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We construct a differential calculus on the N-dimensional non-commutative Euclidean space, i.e., the space on which the quantum group SO( N) is acting. The differential calculus is required to be manifestly covariant under SO( N) transformations. Using this calculus, we consider the Schrödinger equation corresponding to the harmonic oscillator in the limit of q→1. The solution of it is given by q-deformed functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the structure of the tensor product representation of the quantum group SL (2,C) by using the 2-dimensional quantum plane as a building block. Two types of 4-dimensional spaces are constructed applying the methods used in twistor theory. We show that the 4-dimensional real representation of SL (2,C) generates a consistent non-commutative algebra, and thus it provides a quantum deformation of Minkowski space. The transformation of this 4-dimensional space gives the quantum Lorentz group SO(3, 1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural neuroscience is an emerging framework positing that culture (for example, values, beliefs, practices, and modes of emotional expression) critically informs socialization goals and desired behaviors, which are perhaps accompanied by differential patterns of brain activation. Using fMRI, the current study examines brain activation to infant cry stimuli and matched white noise among 50 first-time biological mothers identifying as Latina or White in the United States. Results showed that brain activation to infant cries in the right posterior insula, left cerebellum, and left auditory were higher for White mothers compared to Latina mothers, p's < .05. White mothers showed greater activation to cry sounds compared to white noise in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, left somatosensory, right and left premotor cortices, p's < .05, whereas Latina mothers did not. These brain regions are involved in motor planning, movement, sensory processing, and social information processing. It is important to note that mothers in the two groups did not show differences in stress and behavioral parenting measures. Therefore, Latina and White mothers differentially recruiting brain regions related to infant parenting behaviors indicates the potential role of cultural context in shaping patterns of neural activation. Our exploratory analysis suggests that this difference might be due to greater pre-parenting exposure among Latina mothers to children compared to White mothers. Taken together, although our data did not completely explain the differences in brain activation between groups, findings suggest potential culture-related influences in brain activation occurring in the postpartum period., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest None declared., (Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Young children from low-SES backgrounds are at higher risk for delayed language development, likely due to differences in their home language environment and decreased opportunities for back and forth communicative exchange. Intervention strategies that encourage reciprocal caregiver-child interactions may effectively promote young children's language development and enhance optimal language outcomes. The Filming Interactions to Nurture Development (FIND) program is a brief strength-based video-coaching intervention designed to promote increased back and forth ("serve and return") interactions between caregivers and their children. The current study used data from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to examine the effectiveness of the FIND program in improving auditory comprehension and expressive communication skills among children from low-SES backgrounds. The current study used a pretest-posttest design to evaluate intervention effects from an RCT with 91 low-SES families. Families with children aged 4 to 36 months old (41.8% female) were randomly assigned to an active control or FIND intervention group. Children's auditory comprehension and expressive communication were assessed using the Preschool Language Scales, Fifth Edition (PLS-5) during both pre- and post-intervention sessions. Children in the FIND intervention group showed significantly increased expressive communication skills and a non-significant increase in auditory comprehension skills across the intervention period. In contrast, children in the active control group showed non-significant changes in expressive communication and a statistically significant decline in auditory comprehension abilities between pre- and post-intervention assessments. All analyses controlled for sex, age, and home language. This study provides preliminary evidence that the FIND intervention promotes the development of expressive and receptive language skills among young children in high-stress, low-SES environments., (© 2022. Society for Prevention Research.)

