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This paper explores the concept of islands in international law and its implications for the South China Sea dispute. Islands are important for various reasons, such as territorial sovereignty, maritime rights, and natural resources. However, the legal binding definition of artificial islands has not been enacted by any international document until now. This paper traces the historical development of the concept of islands, from the Hague Conference in 1930 to the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 1982. It also analyses the challenges and opportunities of artificial islands, which are man-made structures that can serve different purposes but can also create various legal and environmental problems. Artificial islands are especially relevant for the South China sea dispute, which involves multiple costal states, while China has significant geopolitical and economic implications. This paper argues that the South China Sea dispute can be resolved through cooperation and dialogue, based on international law framework. Taking into account the provisions of UNCLOS, South China Sea dispute, state practise, and legal scholarship, this article aims to unpack the complexities surrounding artificial island and implications of artificial islands on the international relations.

The article addresses the challenges faced in conducting network research, considering the constraints imposed by the pandemic condition and the predominant individualistic and meritocratic context in Brazilian universities. The focus is on the research Education and Rural Schools in times of the Covid-19 pandemic" conducted from May 2020 to December 2023 by five groups of the Latin American Network of Marxist Studies and Research in Rural Education/Educação do Campo. Over the three years of research, 91 activities were carried out, involving participating groups and covering all stages of the process, from conception to methodological analysis, collectively and interinstitutionally. The text highlights the influence of virtual tools in research due to social isolation, pointing out limitations. On the other hand, it emphasizes collective and cooperative work as a positive response, reaffirming the principles and materiality of Rural Education Educação do Campo.

Esse Dossiê apresenta resultados da pesquisa “Educação e Escolas do Campo em tempos de pandemia da Covid-19” que foi realizada de forma coletiva e articulada por cinco instituições da Rede Latino-americana de Estudos e Pesquisas Marxistas em Educação do Campo, as quais se propuseram a analisar as condições objetivas da educação e das escolas nas comunidades do campo, das águas e das florestas e suas consequências em tempos de pandemia da Covid-19.

The text addresses part of the results of the research Education and Rural Schooling in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic conducted by groups of the Latin American Network of Studies and Research in Rural Education. Our objective is to analyze the diversity and inequalities in continuing education in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic in rural schools, including those in water and forest areas, in dialectical relation to the totality. To achieve this, we utilized data from 645 respondents from a virtual questionnaire conducted by the research, as well as excerpts from interviews with 19 educators who worked in schools in the years 2020 and/or 2021. We discuss the diversity of human experience, encompassing elements of culture, lifestyle, and the political and social organization of communities. We reflect on the challenges posed by the pandemic in the context of a society organized under the aegis of financial and neoliberal capital, impacting the ongoing training of teachers. Finally, we highlight the diversity of territories, how life is organized, the understanding of education and schools, and, at the same time, the unity imposed by the social form of capital, with neoliberal policies and the commodification of education.

This study explores the transformation of values in transnational remake movies, focusing on their popularity and the incorporation of new elements to suit target audience preferences. An analysis of The Lake House, a remake of the Korean film Il Mare, reveals shifts in values and the integration of American cultural aspects. These changes stem from audience demands, business considerations, and Hollywood's global influence. Remakes require more than simply reproducing original content; they involve capturing cultural nuances from both versions. Utilizing Hall's representation approach and qualitative methods, the study assesses transnational remakes and their conveyed values. The research identifies shifts from South Korean values to those of the American target market, such as the transition from interdependence to self-reliance and a preference for directness, assertion, and rationality. The American film industry should carefully evaluate the suitability of movies for its audiences, recognizing changes in scenes and messages. The establishment of American values in remakes is influenced by the success of original films and their formulas. As transnational products, movies must be repackaged for target audiences. The industry faces complex processes to align the values of popular films with audience tastes while maintaining the essence of original works.

