Caregiver experiences of hospice dementia care: a systematic review and meta-ethnography.

OBJECTIVES: Hospices are regarded as gold standard providers of end-of-life care. The term hospice, however, is broadly used, and can describe a type of care offered in a variety of health care services (e.g. nursing homes). It thus becomes complex for families to decide between services. We aimed to review the evidence around the experience of family carers of people with dementia accessing in-patient hospice settings for end-of-life care. METHOD: We registered the review protocol on PROSPERO. We used PerSPE(C)TiF to systematically organise our search strategy. The evidence was reviewed across six databases: PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, ASSIA, ISI Web, and CINAHL. We used meta-ethnography as per the eMERGe guidance for data interpretation. RESULTS: Four studies were included. Two third-order constructs were generated through meta-ethnography: expectations of care and barriers to quality of care. We found that carers had expectations of care, and these could change over time. If discussion was not held with hospice staff early on, the carers could experience reduced care quality due to unmatched expectations. Unmatched expectations acted as barriers to care and these were found in terms of carers not feeling adequately supported, and/or having the person discharged from hospice, which would entail increased care responsibility for carers. CONCLUSION: In view of an increase in new dementia cases over time and with hospice services being under pressure, integrating palliative care services within community-based models of care is key to reducing the risk of having inadequate and under resourced services for people with dementia.

Understanding Policy Decisions and Their Implications Regarding Preventive Interventions for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Infection in Canadian Infants: A Primer for Nurses.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of morbidity and hospitalization in young children, and prevention is the primary management strategy. At present, palivizumab, a monoclonal antibody providing immediate passive immunity, rather than a vaccine that induces active immunity, is the only preventive intervention used in routine practice internationally. In Canada, access varies across the country. Prophylaxis policies are mainly driven by cost-effectiveness analyses, and it is crucial that the full costs and benefits of any intervention are captured. Positive results from a new Canadian cost-effectiveness analysis of palivizumab will help address the current inequality in use while providing a framework for future models of RSV preventives. Nurses are the principal educators for parents about the risks of childhood RSV and optimal prevention via basic hygiene, behavioral and environmental measures, and seasonal prophylaxis. Nurses should be provided not only with regular, up-to-date, and accurate information on RSV and the clinical aspects of emerging interventions but be informed on the decision-making governing the use of preventive strategies.

Laboratory evidence that dinotefuran, pyriproxyfen and permethrin combination abrogates Leishmania infantum transmissibility by sick dogs.

