Techniques and Methods for a multi-scale analysis of neuromuscular fatigue

This thesis proposes an integrated holistic approach to the study of neuromuscular fatigue in order to encompass all the causes and all the consequences underlying the phenomenon. Starting from the metabolic processes occurring at the cellular level, the reader is guided toward the physiological changes at the motorneuron and motor unit level and from this to the more general biomechanical alterations. In Chapter 1 a list of the various definitions for fatigue spanning several contexts has been reported. In Chapter 2, the electrophysiological changes in terms of motor unit behavior and descending neural drive to the muscle have been studied extensively as well as the biomechanical adaptations induced. In Chapter 3 a study based on the observation of temporal features extracted from sEMG signals has been reported leading to the need of a more robust and reliable indicator during fatiguing tasks. Therefore, in Chapter 4, a novel bi-dimensional parameter is proposed. The study on sEMG-based indicators opened a scenario also on neurophysiological mechanisms underlying fatigue. For this purpose, in Chapter 5, a protocol designed for the analysis of motor unit-related parameters during prolonged fatiguing contractions is presented. In particular, two methodologies have been applied to multichannel sEMG recordings of isometric contractions of the Tibialis Anterior muscle: the state-of-the-art technique for sEMG decomposition and a coherence analysis on MU spike trains. The importance of a multi-scale approach has been finally highlighted in the context of the evaluation of cycling performance, where fatigue is one of the limiting factors. In particular, the last chapter of this thesis can be considered as a paradigm: physiological, metabolic, environmental, psychological and biomechanical factors influence the performance of a cyclist and only when all of these are kept together in a novel integrative way it is possible to derive a clear model and make correct assessments.

Automatische objektive Identifikation und Berechnung der Eigenschaften von Rossbywellenzügen

In dieser Arbeit wird eine Methode entwickelt, die Rossbywellenzüge automatisch identifiziert und und deren Eigenschaften quantifiziert. Mit dieser Methode wird der Wellenzug als eine Einheit in Raum und Zeit interpretiert. Einheit im Raum heißt, dass nicht die einzelnen Tröge und Rücken eines Wellenzugs betrachtet werden, sondern deren Einhüllende. Einheit in der Zeit bedeutet, dass der Wellenzug nicht nur zu einem Zeitpunkt betrachtet wird, sondern über seine gesamte Lebensdauer hinweg. Um den Wellenzug als räumliche und zeitliche Einheit zu erhalten, werden die Einhüllenden der Wellenzüge in Längengrad-Zeit Diagrammen, sogenannten Hovmöllerdiagrammen, betrachtet. Dort werden zusammenhängende Regionen als Objekte, die jeweils einen Wellenzug repräsentieren, identifiziert. Deren Eigenschaften werden dann automatisch berechnet. Diese Eigenschaften können nun direkt dem zugrunde liegenden Rossbywellenzug zugeordnet werden.rnDie neue Methode wird in zwei verschiedenen Szenarien angewendet: erstens zur Beurteilung der Vorhersagequalität eines einzelnen Rossbywellenzugs und zweitens für die klimatologische Betrachtung von Rossbywellenzügen im ERA-40 Reanalysedatensatz. Sie wurde weiterhin mit bisher verwendeten Methoden zur Identifikation und Quantifizierung von Rossbywellenzügen verglichen.rnDie Untersuchung der Vorhersagequalität ergab, dass in dem betrachteten Fall die Übereinstimmung der Vorhersage mit der Analyse des Wellenzugs gering war, sofern das Modell initialisiert wurde, bevor der Rossbywellenzug eingesetzt hatte. Im Gegensatz dazu nahm die Vorhersagequalität deutlich zu, wenn der Wellenzug bereits in den Vorhersagedaten enthalten war. Dies deutet darauf hin, dass es in dem vorliegenden Fall problematisch ist, mit dem Modell den Auslösemechanismus korrekt voherzusagen. Für die weitere Untersuchung der Vorhersagequalität wurde eine spezielle Art der Darstellung der Daten verwendet, mit deren Hilfe deutlich wurde, dass das verwendete Modell in der Lage ist, diesen Wellenzug ungefähr sechs Tage im Voraus vorherzusagen. Diese Zeitspanne ist deutlich kürzer als die Lebensdauer des Wellenzugs, die etwa 10 Tage beträgt.rnIm Rahmen der klimatologischen Studie ergab sich eine positive Korrelation zwischen der Lebensdauer eines Rossbywellenzugs und des Bereichs den dieser Wellenzug während seiner gesamten Existenz in zonaler Richtung überstreicht. Für Wellenzüge mit einer kurzen Lebensdauer ergab sich eine ebenfalls positive Korrelation zwischen der mittleren Amplitude und der Dauer des Wellenzugs. Für eine längere Lebensdauer geht diese Korrelation aber in eine Sättigung über und die mittlere Amplitude steigt nicht mehr weiter an. Als eine mögliche Erklärung für dieses Verhalten wird angeführt, dass eine gewisse Stärke der Amplitude benötigt wird um stromabwärtige Entwicklung zu erhalten aber zu große Amplituden im Allgemeinen zum Brechen der Welle führen. Das Brechen leitet den letzten Abschnitt im Lebenszyklus eines Rossbywellenzuges ein, welcher im Anschluss meist zerfällt. Ein weiteres Ergebnis der klimatologischen Untersuchung ist das Auffinden bevorzugter Regionen der Entstehung und des Abklingens von Rossbywellenzügen. Diese Regionen unterscheiden sich erheblich für Rossbywellenzüge unterschiedlicher minimaler Lebensdauer. Langlebige Rossbywellenzüge entstehen demnach hauptsächlich über Ostasien und dem Westpazifik und vergehen dann über Europa.rnSchließlich wurde die entwickelte Methode in einen systematischen Vergleich anderer Methoden zur Identifikation und Quantifizierung von Rossbywellenzügen eingereiht. Die betrachteten Methoden beinhalten verschiedene Trog-und-Rücken Hovmöllerdiagramme des Meridionalwindes, Methoden die Rossbywellenzüge als eine Einheit identifizieren und Methoden die den Beitrag verschiedener physikalischer Aspekte zu der Entwicklung von Rossbywellenenzügen quantifizieren. Der Vergleich macht deutlich, dass jede Methode ihre individuellen Stärken und Schwächen hat. Dies bedeutet insbesondere, dass die Eignung der Methode von dem Stadium des Lebenszyklus, in dem sich der Rossbywellenzug befindet und dem Fokus, den man bei der Betrachtung hat, abhängt. Ideal ist eine Kombination mehrerer Methoden, da dies ein vollständigeres Bild eines Rossbywellenzuges ergibt als einzelne Methoden es zu liefern vermögen. Obwohl alle Methoden für die Anwendungen, für die sie jeweils konzipiert wurden, geeignet sind, ergeben sich bei der Diagnose der Rossbywellenzüge beträchtliche Unterschiede. Letztendlich stellt sich heraus, dass sogar die Defintion eines Rossbywellenzugs bis zu einem gewissen Grad von der zu seiner Identifizierung verwendeten Methode abhängt.