Involuntary musical imagery (INMI; more commonly known as "earworms" or having a song "stuck in your head") is a common musical phenomenon and one of the most salient examples of spontaneous cognition. Despite the ubiquitous nature of INMI in the general population, functional roles of INMI remain to be fully established and characterized. Findings that spontaneous reactivation of mental representationsaids in memory consolidation raise the possibility that INMI also serves in this capacity. In three experiments, we manipulated the probability of experiencing INMI for novel music loops by first exposing participants to these loops during tasks that varied in attentional and sensorimotor demands. We measured INMI for loops and the quality of individual loop memories using different tasks both immediately following exposure and at a delay of 1 week. Across experiments, reduced exposure to music had the largest effect on INMI and loop memory. In Experiments 1 and 2, music encoding was resilient to manipulations of attentional focus; however, in Experiment 3, engaging sequence learning processes with an unrelated task during music exposure reduced the subsequent accuracy of loop memories and the likelihood of experiencing INMI. In each experiment, the amount of INMI experienced for a loop across the delay period predicted improvements in the accuracy of a loop memory over time. We thus provide evidence for a memory-consolidation role for INMI, in which the spontaneous replay of recently encoded music is related to the quality of music encoding and predicts changes in music memory over time.

Motivation for bodily movement, physical activity and exercise varies from moment to moment. These motivation states may be "affectively-charged," ranging from instances of lower tension (e.g., desires, wants) to higher tension (e.g., cravings and urges). Currently, it is not known how often these states have been investigated in clinical populations (e.g., eating disorders, exercise dependence/addiction, Restless Legs Syndrome, diabetes, obesity) vs. healthy populations (e.g., in studies of motor control; groove in music psychology). The objective of this scoping review protocol is to quantify the literature on motivation states, to determine what topical areas are represented in investigations of clinical and healthy populations, and to discover pertinent details, such as instrumentation, terminology, theories, and conceptual models, correlates and mechanisms of action. Iterative searches of scholarly databases will take place to determine which combination of search terms (e.g., "motivation states" and "physical activity"; "desire to be physically active," etc.) captures the greatest number of relevant results. Studies will be included if motivation states for movement (e.g., desires, urges) are specifically measured or addressed. Studies will be excluded if referring to motivation as a trait. A charting data form was developed to scan all relevant documents for later data extraction. The primary outcome is simply the extent of the literature on the topic. Results will be stratified by population/condition. This scoping review will unify a diverse literature, which may result in the creation of unique models or paradigms that can be utilized to better understand motivation for bodily movement and exercise.

In this study, the corrosion properties of plasma-sprayed Al2O3 coating (APSS) with a topcoat of zirconium-based conversion coating (ZrCC) and organofunctional silane coating (3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane; GPTMS) on carbon steel are investigated in detail. Additionally, the bond strength of plain steel bars coated with this system in normal strength concrete are newly tested. The APSS coating exhibits significant porosity, with unfavourable open pores limiting the barrier protection effect. In contrast, the surface roughness (Ra) significantly increases, improving the bond strength between steel bars and concrete. Such increase in carbon steel roughness improves bond strength in concrete. The synergic application of ZrCC and GPTMS topcoats significantly enhances the corrosion resistance of the base coat (inhibition effect). The character of the GPTMS coating increases the wettability of the APSS coating, which further positively contributes to bond strength between plain bars and concrete. It is demonstrated that when the ZrCC topcoat is applied without GPTMS, the corrosion resistance increases insignificantly and the surface wettability decreases, negatively affecting bond strength in comparison with carbon steel coated using an APSS base coat only.

Summary: Background: Ultra-low-dose CT (ULDCT) examinations of the chest at only twice the radiation dose of a chest X-ray (CXR) now offer a valuable imaging alternative to CXR. This trial prospectively compares ULDCT and CXR for the detection rate of diagnoses and their clinical relevance in a low-prevalence cohort of non-traumatic emergency department patients. Methods: In this prospective crossover cohort trial, 294 non-traumatic emergency department patients with a clinically indicated CXR were included between May 2nd and November 26th of 2019 (www.clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03922516). All participants received both CXR and ULDCT, and were randomized into two arms with inverse reporting order. The detection rate of CXR was calculated from ‘arm CXR’ (n = 147; CXR first), and of ULDCT from ‘arm ULDCT’ (n = 147; ULDCT first). Additional information reported by the second exam in each arm was documented. From all available clinical and imaging data, expert radiologists and emergency physicians built a compound reference standard, including radiologically undetectable diagnoses, and assigned each finding to one of five clinical relevance categories for the respective patient. Findings: Detection rates for main diagnoses by CXR and ULDCT (mean effective dose: 0.22 mSv) were 9.1% (CI [5.2, 15.5]; 11/121) and 20.1% (CI [14.2, 27.7]; 27/134; P = 0.016), respectively. As an additional imaging modality, ULDCT added 9.1% (CI [5.2, 15.5]; 11/121) of main diagnoses to prior CXRs, whereas CXRs did not add a single main diagnosis (0/134; P

