an effective therapy for visuospatial neglect. We have addressed this question through a meta-analysis of the most well-controlled studies on the topic. Our main meta-analytic model included studies with a placebo/sham/treatment-as-usual control group from which data from right hemisphere stroke patients and left-sided neglect could be aggregated.

Healthcare professionals' perspectives on dietary advice provided to people with an ileostomy.

Background: Diet is a common concern among people with an ileostomy as it can be associated with serious and burdensome complications, for example, dehydration and obstruction, and dietary advice is often unsatisfactory. In this study, we explored healthcare professionals' (HCPs) perspectives on dietary advice for ileostomy management.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with HCPs, from multiple professions, who provide dietary advice to patients with an ileostomy.

Diet After Ileostomy Study: an observational study describing dietary intake and stoma-related symptoms in people with an ileostomy.

Background: People with ileostomy are frequently advised to avoid specific foods and food groups, making it plausible that they are at risk of a range of nutrition-related adverse health consequences. Despite this there has been no recent study in the United Kingdom describing dietary intake, symptoms and food avoidance in people with ileostomy or post-reversal.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at different time points in people with ileostomy and reversal.

A registered re-examination of the effects of leftward prism adaptation on landmark judgements in healthy people.

It has long been known that active adaptation to a shift of the visual field, caused by laterally-displacing prisms, induces short-term sensorimotor aftereffects. More recent evidence suggests that prism adaptation may also stimulate higher-level changes in spatial cognition, which can modify the spatial biases of healthy people. The first reported, and most replicated, higher-level aftereffect is a rightward shift in the point of subjective equality (PSE) for a perceptual bisection task (the landmark task), following adaptation to leftward prisms.

Adjusting growth standards for fetal sex improves correlation of small babies with stillbirth and adverse perinatal outcomes: A state-wide population study.

Objectives: Sex impacts birthweight, with male babies heavier on average. Birthweight charts are thus sex specific, but ultrasound fetal weights are often reported by sex neutral standards. We aimed to identify what proportion of infants would be re-classified as SGA if sex-specific charts were used, and if this had a measurable impact on perinatal outcomes.

Proprioceptive contribution to oculomotor control in humans.

Stretch receptors in the extraocular muscles (EOMs) inform the central nervous system about the rotation of one's own eyes in the orbits. Whereas fine control of the skeletal muscles hinges critically on proprioceptive feedback, the role of proprioception in oculomotor control remains unclear. Human behavioural studies provide evidence for EOM proprioception in oculomotor control, however, behavioural and electrophysiological studies in the macaque do not.

On line bisection: Validity and reliability of online measures of pseudoneglect.

This study assessed pseudoneglect using line bisection and perceptual landmark tasks in two matched online sessions. Line bisection bias was characterized by the traditional measure of Directional Bisection Error (DBE), and by Endpoint Weightings Bias (EWB), derived from an "endpoint weightings" analysis, made possible by the independent manipulation of left and right endpoints. EWB is proposed to index the relative attentional allocation to the two ends of the line.

Black Women's Lived Experiences of Abortion.

In this study, we aim to understand abortion in the context of structural racism and reproductive injustice. We designed this study using Reproductive Justice and Public Health Critical Race Praxis frameworks. We conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with self-identified Black women over the age of 18 who have had an abortion.

Peripheral reaching in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment.

Recent evidence has implicated areas within the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) as among the first to show pathophysiological changes in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Focal brain damage to the PPC can cause optic ataxia, a specific deficit in reaching to peripheral targets. The present study describes a novel investigation of peripheral reaching ability in AD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), to assess whether this deficit is common among these patient groups.

Birth temperature followed by a visual critical period determines cooperative group membership.

Cooperative behavior often arises when a common exploitable resource is generated. Cooperation can provide equitable distribution and protection from raiding of a common resource such as processed food. Under crowded conditions in liquid food, Drosophila larvae adopt synchronized feeding behavior which provides a fitness benefit.

Dietary management for people with an ileostomy: a scoping review.

Objective: The objective of this review was to identify and map the evidence for oral dietary management of ileostomies.

Introduction: Dietary advice is commonly provided for ileostomy management but can be inconsistent, conflicting, and inadequate. There is a lack of high-quality research investigating dietary management of ileostomies.

Facilitators, Challenges, and Messaging Strategies for Hispanic/Latino Populations Participating in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias Clinical Research: A Literature Review.

Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD) disproportionally affect Hispanic and Latino populations, yet Hispanics/Latinos are substantially underrepresented in AD/ADRD clinical research. Diverse inclusion in trials is an ethical and scientific imperative, as underrepresentation reduces the ability to generalize study findings and treatments across populations most affected by a disease. This paper presents findings from a narrative literature review (N = 210) of the current landscape of Hispanic/Latino participation in clinical research, including the challenges, facilitators, and communication channels to conduct culturally appropriate outreach efforts to increase awareness and participation of Hispanics/Latinos in AD/ADRD clinical research studies.

Attention attracts action in healthy participants: An insight into optic ataxia?

Patients with optic ataxia following lesions to superior parts of the posterior parietal cortex make large errors when reaching to targets in the peripheral visual field. These errors are characterised by a contraction, or attraction, towards the point of fixation. These patients also have a reduced ability to allocate visual attention away from the point of fixation, but it is unclear whether the core symptom of misreaching is related to these attentional problems.

Cooperative foraging during larval stage affects fitness in Drosophila.

Cooperative behavior can confer advantages to animals. This is especially true for cooperative foraging which provides fitness benefits through more efficient acquisition and consumption of food. While examples of group foraging have been widely described, the principles governing formation of such aggregations and rules that determine group membership remain poorly understood.