The effect of group size and task involvement on temporal binding window in clap perception.

We collect various types of information from our environment and organise it to create a coherent representation. Several researchers have suggested that multiple signals within the temporal binding window (TBW) can be integrated into a single coherent experience, such as flashes, beeps, and the McGurk effect. However, there is no evidence that TBW distortion also occurs in group interactions. This study investigates the influence of group size (i.e. the group size effect) and the degree of task involvement in temporal perception using computer-generated clap sound experiments. Participants listened to the randomly generated clap sounds and evaluated whether they were synchronised. We established three conditions based on different levels of task involvement: low (L), middle (M), and high (H) conditions. The varying task involvements reflect how participants interact with the clap sounds, ranging from passive listening in the L condition to actively generating sounds by pressing a key in the M condition, or attempting to synchronise key pressing sounds with the sounds in the H condition. Our experiments show a robust group size effect on TBW, regardless of the different conditions. In other words, as the group size increases, participants perceive the group clap as a single event. Furthermore, we found that the uncertain cause-effect relationship condition (H condition) shows the highest TBW. Interestingly, the TBW in the rigid cause-effect relationship (M condition) is the same as that in the no involvement condition (L condition). Our results suggest that a widened TBW in collective behaviour may facilitate cohesive action, enabling individuals to adapt to the group in relatively uncertain contexts.

Incidence and characteristics of aspiration pneumonia in the Nagasaki Prefecture from 2005 to 2019.

BACKGROUND: Aspiration pneumoniae remains a major health concern, particularly in the older population and has poor prognosis; however, the concept itself remains vague worldwide. This study aimed to determine the actual situation and characteristics of aspiration pneumonia from 2005 to 2019 in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. METHODS: Cases of aspiration pneumonia that occurred in the Nagasaki Prefecture between 2005 and 2019 were analyzed using emergency transportation records. The number of occurrences and incidence were analyzed according to age, sex, month, day of the week, and recognition time to clarify the actual situation of aspiration pneumonia. RESULTS: The total number of new aspiration pneumonia cases was 8,321, and the mean age of the patients was 83.0 years. Annual incidence per 100,000 population increased from 12.4 in 2005 to 65.1 in 2019, with the most prominent increase in the ≥ 80-year-old stratum. Males (55.1%) were more commonly affected than females (44.9%), and 82.2% of the cases involved patients aged ≥ 70 years. No significant correlations were observed between the incidence of aspiration pneumonia and season, month, or day of the week. Aspiration pneumonia occurred frequently in houses (39.8%) and facilities for elderly individuals (40.8%). At 7 days after admission, 80.9% of patients were still hospitalized and 6.5% had died. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of aspiration pneumonia with risks of severity and mortality is increasing among elderly individuals. Valid preventive measures are urgently needed based on the findings that the disease occurs in both household and elderly care facility settings, regardless of the season.

Comparison of a new immobilization method using a reusable 3-point fixation cylinder system and bite-block type immobilization methods in veterinary radiotherapy.

In veterinary radiotherapy, highly reproducible immobilization is important for accurate irradiation. Consequently, we developed a new reusable head-immobilization method for dogs using cylinders. This study aimed to compare the accuracy of our novel immobilization method using cylinders with that of bite-block type immobilization methods. Three immobilization methods were compared: bite-block only, bite-block combined with torso immobilization, and immobilization using cylinders. Five beagles with canine teeth underwent CT five times for each of the three immobilization methods. One beagle without canine teeth underwent CT 15 times using each method. Three maxillary landmarks (maxillary incisor, frontal sinus, and occipital bone) and one mandibular landmark (mandibular incisor) were established, and the errors in each immobilization method were measured. For all head landmarks, the error in the immobilization method using cylinders was the most reproducible, with the smallest errors. No significant differences were observed in the time required for immobilization. Although there were limitations (such as the use of dogs from a single breed, a single episode of anesthesia, no disassembly of the immobilization system between scans, and the same person performing the positioning on the same day), we found our new reusable immobilization method using cylinders was the most accurate among the three compared methods. This was a proof-of-principle study to evaluate head immobilization using cylinders, and further investigations are needed to confirm its clinical utility.

Alleviation of acute stress response by black pepper aroma administration.