This music score was submitted for the Kaleidoscope 2020 Call for Scores, an open access collaboration with the UCLA Music Library.

This music score was submitted for the Kaleidoscope 2020 Call for Scores, an open access collaboration with the UCLA Music Library.

This music score was submitted for the Kaleidoscope 2020 Call for Scores, an open access collaboration with the UCLA Music Library.

This music score was submitted for the Kaleidoscope 2020 Call for Scores, an open access collaboration with the UCLA Music Library.

AIMS: The neuropathophysiology of a debilitating chronic urologic pain condition, bladder pain syndrome (BPS), remains unknown. Our recent data suggests withdrawal of cardiovagal modulation in subjects with BPS, in contrast to sympathetic nervous system dysfunction in another chronic pelvic pain syndrome, myofascial pelvic pain (MPP). We evaluated whether comorbid disorders differentially associated with BPS vs MPP shed additional light on these autonomic differences. METHODS: We compared the presence and relative time of onset of 27 other medical conditions in women with BPS, MPP, both syndromes, and healthy subjects. Analysis included an adjustment for multiple comparisons. RESULTS: Among 107 female subjects (BPS alone = 32; BPS with MPP = 36; MPP alone = 9; healthy controls = 30), comorbidities differentially associated with BPS included irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), dyspepsia, and chronic nausea, whereas those associated with MPP included migraine headache and dyspepsia, consistent with the distinct autonomic neurophysiologic signatures of the two disorders. PTSD (earliest), anxiety, depression, migraine headache, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and IBS usually preceded BPS or MPP. PTSD and the presence of both pelvic pain disorders in the same subject correlated with significantly increased comorbid burden. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests a distinct pattern of comorbid conditions in women with BPS. These findings further support our hypothesis of primary vagal defect in BPS as compared with primary sympathetic defect in MPP, suggesting a new model for chronic these pelvic pain syndromes. Chronologically, PTSD, migraine, dysmenorrhea, and IBS occurred early, supporting a role for PTSD or its trigger in the pathophysiology of chronic pelvic pain.

This study aims to: 1.) Describe the mastery level of employability; and 2.) Find out the order of mastery of the employability skills of vocational high school (VHS) students. This study was a survey research with quantitative approach. The research was conducted at a vocational high school in Madiun Regency with A accreditation. Data collection instrument was a questionnaire that had been tested for content validity by the experts. The construct validity test used the product-moment formula and was declared valid. The results that 56 items were declared valid and reliable. The questionnaire was given to 149 students of class XII of welding engineering expertise competency. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis technique. The results of the study are as follows: 1.) The mastery level of employability skills is in the high category with the mean score 168.61 greater than the ideal mean score of 132.5; and 2.) The order of mastery on aspects of employability skills, from the highest to the lowest achievement using technology skill, keeping occupational health and safety skill, learning skill, self-management skill, initiative and enterprise skill, planning and organizing skill, communication skill, and problem-solving skill.