Dogs are reservoir hosts of leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum and transmitted by phlebotomine vectors. The effect of dinotefuran, pyriproxyfen and permethrin spot-on solution (Vectra®3D, Ceva Santé Animale, Libourne, France) on Leishmania transmissibility by naturally infected dogs via reared Phlebotomus perniciosus, was assessed. Dogs affected by leishmaniasis were submitted to xenodiagnosis and 6 infecting >10% of insects were treated topically on day 0. Antifeeding, insecticidal and anti-transmissibility effects were evaluated through xenodiagnoses performed on days 1, 7 and 28, using individual pre-treatment parameters as control. Feeding and mortality rates were assessed at 24 h, whereas promastigote infection, maturation and burden were assessed up to 96 h post blood meal (potentially infectious rate). On day 1, the anti-feeding efficacy was >95% in 4 dogs, insecticidal efficacy 100% in 4 dogs, and anti-transmissibility effect 100% in 6 dogs. Efficacy rates recorded on day 7 were very similar to day 1. On day 28, anti-feeding and insecticidal efficacy values were much broader, ranging 32.6-100% and 7.7-94.4%, respectively. Potentially infectious insects were recorded from two dogs, with sharp decrease in transmissibility rate as compared with pre-treatment condition. Altogether, Vectra®3D abrogated by >98% the potential Leishmania transmissibility by the examined pool of infected dogs over 1 month.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus Immunoprophylaxis with Palivizumab: 12-Year Observational Study of Usage and Outcomes in Canada.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate palivizumab (PVZ) use, trends in indications, and outcomes of respiratory illness hospitalizations (RIH) and respiratory syncytial virus hospitalizations (RSVH). STUDY DESIGN: It involves a large, Canadian prospective (2005-2017) observational multicenter study of children at high risk for RSV infection. RESULTS: A total of 25,003 infants (56.3% male) were enrolled at 32 sites; 109,579 PVZ injections were administered. Indications included: prematurity (63.3%); "miscellaneous" (17.8%); hemodynamically significant congenital heart disease (10.5%); bronchopulmonary dysplasia/chronic lung disease (8.4%). The "miscellaneous" group increased over time (4.4% in 2005-2006 to 22.5% in 2016-2017) and included: trisomy 21, airway anomalies, pulmonary disorders, cystic fibrosis, neurological impairments, immunocompromised, cardiac aged >2 years, multiple conditions, and a residual "unclassified" group. Adherence measured by expected versus actual doses plus correct interdose interval was 64.7%. A total of 2,054 RIH occurred (6.9%); 198 (9.6%) required intubation. Three hundred thirty-seven hospitalized children were RSV-positive (overall RSVH 1.6%). Risk factors for RSVH included having siblings, attending daycare, family history of atopy, smoking exposure, and crowded household. Infants with 5 risk factors were 9.0 times (95% CI or confidence interval 4.4-18.2; p < 0.0005) more likely to have RSVH than infants without risk factors. Three adverse events occurred; none were fatal. CONCLUSION: Results are relevant to both clinicians and decision-makers. We confirmed the safety of PVZ. Use of PVZ increased steadily for children with miscellaneous conditions and medical complexity. Medical and social factors pose a risk for severe RIH and RSVH with accompanying burden of illness. A vaccine that protects against RSV is urgently required. KEY POINTS: · Main indications were prematurity (63.3%); "miscellaneous" (17.8%); hemodynamically significant congenital heart disease (10.5%); bronchopulmonary dysplasia/chronic lung disease (8.4%).. · The proportion of children in the "miscellaneous" group, comprised of those with trisomy 21, airway anomalies, pulmonary disorders, cystic fibrosis, neurological impairments, immunocompromised, cardiac aged >2 years, multiple conditions, and a residual "unclassified" group, increased over time (4.4% in 2005-2006 to 22.5% in 2016-2017).. · Respiratory illness-related hospitalization occurred in 2,054 children (6.9%); 198 (9.6%) required intubation. Three hundred thirty-seven hospitalized children were RSV-positive (overall RSVH: 1.6%)..

Assessment of anthelmintic efficacy against cattle gastrointestinal nematodes in western France and southern Italy.

Our objective was to measure the efficacy of ivermectin (IVM) and benzimidazoles (BZ, i.e. fenbendazole and albendazole) in 15 cattle farms in western France and southern Italy. A total of 11 groups were treated with IVM and 11 with BZ. Efficacy was assessed by calculating the percentage of faecal egg count reduction (%FECR) using the pre- and post-treatment arithmetic means. Anthelmintic resistance was considered to be present when the %FECR was <95% and the lower limit of the 95% confidence interval <90%. For IVM, the percentages of FECR ranged from 73% to 100%. Lack of efficacy to IVM was detected in two farms out of four in France, but was not detected in any of the seven farms in Italy. For BZ, the percentages of FECR ranged from 95% to 100%. No case of BZ resistance was detected in the five farms in France and the six farms in Italy.

Hospitalization for Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Children with Down Syndrome Less than 2 Years of Age: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-related hospitalization rate, hospital length of stay (LOS), and need for assisted ventilation in children aged <2 years with Down syndrome and those without Down syndrome. STUDY DESIGN: MEDLINE, Embase, and CINAHL databases were searched from inception up to December 2017. Studies that provided data on RSV-related hospitalization in children aged <2 years with Down syndrome and those without Down syndrome were included. Data were independently extracted in pairs by 2 reviewers and synthesized with random-effects meta-analysis. RESULTS: In 10 studies including a total of 1 748 209 children, 12.6% of the children with Down syndrome (491 of 3882) were hospitalized with RSV infection. The presence of Down syndrome was associated with a significantly higher risk of RSV-related hospitalization (relative risk [RR], 6.06; 95% CI, 4.93-7.45; I2 = 65%; Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation [GRADE], moderate). RSV-related LOS (mean difference, 2.11 days; 95% CI, 1.47-2.75 days; I2 = 0%; GRADE, low), and the need for assisted ventilation (RR, 5.82; 95% CI, 1.81-18.69; I2 = 84%; GRADE, low). Children with Down syndrome without congenital heart disease (RR, 6.31; 95% CI, 4.83-8.23; GRADE, moderate) also had a significantly higher risk of RSV-related hospitalization. The risk of RSV-related hospitalization remained significant in the subgroup of children aged <1 year (RR, 6.25; 95% CI, 4.71-8.28; GRADE, high). CONCLUSION: RSV-related hospitalization, hospital LOS, and the need for assisted ventilation are significantly higher in children with Down syndrome aged <2 years compared with those without Down syndrome. The results should prompt reconsideration of the need for routine RSV prophylaxis in children with Down syndrome up to 2 years of age.

