The moderating effect of heart rate variability on the relationship between alpha asymmetry and depressive symptoms.

Electroencephalographic (EEG) research has suggested relatively reduced brain activity in the left frontal and right posterior region trait-markers of depression. However, inconsistent results have been reported. Based on previous studies reporting the heart rate variability (HRV) as an index of emotional regulation, this study makes a novel investigation of the role of heart rate variability (HRV) as a moderator in the relationship between frontal and parietal alpha asymmetry and depression.

IL-1β Inhibits Connexin 43 and Disrupts Decidualization of Human Endometrial Stromal Cells Through ERK1/2 and p38 MAP Kinase.

Inflammation can interfere with endometrial receptivity. We examined how interleukin 1β (IL-1β) affects expression of the uterine gap junction protein connexin 43 (Cx43), which is known to be critical for embryonic implantation. We used an in vitro model of human endometrial stromal cells (ESCs), Western blotting, and a combination of validated, selective kinase inhibitors to evaluate five canonical IL-1β signaling pathways.

Fast Sound Source Localization Using Two-Level Search Space Clustering.

Steered response power phase transform (SRP-PHAT) is a method that is widely used for robust sound source localization (SSL). However, since SRP-PHAT searches over a large number of candidate locations, it is too slow to run in real-time for large-scale microphone array systems. In this paper, we propose a robust two-level search space clustering method to speed-up SRP-PHAT-based SSL.

The limits of visual mass perception.

The theory of direct perception suggests that observers can accurately judge the mass of a box picked up by a lifter shown in a point-light display. However, accurate perceptual performance may be limited to specific circumstances. The purpose of the present study was to systematically examine the factors that determine perception of mass, including display type, lifting speed, response type, and lifter's strength.

Distributed Control in Rapid Sequential Aiming Responses.

The preparation and on-line control of short, rapid sequential aiming responses were studied in 3 experiments. Participants (N = 12 in Experiments 1 and 2, and 20 in Experiment 3) produced 3-segment responses (a) within self-initiation, simple reaction time (RT), and choice RT paradigms (Experiment 1); (b) without visual feedback under self-initiation conditions (Experiment 2); and (c) with and without visual feedback under simple RT conditions (Experiment 3). In all conditions in which participants initiated movement in response to an external imperative signal, the 2nd response segment was performed consistently slower than preceding and succeeding response segments.