The first year after diagnosis: psychological impact on people with multiple sclerosis

The impact of multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis on newly diagnosed individuals remains so far little explored. Our aim is to outline affective, personality and quality of life (QoL) correlates of MS patients shortly after MS diagnosis. Thirty-eight (22 F and 16 M) newly-diagnosed MS patients (mean interval from diagnosis communication 4.7 ± 3.8 months, range 1–12 months) underwent the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale and a comprehensive psychological evaluation: Beck Depression Inventory-II, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Psychophysiological Questionnaire-Revised, Fear Survey Schedule, Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Questionnaire, Impact of Event Scale-Revised, Personal Meaning Questionnaire, Problem Solving Inventory and Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54. The Expanded Disability Status Scale was assessed during the neurological examination. Depressive symptomatology, only partially related to disability, was observed in approximately 40% of patients. The prevalent approach to MS diagnosis was one of avoidance in 65.8% of cases. QoL reductions in self-perception and psychological well-being emerged, together with a peculiar perception of change in health that was not related to neurological disability. With regard to personality assessment, depressive personal meaning organization correlates inversely with important QoL measures. Newly-diagnosed patients go through a complex network of psychological changes still in the initial phases immediately after diagnosis. A thorough understanding of these adjusting aspects by the neurologist could be crucial in improving patients’ QoL, participation in relevant disease decisions and adherence to pharmacological therapy.     

EEG phase synchronization during semantic unification relates to individual differences in children’s vocabulary skill

As we listen to speech, our ability to understand what was said requires us to retrieve and bind together individual word meanings into a coherent discourse representation. This so‐called semantic unification is a fundamental cognitive skill, and its development relies on the integration of neural activity throughout widely distributed functional brain networks. In this proof‐of‐concept study, we examine, for the first time, how these functional brain networks develop in children. Twenty‐six children (ages 4–17) listened to well‐formed sentences and sentences containing a semantic violation, while EEG was recorded. Children with stronger vocabulary showed N400 effects that were more concentrated to centroparietal electrodes and greater EEG phase synchrony (phase lag index; PLI) between right centroparietal and bilateral frontocentral electrodes in the delta frequency band (1–3 Hz) 1.27–1.53 s after listening to well‐formed sentences compared to sentences containing a semantic violation. These effects related specifically to individual differences in receptive vocabulary, perhaps pointing to greater recruitment of functional brain networks important for top‐down semantic unification with development. Less skilled children showed greater delta phase synchrony for violation sentences 3.41–3.64 s after critical word onset. This later effect was partly driven by individual differences in nonverbal reasoning, perhaps pointing to non‐verbal compensatory processing to extract meaning from speech in children with less developed vocabulary. We suggest that functional brain network communication, as measured by momentary changes in the phase synchrony of EEG oscillations, develops throughout the school years to support language comprehension in different ways depending on children's verbal and nonverbal skill levels.     

Vacancy-mediated structural changes in Au–Cu nanoparticles

We report the formation of new phases in bimetallic Au–Cu nanoparticles. These phases were observed in nanoparticle synthesised by adopting a three-step protocol in a single pot. Nanoparticles at 180°C for 1?h led to the formation of single-phase solid solution of Cu in Au. Subsequent heat treatment at 290°C for 2?h of these Au–Cu nanoparticles revealed three new phases. One of them relates to the modification of occupancy of Cu in an ordered AuCu tetragonal phase (tP4). This cell although retains tetragonal symmetry but displays metrical properties akin to that of a cube. The other two relates to vacancy ordering along <111> directions in the {111} planes of an ordered AuCu3 cubic phase (cP4). On the one hand, statistical occupancy of vacancy on Cu site in this cell leads to the reduction of cell size from ～3.75?Å to ～3.5?Å whereas ordering of vacant layer on the other hand gives rise to symmetry breaking. Former continues to display cubic symmetry whereas latter transforms to a trigonal cell.     

Visual-Propriocetive Correspondence in the Para-Median Plane

2 experiments in which Ss matched a proprioceptively perceived stylus to a visual target in the para-median plane show that Ss make idiosyncratic errors which are stable over periods of at least several days. A technique for comparing visual and proprioceptive spaces is used to Show how matching errors vary within the para-median plane. These errors are interpreted as the result of inadequate inter-calibration of visual and proprioceptive space perception, and their implications for movement control are discussed.     

Simultaneous Event-Based and Emergent Timing: Synchronization,Continuation, and Phase Correction

It has been claimed that rhythmic tapping and circle drawing represent fundamentally different timing processes (event-based and emergent, respectively) and also that circle drawing is difficult to synchronize with a metronome and exhibits little phase correction. In the present study, musically trained participants tapped with their left hands, drew circles with their right (dominant) hands, and also performed both tasks simultaneously. In Experiment 1, they synchronized with a metronome and then continued on their own, whereas in Experiment 2, they synchronized with a metronome containing phase perturbations. Circle drawing generally exhibited reliable synchronization, although with greater variability than tapping, and also showed a clear phase-correction response that evolved gradually during the cycle immediately following a perturbation. When carried out simultaneously in synchrony, with or without a metronome, the two tasks affected each other in some ways but retained their distinctive timing characteristics. This shows that event-based and emergent timing can coexist in a dual-task situation. Furthermore, the authors argue that the two timing modes usually coexist in each individual task, although one mode is often dominant.     

Atom vacancies at a screw dislocation core in SrTiO3

A screw dislocation in strontium titanate has been studied taking benefit of negative spherical aberration-imaging in a spherical aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope. The core structure of the dislocation is atomically resolved with respect to both cation and oxygen columns by the inclusion of the central core area. The dislocation core is characterized by a helical distortion of the lattice planes, which leads, in particular, to azimuthally elongated image dots associated with individual atomic columns close to the core centre. The atomic coordination in the dislocation core is identified and a high density of atom vacancies is revealed for a Ti–O column at the core.     

The effect of hydrogen plasma on the properties of a-Si:H/a-Si1-xNx:H superlattices

Abstract

A hydrogen plasma introduced during the interrupting interval when alternating two gases affects the properties of a-Si:H/a-Si_1-xN_x:H superlattices resulting in the creation of fewer interface defects than the superlattices prepared without the hydrogen plasma.     

Cooling-rate-dependent microstructure and mechanical properties of a CuZrAlAg alloy

A Cu₃₆Zr₄₈Al₈Ag₈ alloy rod with a diameter of 10 mm was fabricated using a copper-mould suction casting method. Structural characterization revealed that the rod has different microstructures along the casting direction, including a complete amorphous structure and an amorphous/crystalline composite structure with different amount of B2 CuZr phase. Nanoindentation tests showed that the hardness and the elastic modulus of the crystalline phase are lower than those of the amorphous matrix. The hardness and the elastic modulus of the amorphous matrix decrease with decreasing crystalline proportion of the alloy, while the Vickers hardness of the alloy increases with a reduction in the crystalline proportion.