BACKGROUND: Black pepper is one of the most popular spices globally. As black pepper essential oil has not yet been used in the context of aromatherapy, this study examined the effect of black pepper aroma on cardiac and peripheral autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity under stressful conditions using an olfactometer to administer aroma in a precise and controlled manner to ensure reproducibility. METHODS: A within-participant design experiment was conducted with 20 male university students who performed a 30-min calculation task as a short-term stressor under three aroma conditions: black pepper, ginger, and dipropylene glycol (DPG) (scentless air as a control). Each aroma was sporadically delivered (first 20 s of each 1-min interval) with the olfactometer during the task. Electrocardiograms and skin conductance level (SCL) were measured to evaluate ANS's physiological acute stress response. Subjective evaluations for the given stressful task and impressions on the types of aromas were assessed. RESULTS: The physiological acute stress response induced by the short-term stressor, which is characterized by the enhancement of the heart rate (HR) and SCL and decreases in the heart rate variability (HRV), was suppressed with black pepper: the increase in HR and reduction in HRV from the baseline were 38.9% (p = 0.048 when compared with DPG) and 32.9% smaller (p = 0.002 for multiple comparisons) than those in DPG, respectively, and the increase of SCL was 15.5% smaller (p = 0.005 for multiple comparisons) than that in ginger. However, there was no significant difference in subjective scores among the conditions. CONCLUSION: Although black pepper is a stimulative agent, the study findings showed that black pepper aroma alleviated the physiological acute stress response, which can be beneficial in aromatherapy under stressful conditions.

An illusion of disownership over one's own limb is associated with pain perception.

Viewing one's body and even a fake/virtual body experienced as one's own has been suggested to modulate pain perception. However, what happens to pain perception when one's own body part is felt as not belonging to one? We designed a paradigm to induce an illusory feeling of disownership regarding one's limb, investigating whether the feeling affects pain threshold. Participants observed right-side images of their bodies from a third-person perspective via a head-mounted display in real-time. Following instructions, they moved their left hand while keeping their left elbow behind the upper body, so that the connection of their arm to the torso was not visible (test condition), or in front of it, so they could see the arm being part of them (control condition). Then, pain threshold was tested with a thermal stimulator. We found a significantly higher strength of disownership in the test condition than in the control condition. While there was no pain modulation within and between conditions, disownership ratings negatively correlated with pain-threshold changes, where the participants reporting explicit disownership showed lower pain-threshold changes than the others. The finding suggests that while multisensory disintegration had no modulatory effect, the individual sense of disownership was associated with pain perception.

Spontaneous behavioral coordination between avoiding pedestrians requires mutual anticipation rather than mutual gaze.

Pedestrians threading through a crowd is a striking example of coordinated actions. Mutual anticipation between pedestrians is a candidate mechanism underlying such coordination. To examine this possibility, we experimentally intervened pairs of pedestrians performing simple avoidance tasks. Pedestrians in the baseline condition spontaneously coordinated their walking speed and angle until passing one another. Visually distracting one of the pedestrians decreased the level of behavioral coordination. Importantly, blocking the pedestrians' gaze information alone did not alter their walking. These results indicate that spontaneous coordination requires mutual anticipation. Eye movement analysis showed that the direction of a pedestrian's gaze changed depending on the uncertainty of the oncoming pedestrian's motion, and that pedestrians tended to look ahead toward the ultimate passing direction before they actually walked in that direction. We propose that body motion cues may be sufficient and available for implicit negotiation of potential future motions.

The ambiguous feeling between "mine" and "not-mine" measured by integrated information theory during rubber hand illusion.

Human body awareness is adaptive to context changes. The illusory sense of body ownership has been studied since the publication of the rubber hand illusion, where ambiguous body ownership feeling was first defined. Phenomenologically, the ambiguous body ownership is attributed to a conflict between feeling and judgement: it characterises a discrepancy between first- and third-person processes. Although Bayesian inference can explain this malleability of body image, it still fails to relate the subjective feeling to physiological data. This study attempts to explain subjective experience during rubber hand illusions by using integrated information theory (IIT). The integrated information [Formula: see text] in IIT measures the difference between the whole system and its subsystems. By analysing seven different time-series of physiological data representing a small body-brain system, we demonstrate that the integrity of the whole system during the illusion decreases, while the integrity of its subsystems increases. These general tendencies agree with many brain-image analyses and subjective reports; furthermore, we found that subjective ratings as ambiguous body ownership were associated with [Formula: see text]. Our result suggests that IIT can explain the general tendency of the sense of ownership illusions and individual differences in subjective experience during the illusions.