Strategies of Representation, Relationship, and Resistance: British Women Travelers and Mormon Plural Wives, c. 1870-1890

During the 1870s and 1880s, several British women writers traveled by transcontinental railroad across the American West via Salt Lake City, Utah, the capital of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons. These women subsequently wrote books about their travels for a home audience with a taste for adventures in the American West, and particularly for accounts of Mormon plural marriage, which was sanctioned by the Church before 1890. "The plight of the Mormon woman," a prominent social reform and literary theme of the period, situated Mormon women at the center of popular representations of Utah during the second half of the nineteenth century. "The Mormon question" thus lends itself to an analysis of how a stereotyped subaltern group was represented by elite British travelers. These residents of western American territories, however, differed in important respects from the typical subaltern subjects discussed by Victorian travelers. These white, upwardly mobile, and articulate Mormon plural wives attempted to influence observers' representations of them through a variety of narrative strategies. Both British women travel writers and Mormon women wrote from the margins of power and credibility, and as interpreters of the Mormon scene were concerned to established their representational authority.

Interactions between short-term and long-term plasticity: shooting for a moving target

Far from being static transmission units, synapses are highly dynamical elements that change over multiple time scales depending on the history of the neural activity of both the pre- and postsynaptic neuron. Moreover, synaptic changes on different time scales interact: long-term plasticity (LTP) can modify the properties of short-term plasticity (STP) in the same synapse. Most existing theories of synaptic plasticity focus on only one of these time scales (either STP or LTP or late-LTP) and the theoretical principles underlying their interactions are thus largely unknown. Here we develop a normative model of synaptic plasticity that combines both STP and LTP and predicts specific patterns for their interactions. Recently, it has been proposed that STP arranges for the local postsynaptic membrane potential at a synapse to behave as an optimal estimator of the presynaptic membrane potential based on the incoming spikes. Here we generalize this approach by considering an optimal estimator of a non-linear function of the membrane potential and the long-term synaptic efficacy—which itself may be subject to change on a slower time scale. We find that an increase in the long-term synaptic efficacy necessitates changes in the dynamics of STP. More precisely, for a realistic non-linear function to be estimated, our model predicts that after the induction of LTP, causing long-term synaptic efficacy to increase, a depressing synapse should become even more depressing. That is, in a protocol using trains of presynaptic stimuli, as the initial EPSP becomes stronger due to LTP, subsequent EPSPs should become weakened and this weakening should be more pronounced with LTP. This form of redistribution of synaptic efficacies agrees well with electrophysiological data on synapses connecting layer 5 pyramidal neurons.

