Search results for "Exploratory"
showing 10 items of 446 documents
Behavioral effects of different enriched environments in mice treated with the cholinergic agonist PNU-282987.
2013
Abstract Environmental enrichment is an experimental model in which rodents are housed in complex environments that favor lower levels of anxiety-like behavior. PNU-282987 (PNU) is a α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist with beneficial effects on learning though its effects on anxiety are unclear. Our main aim was to carry out a study of its effects in NMRI ( n = 96) mice reared in different environments: environmental enrichment (EE), Marlau™ cages (MC) and standard environment (SE). After a 4-month period, mice received acute treatment of PNU (2.5, 5 and 10 mg/kg) and were evaluated in the elevated plus-maze (EPM) and hole-board (HB). In the EPM, both EE and MC reared mice showed …
Associations between personality, sports participation and athletic success. A comparison of Big Five in sporting and non-sporting adults
2018
Abstract The present study investigates whether the Big Five personality traits are different among diverse sports populations. A sample of 881 male athletes and non-athletes completed a self-report questionnaire measuring their personality traits. The Exploratory Structure Equation Modeling (ESEM) approach is adopted to test measurement invariance and mean differences among groups. The results indicate that athletes who had experienced the most success in their sport scored higher than non-athletes in each personality dimension of the Big Five, with the exception of openness, while less successful athletes scored higher than non-athletes only in extraversion and agreeableness. The more suc…
The Sound of Emotion
2014
What is the effect of performers’ experienced emotions on the auditory characteristics of their performances? By asking performers to play a music phrase in response to three different instructions we attempted to answer this question. Performers were instructed to do the following: 1) play while focusing on the technical aspects of their playing; 2) give an expressive performance; and 3) focus on their experienced emotions, prior to which they were subjected to a sadness-inducing mood induction task. Performers were interviewed after each playing condition. We analyzed the tempo, articulation, dynamics, timbre, and vibrato of the performances obtained as well as the interview data. A focus…
Development of Applications for Interactive and Reproducible Research: a Case Study
2016
For a proper understanding of the organization and regulation of gene expression, the computational analysis is an essential component of the scientific workflow, and this is particularly true in the fields of biostatistics and bioinformatics. Interactivity and reproducibility are two highly relevant features to consider when adopting or designing a tool, and often they can not be provided simultaneously.In this work, we address the issue of developing a framework that can provide interactive analysis, in order to allow experimentalists to fully exploit advanced software tools, as well as reproducibility as an internal validation of the analysis steps, by providing the underlying code and d…
Blockchain-Based Decentralized Business Models in the Sharing Economy: A Technology Adoption Perspective
2018
Recently, blockchain technology has increasingly been deemed to enable novel “decentralized” business models for the sharing economy and thereby potentially provide an alternative to extant “centralized” sharing economy business models. Using a technology adoption perspective, our chapter explores under which circumstances such blockchain-based decentralized sharing economy business models may be widely adopted. Building on extant research, we theorize on the factors that are relevant for adoption from the individual users’ perspective. We then derive eight potential adoption scenarios of blockchain-based decentralized sharing economy business models and explore adoption using an agent-base…
Remodelling of biological parameters during human ageing: evidence for complex regulation in longevity and in type 2 diabetes.
2013
Factor structure analyses have revealed the presence of specific biological system markers in healthy humans and diseases. However, this type of approach in very old persons and in type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is lacking. A total sample of 2,137 Italians consisted of two groups: 1,604 healthy and 533 with T2DM. Age (years) was categorized as adults (≤65), old (66-85), oldest old (>85-98) and centenarians (≥99). Specific biomarkers of routine haematological and biochemical testing were tested across each age group. Exploratory factorial analysis (EFA) by principal component method with Varimax rotation was used to identify factors including related variables. Structural equation modelling (SEM) wa…
Tumor response assessment by Choi criteria in localized high-risk soft tissue sarcoma (STS) treated with chemotherapy (CT): Update at 10-year follow-…
2016
11044Background: We already reported (Cancer 2012;118:5857) on better correlation of Choi criteria (Choi) than RECIST with the outcome of pts affected by high-risk STS entering a multicentric Itali...
Circuit Specific Functions of Cannabinoid CB1 Receptor in the Balance of Investigatory Drive and Exploration
2011
Well balanced novelty seeking and exploration are fundamental behaviours for survival and are found to be dysfunctional in several psychiatric disorders. Recent studies suggest that the endocannabinoid (eCB) system is an important control system for investigatory drive. Pharmacological treatment of rodents with cannabinergic drugs results in altered social and object investigation. Interestingly, contradictory results have been obtained, depending on the treatment, drug concentration and experimental conditions. The cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptor, a central component of the eCB system, is predominantly found at the synapses of two opposing neuronal populations, i.e. on inhibitory GABAerg…
Cell type‐specific genetic reconstitution of CB1 receptor subsets to assess their role in exploratory behaviour, sociability, and memory
2021
Several studies support the notion that exploratory behaviour depends on the functionality of the cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptor in a cell type-specific manner. Mice lacking the CB1 receptor in forebrain GABAergic or dorsal telencephalic glutamatergic neurons have served as essential tools revealing the necessary CB1 receptor functions in these two neuronal populations. However, whether these specific CB1 receptor populations are also sufficient within the endocannabinoid system for wild-type-like exploratory behaviour has remained unknown. To evaluate cell-type-specific sufficiency of CB1 receptor signalling exclusively in dorsal telencephalic glutamatergic neurons (Glu-CB1-RS) or in fo…
Interaction of inflammation, thrombosis, aspirin and enoxaparin in CNS experimental antiphospholipid syndrome
2008
Experimental antiphospholipid syndrome (eAPS) induced by immunization with beta(2)-glycoprotein I (beta(2)-GPI) causes behavioral hyperactivity. We assessed the role of thrombotic and inflammatory perivascular factors and standard APS therapies for CNS manifestations. Groups of mice (n=10 per group) were immunized once with beta(2)-GPI (eAPS) or adjuvant (controls) and treated daily from 1 month after immunization with either sham injections, aspirin (1.2 mg/kg) or enoxaparin (1 mg/kg) for 3 months. Serum antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) and brain levels of tissue necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and prostaglandin E (PGE) were then measured by ELISA and thrombin inhibitors by immunoblot. …