Implicit motor learning in children with autism spectrum disorder: current approaches and future directions.

Motor dysfunction is increasingly being viewed as a core characteristic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children. In particular, children with ASD have difficulty in learning new motor skills and there is a need to develop effective methods to improve this. Previous research has found that children with ASD may retain the ability to implicitly learn motor skills in comparison to their explicit learning of motor skills, which is typically impaired. This literature mini review focuses on summarizing the study of implicit learning in the acquisition of motor skills in children with ASD. First, we briefly introduce several common implicit learning methods in children's motor skill learning. Second, we focus on the role of two important implicit learning approaches in motor skill learning, namely, an external focus of attention and analogy learning. Finally, based on our review of the existing studies, we present an outlook for future research and the areas that need to be improved in the practical teaching of implicit learning in the acquisition of motor skills in children with ASD.

The influence of motor learning methods on motor performance stability: The moderating effect of reinvestment propensity.

Different motor learning methods (explicit or analogy learning) show different effects on motor performance stability, and reinvestment propensity plays an important role in motor performance stability. This study aimed to explore whether reinvestment propensity, that is, movement self-consciousness (MS-C) and conscious motor processing (CMP) as two dimensions, played a moderating role in the relationship between motor learning methods and motor performance stability. A total of 78 participants were randomly assigned to either the explicit or analogy learning group and their reinvestment propensity was measured. We recorded the number of golf putt goals in both the practice phase and the test phases (including a retention test and a stress test). In the moderating analysis, participants' reinvestment propensity was the moderating variable, and the dependent variable was motor performance stability (i.e., the difference between the two test phases). Results showed that motor performance was significantly different between practicing blocks, which indicated that the motor performance of learners was gradually increasing. The significant interaction between learning methods and the test phase on motor performance was detected, suggesting under stress, analogy learning was more likely to maintain the stability of motor performance, while explicit learning impaired the stability of motor performance. The CMP played a significant moderating role in the relationship between motor learning methods and motor performance stability. The result indicated that for learners with low CMP, the motor performance stability of analogy learning was better than explicit learning, while there was no significant difference in the stability of motor performance between the two learning methods for learners with high reinvestment propensity. No significant evidence was found that MS-C played a moderating role in the relationship between motor learning methods and motor performance stability. These findings expand the theoretical framework of motor skill learning and provide theoretical support for motor performance stability.

Effects of tamarind seed polysaccharides on physicochemical characteristics of frozen dough: structure-function relationship.

BACKGROUND: Recently, frozen dough has become more popular because of its ability to be quickly transformed into freshly baked foods. During the storage and transport process, frozen dough can suffer some degree of damage caused by ice crystallization and recrystallization. Adding polysaccharides to frozen dough is a good way to solve this problem. Tamarind seed polysaccharide (TSP) has excellent ice crystal steady ability and has also been widely used in frozen foods. However, there is no study on the use of TSP in frozen dough. RESULTS: TSP can stabilize the bound water content, inhibit the freezable water content, and increase elasticity. However, the dough with different structures of TSP added was less firm after 30 days of freezing compared to the dough without TSP, and the porosity and stomatal density of the prepared steamed bread gradually decreased. The addition of TSP reduced gluten deterioration during the freezing process, thus decreasing the collapse and uneven porosity of the steamed bread. CONCLUSIONS: The results could provide new insights into the structure of TSP and its effect on the quality characteristics of frozen dough. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

No need to integrate action information during coarse semantic processing of man-made tools.

Action representation of man-made tools consists of two subtypes: structural action representation concerning how to grasp an object, and functional action representation concerning the skilled use of an object. Compared to structural action representation, functional action representation plays the dominant role in fine-grained (i.e., basic level) object recognition. However, it remains unclear whether the two types of action representation are involved differently in the coarse semantic processing in which the object is recognized at a superordinate level (i.e., living/non-living). Here we conducted three experiments using the priming paradigm, in which video clips displaying structural and functional action hand gestures were used as prime stimuli and grayscale photos of man-made tools were used as target stimuli. Participants recognized the target objects at the basic level in Experiment 1 (i.e., naming task) and at the superordinate level in Experiments 2 and 3 (i.e., categorization task). We observed a significant priming effect for functional action prime-target pairs only in the naming task. In contrast, no priming effect was found in either the naming or the categorization task for the structural action prime-target pairs (Experiment 2), even when the categorization task was preceded by a preliminary action imitation of the prime gestures (Experiment 3). Our results suggest that only functional action information is retrieved during fine-grained object processing. In contrast, coarse semantic processing does not require the integration of either structural or functional action information.

Experimental Study on Vibration Characteristics of Unit-Plate Ballastless Track Systems Laid on Long-Span Bridges Using Full-Scale Test Rigs.

In this work, we present a series of hammering tests on full-scale unit-plate ballastless tracks used for long-span bridges. There is no denying that it is a new attempt to pave ballastless tracks on high-speed railway long-span bridges; the related issues deserve to be studied, and especially the vibration characteristics. Hence, the vibration characteristics and transmission rules of the ballastless track with geotextile or rubber isolation layers are explored, and the vibration reduction effect of the rubber isolation layer is analyzed. The main conclusions are as follows: the isolation layers change vibration modes and transmission characteristics of ballastless tracks; the introduction of the rubber isolation layer makes the excited vibration frequency range of the ballastless track concentrated; and the vibrations of the ballastless track with the rubber isolation layers are stable. Moreover, the rubber isolation layer has an obvious attenuation effect on vibration transmission in ballastless track structures. When the vibration is transmitted from the rail to the bridge deck, the vibration level differences of the ballastless track with rubber isolation layers are 20 dB larger than that of the ballastless track with the geotextile isolation layers. The vibration attenuation rate of the rubber isolation layer is about ten times larger than that of geotextile isolation layer.

