Creating replicas of scultural heritage through 3D reconstruction and low cost 3D printer in Education

The process of making replicas of heritage has traditionally been developed by public agencies, corporations and museums and is not commonly used in schools. Currently there are technologies that allow creating cheap replicas. The new 3D reconstruction software, based on photographs and low cost 3D printers allow to make replicas at a cost much lower than traditional. This article describes the process of creating replicas of the sculpture Goslar Warrior of artist Henry Moore, located in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. To make this process, first, a digital model have been created using Autodesk Recap 360, Autodesk 123D Catch and Autodesk Meshmixer MarkerBot MakerWare applications. Physical replication, has been reproduced in polylactic acid (PLA) by MakerBot Replicator 2 3D printer. In addition, a cost analysis using, in one hand, the printer mentioned, and in the other hand, 3D printing services both online and local, is included. Finally, there has been a specific action with 141 students and 12 high school teachers, who filled a questionnary about the use of sculptural replicas in education.

A population-based association study of SNPs of GSTP1, MnSOD, GPX2 and Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma

Oxidative stress appears to be important in the pathogenesis of Barrett's esophagus (BE) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of antioxidant enzyme genes may play a part in determining individual susceptibility to these diseases. The Factors Influencing the Barrett's Adenocarcinoma Relationship (FINBAR) study is a population-based, case-control study of BE and EAC in Ireland. DNA from EAC (n = 207), BE (> or =3 cm BE at endoscopy with specialized intestinal metaplasia on biopsy, n = 189) and normal population controls (n = 223) were analyzed. Several SNPs spanning the genes for glutathione S-transferase P1 (GSTP1), manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) and glutathione peroxidase 2 (GPX2) were genotyped using multiplex polymerase chain reaction and SNaPshottrade mark. The chi(2) test was used to compare genotype and allele frequencies between case and control subjects. Linkage disequilibrium between SNPs was quantified using Lewontin's D' value and haplotype frequency estimates obtained using Haploview. Eleven SNPs were genotyped (six for GSTP1, three for MnSOD and two for GPX2); all were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. None was significantly associated with EAC or BE even before Bonferroni correction. Odds ratios for EAC for individual SNPs ranged from 0.68 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.43-1.08] to 1.25 (95% CI 0.73-2.16), and for BE from 0.84 (95% CI 0.52-1.30) to 1.30 (95% CI 0.85-1.97). SNPs in all three genes were in strong linkage disequilibrium (D' > 0.887) but haplotype analysis did not show any significant association with EAC or BE. SNPs involving the GSTP1, MnSOD and GPX2 genes were not associated with BE or EAC. Further studies aimed at identifying susceptibility genes should focus on different antioxidant genes or different pathways.

Frontal EEG/ERP correlates of attentional processes, cortisol and motivational states in adolescents from lower and higher socioeconomic status

Event-related potentials (ERPs) and other electroencephalographic (EEG) evidence show that frontal brain areas of higher and lower socioeconomic status (SES) children are recruited differently during selective attention tasks. We assessed whether multiple variables related to self-regulation (perceived mental effort) emotional states (e.g., anxiety, stress, etc.) and motivational states (e.g., boredom, engagement, etc.) may co-occur or interact with frontal attentional processing probed in two matched-samples of fourteen lower-SES and higher-SES adolescents. ERP and EEG activation were measured during a task probing selective attention to sequences of tones. Pre- and post-task salivary cortisol and self-reported emotional states were also measured. At similar behavioural performance level, the higher-SES group showed a greater ERP differentiation between attended (relevant) and unattended (irrelevant) tones than the lower-SES group. EEG power analysis revealed a cross-over interaction, specifically, lower-SES adolescents showed significantly higher theta power when ignoring rather than attending to tones, whereas, higher-SES adolescents showed the opposite pattern. Significant theta asymmetry differences were also found at midfrontal electrodes indicating left hypo-activity in lower-SES adolescents. The attended vs. unattended difference in right midfrontal theta increased with individual SES rank, and (independently from SES) with lower cortisol task reactivity and higher boredom. Results suggest lower-SES children used additional compensatory resources to monitor/control response inhibition to distracters, perceiving also more mental effort, as compared to higher-SES counterparts. Nevertheless, stress, boredom and other task-related perceived states were unrelated to SES. Ruling out presumed confounds, this study confirms the midfrontal mechanisms responsible for the SES effects on selective attention reported previously and here reflect genuine cognitive differences.