WHAT ARE THE FACTORS THAT DETERMINE HOW long a person chooses to listen to an unfamiliar piece of music? We examined this question across three experiments in which we played participants novel repeating multi-instrument stimuli and recorded their listening times and reasons for their decisions to either continue or stop listening. To influence the habituating effects of repeating musical material drawn from a large stimulus library (> 450 items), we manipulated novelty along several musical dimensions. In Experiment 1, all instruments entered simultaneously. In Experiment 2, instrument entrances were also offset in time. In Experiment 3, we composed core multi-instrument loops and manipulated them to further minimize harmonic variability, minimize rhythmic variability, introduce spatia-lization, or change timbral characteristics. Novelty introduced by instrument entrances was the strongest determinant of listening times, though harmonic variability and timbral features were also important. Subjective enjoyment was the best predictor of listening times, mediating the effects of the degree of perceived groove in a stimulus, the urge to move, interest in a stimulus, perceived complexity, and congruency with current mood. We conclude that naturalistic looping musical stimuli serve well to examine the diverse psychological and musical determinants of choice behavior underlying music consumption.

Many environmental sounds, such as music or speech, are patterned in time. Dynamic attending theory, and supporting empirical evidence, suggests that a stimulus's temporal structure serves to orient attention to specific moments in time. One instantiation of this theory posits that attention synchronizes to the temporal structure of a stimulus in an oscillatory fashion, with optimal perception at salient time points or oscillation peaks. We examined whether a model consisting of damped linear oscillators succeeds at predicting temporal attention behavior in rhythmic multi-instrumental music. We conducted 3 experiments in which we mapped listeners' perceptual sensitivity by estimating detection thresholds for intensity deviants embedded at multiple time points within a stimulus pattern. We compared participants' thresholds for detecting intensity changes at various time points with the modeled salience prediction at each of those time points. Across all experiments, results showed that the resonator model predicted listener thresholds, such that listeners were more sensitive to probes at time points corresponding to greater model-predicted salience. This effect held for both intensity increment and decrement probes and for metrically simple and complex stimuli. Moreover, the resonator model explained the data better than did predictions based on canonical metric hierarchy or auditory scene density. Our results offer new insight into the temporal orienting of attention in complex auditory scenes using a parsimonious computational model for predicting attentional dynamics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Classic psychedelic drugs (serotonin 2A, or 5HT2A, receptor agonists) have notable effects on music listening. In the current report, blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal was collected during music listening in 25 healthy adults after administration of placebo, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and LSD pretreated with the 5HT2A antagonist ketanserin, to investigate the role of 5HT2A receptor signaling in the neural response to the time-varying tonal structure of music. Tonality-tracking analysis of BOLD data revealed that 5HT2A receptor signaling alters the neural response to music in brain regions supporting basic and higher-level musical and auditory processing, and areas involved in memory, emotion, and self-referential processing. This suggests a critical role of 5HT2A receptor signaling in supporting the neural tracking of dynamic tonal structure in music, as well as in supporting the associated increases in emotionality, connectedness, and meaningfulness in response to music that are commonly observed after the administration of LSD and other psychedelics. Together, these findings inform the neuropsychopharmacology of music perception and cognition, meaningful music listening experiences, and altered perception of music during psychedelic experiences.

Rhythm is a ubiquitous feature of music that induces specific neural modes of processing. In this paper, we assess the potential of a stimulus-driven linear oscillator model (57) to predict dynamic attention to complex musical rhythms on an instant-by-instant basis. We use perceptual thresholds and pupillometry as attentional indices against which to test our model predictions. During a deviance detection task, participants listened to continuously looping, multiinstrument, rhythmic patterns, while being eye-tracked. Their task was to respond anytime they heard an increase in intensity (dB SPL). An adaptive thresholding algorithm adjusted deviant intensity at multiple probed temporal locations throughout each rhythmic stimulus. The oscillator model predicted participants' perceptual thresholds for detecting deviants at probed locations, with a low temporal salience prediction corresponding to a high perceptual threshold and vice versa. A pupil dilation response was observed for all deviants. Notably, the pupil dilated even when participants did not report hearing a deviant. Maximum pupil size and resonator model output were significant predictors of whether a deviant was detected or missed on any given trial. Besides the evoked pupillary response to deviants, we also assessed the continuous pupillary signal to the rhythmic patterns. The pupil exhibited entrainment at prominent periodicities present in the stimuli and followed each of the different rhythmic patterns in a unique way. Overall, these results replicate previous studies using the linear oscillator model to predict dynamic attention to complex auditory scenes and extend the utility of the model to the prediction of neurophysiological signals, in this case the pupillary time course; however, we note that the amplitude envelope of the acoustic patterns may serve as a similarly useful predictor. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to show entrainment of pupil dynamics by demonstrating a phase relationship between musical stimuli and the pupillary signal.

