Neonatal Physical Growth Predicts Electroencephalography Power in Rural South African Children.

Anthropometric measures at birth, indexing prenatal growth, are associated with later cognitive development. Children in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) are at elevated risk for impaired prenatal and early postnatal growth and enduring cognitive deficits. However, the associations of neonatal physical growth with neural activity are not well-characterized in LMIC contexts, given the dearth of early childhood neuroimaging research in these settings. The current study examined birth length, weight, and head circumference as predictors of EEG relative power over the first three years of life in rural Limpopo Province, South Africa, controlling for postnatal growth and socioeconomic status (SES). A larger head circumference at birth predicted lower relative gamma power, lower right hemisphere relative beta power, and higher relative alpha and theta power. A greater birth length also predicted lower relative gamma power. There were interactions with timepoints such that the associations of birth head circumference and length with EEG power were most pronounced at the 7-month assessment and were attenuated at the 17- and 36-month assessments. The results identify birth head circumference and length as specific predictors of infant neural activity within an under-resourced context.

A unified approach to demographic data collection for research with young children across diverse cultures.

Culture is a key determinant of children's development both in its own right and as a measure of generalizability of developmental phenomena. Studying the role of culture in development requires information about participants' demographic backgrounds. However, both reporting and treatment of demographic data are limited and inconsistent in child development research. A barrier to reporting demographic data in a consistent fashion is that no standardized tool currently exists to collect these data. Variation in cultural expectations, family structures, and life circumstances across communities make the creation of a unifying instrument challenging. Here, we present a framework to standardize demographic reporting for early child development (birth to 3 years of age), focusing on six core sociodemographic construct categories: biological information, gestational status, health status, community of descent, caregiving environment, and socioeconomic status. For each category, we discuss potential constructs and measurement items and provide guidance for their use and adaptation to diverse contexts. These items are stored in an open repository of context-adapted questionnaires that provide a consistent approach to obtaining and reporting demographic information so that these data can be archived and shared in a more standardized format. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Experience of a TelEmergency program in Colombia South America: descriptive observational study between 2019 and 2021.

INTRODUCTION: Colombia has 50,912,429 inhabitants, but only 50-70% of the population can effectively access health care services. The emergency room (ER) is a main contributor to the in-hospital care system since up to half of the admissions come through it. Telemedicine has become a tool to facilitate effective access to health care services, improve the timeliness of care, reduce diagnostic variability, and reduce costs associated with health. The aim of this study is to describe the experience of a Distance Emergency Care Program through Telemedicine (TelEmergency) to improve specialist access for patients at the Emergency Room (ER) in low- and medium-level care hospitals in Colombia. METHODS: An observational descriptive study of a cohort including 1,544 patients during the program's first two years was conducted. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the available data. The data are presented with summarized statistics of sociodemographic, clinical, and patient-care variables. RESULTS: The study included a total of 1,544 patients, and the majority were adults between 60 and 79 years of age (n = 491, 32%). More than half were men (n = 832, 54%), and 68% (n = 1,057) belonged to the contributory health care regime. The service was requested from 346 municipalities, 70% (n = 1,076) from intermediate and rural settings. The most common diagnoses were related to COVID-19 (n = 356, 22%), respiratory diseases (n = 217, 14%), and cardiovascular diseases (n = 162, 10%). We observed 44% (n = 681) of local admissions either under observation (n = 53, 3%) or hospitalization (n = 380, 24%), limiting the need for hospital transfers. Program operation data revealed that 50% (n = 799) of requests were answered within two hours by the medical staff. The initial diagnosis was modified in 7% (n = 119) of the patients after being evaluated by specialists at the TelEmergency program. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows the operational data collected during the first two years after the implementation of the TelEmergency program in Colombia, the first of its kind in the country. Its implementation offered specialized timely management of patients at the ER in low- and medium-level care hospitals, where there is no availability of specialized doctors.

BOLD activation on the groundside of figures: More suppression of grounds that competed more for figural status.