Hair cortisol reflects socio-economic factors and hair zinc in preschoolers

This study examined the relationship between children's hair cortisol and socioeconomic status of the family, as measured by parental education and income. Low family socioeconomic status has traditionally been considered a long-term environmental stressor. Measurement of hair cortisol provides an integrated index of cumulative stress exposure across an extended period of time. The present study is the first to examine the relationship between hair cortisol and parental education as well as parental income in a representative sample of preschoolers. Data on hair cortisol, family income, and parental education were collected for a representative sample of 339 children (Mean age=4.6 years; SD=.5 years) from across 23 neighbourhoods of the city of Vancouver, Canada. As maternal education was shown previously to be associated with hair zinc level, hair zinc measurements were included as well in order to explore potential relationships between hair zinc and hair cortisol. The relationship between hair cortisol and parental education was examined using hierarchical regression, with hair zinc, gender, age, and single parenthood included as covariates. Maternal and paternal education both were correlated significantly with hair cortisol (r=-0.18; p=.001). The relationship remained statistically significant even after controlling for all demographic covariates as well as for hair zinc and after taking the neighbourhood-level clustering of the data into account. Parental income, on the other hand, was not related significantly to children's hair cortisol. This study provides evidence that lower maternal and paternal education are associated with higher hair cortisol levels. As hair cortisol provides an integrated index of cortisol exposure over an extended time period, these findings suggest a possibly stable influence of SES on the function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Cumulative exposure to cortisol during early childhood may be greater in children from low socio-economic backgrounds, possibly through increased exposure to environmental stressors.

Single course of antenatal steroids did not alter cortisol in preterm infants up to 18 months

To determine whether a single course of antenatal dexamethasone alters resting cortisol at 3, 8 and 18 months corrected age in preterm infants.

Magnetoencephalography reveals slowing of resting peak oscillatory frequency in children born very preterm

Resting cortical activity is characterized by a distinct spectral peak in the alpha frequency range. Slowing of this oscillatory peak toward the upper theta-band has been associated with a variety of neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions and has been attributed to altered thalamocortical dynamics. Children born very preterm exhibit altered development of thalamocortical systems. To test the hypothesis that peak oscillatory frequency is slowed in children born very preterm, we recorded resting magnetoencephalography (MEG) from school age children born very preterm (= 32 wk gestation) without major intellectual or neurological impairment and age-matched full-term controls. Very preterm children exhibit a slowing of peak frequency toward the theta-band over bilateral frontal cortex, together with reduced alpha-band power over bilateral frontal and temporal cortex, suggesting that mildly dysrhythmic thalamocortical interactions may contribute to altered spontaneous cortical activity in children born very preterm.

Altered Long-Range Phase Synchronization and Cortical Activation in Children Born Very Preterm

Children born very preterm, even with broadly normal IQ, commonly show selective difficulties in visuospatial processing and executive functioning. Very little, however, is known what alterations in cortical processing underlie these deficits. We recorded MEG while eight children born very preterm (=32 weeks gestational age) and eight full-term controls performed a visual short-term memory task at mean age 7.5 years (range 6.4 - 8.4). Previously, we demonstrated increased long-range alpha and beta band phase synchronization between MEG sensors during STM retention in a group of 17 full-term children age 6-10 years. Here we present preliminary evidence that long-range phase synchronization in very preterm children, relative to controls, is reduced in the alpha-band but increased in the theta-band. In addition, we investigated cortical activation during STM retention employing synthetic aperture magnetometry (SAM) beamformer to localize changes in gamma-band power. Preliminary results indicate sequential activation of occipital, parietal and frontal cortex in control children, as well as reduced activation in very preterm children relative to controls. These preliminary results suggest that children born very preterm exhibit altered inter-regional functional connectivity and cortical activation during cognitive processing.

Cortisol levels in relation to maternal interaction and child internalizing behavior in preterm and full-term children at 18 months corrected age

Cortisol levels were compared in children born preterm at extremely low gestational age (ELGA; 24-28 weeks), very low gestational age (VGLA; 29-32 weeks), and full-term in response to cognitive assessment at 18 months corrected age (CA). Further, we investigated the relationship between maternal interactive behaviors and child internalizing behaviors (rated by the mother) in relation to child cortisol levels. EGLA children had higher "pretest" cortisol levels and a different pattern of cortisol response to cognitive assessment compared to VGLA and full-terms. Higher cortisol levels in ELGA, but not full-term, children were associated with less optimal mother interactive behavior. Moreover, the pattern of cortisol change was related to internalizing behaviors among ELGA, and to a lesser degree VLGA children. In conclusion, our findings suggest altered programming of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in preterm children, as well as their greater sensitivity to environmental context such as maternal interactive behavior.

Cortisol, behavior, and heart rate reactivity to immunization pain at 4 months corrected age in infants born very preterm

Pain response may be altered in infants born very preterm owing to repeated exposure to procedures in the neonatal intensive care unit. Findings have been inconsistent in studies of behavioral and cardiac responses to brief pain in preterm versus full-term infants following neonatal intensive care unit discharge. To our knowledge, cortisol reactivity to pain has not been compared in preterm and full-term infants. We examined pain reactivity to immunization in preterm and full-term infants.