Hepatic artery aneurysm (HAA) is a rare, yet clinically important, condition. While the causes of HAA are poorly understood, it is estimated that mortality following spontaneous rupture is as high as 40%. We discuss the case of a 77-year-old man who presented to our hospital due to a 10 mm pulmonary lesion in the left lower lung lobe, which was identified by a computed tomography scan of the lung at another institution. An examination with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography was performed in our department, but no significant uptake of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose was found in the lung, and HAA was diagnosed only incidentally. A magnetic resonance imaging angiography supported the differential diagnosis of HAA, and the aneurysm was confirmed by targeted angiography. It was located in the common hepatic artery and was coiled during an intervention session. HAA accounts for 20% of all visceral aneurysms and, with a poorly understood natural history, is difficult to diagnose clinically, but early detection and treatment of HAA can improve prognosis.

In this study, we made reflections of the challenges from inserting graduates into the teaching profession of the aforementioned course at the Universidade Federal Santa Catarina. We developed bibliographic research on the teaching work and the graduation project of this degree, document analysis, data collection with field research, of an exploratory nature, and the data gathering using a questionnaire. The results, still partial, indicate as limiting aspects: the non-inclusion of the qualification of a Licentiate Degree in Educação do Campo (Rural Education) in qualifying processes, the refusal of the graduate by the educational council and/or institutions, or being hired as non-qualified. Some situations were reversed by dialogue and appeals to public notices, an aspect considered as an enhancement. As a contradictory and emerging element to the debate, there is a restriction of the diploma and the job duties being valid only for rural schools. Advancing on the discussions about the degree and insertion in the teaching profession, we pointed out the relevance of the collective organization of the graduates through the movements that fights for Rural Education. Necessary improvements for the transformation of schools and for the future horizon.

Introduction, aim: Periodontitis, which is one of the most common diseases in the adult population, is almost as common cause of tooth loss in people over the age of 35 as it is due to tooth decay. The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of new-generation sequencing methods as a tool for complex characterization of subgingival bacterial biofilm in patients with advanced periodontitis and for monitoring the dynamics of changes in the composition of subgingival bacterial biofilm during therapy. We assume that next-generation sequencing methods will provide a new quality of monitoring the course of treatment and offer periodontologists a tool for objective evaluation of the effectiveness of the chosen therapeutic procedure and choice of further treatment. Methods: The study included 43 patients with a diagnosis of advanced periodontitis. Patients were divided into two subgroups and treated with one of two standard approved methods - deep scaling and root planing only (subgroup A - 20 patients) and deep scaling and root planing supplemented with antibiotic therapy (subgroup B - 23 patients) - and their periodontal status was assessed by periodontal indices BOP (bleeding on probing), CAL (clinical attachment loss) a PPD (periodontal pocket depth) before treatment and two weeks, three months and 18 months after therapy. A set of four samples was taken from each deepest periodontal pocket at equal time intervals to determine the microbiome composition. Results: During treatment, there was a significant decrease in the periodontal indices PPD, BOP and CAL in both subgroups of patients. There was also a significant decrease in the periodontal risk index R/G during treatment. In addition, the subgroup of patients treated with deep scaling and root planing with antibiotics (subgroup B) had a significantly higher decrease in R/G index 14 days after treatment compared to subgroup A treated with deep scaling and root planing alone. Three months and 18 months after treatment, the periodontal risk index R/G values were similar in both subgroups of patients. Conclusion: Taxonomic characterization of the microbiome expressed in the form of R/G index allows to monitor dynamic changes during treatment, in contrast to mere monitoring of clinical parameters shows clear differences between groups with and without antibiotics at 14 days after deep scaling and root planing therapy. However, given the clinical parameters of the two groups, which do not differ significantly after three or 18 months, it is appropriate to carefully consider whether antibiotic support for deep scaling and root planing is beneficial, as there is a significant risk of developing and spreading resistance. The use of antibiotics in periodontology should be based on detailed clinical, microbiological and general medical examination.