A fundamental aspect of object detection is assigning a border to one (figure) side but not the other (ground) side. Figures are shaped; grounds appear shapeless near the figure border. Accumulating evidence supports the view that the mechanism of figure assignment is inhibitory competition with the figure perceived on the winning side. Suppression has been observed on the groundside of figure borders. One prediction is that more suppression will be observed when the groundside competes more for figural status. We tested this prediction by assessing BOLD activation on the groundside of two types of stimuli with articulated borders: AEnov and AEfam stimuli. In both stimulus types, multiple image-based priors (symmetry, closure, small area, enclosure by a larger region) favored the inside as the figure. In AEfam but not AEnov stimuli, the figural prior of familiar configuration present on the outside competes for figural status. Observers perceived the insides of both types of stimuli as novel figures and the outsides as shapeless grounds. Previously, we observed lower BOLD activation in early visual areas representing the grounds of AEfam than AEnov stimuli, although unexpectedly, activation was above baseline. With articulated borders, it can be difficult to exclude figure activation from ground ROIs. Here, our ground ROIs better excluded figure activation; we also added straight-edge (SE) control stimuli and increased the sample size. In early visual areas representing the grounds, we observed lower BOLD activation on the groundside of AEfam than AEnov stimuli and below-baseline BOLD activation on the groundside of SE and AEfam stimuli. These results, indicating that greater suppression is applied to groundsides that competed more for figural status but lost the competition, support a Bayesian model of figure assignment in which proto-objects activated at both low and high levels where image features and familiar configurations are represented, respectively, compete for figural status.

Hemispheric Asymmetries of Individual Differences in Functional Connectivity.

Resting-state fMRI studies have revealed that individuals exhibit stable, functionally meaningful divergences in large-scale network organization. The locations with strongest deviations (called network "variants") have a characteristic spatial distribution, with qualitative evidence from prior reports suggesting that this distribution differs across hemispheres. Hemispheric asymmetries can inform us on constraints guiding the development of these idiosyncratic regions. Here, we used data from the Human Connectome Project to systematically investigate hemispheric differences in network variants. Variants were significantly larger in the right hemisphere, particularly along the frontal operculum and medial frontal cortex. Variants in the left hemisphere appeared most commonly around the TPJ. We investigated how variant asymmetries vary by functional network and how they compare with typical network distributions. For some networks, variants seemingly increase group-average network asymmetries (e.g., the group-average language network is slightly bigger in the left hemisphere and variants also appeared more frequently in that hemisphere). For other networks, variants counter the group-average network asymmetries (e.g., the default mode network is slightly bigger in the left hemisphere, but variants were more frequent in the right hemisphere). Intriguingly, left- and right-handers differed in their network variant asymmetries for the cingulo-opercular and frontoparietal networks, suggesting that variant asymmetries are connected to lateralized traits. These findings demonstrate that idiosyncratic aspects of brain organization differ systematically across the hemispheres. We discuss how these asymmetries in brain organization may inform us on developmental constraints of network variants and how they may relate to functions differentially linked to the two hemispheres.

A Novel Methodology for Classifying EMG Movements Based on SVM and Genetic Algorithms.

Electromyography (EMG) processing is a fundamental part of medical research. It offers the possibility of developing new devices and techniques for the diagnosis, treatment, care, and rehabilitation of patients, in most cases non-invasively. However, EMG signals are random, non-stationary, and non-linear, making their classification difficult. Due to this, it is of vital importance to define which factors are helpful for the classification process. In order to improve this process, it is possible to apply algorithms capable of identifying which features are most important in the categorization process. Algorithms based on metaheuristic methods have demonstrated an ability to search for suitable subsets of features for optimization problems. Therefore, this work proposes a methodology based on genetic algorithms for feature selection to find the parameter space that offers the slightest classification error in 250 ms signal segments. For classification, a support vector machine is used. For this work, two databases were used, the first corresponding to the right upper extremity and the second formed by movements of the right lower extremity. For both databases, a feature space reduction of over 65% was obtained, with a higher average classification efficiency of 91% for the best subset of parameters. In addition, particle swarm optimization (PSO) was applied based on right upper extremity data, obtaining an 88% average error and a 46% reduction for the best subset of parameters. Finally, a sensitivity analysis was applied to the characteristics selected by PSO and genetic algorithms for the database of the right upper extremity, obtaining that the parameters determined by the genetic algorithms show greater sensitivity for the classification process.