Prices, peers, and perceptions (P3): study protocol for improved biomass cookstove project in northern Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Despite their potential health and social benefits, adoption and use of improved cookstoves has been low throughout much of the world. Explanations for low adoption rates of these technologies include prices that are not affordable for the target populations, limited opportunities for households to learn about cookstoves through peers, and perceptions that these technologies are not appropriate for local cooking needs. The P3 project employs a novel experimental design to explore each of these factors and their interactive effects on cookstove demand, adoption, use and exposure outcomes. METHODS: The P3 study is being conducted in the Kassena-Nankana Districts of Northern Ghana. Leveraging an earlier improved cookstove study that was conducted in this area, the central design of the P3 biomass stove experiment involves offering stoves at randomly varying prices to peers and non-peers of households that had previously received stoves for free. Using household surveys, electronic stove use monitors, and low-cost, portable monitoring equipment, we measure how prices and peers' experience affect perceptions of stove quality, the decision to purchase a stove, use of improved and traditional stoves over time, and personal exposure to air pollutants from the stoves. DISCUSSION: The challenges that public health and development communities have faced in spreading adoption of potentially welfare-enhancing technologies, like improved cookstoves, have highlighted the need for interdisciplinary, multisectoral approaches. The design of the P3 project draws on economic theory, public health practice, engineering, and environmental sciences, to more fully grasp the drivers and barriers to expanding access to and uptake of cleaner stoves. Our partnership between academic institutions, in the US and Ghana, and a local environmental non-governmental organization creates unique opportunities to disseminate and scale up lessons learned. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03617952 7/31/18 (Retrospectively Registered).

Respiratory syncytial virus hospitalization and incurred morbidities the season after prophylaxis.

OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of this study was to determine the incidence and incurred morbidities of Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-related hospitalization (RSVH), the season following completion of prophylaxis. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted of all infants enrolled in a prophylaxis clinic in one institution during the 2009 to 2014 RSV seasons. RSV infection was identified by Diseases codes and confirmed by RSV-positivity. Data were classified into five groups based on indications for prophylaxis. The incidence of RSVH was calculated. For each subgroup, differences in characteristics between children with and without RSVH were analyzed by independent t test or chi-square test. RESULTS: During five RSV seasons, 827 infants were enrolled. RSVH incidence the season following prophylaxis was 2.1% (n=17/827). Children with chronic lung disease (CLD) had the highest RSVH incidence (7.7%; n=4/52) followed by preterms 33 to 35 weeks gestation (2.5%; n=4/162), those with complex medical disorders (2.2%; n=3/135), those with congenital heart disease (1.5%; n=1/66) and preterms less than or equal to 32 weeks gestation (1.2%; n=5/412). There was no statistically significant association between indications for prophylaxis and RSVH (Fisher exact test, P=0.060). The odds of RSVH were 4.9 times greater (odds ratio [OR]=4.9; 95% CI: 1.53, 15.55; P=0.007) in CLD compared to those without CLD. The median length of RSVH stay was 4 days; 58.8% (n=10/17) required oxygen (median 1 day); 29.4% (n=5/17) required intensive care. CONCLUSIONS: Infants with CLD are at highest risk for RSVH in the season postprophylaxis and may merit palivizumab for more than two seasons dependent on disease severity. However, larger prospective studies are necessary to confirm the findings before embarking on a strategy of providing prophylaxis for a third RSV season.

Papillary thyroid microcarcinoma in super obese patient.

Papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) typically has an indolent behavior with a good prognosis but it is not always completely harmless. Surgical treatment varies from thyroid lobectomy to total thyroidectomy eventually associated with lymph node dissection and radioiodotherapy. The ability to identify patients with aggressive PTMCs from the majority of low risk patients is critical to planning proper clinical management. Several studies don't report any statistically significant differences about recurrence and mortality among patients undergone lobectomy and patients undergone total thyroidectomy. Recently, higher body mass index (BMI) has been associated with aggressive pathologic features of papillary thyroid carcinoma. For differentiated thyroid cancers, an elevated BMI has been linked to a higher incidence of thyroid cancer in some cohorts. The risk factors for a more aggressiveness of PTMC don't yet clearly defined such as their biological features enable to condition the surgical treatment. In order to elucidate the precise mechanism contributing to the relationship between obesity and thyroid cancer aggressiveness, future studies must be performed.

