Biotechnology Data Analysis Training with Jupyter Notebooks.

Biotechnology has experienced innovations in analytics and data processing. As the volume of data and its complexity grow, new computational procedures for extracting information are being developed. However, the rate of change outpaces the adaptation of biotechnology curricula, necessitating new teaching methodologies to equip biotechnologists with data analysis abilities.

Methylphenidate and emotional-motivational processing in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

In line with the assumption that emotional-motivational deficits are one core dysfunction in ADHD, in one of our previous studies we observed a reduced reactivity towards pleasant pictures in adult ADHD patients as compared to controls. This was indicated by a lack of attenuation of the startle reflex specifically during pleasant pictures in ADHD patients. The first choice medical agents in ADHD, methylphenidate (MPH), is discussed to normalize these dysfunctions.

Facial mimicry in its social setting.

In interpersonal encounters, individuals often exhibit changes in their own facial expressions in response to emotional expressions of another person. Such changes are often called facial mimicry. While this tendency first appeared to be an automatic tendency of the perceiver to show the same emotional expression as the sender, evidence is now accumulating that situation, person, and relationship jointly determine whether and for which emotions such congruent facial behavior is shown.

Child impact on family functioning: a multivariate analysis in multiplex families with children and mothers both affected by attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

ADHD seriously impacts family functioning, even the more in families with simultaneous parental and child ADHD. The aim of the study was to examine associations between family impact of child ADHD and child, mother and family characteristics in multiplex families with children and mothers both affected by ADHD. One hundred and forty-four mother-child pairs were assessed (children: mean age 9.

The face of schadenfreude: Differentiation of joy and schadenfreude by electromyography.

The present study investigated whether the facial expression of the social emotion schadenfreude, the pleasant emotion which arises in response to another's misfortune, can be differentiated from the facial expression of joy. Schadenfreude was induced by videos displaying unsuccessful penalty shots of Dutch soccer players and joy by successful penalty shots of German soccer players. Thirty-two participants watched videos while the activity of four facial muscles was recorded electromyographically.

Autonomic hypoactivity in boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and the influence of methylphenidate.

Objectives: This study investigates an overall autonomic hypoactivity reflecting hypoarousal as important aetiological factor in ADHD at baseline during rest and in response towards stimuli. In addition, effects of methylphenidate (MPH) are examined. We further assessed whether this hypoarousal is a stable characteristic or ameliorated by arousing emotional stimuli.

Altered processing of emotional stimuli in migraine: an event-related potential study.

Background: Migraine patients report psychosocial stress to be among the major triggers for their migraine attacks. The mechanisms underlying the onset of migraine attacks are not yet fully understood. Neuroimaging studies have shown changes in the cortical excitability of migraine patients.

Androstadienone in motor reactions of men and women toward angry faces.

The endogenous compound androstadienone modulating the evaluation of others and activating the human fear system was hypothesized in terms of processing socially relevant cues by regulating responses to angry faces. Androstadienone was investigated in association with arm movements of 62 participants (30 women) in response to happy and angry facial expressions. Volunteers pushed away or pulled toward them a joystick as fast as possible on seeing either an angry or a happy cartoon face on a computer screen.

Facial mimicry and the mirror neuron system: simultaneous acquisition of facial electromyography and functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Numerous studies have shown that humans automatically react with congruent facial reactions, i.e., facial mimicry, when seeing a vis-á-vis' facial expressions.

Electrocortical evidence for preferential processing of dynamic pain expressions compared to other emotional expressions.

Decoding pain in others is of high individual and social benefit in terms of harm avoidance and demands for accurate care and protection. The processing of facial expressions includes both specific neural activation and automatic congruent facial muscle reactions. While a considerable number of studies investigated the processing of emotional faces, few studies specifically focused on facial expressions of pain.

A polymorphism in the gene of the endocannabinoid-degrading enzyme FAAH (FAAH C385A) is associated with emotional-motivational reactivity.

Rationale: The endocannabinoid (eCB) system is implicated in several psychiatric disorders. Investigating emotional-motivational dysfunctions as underlying mechanisms, a study in humans revealed that in the C385A polymorphism of the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), the degrading enzyme of the eCB anandamide (AEA), A carriers, who are characterized by increased signaling of AEA as compared to C/C carriers, exhibited reduced brain reactivity towards unpleasant faces and enhanced reactivity towards reward. However, the association of eCB system with emotional-motivational reactivity is complex and bidirectional due to upcoming compensatory processes.

Call-associated acute fatigue in surgical residents--subjective perception or objective fact? A cross-sectional observational study to examine the influence of fatigue on surgical performance.

Background: The effect of acute partial sleep deprivation on surgical proficiency is still controversially discussed. The present study correlated physiological parameters of fatigue with objective technical and cognitive skills, as well as subjective sleepiness of surgical residents. The aim of the study was to assess the effect of acute partial sleep deprivation on surgical performance.