Infants' neural sensitivity to social interactions varies by income and infant-directed speech.

Social interactions are essential for infant brain development, yet we know little about how infant functional connectivity differs between social and nonsocial contexts, or how sensitivity to differences between contexts might be related to early distal and proximal environmental factors. We compared 12-month-old infants' intrahemispheric electroencephalographic (EEG) coherence between a social and a nonsocial condition, then examined whether differences between conditions varied as a function of family economic strain and two maternal behaviors at 6 months, positive affect and infant-directed speech. We found lower EEG coherence from the frontal region to the central, parietal, temporal, and occipital regions during the social condition, but only for infants from higher-income families and infants whose mothers used higher proportions of infant-directed speech. In contrast, there were no differences between social and nonsocial conditions for infants from economically strained families or infants whose mothers used lower proportions of infant-directed speech. This study demonstrates that neural organization differs between a nonsocial baseline and a social interaction, but said differentiation is not present for infants from less privileged backgrounds. Our results underscore the importance of examining brain activity during species-typical contexts to understand the role of environmental factors in brain development.

Ruta integral de atención en salud a través de la telesalud para el manejo del síndrome coronario agudo / Comprehensive health care route through telehealth for the management of acute coronary syndrome

Resumen Objetivo: Proponer una ruta integral de atención en salud a través de la telesalud para el manejo del síndrome coronario agudo. Método: La construcción de la ruta se basa en la revisión de la literatura y la información obtenida en grupos focales con expertos. Resultados: Se construyó una ruta integral de atención en salud para el manejo del paciente con síndrome coronario agudo. Se diagrama en notación gráfica que describe la lógica de pasos, teniendo en cuenta los siguientes actores: pacientes y familias, sistemas de atención de emergencias, telesalud, hospitales de primer y segundo nivel de complejidad, terceros niveles de complejidad con capacidad resolutiva de los casos de síndrome coronario agudo, y entes de inspección, vigilancia y control. Conclusiones: La ruta integral de atención en salud soportada en la telesalud es una apuesta innovadora para optimizar procesos en salud. Puede entenderse como alternativa ante la crisis que afronta el sistema en términos de financiamiento, resultados y legitimidad, teniendo en cuenta el efecto positivo de la telesalud sobre la oferta y el acceso a servicios, diagnósticos y tratamientos oportunos, la superación de distancias geográficas, el mejoramiento de la calidad y la contribución con el despliegue de las guías de práctica clínica.

Abstract Objective: To propose a comprehensive route of health care through telemedicine for the management of acute coronary syndrome. Method: The construction of the route is based on the literature review and the information obtained in focus groups with experts. Results: A comprehensive route of health care has been built for the management of patients with acute coronary syndrome. This comprehensive route of health care is diagrammed in a graphic notation that describes the logic of the steps, taking into account the following actors: the patient and their families, emergency care systems, telemedicine, first and second level of care hospitals, third levels of care with resolution capacity of acute coronary syndrome cases, and inspection surveillance and control authorities. Conclusions: The comprehensive route of health care supported in telemedicine, is an innovative bet to improve processes in health care services. It can be understood as an alternative to the crisis faced by the sector in terms of financing, results and legitimacy, taking into account the positive effect of telemedicine on the provision and access to services, diagnostic and timely treatment, to overcome geographic distances, improve quality and contribute to the deployment of clinical practice guidelines.

Light Through the Fog: Using Precision fMRI Data to Disentangle the Neural Substrates of Cognitive Control.

Cognitive control, the ability to engage in goal-related behavior, is linked to frontal, parietal, and cingulate brain regions. However, the underlying function(s) of these regions is still in question, with ongoing discussions about their specificity and/or multifunctionality. These brain regions are also among the most variable across individuals, which may confound multi-functionality with inter-individual heterogeneity. Precision fMRI-extended data acquisition from single individuals-allows for reliable individualized mapping of brain organization. We review examples of recent studies that use precision fMRI to surmount inter-individual variability in functional neuroanatomy. These studies provide evidence of interleaved specialized and multifunctional regions in the frontal cortex. We discuss the potential for these techniques to address outstanding controversies on the neural underpinnings of cognitive control.