Update on sutureless thyroidectomy.

INTRODUCTION: The Harmonic scalpel ("Focus" and the new version "Focus+") is one of the first devices for surgical simultaneous cutting and tissue coagulation which allows to obtain dissection and hemostasis by direct application of ultrasound and allows minimally invasive surgical procedures with minimal lateral thermal spread and, thus, minimal adjacent tissue destruction. The aim of the study is to complete the previous study that we made in 2014, based on the TT performed between January 2008 and December 2013, with new data about TT performed in our Surgical Division between January 2014 and December 2016 and compare the outcome using the Ultrasonic scalpel versus the device Ligasure in term of safety, operative time, overall drainage volume, complications, hospital stay. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 250 patients were randomized into two groups: Group A where Ultracision were used and Group B where the Ligasure device was used. RESULTS: The results of the group A and of the Group B 2014-2016 have been compared with the results of the previous study and we found that they are similar, but asymptomatic hypocalcaemia increased in the patients of the new study. CONCLUSIONS: We found that the use of Ultrasonic scalpel and Ligasure is effective both in the hemostasis of all vessels and in dissection of tissues and confirm the results of our first study without significant difference in the rate of post-operative morbidity with these two different energy based devices used.

Induction of haem oxygenase-1 increases infection of dog macrophages by L. infantum.

We aimed to induce and inhibit HO-1, ascertaining its effect on infection rate, parasite load and the levels of superoxide, reactive oxygen species (ROS), nitric oxide (NO), TNF-alpha and IL-10 in cultured macrophages from healthy dogs infected by Leishmania infantum. Macrophages obtained from 15 healthy dogs were cultured alone or infected with L. infantum, with or without association of HO-1 inducer and inhibitor. The infection rate and the parasite load were determined by the number of infected macrophages and number of promastigotes per macrophage, respectively. HO-1 levels and gene expression, as well as IL-10 and TNF-alpha levels were also measured in these cultures. Superoxide, ROS and NO levels in macrophages were measured through flow cytometry. Induction of HO-1 increased the infection rate and parasite load, while its inhibition decreased the infection rate and IL-10 production. There was a positive correlation between HO-1 and infection rate or parasite load. Increased infection rate was associated with decreased superoxide, ROS and NO levels. Induction of HO-1 metabolism in dogs infected by L. infantum is possibly one of the mechanisms responsible for increasing the infection of macrophages, mainly through reduction in the oxidative and nitrosative metabolisms of these cells.

Multiple representation of reaching space in the medial posterior parietal area V6A.

During foveal reaching, the activity of neurons in the macaque medial posterior parietal area V6A is modulated by both gaze and arm direction. In the present work, we dissociated the position of gaze and reaching targets, and studied the neural activity of single V6A cells while the eyes and reaching targets were arranged in different spatial configurations (peripheral and foveal combinations). Target position influenced neural activity in all stages of the task, from visual presentation of target and movement planning, through reach execution and holding time. The majority of neurons preferred reaches directed toward peripheral targets, rather than foveal. Most neurons discharged in both premovement and action epochs. In most cases, reaching activity was tuned coherently across action planning and execution. When reaches were planned and executed in different eye/target configurations, multiple analyses revealed that few neurons coded reaching actions according to the absolute position of target, or to the position of target relative to the eye. The majority of cells responded to a combination of both these factors. These data suggest that V6A contains multiple representations of spatial information for reaching, consistent with a role of this area in forming cross-reference frame representations to be used by premotor cortex.

Common neural substrate for processing depth and direction signals for reaching in the monkey medial posterior parietal cortex.

Many psychophysical studies suggest that target depth and direction during reaches are processed independently, but the neurophysiological support to this view is so far limited. Here, we investigated the representation of reach depth and direction by single neurons in area V6A of the medial posterior parietal cortex (PPC) of macaques, while a fixation-to-reach task in 3-dimensional (3D) space was performed. We found that, in a substantial percentage of V6A neurons, depth and direction signals jointly influenced fixation, planning, and arm movement-related activity. While target depth and direction were equally encoded during fixation, depth tuning became stronger during arm movement planning, execution, and target holding. The spatial tuning of fixation activity was often maintained across epochs, and depth tuning persisted more than directional tuning across epochs. These findings support for the first time the existence of a common neural substrate for the encoding of target depth and direction during reaches in the PPC. Present results also highlight the presence of several types of V6A cells that process independently or jointly signals about eye position and arm movement planning and execution in order to control reaches in 3D space. A conceptual framework for the processing of depth and direction for reaching is proposed.