Parameters of epoxy can be effectively improved using polymer-grafted GO. This study reveals so far unknown structure-directing performance of single- and bimodally-grafted GO in impact-modified epoxy. Bimodal grafting leads to formation of lamellae with less ordered more distant GO and fair mobility of grafted dissimilar chains due to their repulsive interactions, resulting in favourable effect on mechanical properties of epoxy. Unlike single-grafted GO with aligned plates, this ordering is not disturbed by added rubber which is more markedly incorporated even as layered domains into lamellae. Formation of more complex structures controlled by grafting geometry was also found. Structure–properties relationships indicate low contribution of added rubber, both as single inclusions or incorporated into ordered GO domains, which confirms high effectivity of lamellar structure with linked polymer chains of relatively high mobility.

Motivation for bodily movement, physical activity and exercise varies from moment to moment. These motivation states may be “affectively-charged,” ranging from instances of lower tension (e.g., desires, wants) to higher tension (e.g., cravings and urges). Currently, it is not known how often these states have been investigated in clinical populations (e.g., eating disorders, exercise dependence/addiction, Restless Legs Syndrome, diabetes, obesity) vs. healthy populations (e.g., in studies of motor control; groove in music psychology). The objective of this scoping review protocol is to quantify the literature on motivation states, to determine what topical areas are represented in investigations of clinical and healthy populations, and to discover pertinent details, such as instrumentation, terminology, theories, and conceptual models, correlates and mechanisms of action. Iterative searches of scholarly databases will take place to determine which combination of search terms (e.g., “motivation states” and “physical activity”; “desire to be physically active,” etc.) captures the greatest number of relevant results. Studies will be included if motivation states for movement (e.g., desires, urges) are specifically measured or addressed. Studies will be excluded if referring to motivation as a trait. A charting data form was developed to scan all relevant documents for later data extraction. The primary outcome is simply the extent of the literature on the topic. Results will be stratified by population/condition. This scoping review will unify a diverse literature, which may result in the creation of unique models or paradigms that can be utilized to better understand motivation for bodily movement and exercise.

Abstract Standard blood laboratory parameters may have diagnostic potential, if polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) tests are not available on time. We evaluated standard blood laboratory parameters of 655 COVID-19 patients suspected to be infected with SARS-CoV-2, who underwent PCR testing in one of five hospitals in Vienna, Austria. We compared laboratory parameters, clinical characteristics, and outcomes between positive and negative PCR-tested patients and evaluated the ability of those parameters to distinguish between groups. Of the 590 patients (20–100 years, 276 females and 314 males), 208 were PCR-positive. Positive compared to negative PCR-tested patients had significantly lower levels of leukocytes, neutrophils, basophils, eosinophils, lymphocytes, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, monocytes, and thrombocytes; while significantly higher levels were detected with erythrocytes, hemoglobin, hematocrit, C-reactive-protein, ferritin, activated-partial-thromboplastin-time, alanine-aminotransferase, aspartate-aminotransferase, lipase, creatine-kinase, and lactate-dehydrogenase. From all blood parameters, eosinophils, ferritin, leukocytes, and erythrocytes showed the highest ability to distinguish between COVID-19 positive and negative patients (area-under-curve, AUC: 72.3–79.4%). The AUC of our model was 0.915 (95% confidence intervals, 0.876–0.955). Leukopenia, eosinopenia, elevated erythrocytes, and hemoglobin were among the strongest markers regarding accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, positive and negative likelihood ratio, and post-test probabilities. Our findings suggest that especially leukopenia, eosinopenia, and elevated hemoglobin are helpful to distinguish between COVID-19 positive and negative tested patients.