Physiological correlates of memory recall in infancy:vagal tone, cortisol, and imitation in preterm and full-term infants at 6 months

We examined the role of physiological regulation (heart rate, vagal tone, and salivary cortisol) in short-term memory in preterm and full-term 6-month-old infants. Using a deferred imitation task to evaluate social learning and memory recall, an experimenter modeled three novel behaviors (removing, shaking, and replacing a glove) on a puppet. Infants were tested immediately after being shown the behaviors as well as following a 10-min delay. We found that greater suppression of vagal tone was related to better memory recall in full-term infants tested immediately after the demonstration as well as in preterm infants tested later after a 10-min delay. We also found that preterm infants showed greater coordination of physiology (i.e., tighter coupling of vagal tone, heart rate, and cortisol) at rest and during retrieval than full-term infants. These findings provide new evidence of the important links between changes in autonomic activity and memory recall in infancy. They also raise the intriguing possibility that social learning, imitation behavior, and the formation of new memories are modulated by autonomic activity that is coordinated differently in preterm and full-term infants.

Prenatal alcohol exposure alters biobehavioral reactivity to pain in newborns

To examine biobehavioral responses to an acute pain event in a Cape Town, South Africa, cohort consisting of 28 Cape Colored (mixed ancestry) newborns (n = 14) heavily exposed to alcohol during pregnancy (exposed), and born to abstainers (n = 14) or light (<or = 0.5 oz absolute alcohol/d) drinkers (controls).

Long-range synchronization and local desynchronization of alpha oscillations during visual short-term memory retention in children

Local alpha-band synchronization has been associated with both cortical idling and active inhibition. Recent evidence, however, suggests that long-range alpha synchronization increases functional coupling between cortical regions. We demonstrate increased long-range alpha and beta band phase synchronization during short-term memory retention in children 6-10 years of age. Furthermore, whereas alpha-band synchronization between posterior cortex and other regions is increased during retention, local alpha-band synchronization over posterior cortex is reduced. This constitutes a functional dissociation for alpha synchronization across local and long-range cortical scales. We interpret long-range synchronization as reflecting functional integration within a network of frontal and visual cortical regions. Local desynchronization of alpha rhythms over posterior cortex, conversely, likely arises because of increased engagement of visual cortex during retention.

Contingency Learning and Reactivity in Preterm and Full-Term Infants at 3 Months

Learning difficulties in preterm infants are thought to reflect impairment in arousal regulation. We examined relationships among gestational age, learning speed, and behavioral and physiological reactivity in 55 preterm and 49 full-term infants during baseline, contingency, and nonreinforcement phases of a conjugate mobile paradigm at 3 months corrected age. For all infants, negative affect, looking duration, and heart rate levels increased during contingency and nonreinforcement phases, whereas respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA, an index of parasympathetic activity) decreased and cortisol did not change. Learners showed greater RSA suppression and less negative affect than nonlearners. This pattern was particularly evident in the preterm group. Overall, preterm infants showed less learning, spent less time looking at the mobile, and had lower cortisol levels than full-term infants. Preterm infants also showed greater heart rate responses to contingency and dampened heart rate responses to nonreinforcement compared to full-term infants. Findings underscore differences in basal and reactivity measures in preterm compared to full-term infants and suggest that the capacity to regulate parasympathetic activity during a challenge enhances learning in preterm infants.

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function in 3-month old infants with prenatal selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant exposure

Prenatal exposure to stress and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) alter hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) stress reactivity in offspring, however, the effects of combined exposure to HPA activity in human infants is unknown.

Maternal stress and behavior modulate relationships between neonatal stress, attention, and basal cortisol at 8 months in preterm infants

There is evidence that the developmental trajectory of cortisol secretion in preterm infants is altered, with elevated basal cortisol levels observed postnatally through at least 18 months corrected age (CA). This alteration is possibly due to neonatal pain-related stress. High cortisol levels might contribute to greater risk of impaired neurodevelopment. Since maternal factors are important for the regulation of infant stress responses, we investigated relationships between infant (neonatal pain-related stress, attention, cortisol) and maternal (stress, interactive behaviors) factors at age 8 months CA. We found that interactive maternal behaviors buffered the relationship between high neonatal pain-related stress exposure and poorer focused attention in mothers who self-reported low concurrent stress. Furthermore, in preterm infants exposed to high concurrent maternal stress and overwhelming interactive maternal behaviors, higher basal cortisol levels were associated with poor focused attention. Overall, these findings suggest that maternal factors can influence the cognitive resilience at 8 months of preterm infants exposed to early life stress.