Methylation profile of SNRPN gene and its correlation with weight and chronological age.

Genomic imprinting is an important epigenetic phenomenon, wherein genes or gene clusters are marked by DNA methylation during gametogenesis. This plays a major role in several functions of normal cells, including cell differentiation, X chromosome inactivation, and the maintenance of chromatin structure, in mammalian development. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible differences in SNRPN gene methylation profiles in non-obese and obese individuals, and in children and adults. Our results did not reveal any statistical correlations between the DNA methylation profiles of the SNRPN gene in children or adult obese and non-obese groups. However, a comparison of the methylation levels with the chronological age revealed statistically significant differences between the means of methylation in adults and children (46.20 ± 5.88 and 39.40 ± 2.87, respectively; P < 0.001). Pearson's correlation analysis indicated a positive association between the level of DNA methylation and the chronological age (R2 = 0.326; P < 0.001). Therefore, we concluded that the methylation profile of the SNRPN promoter (in blood) is not a useful biomarker for determining the predisposition of an individual to obesity. Additionally, we have confirmed that SNRPN methylation increases with age, which raises further questions regarding the role of SNRPN expression during the aging process.

Manipulation of primer affinity improves high-resolution melting accuracy for imprinted genes.

High-resolution melting (HRM) is considered an inexpensive, rapid, and attractive methodology for methylation analysis. In the application of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to methylation analysis, amplification efficiencies are biased towards unmethylated, rather than methylated, templates: a phenomenon known as PCR bias. To overcome PCR bias, primers that include CpG site(s) and are fully complementary to the methylated sequence have been proposed. However, genes mapped within imprinted regions usually present higher methylation levels, and an unusual PCR bias towards the methylated template can therefore arise. The manipulation of primer affinity attempts to overcome this problem. We attempted to show that mismatches at the primer's methylated binding sites increase the area between the 50 and 100% methylation plots on the melting curves, and may increase HRM accuracy for samples that have high methylation levels. Sets of primers for imprinted genes that included CpG sites at their binding sequences were designed, and were complementary to methylated or unmethylated templates. Primers fully complementary to methylated templates produced a very small area between the 50 and 100% methylation plots. When using primers that were fully complementary to the unmethylated sequence, we were able to increase the area between the 50 and 100% methylation plots. Therefore, when samples are highly methylated, such as targets in genes mapped in imprinted regions, we propose that primers should favor amplification of the rarest, unmethylated sequence. Primers may be designed to include one CpG at its binding site and be fully complementary to the unmethylated template.

Effect of the concentration of phenothiazine photosensitizers in antimicrobial photodynamic therapy on bone loss and the immune inflammatory response of induced periodontitis in rats.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Antimicrobial therapy can suppress periodontal pathogens and increase the effectiveness of conventional mechanical treatment. The aim of this study was to assess bone loss and the immune inflammatory response of rats under the influence of two photosensitizing agents (MB and TBO) at two different concentrations in antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT), used as an adjuvant therapy in the treatment of periodontitis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Periodontitis was induced in the mandibular first molars of 162 rats. The animals were divided into nine groups: G1 - scaling and root planing (SRP); G2 - SRP plus 100 µg/mL of methylene blue (MB); G3 - SRP plus 10 mg/mL of MB; G4 - SRP plus 100 µg/mL of toluidine blue (TBO); G5 - SRP plus 10 mg/mL of TBO; G6 - SRP plus 100 µg/mL of MB and laser; G7 - SRP plus 10 mg/mL of MB and laser; G8 - SRP plus 100 µg/mL of TBO and laser; and G9 - SRP plus 10 mg/mL of TBO and laser. Six animals from each group were euthanized 7, 15, or 30 d after treatment. Bone loss (BL) in the furcation region was evaluated using histomorphometric and immunohistochemical analyses to detect the receptor activator of nuclear factor-Κappa B ligand (RANKL), osteoprotegerin (OPG) and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP). RESULTS: There was significantly less BL in animals treated with aPDT using low concentrations of MB and TBO at 7, 15 and 30 d. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed decreased RANKL and increased OPG in the aPDT groups and decreased TRAP-positive cells in G6 and G8. CONCLUSIONS: aPDT, using low concentrations of MB and TBO, was the most effective adjuvant therapy to SRP, acting indirectly as a downregulator of the molecular mechanisms that control bone resorption in periodontitis.