Theta burst stimulation reduces disability during the activities of daily living in spatial neglect

Left-sided spatial neglect is a common neurological syndrome following right-hemispheric stroke. The presence of spatial neglect is a powerful predictor of poor rehabilitation outcome. In one influential account of spatial neglect, interhemispheric inhibition is impaired and leads to a pathological hyperactivity in the contralesional hemisphere, resulting in a biased attentional allocation towards the right hemifield. Inhibitory transcranial magnetic stimulation can reduce the hyperactivity of the contralesional, intact hemisphere and thereby improve spatial neglect symptoms. However, it is not known whether this improvement is also relevant to the activities of daily living during spontaneous behaviour. The primary aim of the present study was to investigate whether the repeated application of continuous theta burst stimulation trains could ameliorate spatial neglect on a quantitative measure of the activities of daily living during spontaneous behaviour. We applied the Catherine Bergego Scale, a standardized observation questionnaire that can validly and reliably detect the presence and severity of spatial neglect during the activities of daily living. Eight trains of continuous theta burst stimulation were applied over two consecutive days on the contralesional, left posterior parietal cortex in patients suffering from subacute left spatial neglect, in a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled design, which also included a control group of neglect patients without stimulation. The results showed a 37% improvement in the spontaneous everyday behaviour of the neglect patients after the repeated application of continuous theta burst stimulation. Remarkably, the improvement persisted for at least 3 weeks after stimulation. The amelioration of spatial neglect symptoms in the activities of daily living was also generally accompanied by significantly better performance in the neuropsychological tests. No significant amelioration in symptoms was observed after sham stimulation or in the control group without stimulation. These results provide Class I evidence that continuous theta burst stimulation is a viable add-on therapy in neglect rehabilitation that facilitates recovery of normal everyday behaviour.

Mechanisms of nanoparticle-mediated photomechanical cell damage

Laser-assisted killing of gold nanoparticle targeted macrophages was investigated. Using pressure transient detection, flash photography and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging, we studied the mechanism of single cell damage by vapor bubble formation around gold nanospheres induced by nanosecond laser pulses. The influence of the number of irradiating laser pulses and of particle size and concentration on the threshold for acute cell damage was determined. While the single pulse damage threshold is independent of the particle size, the threshold decreases with increasing particle size when using trains of pulses. The dependence of the cell damage threshold on the nanoparticle concentration during incubation reveals that particle accumulation and distribution inside the cell plays a key role in tissue imaging or cell damaging.

Panel 2: Rescue and Escape from the Holocaust

Panel 2: Rescue and Escape from the Holocaust Nina Paulovicova, University of Alberta, Canada: “The Silenced Phenomenon of Cross-National Rescue: 'Leaking Border' and Paid Smugglers” Download Paper (login required) Tomasz Frydel, University of Toronto: "Rescue or Denunciation of Jews? A Case Study of Southeastern Poland during German Occupation" Download Paper (login required) Tanja von Fransecky, Technical University, Berlin, Germany: "Escape and Attempted Escape of Jewish Deportees from Deportation Trains in France, Belgium and the Netherlands” Download Paper (login required) Chair: Adara Goldberg and Elizabeth Anthony, Clark UniversityComment: Deborah Dwork, Clark University

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex affects divided attention immediately after cessation of stimulation

Transcranial magnetic stimulation has evolved into a powerful neuroscientific tool allowing to interfere transiently with specific brain functions. In addition, repetitive TMS (rTMS) has long-term effects (e.g. on mood), probably mediated by neurochemical alterations. While long-term safety of rTMS with regard to cognitive functioning is well established from trials exploring its therapeutic efficacy, little is known on whether rTMS can induce changes in cognitive functioning in a time window ranging from minutes to hours, a time in which neurochemical effects correlated with stimulation have been demonstrated. This study examined effects of rTMS on three measures of executive function in healthy subjects who received one single rTMS session (40 trains of 2 s duration 20 Hz stimuli) at the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Compared to a sham condition one week apart, divided attention performance was significantly impaired about 30-60 min after rTMS, while Stroop-interference and performance in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test was unaffected after rTMS. Repetitive TMS of the left DLPFC, at stimulation parameters used in therapeutic studies, does not lead to a clinically relevant impairment of executive function after stimulation. However, the significant effect on divided attention suggests that cognitive effects of rTMS are not limited to the of acute stimulation, and may possibly reflect known neurochemical alterations induced by rTMS. Sensitive cognitive measures may be useful to trace those short-term effects of rTMS non-invasively in humans.