Author Correction: Prior Experience Alters the Appearance of Blurry Object Borders.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Prior Experience Alters the Appearance of Blurry Object Borders.

Object memories activated by borders serve as priors for figure assignment: figures are more likely to be perceived on the side of a border where a well-known object is sketched. Do object memories also affect the appearance of object borders? Memories represent past experience with objects; memories of well-known objects include many with sharp borders because they are often fixated. We investigated whether object memories affect appearance by testing whether blurry borders appear sharper when they are contours of well-known objects versus matched novel objects. Participants viewed blurry versions of one familiar and one novel stimulus simultaneously for 180 ms; then made comparative (Exp. 1) or equality judgments regarding perceived blur (Exps. 2-4). For equivalent levels of blur, the borders of well-known objects appeared sharper than those of novel objects. These results extend evidence for the influence of past experience to object appearance, consistent with dynamic interactive models of perception.

Local collaborations for physical activity promotion: a network analysis.

This study aims to describe a local network for physical activity promotion and identify factors associated to collaboration or partnership ties between its actors. The study was carried out in a district of São Paulo, Brazil. Thirty-two actors responsible for policies, programs, and initiatives to promote physical activity within the district were interviewed from June to December 2012. Interviews included information about the actors' attributes and their relationships with the other actors. Network analysis techniques were used to describe and analyze the structure of the network. Thirty-two actors maintained 179 relationships among themselves (density = 0.18), of which 46% were reciprocal. Four in 10 relationships did not extend beyond information exchange. Forty-six relationships were classified as collaborations or partnerships (density = 0.09), of which 40% were concentrated on one actor of the public sector. To perceive institutional structure and bureaucracy as limiting factors to networking has been positively associated with new collaboration or partnership ties (OR = 2.37; 95%CI: 1.2-5.50). Understanding the structure of the network may empower the actors and foster self-management, facilitating the identification and decision, in a collaborative way, in which new relationships may have greater impact in the physical activity promotion within the district.

Local collaborations for physical activity promotion: a network analysis / Colaboraciones locales para la promoción de la actividad física: un análisis de red / Colaborações locais para a promoção da atividade física: uma análise de rede

Abstract: This study aims to describe a local network for physical activity promotion and identify factors associated to collaboration or partnership ties between its actors. The study was carried out in a district of São Paulo, Brazil. Thirty-two actors responsible for policies, programs, and initiatives to promote physical activity within the district were interviewed from June to December 2012. Interviews included information about the actors' attributes and their relationships with the other actors. Network analysis techniques were used to describe and analyze the structure of the network. Thirty-two actors maintained 179 relationships among themselves (density = 0.18), of which 46% were reciprocal. Four in 10 relationships did not extend beyond information exchange. Forty-six relationships were classified as collaborations or partnerships (density = 0.09), of which 40% were concentrated on one actor of the public sector. To perceive institutional structure and bureaucracy as limiting factors to networking has been positively associated with new collaboration or partnership ties (OR = 2.37; 95%CI: 1.2-5.50). Understanding the structure of the network may empower the actors and foster self-management, facilitating the identification and decision, in a collaborative way, in which new relationships may have greater impact in the physical activity promotion within the district.

Resumen: El objetivo de este estudio fue describir una red local de promoción de la actividad física e identificar los factores asociados al trabajo en colaboración o asociación entre sus actores. El trabajo se realizó en Ermelino Matarazzo, distrito del municipio de São Paulo, Brasil. Se entrevistaron, durante el período de junio a diciembre de 2012, a 32 actores responsables de acciones, programas o políticas de promoción de la actividad física en ese distrito. La entrevista contenía información sobre las características de los actores y de sus relaciones con los demás actores. La estructura de las relaciones se examinó mediante técnicas de análisis de redes. Los 32 actores mantenían entre sí 179 relaciones (densidad = 0,18), siendo 46% recíprocas. Cuatro de cada diez relaciones no iban más allá del intercambio de información. Cuarenta y seis relaciones fueron de colaboración o asociación (densidad = 0,09), de las cuales un 40% se concentraron en un único actor del sector público. La percepción de que la estructura y la burocracia institucional son factores limitadores para establecer asociaciones estuvo positivamente asociada al establecimiento de una relación de colaboración o asociación (OR = 2,37; IC95%: 1,02-5,50). Comprender la estructura de la red puede ser una poderosa forma de fortalecer a los actores y la autogestión de la red, facilitando la identificación y la toma de decisiones, de forma colaborativa, sobre qué nuevas relaciones pueden tener un mayor impacto en la promoción de la actividad física dentro del distrito.