Effect of simvastatin treatment on plasma visfatin levels in obese women.

AIMS: Obesity is one of the major concerns in the world currently, its prejudicial effect is exerted by proteins secreted by adipose tissue, among them visfatin was demonstrated to be related with BMI and cardiovascular diseases. The HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors are known to minimize the cardiovascular risk in hyperlipidemic patients and recently the discovery of various pleiotropic effects has made the statins evidencing among others anti-inflammatory effect. Our objective in this study was to determinate if simvastatin treatment may modulate visfatin levels in obese women without any other metabolic disorder. METHODS: We recruited 25 obese women without any other metabolic disorder and treated with simvastatin for 6 weeks 20 mg/day. RESULTS: The levels of plasma visfatin were similar before and after treatment (22 ± 20 versus 27 ± 14 ng/mL, p > 0.05) and correlated with BMI before treatment (p = 0.001). We also found correlations among visfatin and insulin levels (p = 0.015) and HOMA-IR (p = 0.025) only after treatment. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that visfatin is not modulated by simvastatin treatment in this group but the treatment may interfere on the relation among visfatin, BMI, insulin and HOMA-IR.

The occurrence of giant fibres in different muscles of two chicken genotypes.

1. The occurrence of Giant Fibres (GF) in three muscles (Pectoralis major (PM), Iliotibialis lateralis and Semimembranosus) with different types of energy metabolism was studied in slow- and fast-growing chicken strains. 2. A total of 20 one-day-old Leghorn chicks (slow-growing) and 20 broiler (Ross 508) chicks (fast-growing) were reared to 100 and 45 d, respectively. 3. A small percentage of GF was seen in pre rigor muscle samples even at 3 min post mortem in both genotypes and in all muscle types studied. 4. From 3 min to 24 h post mortem GF increased both in Leghorn and broiler chickens but to a different extent according to muscle type and genotype. 5. The highest GF 24 h post mortem value was found in the PM muscles belonging to the fast-growing broiler line. 6. It was concluded that every type of muscle can develop GF, but this phenomenon is more evident in the PM especially in animals selected for increased growth rate.

A focus on the multiple interfaces between action and perception and their neural correlates.

Successful behaviour relies on the appropriate interplay between action and perception. The well-established dorsal and ventral stream theories depicted two distinct functional pathways for the processes of action and perception, respectively. In physiological conditions, the two pathways closely cooperate in order to produce successful adaptive behaviour. As the coupling between perception and action exists, this requires an interface that is responsible for a common reading of the two functions. Several studies have proposed different types of perception and action interfaces, suggesting their role in the creation of the shared interaction channel. In the present review, we describe three possible perception and action interfaces: i) the motor code, including common coding approaches, ii) attention, and iii) object affordance; we highlight their potential neural correlates. From this overview, a recurrent neural substrate that underlies all these interface functions appears to be crucial: the parieto-frontal circuit. This network is involved in the mirror mechanism which underlies the perception and action interfaces identified as common coding and motor code theories. The same network is also involved in the spotlight of attention and in the encoding of potential action towards objects; these are manifested in the perception and action interfaces for common attention and object affordance, respectively. Within this framework, most studies were dedicated to the description of the role of the inferior parietal lobule; growing evidence, however, suggests that the superior parietal lobule also plays a crucial role in the interplay between action and perception. The present review proposes a novel model that is inclusive of the superior parietal regions and their relative contribution to the different action and perception interfaces.

Depth and direction effects in the prediction of static and shifted reaching goals from kinematics.

The kinematic parameters of reach-to-grasp movements are modulated by action intentions. However, when an unexpected change in visual target goal during reaching execution occurs, it is still unknown whether the action intention changes with target goal modification and which is the temporal structure of the target goal prediction. We recorded the kinematics of the pointing finger and wrist during the execution of reaching movements in 23 naïve volunteers where the targets could be located at different directions and depths with respect to the body. During the movement execution, the targets could remain static for the entire duration of movement or shifted, with different timings, to another position. We performed temporal decoding of the final goals and of the intermediate trajectory from the past kinematics exploiting a recurrent neural network. We observed a progressive increase of the classification performance from the onset to the end of movement in both horizontal and sagittal dimensions, as well as in decoding shifted targets. The classification accuracy in decoding horizontal targets was higher than the classification accuracy of sagittal targets. These results are useful for establishing how human and artificial agents could take advantage from the observed kinematics to optimize their cooperation in three-dimensional space.