Visualization of Airborne Particles as a Risk for Microbial Contamination in Orthopedic Surgery.

Background: The operating theater is recognized to involve a high frequency of occupational blood and body fluid contacts. Objectives: This study aimed to visualize the production of blood and body fluid airborne particles by surgical procedures and to investigate risks of microbial contamination of the conjunctival membranes of surgical staff during orthopedic operations. Methods: Two physicians simulated total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and total hip arthroplasty (THA) in a bio-clean theater using model bones. The generation and behaviors of airborne particles were filmed using a fine particle visualization system, and numbers of airborne particles per 2.83 L of air were counted at the height of the operating and instrument tables. Each action was repeated five times, and particle counts were evaluated statistically. Results: Numerous airborne particles were dispersed to higher and wider areas while "cutting bones in TKA" and "striking and driving the cup component on the pelvic bone in THA" compared to other surgical procedures. The highest particle counts were detected while "cutting bones in TKA" under unidirectional laminar air flow. Discussion: These results provide a clearer image of the dispersion and distribution of airborne particles and identified higher-risk surgical procedures for microbial contamination of the conjunctival membranes. Surgical staff including surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists, and visitors, should pay attention to and take measures against occupational infection particularly in high-risk surgical situations.

Recurrence analysis of intraoperative acridine orange-photodynamic therapy for dogs with intranasal tumors.

Intraoperative acridine orange-photodynamic therapy (AO-PDT) and cribriform plate irradiation are used to treat canine intranasal tumors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of AO-PDT on intranasal tumors and the recurrence rate of tumors after this treatment. Treatments with AO-PDT were performed on 38 dogs through a narrow window of the dorsal nasal cavity. The median progression-free interval was 12 mo and recurrence was detected in 21 dogs. Based on computed tomography, recurrence in 16 dogs was biased to the following areas: lateral (n = 10), medial (n = 2), ventral (n = 0), rostral (n = 0), and caudal (n = 8). Side effects were mild and included subcutaneous emphysema and rhinitis. The median survival time was 24 mo. Although AO-PDT with cribriform irradiation is an effective treatment for intranasal tumors, AO-PDT techniques should be improved to treat the nasal cavity more uniformly and thoroughly.

Analyse de récurrence de la thérapie photodynamique peropératoire à l'acridine orange pour des chiens atteints de tumeurs intranasales. La thérapie photodynamique peropératoire à l'acridine orange (AO-PDT) et l'irradiation de la plaque cribriforme sont utilisées pour traiter les tumeurs intranasales canines. Le but de cette étude était d'évaluer les effets de l'AO-PDT sur les tumeurs intranasales et le taux de récidive des tumeurs après ce traitement. Des traitements avec AO-PDT ont été effectués sur 38 chiens à travers une fenêtre étroite de la cavité nasale dorsale. L'intervalle médian sans progression était de 12 mois et une récidive a été détectée chez 21 chiens. Sur la base de la tomodensitométrie, la récidive chez 16 chiens était biaisée dans les zones suivantes : latérale (n = 10), médiale (n = 2), ventrale (n = 0), rostrale (n = 0) et caudale (n = 8). Les effets secondaires étaient légers et comprenaient l'emphysème sous-cutané et la rhinite. La durée médiane de survie était de 24 mois. Bien que l'AO-PDT avec irradiation de la plaque cribriforme soit un traitement efficace pour les tumeurs intranasales, les techniques d'AO-PDT devraient être améliorées pour traiter la cavité nasale de manière plus uniforme et plus complète.(Traduit par Dr Serge Messier).

Incidence of and risk factors for hip fracture in Nagasaki, Japan from 2005 to 2014.

