Mobile brain imaging in butoh dancers: from rehearsals to public performance.

Background: Dissecting the neurobiology of dance would shed light on a complex, yet ubiquitous, form of human communication. In this experiment, we sought to study, via mobile electroencephalography (EEG), the brain activity of five experienced dancers while dancing butoh, a postmodern dance that originated in Japan.

Results: We report the experimental design, methods, and practical execution of a highly interdisciplinary project that required the collaboration of dancers, engineers, neuroscientists, musicians, and multimedia artists, among others.

Establishing African genomics and bioinformatics programs through annual regional workshops.

The African BioGenome Project (AfricaBP) Open Institute for Genomics and Bioinformatics aims to overcome barriers to capacity building through its distributed African regional workshops and prioritizes the exchange of grassroots knowledge and innovation in biodiversity genomics and bioinformatics. In 2023, we implemented 28 workshops on biodiversity genomics and bioinformatics, covering 11 African countries across the 5 African geographical regions. These regional workshops trained 408 African scientists in hands-on molecular biology, genomics and bioinformatics techniques as well as the ethical, legal and social issues associated with acquiring genetic resources.

How genomics can help biodiversity conservation.

The availability of public genomic resources can greatly assist biodiversity assessment, conservation, and restoration efforts by providing evidence for scientifically informed management decisions. Here we survey the main approaches and applications in biodiversity and conservation genomics, considering practical factors, such as cost, time, prerequisite skills, and current shortcomings of applications. Most approaches perform best in combination with reference genomes from the target species or closely related species.

The era of reference genomes in conservation genomics.

Progress in genome sequencing now enables the large-scale generation of reference genomes. Various international initiatives aim to generate reference genomes representing global biodiversity. These genomes provide unique insights into genomic diversity and architecture, thereby enabling comprehensive analyses of population and functional genomics, and are expected to revolutionize conservation genomics.

Reference genome and demographic history of the most endangered marine mammal, the vaquita.

The vaquita is the most critically endangered marine mammal, with fewer than 19 remaining in the wild. First described in 1958, the vaquita has been in rapid decline for more than 20 years resulting from inadvertent deaths due to the increasing use of large-mesh gillnets. To understand the evolutionary and demographic history of the vaquita, we used combined long-read sequencing and long-range scaffolding methods with long- and short-read RNA sequencing to generate a near error-free annotated reference genome assembly from cell lines derived from a female individual.

Parental and environmental factors associated with physical activity among children participating in an active video game.

Purpose: Parental and intervention-specific environmental supports were examined as potential reinforcers for physical activity and use of a video game, Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), among a cohort of 7- to 8-year-old children.

Methods: Sixty children were randomized to an intervention (n = 40) or a control (n = 20) group. Physical activity was measured with accelerometry and DDR logs.

A pilot of a video game (DDR) to promote physical activity and decrease sedentary screen time.

Objective: We examined the feasibility of Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), a dance video game, in participants' homes, to increase physical activity (PA) and to decrease sedentary screen time (SST).

Methods And Procedures: Sixty children (7.5 +/- 0.