Dendritic spikes in apical dendrites of neocortical layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons

Layer 2/3 (L2/3) pyramidal neurons are the most abundant cells of the neocortex. Despite their key position in the cortical microcircuit, synaptic integration in dendrites of L2/3 neurons is far less understood than in L5 pyramidal cell dendrites, mainly because of the difficulties in obtaining electrical recordings from thin dendrites. Here we directly measured passive and active properties of the apical dendrites of L2/3 neurons in rat brain slices using dual dendritic-somatic patch-clamp recordings and calcium imaging. Unlike L5 cells, L2/3 dendrites displayed little sag in response to long current pulses, which suggests a low density of I(h) in the dendrites and soma. This was also consistent with a slight increase in input resistance with distance from the soma. Brief current injections into the apical dendrite evoked relatively short (half-width 2-4 ms) dendritic spikes that were isolated from the soma for near-threshold currents at sites beyond the middle of the apical dendrite. Regenerative dendritic potentials and large concomitant calcium transients were also elicited by trains of somatic action potentials (APs) above a critical frequency (130 Hz), which was slightly higher than in L5 neurons. Initiation of dendritic spikes was facilitated by backpropagating somatic APs and could cause an additional AP at the soma. As in L5 neurons, we found that distal dendritic calcium transients are sensitive to a long-lasting block by GABAergic inhibition. We conclude that L2/3 pyramidal neurons can generate dendritic spikes, sharing with L5 pyramidal neurons fundamental properties of dendritic excitability and control by inhibition.

ECG-triggered muscular counterpulsation for treatment of low cardiac output

BACKGROUND: Skeletal muscular counterpulsation (MCP) has been used as a new noninvasive technique for treatment of low cardiac output. The MCP method is based on ECG-triggered skeletal muscle stimulation. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate acute hemodynamic changes induced by MCP in the experimental animal. METHODS: Eight anaesthetized pigs (43+/-4 kg) were studied at rest and after IV â-blockade (10 mg propranolol) before and after MCP. Muscular counterpulsation was performed on both thighs using trains (75 ms duration) of multiple biphasic electrical impulses with a width of 1 ms and a frequency of 200 Hz at low (10 V) and high (30 V) amplitude. ECG-triggering was used to synchronize stimulation to a given time point. LV pressure-volume relations were determined using the conductance catheter. After baseline measurements, MCP was carried out for 10 minutes at low and high stimulation amplitude. The optimal time point for MCP was determined from LV pressure-volume loops using different stimulation time points during systole and diastole. Best results were observed during end-systole and, therefore, this time point was used for stimulation. RESULTS: Under control conditions, MCP was associated with a significant decrease in pulmonary vascular resistance (-18%), a decrease in systemic vascular resistance (-11%) and stroke work index (-4%), whereas cardiac index (+2%) and ejection fraction (+6%) increased slightly. Pressure-volume loops showed a leftward shift with a decrease in end-systolic volume. After â-blockade, cardiac function decreased (HR, MAP, EF, dP/dt max), but it improved with skeletal muscle stimulation (HR +10% and CI +17%, EF +5%). There was a significant decrease in pulmonary (-19%) and systemic vascular resistance (-29%). CONCLUSIONS: In the animal model, ECG-triggered skeletal muscular counterpulsation is associated with a significant improvement in cardiac function at baseline and after IV â-blockade. Thus, MCP represents a new, non-invasive technique which improves cardiac function by diastolic compression of the peripheral arteries and veins, with a decrease in systemic vascular resistance and increase in cardiac output.