The annual incidence of new hip fractures increased from 2005 to 2014 in Nagasaki and females were much more affected. High-risk factors were identified as age ≥ 80 years, winter, indoors, living room, Monday, and early morning. Seven days after admission, most patients remained hospitalized and had been treated surgically. INTRODUCTION: Hip fractures are major osteoporotic fractures that reduce quality of life. In Japan, the incidence of hip fractures increased steadily from 1986 to 2014 and the number of hip fractures could be 7.3-21.3 million by 2050. This study aimed to determine the incidence of hip fractures from 2005 to 2014 in Nagasaki Prefecture and to analyze the characteristics of and risk factors for hip fracture. METHODS: Hip fractures that occurred in Nagasaki Prefecture between 2005 and 2014 were analyzed using emergency transportation records. Fracture type, age, sex, location in which fracture occurred, and risk factors for hip fracture were clarified. RESULTS: The total number of new hip fractures among individuals ≥ 35 years old was 17,395 (mean age, 82.6 years old) and the annual incidence per 100,000 population increased from 147.9 in 2005 to 235.0 in 2014. Females (79.6%) were much more commonly affected than males (20.4%) and cervical fractures were more common than trochanteric fractures in all age groups. Hip fracture tended to be associated with age ≥ 80 years, winter rather than summer, indoors rather than outdoors, and living room rather than the bathroom or toilet. Other high-risk factors were Monday as day of the week, and early morning as the time of day. Seven days after admission, 97.3% of patients were hospitalized and 78.1% of hip fractures had been treated surgically. CONCLUSION: Information on actual situations and valid preventive measures relevant to hip fracture are urgently needed.

Safety of alternate-day treatment with TS-1TM (tegafur/gimeracil/oteracil) in tumor-bearing dogs: a pilot study.

Tegafur is a prodrug of fluoropyrimidine 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), while TS-1TM is an oral fixed-dose combination of three active drugs, tegafur, gimeracil, and oteracil. This pilot study evaluated the safety of tegafur/gimeracil/oteracil in the treatment of cancers in dogs. Tegafur/gimeracil/oteracil was administered orally at a mean dose of 1.1 mg/kg twice daily on alternate days, Monday-Wednesday-Friday, every week to 11 dogs with tumors. Partial response and stable disease were observed in one dog each, whereas six exhibited progressive disease. Three dogs were not assessed. Adverse events, the most serious being grade 2, were noted in seven dogs. Adverse events were acceptable, and the drug was effective in some dogs. Therefore, tegafur/gimeracil/oteracil may be useful for treating malignant solid tumors in canines.

Mutual anticipation can contribute to self-organization in human crowds.

Human crowds provide paradigmatic examples of collective behavior emerging through self-organization. Understanding their dynamics is crucial to help manage mass events and daily pedestrian transportation. Although recent findings emphasized that pedestrians' interactions are fundamentally anticipatory in nature, whether and how individual anticipation functionally benefits the group is not well understood. Here, we show the link between individual anticipation and emergent pattern formation through our experiments of lane formation, where unidirectional lanes are spontaneously formed in bidirectional pedestrian flows. Manipulating the anticipatory abilities of some of the pedestrians by distracting them visually delayed the collective pattern formation. Moreover, both the distracted pedestrians and the nondistracted ones had difficulties avoiding collisions while navigating. These results imply that avoidance maneuvers are normally a cooperative process and that mutual anticipation between pedestrians facilitates efficient pattern formation. Our findings may influence various fields, including traffic management, decision-making research, and swarm dynamics.

Application of a novel carboxymethyl cellulose-based Mohs sol-gel on malignant wounds in three dogs.

The preparation of modified Mohs paste, commonly used for malignant wounds, requires time and effort. Moreover, metal-containing liquid waste is generated when malignant wounds are scrubbed. Therefore, we previously changed the base material of the modified Mohs paste from zinc oxide starch powder to carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). The novel modified Mohs paste based on CMC (moM-CMC sol) may reduce these disadvantages. In the present study, the moM-CMC sol was applied to malignant tumors in three dogs to manage bleeding and malodor. The moM-CMC sol transitioned into a gel on the tumors within an hour of application and could be easily removed. The symptoms resolved in all cases. The moM-CMC sol could be beneficial for dogs with malignant wounds.

Virtual Hand with Ambiguous Movement between the Self and Other Origin: Sense of Ownership and 'Other-Produced' Agency.