Reduced early visual emotion discrimination as an index of diminished emotion processing in Parkinson's disease? - Evidence from event-related brain potentials.

Although Parkinson's disease (PD) is defined by its motor symptoms, it is now well recognized that cognitive and affective domains, such as recognition of emotion from facial expressions, may also be impaired. To examine brain mechanisms involved in processing of emotion recognition from facial expressions, we obtained affective ratings and visual event-related potentials (ERPs) in response to facial expressions from 18 PD patients under dopamine-replacement therapy, and 17 healthy age- and sex-matched controls. In control subjects, the early posterior negativity (EPN) of the ERP, which is thought to reflect early perceptual emotion discrimination, was larger in response to emotional compared to neutral facial expressions.

Processes underlying congruent and incongruent facial reactions to emotional facial expressions.

The present electromyographic study is a first step toward shedding light on the involvement of affective processes in congruent and incongruent facial reactions to facial expressions. Further, empathy was investigated as a potential mediator underlying the modulation of facial reactions to emotional faces in a competitive, a cooperative, and a neutral setting. Results revealed less congruent reactions to happy expressions and even incongruent reactions to sad and angry expressions in the competition condition, whereas virtually no differences between the neutral and the cooperation condition occurred.

Methylphenidate normalizes emotional processing in adult patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: preliminary findings.

Emotional-motivational dysfunctions may significantly contribute to symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Hyperactive-impulsive symptoms and sensation seeking could be the result of a search for reinforcers, and cognitive dysfunctions might be due to a low motivational drive. Emotional-motivational dysfunctions could also explain social dysfunctions in ADHD patients because they may lead to misinterpretations of emotional and social clues.

Do soft skills predict surgical performance?: a single-center randomized controlled trial evaluating predictors of skill acquisition in virtual reality laparoscopy.

Background: Virtual reality (VR) training in minimal invasive surgery (MIS) is feasible in surgical residency and beneficial for the performance of MIS by surgical trainees. Research on stress-coping of surgical trainees indicates the additional impact of soft skills on VR performance in the surgical curriculum. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of structured VR training and soft skills on VR performance of trainees.

Gene-environment interaction influences anxiety-like behavior in ethologically based mouse models.

Ethologically based animal models are widely used; however, results from different laboratories vary significantly which may partly be due to the lack of standardization. Here, we examined the effects of circadian rhythm, lighting condition and mouse strain (BALB/c and C57BL/6, known to differ in measures of avoidance and risk assessment behavior) on two well established behavioral tests in mice: the Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) and the Open Field (OF). Parameters from both paradigms are commonly used as indices of anxiety-like behavior.

Brain Activations to Emotional Pictures are Differentially Associated with Valence and Arousal Ratings.

Several studies have investigated the neural responses triggered by emotional pictures, but the specificity of the involved structures such as the amygdala or the ventral striatum is still under debate. Furthermore, only few studies examined the association of stimuli's valence and arousal and the underlying brain responses. Therefore, we investigated brain responses with functional magnetic resonance imaging of 17 healthy participants to pleasant and unpleasant affective pictures and afterwards assessed ratings of valence and arousal.

Conditioned cues for smoking elicit preparatory responses in healthy smokers.

Rationale: Smoking cues are theorized to be conditioned stimuli (CSs) formed by repeated pairing with drug. Smoking paraphernalia can elicit subjective and physiological responses in smokers, indicative of positive affect and motivation to consume. Although these responses are probably the result of conditioning, direct evidence from human conditioning studies with physiological measures of motivational valence is rare.

Cortisol reactivity in boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and disruptive behavior problems: the impact of callous unemotional traits.

There is a body of literature demonstrating an association between altered hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity and aggressive behavior. Aggressive and disruptive behavior also is highly prevalent in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Findings on HPA-axis reactivity in ADHD, however, are rather inconsistent.

Early attentional deficits in an attention-to-prepulse paradigm in ADHD adults.

Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were examined for early and late attentional processes as a function of controlled attention. The test paradigm was the attentional modulation of prepulse inhibition (PPI; early controlled attentional processing) and prepulse facilitation (PPF; late controlled attentional processing). In 49 patients and 49 controls, the authors measured acoustic startle responses to 96-dB startle pulses preceded 120, 240 (for PPI), 2,000, and 4,500 (for PPF) ms by a 68-dB prepulse noise.

Stop looking angry and smile, please: start and stop of the very same facial expression differentially activate threat- and reward-related brain networks.

Static pictures of emotional facial expressions have been found to activate brain structures involved in the processing of emotional stimuli. However, in everyday live, emotional expressions are changing rapidly, and the processing of the onset vs the offset of the very same emotional expression might rely on different brain networks, presumably leading to different behavioral and physiological reactions (e.g.