Many existing preventive intervention programs focus on promoting responsive parenting practices. However, these parenting programs are often long in duration and expensive, and meta-analytic evidence indicates that families facing high levels of adversity typically benefit less. Moreover, due to a lack of specification and evaluation of conceptual models, the mechanisms underlying program-related changes in caregivers and their children often remain unclear. The current study aimed to test the effectiveness of a video feedback parenting intervention program, Filming Interactions to Nurture Development (FIND), in improving caregivers' self-efficacy and reducing children's behavioral problems. Data derived from a randomized controlled trial using pretest-posttest design with low-income families reporting high levels of stress (N = 91, children aged 4 to 36 months old, 41.8% female). Families were randomly assigned to an active control or FIND intervention group. Results indicated that caregivers in the FIND group exhibited significant improvement in self-report sense of parenting competence and self-efficacy in teaching tasks. These program impacts were particularly pronounced among caregivers who experience high levels of childhood adversity. Findings provide preliminary support for the FIND conceptual model. Specifically, caregivers' improved self-efficacy in teaching tasks was linked to children's reduced internalizing and externalizing problems (notably, direct FIND intervention effects on children's behavioral outcomes were not observed). Overall, results support the effectiveness of FIND in enhancing caregivers' sense of parenting competence and potentially promoting optimal child development.

Motoneuron death in the spinal nucleus of the bulbocavernosus (SNB) and the dorsolateral nucleus (DLN) of the lumbar spinal cord is androgen regulated. As a result, many more SNB and DLN motoneurons die in perinatal female rats than in males, whereas treatment of newborn females with androgen results in a permanent sparing of the motoneurons and their target muscles. We previously observed that a neurotrophic molecule, ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), also arrests the death of SNB motoneurons and their target musculature, at least in the short term. The present study compares the short- and long-term consequences of perinatal CNTF treatment on motoneuron number in the SNB, the DLN, and the retrodorsolateral nucleus (RDLN), a motor pool in the lower lumbar cord that does not exhibit hormone-regulated cell death. Female pups were treated with CNTF or vehicle alone from embryonic day 22 through postnatal day 6 (P6). Motoneuron number in the each nucleus was then determined immediately after treatment on P7, or 10 weeks later (P77). CNTF treatment significantly elevated motoneuron number in the SNB and DLN on P7; the volume of SNB target muscles on P7 was also greater in the CNTF-treated group. These effects were transient, however, as motoneuron number and ratings of muscle size were not different in CNTF-and vehicle-treated females on P77. Perinatal CNTF treatment did not alter cell number in the RDLN at either age. The finding that effects of CNTF on SNB and DLN motoneuron number are short lived contrasts with the permanent effects of early androgen treatment, and has implications for molecular models of the actions of androgen and neurotrophic factors on the developing spinal cord.

Developmental synapse elimination in the rat levator ani (LA) muscle is sensitive to gonadal androgen. This process occurs faster in castrated male rats that lack gonadal testosterone and is largely prevented by testosterone treatment. Because testosterone can be irreversibly converted into either androgenic metabolites such as dihydrotestosterone or estrogenic metabolites such as estradiol, the present experiment sought to determine which of these metabolites account for testosterone's effect. Male rat pups at postnatal day 7 (P7) were castrated and given daily subcutaneous injections of one of 5 possible treatments for 3 weeks (P7-P28): (1) testosterone propionate (TP), (2) dihydrotestosterone propionate (DHTP), (3) estradiol benzoate (EB), (4) a combination of DHTP and EB or (5) sesame oil vehicle. At the end of treatment, the LA and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles were dissected and their motor nerve terminals were stained with tetranitroblue tetrazolium. Hormone effects on synapse elimination were evaluated by counting the number of motor axons that contacted individual muscle fibers. The lumbosacral spinal cord was also dissected and processed histologically to examine the motoneurons in the spinal nucleus of the bulbocavernosus (SNB), which innervates the LA. Hormone effects on SNB motoneuron size were assessed by measuring the cross-sectional area of SNB motoneuronal somata and nuclei. We report that DHTP mimics the effects of TP on synapse elimination in the LA muscle, but that EB, acting either alone or together with DHTP, has little or no effect on this process. Synapse elimination in the EDL was unaffected by any hormone treatment. TP or DHTP, but not EB, increase the size of SNB motoneurons. We conclude that testosterone or its androgenic metabolites influence synapse elimination in the LA and probably exert these effects via androgen receptors.