High numbers of large ungulates are locally accompanied by high levels of damage to field crops, causing economic losses and increased costs for the protection of agricultural fields. Quantifying the levels of damage can be problematic, with the degree of accuracy depending on the method used. The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy, workload and cost of four methods commonly used for estimating damage to wheat fields caused by large ungulates (esp. wild boar) in the Czech Republic. The results suggest that the manual processing of aerial photographs (“Uncrewed Aerial Systems [UAS] with Operator Delineation Method”) was very laborious and the least accurate method, with a high risk of error. In comparison, the automatic evaluation of aerial images (“UAS Crop Height Method”) and the “Ground-Based Assessment” both provided similar results when carefully analyzed and were equally demanding. The “Yield Method”, comparing the net yield from damaged and undamaged areas, provided the same result of assessment and was the least laborious, although it does require the existence of comparable areas and for the conditions to be created in advance before the method is used. Equivalent results were achieved by the UAS Crop Height Method, which we recommend using in cases where the Yield Method cannot be applied.

Synchronization of movement enhances cooperation and trust between people. However, the degree to which individuals can synchronize with each other depends on their ability to perceive the timing of others’ actions and produce movements accordingly. Here, we introduce an assistive device—a multi-person adaptive metronome—to facilitate synchronization abilities. The adaptive metronome is implemented on Arduino Uno circuit boards, allowing for negligible temporal latency between tapper input and adaptive sonic output. Across five experiments—two single-tapper, and three group (four tapper) experiments, we analyzed the effects of metronome adaptivity (percent correction based on the immediately preceding tap-metronome asynchrony) and auditory feedback on tapping performance and subjective ratings. In all experiments, tapper synchronization with the metronome was significantly enhanced with 25–50% adaptivity, compared to no adaptation. In group experiments with auditory feedback, synchrony remained enhanced even at 70–100% adaptivity; without feedback, synchrony at these high adaptivity levels returned to near baseline. Subjective ratings of being in the groove, in synchrony with the metronome, in synchrony with others, liking the task, and difficulty all reduced to one latent factor, which we termed enjoyment. This same factor structure replicated across all experiments. In predicting enjoyment, we found an interaction between auditory feedback and metronome adaptivity, with increased enjoyment at optimal levels of adaptivity only with auditory feedback and a severe decrease in enjoyment at higher levels of adaptivity, especially without feedback. Exploratory analyses relating person-level variables to tapping performance showed that musical sophistication and trait sadness contributed to the degree to which an individual differed in tapping stability from the group. Nonetheless, individuals and groups benefitted from adaptivity, regardless of their musical sophistication. Further, individuals who tapped less variably than the group (which only occurred ∼25% of the time) were more likely to feel “in the groove.” Overall, this work replicates previous single person adaptive metronome studies and extends them to group contexts, thereby contributing to our understanding of the temporal, auditory, psychological, and personal factors underlying interpersonal synchrony and subjective enjoyment during sensorimotor interaction. Further, it provides an open-source tool for studying such factors in a controlled way.

Nostalgia is an emotion that is most commonly associated with personally and socially relevant memories. It is primarily positive in valence and is readily evoked by music. It is also an idiosyncratic experience that varies between individuals based on affective traits. We identified frontal, limbic, paralimbic, and midbrain brain regions in which the strength of the relationship between ratings of nostalgia evoked by music and blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal was predicted by affective personality measures (nostalgia proneness and the sadness scale of the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales) that are known to modulate the strength of nostalgic experiences. We also identified brain areas including the inferior frontal gyrus, substantia nigra, cerebellum, and insula in which time-varying BOLD activity correlated more strongly with the time-varying tonal structure of nostalgia-evoking music than with music that evoked no or little nostalgia. These findings illustrate one way in which the reward and emotion regulation networks of the brain are recruited during the experiencing of complex emotional experiences triggered by music. These findings also highlight the importance of considering individual differences when examining the neural responses to strong and idiosyncratic emotional experiences. Finally, these findings provide a further demonstration of the use of time-varying stimulus-specific information in the investigation of music-evoked experiences.