The feeling that a body part is one's own body (sense of ownership; SoO) and the feeling based on the causal relationship between one's will and action (sense of agency; SoA) have been recognized as the basis of our bodily self-consciousness. Previously, the illusory SoO over a fake body part (e.g., rubber hand) was introduced as the rubber hand illusion (RHI). Furthermore, it was determined that one could also evoke a SoA over an object with movements linked to the one's prior intention. On the other hand, the postdictivity of our spontaneity implies that it is essentially inseparable whether actions originate from self or others. In other words, our SoA or daily experiences are obtained in such as inseparable scenario. Previous research, however, has maintained the premise that self- and other-origin movements are perceptually distinguishable. Here, we implement a protocol to make these aspects ambiguous for the participants and to estimate whether they can feel SoO and/or SoA and how. To this end, we employ an experiment using virtual reality, under which participants observe virtual fingers moving very slowly (or quickly or not moving) while their own fingers do not move. For evaluation of the illusory SoO, measurements of skin conductance responses against a knife threat are adopted. Additionally, we introduce face-to-face interviews to determine whether the feelings regarding the slow movement match the conventional SoA definition. Our representative results suggest that the SoO is evoked over the hand, and various attitudes to accept its movement as the participant's own with awareness that they did not originate it are reported by the majority. As the results show, the novelty of this protocol is discovering that in such a situation, the SoO cooperates with an externally produced SoA to establish one's own bodily experience rather than the independence of the SoO and SoA.

Propagating wave based on transition of interaction within animal group.

Propagating waves, information transfers of direction of travel in collective groups, have been observed in animal groups of insects, birds, fish, and mammals. Nevertheless, although many previously proposed models of group behaviors have elucidated various aspects of collective motion, none has directly shown the propagating wave constructively. These models consisted of flocking algorithms in which individuals modify their positions or velocities through average responses to their neighbors. The algorithms involve the function of diluting local fluctuations, individual motions, or social cues that initiate coherent decision-making of where to travel and which spread through a group in the form of a wave. The present study challenged physics-inspired models based solely on average interaction and instead proposed a combination with pair interaction: the 'copy' mechanism. By the mechanism, individuals specially attend and mimic the motion of the largest turning neighbor. The model comprises three modes (base, copy, and align modes) that sequentially switch among themselves, depending on the degree of variance in direction. The model therefore involves propagating waves that produce rapid collective responses and quick turning motions of a group. This proposal is an attempt to uncover the mechanisms of self-organized waves in simulation studies of coordinated groups, without explicit signals such as alarm calls. Understanding such mechanisms is expected to contribute to the 'collective mind' metaphor, answering the question of how animal groups obtain higher-order computational capabilities from local inter-individual interactions.

Intraoperative acridine orange photodynamic therapy and cribriform electron-beam irradiation for canine intranasal carcinomas: 14 cases.

Canine intranasal carcinomas are almost always malignant. Surgery alone often results in rapid tumor regrowth. Radiotherapy is the treatment of choice for dogs with intranasal tumors. Here, we retrospectively assessed treatment of intranasal carcinoma by marginal tumor resection followed by intraoperative acridine orange (AO) photodynamic therapy (PDT) and cribriform plate electron-beam intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT). Fourteen canine cases were assessed, 12 of which had stage I tumors, one with stage III, and one with stage IV. Recurrence was detected in 8, with a median recurrence from the time of treatment of 6 months (range: 3 to 16 months). The median progression-free survival time and overall survival time after treatment were 13 and 22 months, respectively. Adverse events were mild. Marginal tumor resection followed by intraoperative AO-PDT and cribriform plate electron-beam IORT may increase the tumor control time in dogs with marginally resectable intranasal malignant tumors beyond that incurred by surgery alone.