Finnish Americans and the Farm Revolt of the 1930s

Farm protest in the United States attracted widespread attention in the 1930s as militant farmers interfered with foreclosure sales, demonstrated at county court houses and state capitals, and blocked highways and stopped trains to prevent crops and livestock from going to market in an effort to raise farm prices. The best known of the protest groups was the Farmers Holiday Association, which was formed in 1932. Prior to the Holiday, however, a left-wing group organized by Communists in 1930 known as the United Farmers League (UFL) gained an initial following in the cutover country of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, northern Wisconsin, northern Minnesota, and parts of the Dakotas and northeast Montana. Finnish Americans dominated the UFL in the Upper Midwest and in a few locales in the Dakotas. Evidence for this high level of influence comes from the fact that the head of the Communist Party’s Agrarian Department was Henry Puro, a key figure in Finnish American Communist circles and a member of the Party’s Politburo. This paper will focus on Finnish American involvement in the UFL and, to a lesser extent, the broader-based Farmers Holiday movement.

DEVELOPMENT OF AN OPTIMIZATION MODEL FOR BIOFUEL FACILITY SIZE AND LOCATION AND A SIMULATION MODEL FOR DESIGN OF A BIOFUEL SUPPLY CHAIN

A range of societal issues have been caused by fossil fuel consumption in the transportation sector in the United States (U.S.), including health related air pollution, climate change, the dependence on imported oil, and other oil related national security concerns. Biofuels production from various lignocellulosic biomass types such as wood, forest residues, and agriculture residues have the potential to replace a substantial portion of the total fossil fuel consumption. This research focuses on locating biofuel facilities and designing the biofuel supply chain to minimize the overall cost. For this purpose an integrated methodology was proposed by combining the GIS technology with simulation and optimization modeling methods. The GIS based methodology was used as a precursor for selecting biofuel facility locations by employing a series of decision factors. The resulted candidate sites for biofuel production served as inputs for simulation and optimization modeling. As a precursor to simulation or optimization modeling, the GIS-based methodology was used to preselect potential biofuel facility locations for biofuel production from forest biomass. Candidate locations were selected based on a set of evaluation criteria, including: county boundaries, a railroad transportation network, a state/federal road transportation network, water body (rivers, lakes, etc.) dispersion, city and village dispersion, a population census, biomass production, and no co-location with co-fired power plants. The simulation and optimization models were built around key supply activities including biomass harvesting/forwarding, transportation and storage. The built onsite storage served for spring breakup period where road restrictions were in place and truck transportation on certain roads was limited. Both models were evaluated using multiple performance indicators, including cost (consisting of the delivered feedstock cost, and inventory holding cost), energy consumption, and GHG emissions. The impact of energy consumption and GHG emissions were expressed in monetary terms to keep consistent with cost. Compared with the optimization model, the simulation model represents a more dynamic look at a 20-year operation by considering the impacts associated with building inventory at the biorefinery to address the limited availability of biomass feedstock during the spring breakup period. The number of trucks required per day was estimated and the inventory level all year around was tracked. Through the exchange of information across different procedures (harvesting, transportation, and biomass feedstock processing procedures), a smooth flow of biomass from harvesting areas to a biofuel facility was implemented. The optimization model was developed to address issues related to locating multiple biofuel facilities simultaneously. The size of the potential biofuel facility is set up with an upper bound of 50 MGY and a lower bound of 30 MGY. The optimization model is a static, Mathematical Programming Language (MPL)-based application which allows for sensitivity analysis by changing inputs to evaluate different scenarios. It was found that annual biofuel demand and biomass availability impacts the optimal results of biofuel facility locations and sizes.

Leaching Copper Minerals in the Butte District

The history of mining in Butte is woven about three of our principal metals. The gold placers first attracted the attention of miners in 1863, and reached their peak production in 1867. Silver was the second metal mined, and this operation required the erection of large mills with a consequent increase in mining activity that made the district a prominent producer. Although the presence of copper in the silver ore had been known, the credit for the first development of the copper veins is due Senator W. A. Clark. The original Colusa, Mining Chief, and Gambetta claims were developed to 1872. The ore was freighted by wagon trains 400 miles to Corrine, Utah, thence by rail eastward, some of it going to Swansea, Wales. The cooper production of the "richest hill on earth" has mounted to ten billion pounds.

Study and Correlation of Belt and Cambrian Arkoses near Limespur, Montana

In the vicinity of Limespur, Montana, a siding along the Northern Pacific Railroad near Whitehall, Montana, occurs a characteristic type of arkose where­ in many small red mineral grains are distributed throughout the rock mass. It is in this respect that this arkose differs from other arkoses in the surrounding region.

The Geology and Ore Deposits of Jardine, Montana

The subject to be covered by this paper is based upon field study made during a six week stay at Jardine. The work began on June 19, 1937 and ended on July 31 of the same year.