Abstract Background The COVID‐19 pandemic has focused medical attention on treating affected patients and protecting others from infection. However, concerns have been raised regarding the pandemic´s impact and associated containment measures (eg curfew, lockdown) on non–coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19)–related acute medical diseases. Objectives To investigate changes in the incidence of pulmonary embolism (PE) during the COVID‐19 pandemic compared to the period before the pandemic and reference periods in previous years. Methods In this single‐center study, we explored all diagnostic imaging tests performed for suspected PE between weeks 1 and 17 of the years 2018, 2019, and 2020. Incidence of PE (ie, primary outcome) was analyzed. Secondary outcomes included number of imaging tests for suspected PE. Results Compared to weeks 1 to 11, 2020, an abrupt decline in PE diagnosis (mean weekly rate, 5.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.8‐6.6 vs 1.8; 95% CI, 0.0‐3.6) and imaging tests (mean weekly rate, 32.5; 95% CI, 27.5‐37.6 vs. 17.3; 95% CI, 11.6‐23.1) was observed from week 12, with beginning of the containment measures and public lockdown in Austria. Compared to weeks 12 to 17 of 2018 and 2019, PE incidence and imaging tests were similarly decreased from 5.3 (95% CI, 3.6‐7.1) to 1.8 (95% CI, 0.0‐3.6) and 31.5 (95% CI, 27.1‐35.9) to 17.3 (95% CI, 11.6‐23.1), respectively. The median simplified pulmonary embolism severity index (sPESI) score of PE patients during the pandemic was higher than in all other PE patients (3; interquartile range, 1‐3 vs 1; interquartile range, 0‐2; P = .002). Conclusion Our study demonstrates that the COVID‐19 pandemic has an impact on non–COVID‐19–related acute diseases as shown by the decline in incidence of PE and imaging procedures for diagnostic workup. Further studies from other hospitals are needed to confirm our findings.

Apresentamos resultados de uma investigação em que analisamos a inserção no trabalho docente e na militância de egressos da Licenciatura em Educação do Campo da UFSC, com análise permeada por estudos sobre a juventude que tomam como base a psicologia histórico-cultural. Caracterizamos o curso, com seu histórico, organização curricular, turmas ofertadas, bem como os formados até o ano de 2017. Estabelecemos o recorte para a turma concluída em 2016, da qual entrevistamos 11 egressos. Problematizamos sobre determinantes e contradições de suas inserções no trabalho docente e na militância e a formação da juventude do campo, considerando as peculiaridades da região em que ocorreu a licenciatura, bem como as questões mais gerais que atravessam a vida de todos sob as relações sociais de produção capitalistas. Concluímos pelo potencial formativo da consciência de classe da juventude, evidenciando a importância de abordá-la na formação de professores do campo, tendo a apropriação dos conceitos científicos, artísticos e filosóficos, bem como a inserção nas lutas sociais como horizonte.

PURPOSE: Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome and myofascial pelvic pain are frequently comorbid chronic pelvic pain disorders. Differences in bladder function between interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome and myofascial pelvic pain suggest that efferent autonomic function may differentiate these syndromes. Heart rate variability, defined as the difference in duration of successive heartbeats, serves as an index of autonomic function by measuring its ability to modify heart rate in response to neurophysiological changes. High frequency heart rate variability was used as a reflection of more rapid vagally mediated (parasympathetic) changes. Low frequency heart rate variability signified slower fluctuations related to the baroreflex and sympathetic outflow. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Heart rate variability was derived by autoregressive frequency analysis of the continuous electrocardiogram recording of heart rate with the subject supine for 10 minutes, tilted 70 degrees with the head up for 30 minutes and supine again for 10 minutes. This institutional review board approved study included 105 female subjects, including 32 who were healthy, and 26 with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome, 12 with myofascial pelvic pain and 35 with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome plus myofascial pelvic pain. RESULTS: In all positions healthy controls had higher high frequency heart rate variability than women with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome and interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome plus myofascial pelvic pain. Subjects with myofascial pelvic pain were similar to controls with greater high frequency heart rate variability at baseline (supine 1) and in upright positions than subjects with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome. Differences in low frequency heart rate variability were less evident while low-to-high frequency ratio differences appeared to be driven by the high frequency heart rate variability component. CONCLUSIONS: Subjects with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome had diminished vagal activity and a shift toward sympathetic nervous system dominance. Overall these data support the hypothesis that changes in autonomic function occur in interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome but not in myofascial pelvic pain. These changes may result from interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome or contribute to its pathophysiology through abnormal self-regulatory function.