Thérapie photodynamique peropératoire à l'acridine orange et irradiation par faisceau électrique pour carcinome intranasal canin : 14 cas. Un carcinome intranasal canin est presque toujours malin. Une simple opération chirurgicale résulte souvent dans la rapide réapparition de la tumeur. Dans cet article, nous discutons d'un traitement d'un carcinome intranasal par résection marginale de la tumeur effectué simultanément à une thérapie photodynamique (TPD) peropératoire à l'acridine orange (AO) et une radiothérapie peropératoire (RPO) par faisceau électrique des lames criblées. L'étude a porté sur quatorze cas chez le chien dont 12 tumeurs étaient classées au stade I, une au stade III et une au stade IV. Huit des cas étaient des cas de récidive selon une moyenne de 6 mois depuis la période du traitement (plage de 3 à 16 mois). Le temps de survie moyen à l'état stabilisé et le temps de survie général après traitement étaient respectivement de 13 et 22 mois. Les incidents thérapeutiques sont moindres (cinq cas d'emphysème sous-cutané et quatre cas de rhinite). La résection marginale de la tumeur conduite simultanément avec une TPD-AO peropératoire et une RPO par faisceau électrique des lames criblées semble permettre une plus longue phase de maîtrise des tumeurs chez le chien porteur d'une tumeur intranasale maligne à résection marginales possible par rapport aux résultats obtenus par simple intervention chirurgicale.(Traduit par les auteurs).

Lithium Storage Properties of a Bioinspired 2-Line Ferrihydrite: A Silicon-Doped, Nanometric, and Amorphous Iron Oxyhydroxide.

Inspired by a nanometric iron-based oxide material of bacterial origin, silicon (Si)-doped iron oxyhydroxide nanoparticles or 2-line ferrihydrites (2Fhs) were prepared and their lithium (Li) storage properties were investigated. The structures of the Si-doped 2Fhs strongly depended on the Si molar ratio [x = Si/(Fe + Si)] whose long-range atomic ordering gradually vanished as the Si molar ratio increased, with a structural change from nanocrystalline to amorphous at x = 0.30. The most striking properties were observed for the sample with x = 0.30. Over the voltage range of 1.5-4.0 V at a current rate of 500 mA/g, this material exhibited a relatively high reversible capacity of ∼100 mAh/g, which was four times greater than that of the Si-free 2Fh and indicated a good rate capability and cyclability. The large capacity and good rate and cycle performances are presumably because of the amorphous structure and the strong and stabilizing covalent Si-O bonds, respectively. The minor amount of Si(4+) in the structure of the iron oxyhydroxides is considered to improve the electrochemical properties. Use of more appropriate doping elements and fabrication of more appropriate nanostructures could drastically improve the Li storage properties of the developed bioinspired material.

Inherent noise appears as a Lévy walk in fish schools.

Recent experimental and observational data have revealed that the internal structures of collective animal groups are not fixed in time. Rather, individuals can produce noise continuously within their group. These individuals' movements on the inside of the group, which appear to collapse the global order and information transfer, can enable interactions with various neighbors. In this study, we show that noise generated inherently in a school of ayus (Plecoglossus altivelis) is characterized by various power-law behaviors. First, we show that individual fish move faster than Brownian walkers with respect to the center of the mass of the school as a super-diffusive behavior, as seen in starling flocks. Second, we assess neighbor shuffling by measuring the duration of pair-wise contact and find that this distribution obeys the power law. Finally, we show that an individual's movement in the center of a mass reference frame displays a Lévy walk pattern. Our findings suggest that inherent noise (i.e., movements and changes in the relations between neighbors in a directed group) is dynamically self-organized in both time and space. In particular, Lévy walk in schools can be regarded as a well-balanced movement to facilitate dynamic collective motion and information transfer throughout the group.

Emergent runaway into an avoidance area in a swarm of soldier crabs.

Emergent behavior that arises from a mass effect is one of the most striking aspects of collective animal groups. Investigating such behavior would be important in order to understand how individuals interact with their neighbors. Although there are many experiments that have used collective animals to investigate social learning or conflict between individuals and society such as that between a fish and a school, reports on mass effects are rare. In this study, we show that a swarm of soldier crabs could spontaneously enter a water pool, which are usually avoided, by forming densely populated part of a swarm at the edge of the water pool. Moreover, we show that the observed behavior can be explained by the model of collective behavior based on inherent noise that is individuals' different velocities in a directed group. Our results suggest that inherent noise, which is widely seen in collective animals, can contribute to formation and/or maintenance of a swarm and that the dense swarm can enter the pool by means of enhanced inherent noise.