Resumo: Este estudo teve como objetivo descrever uma rede local de promoção da atividade física e identificar os fatores associados ao trabalho em colaboração ou parceria entre os seus atores. O trabalho foi realizado em Ermelino Matarazzo, distrito do Município de São Paulo, Brasil. Foram entrevistados, no período de junho a dezembro de 2012, 32 atores responsáveis por ações, programas ou políticas de promoção da atividade física no distrito. A entrevista continha informações sobre as características dos atores e de suas relações com os demais atores. A estrutura das relações foi explorada por meio de técnicas de análise de redes. Os 32 atores mantinham entre si 179 relações (densidade = 0,18), sendo 46% recíprocas. Quatro em cada dez relações não iam além da troca de informações. Quarenta e seis relações foram de colaboração ou parceria (densidade = 0,09), das quais 40% se concentraram em um único ator do setor público. A percepção de que a estrutura e a burocracia institucional são fatores limitantes para realizar parcerias esteve positivamente associada ao estabelecimento de uma relação de colaboração ou parceria (OR = 2,37; IC95%: 1,02-5,50). Compreender a estrutura da rede pode ser uma poderosa forma de fortalecer os atores e a autogestão da rede, facilitando a identificação e a tomada de decisão, de forma colaborativa, sobre quais novas relações podem ter maior impacto na promoção da atividade física dentro do distrito.

Influencia del riesgo social en la teoría de la mente y funciones ejecutivas de adolescentes colombianos / Influence of Social Risk in the Theory of Mind and Executive Functions of Colombian Teenagers

Resumen El objetivo del presente estudio fue determinar la influencia del riesgo social en el rendimiento, en tareas de Funciones Ejecutivas (FE) y Teoría de la Mente (ToM) en adolescentes colombianos. Participaron 78 adolescentes (41 en riesgo social y 37 controles) entre los 13 y 16 años de edad seleccionados a través de un muestreo intencional. Se administró el Test de Palabras y Colores de Stroop, el Test de la Pirámide de México y el Test de Falso Paso para evaluar control inhibitorio, planificación y ToM, respectivamente. A pesar de que no se encontraron diferencias significativas en las FE de control inhibitorio y planificación, se encontraron diferencias en el desempeño en algunas dimensiones de la prueba de ToM. Adicionalmente, mientras que al interior del grupo sin riesgo social se observó una relación entre la ToM y las FE evaluadas, al interior del grupo en riesgo social estos procesos no estuvieron relacionados. Se concluye que un entorno de riesgo social parece no afectar las FE de control inhibitorio y planificación o la habilidad para detectar comportamientos inapropiados, pero sí la habilidad para realizar inferencias acerca de los estados mentales de los otros. Asimismo, un entorno de riesgo social es un factor ambiental que parece disociar el proceso de desarrollo de la cognición social y de los procesos ejecutivos en adolescentes, desarrollo que debería darse de manera paralela.

Abstract The objective of the present study was to determine the influence of social risk in the performance of Colombian adolescents in ToM and EF tasks. The participants were 78 adolescents (41 in social risk and 37 controls) between 13 and 16 years of age. The Stroop Test, the Pyramid of Mexico subtest and the Faux Pas Recognition Test where used to assess inhibitory Control, Planning and ToM in the participants, respectively. Although no significant differences were found in the executive functions of Inhibiting Control and Planning, some differences were found in the performance of the ToM test. Additionally, whereas in the control group a relationship between ToM and executive functions was observed, in the at social risk group these processes were not related. These findings reveal that being at social risk does not affect the Executive Functions of Control and Planning but it does have an effect in the ability to make inferences about the mental states of others. Moreover, being at social risk can be an environmental factor that can dissociate the development process of social cognition and executive functions, which are supposed to occur parallelly.