Mechanical Behaviors and Fatigue Performances of Ballastless Tracks Laid on Long-Span Cable-Stayed Bridges with Different Arrangements.

In this paper, we present a new attempt to lay ballastless tracks on long-span cable-stayed bridges on high-speed railways. The arrangements of ballastless tracks laid on cable-stayed bridges can be divided into two conditions: (i) across the cable suspension-point cross-section or (ii) in discontinuity at the cable suspension-point cross-section. At present, there is a lack of in-depth research on ballastless tracks laid on long-span cable-stayed bridges, especially on the mechanical behaviors and fatigue performances of the ballastless tracks with different arrangements. For this paper, a segmental model of a long-span cable-stayed bridge was designed and built, on which full-scale ballastless tracks with two different arrangements were arranged. A series of fatigue tests and post-fatigue loading tests were carried out based on the two selected full-scale ballastless tracks. Some conclusions were drawn as follows. For the longitudinal end of the ballastless track, which is far from the loading positions, the interlayers of the ballastless tracks tend to warp up relatively, and the compressive pressures at the interlayers are also unloaded. However, there is no void or gap formed at the interlayers of the longitudinal end of the track slab due to the precompression of the rubber isolation layer. For the center of the track slab, which is close to the loading positions, the compressive deformations occur at the interlayers, and the pressures at interlayers are also increased. The maximum compressive deformation is less than 0.5 mm under the standard train axle load (170 kN), and it cannot affect the high-speed trains' operation. With the increase of the post-fatigue loading, the load-displacement curves and the load-pressure variation curves of the ballastless tracks show apparent nonlinearity. Moreover, with the increase of the fatigue loading cycles, the compressive stiffness enhancement or degradation of the ballastless tracks are not noticeable. That is to say, the ballastless tracks laid on the long-span cable-stayed bridges with different arrangements have good mechanical behaviors, and their fatigue performances can also be guaranteed after bearing repeated loadings.

The Influence of Event Valence and Emotional States on the Metaphorical Comprehension of Time.

Time is generally conceptualized in terms of space as reflected in temporal-spatial metaphors. Two observation perspectives have been proposed in the front-back axis of the temporal-spatial metaphor. One is called "ego-moving perspective" and the other "time-moving perspective." They are used to represent different relative motion between time and the observer. Previous studies have demonstrated the psychological reality of both perspectives. They also provided evidence that emotion can influence a perspective choice. In general, a positive emotion tends to facilitate the adoption of ego-moving perspective, whereas, a negative emotion tends to promote the adoption of time-moving perspective. However, it is unclear how the motivational dimension of emotion might influence the preference. The current study aimed to address the question by identifying conditions in which emotional valence or motivational attribute affects the choice of time movement perspective. An ambiguous temporal question and a visualized time motion schema were adopted to probe participants' metaphorical representation of time when they were affected by emotion. Study 1 investigated how a future emotional event would affect participants' choice of the time movement perspective. The results showed that positive future events led to a higher propensity to adopt an ego-moving perspective compared with negative future events. Study 2 explored participants' tendency to choose time movement perspective for a vague or neutral future event, after they were induced into a particular emotional state. The results showed that when being in an emotional state of approach-motivation individuals were more likely to adopt an ego-moving perspective. In contrast, being in an emotional state of avoidance-motivation, individuals were more likely to take a time-moving perspective. Taken together, these results suggest that the emotional valence of future events can influence the choice of time movement perspectives; and the motivational dimension of present emotional states plays an important role when contemplating a neutral future event.

Opposing Subjective Temporal Experiences in Response to Unpredictable and Predictable Fear-Relevant Stimuli.

Previous studies have found that the durations of fear-relevant stimuli were overestimated compared to those of neutral stimuli, even when the fear-relevant stimuli were only anticipated. The current study aimed to investigate the effect of the predictability of fear-relevant stimuli on sub-second temporal estimations. In Experiments 1a and 1b, a randomized design was employed to render the emotional valence of each trial unpredictable. In Experiments 2a and 2b, we incorporated a block design and a cueing paradigm, respectively, to render the emotional stimuli predictable. Compared with the neutral condition, the estimated blank interval was judged as being shorter under the unpredictable fear-relevant condition, while it was judged as being longer under the predictable fear-relevant condition. In other words, the unpredictable and predictable fear-relevant stimuli led to opposing temporal distortions. These results demonstrated that emotions modulate interval perception during different time processing stages.

Integrin and gene network analysis reveals that ITGA5 and ITGB1 are prognostic in non-small-cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Integrin expression has been identified as a prognostic factor in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study was aimed at determining the predictive ability of integrins and associated genes identified within the molecular network. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 959 patients with NSCLC from The Cancer Genome Atlas cohorts were enrolled in this study. The expression profile of integrins and related genes were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas RNAseq database. Clinicopathological characteristics, including age, sex, smoking history, stage, histological subtype, neoadjuvant therapy, radiation therapy, and overall survival (OS), were collected. Cox proportional hazards regression models as well as Kaplan-Meier curves were used to assess the relative factors. RESULTS: In the univariate Cox regression model, ITGA1, ITGA5, ITGA6, ITGB1, ITGB4, and ITGA11 were predictive of NSCLC prognosis. After adjusting for clinical factors, ITGA5 (odds ratio =1.17, 95% confidence interval: 1.05-1.31) and ITGB1 (odds ratio =1.31, 95% confidence interval: 1.10-1.55) remained statistically significant. In the gene cluster network analysis, PLAUR, ILK, SPP1, PXN, and CD9, all associated with ITGA5 and ITGB1, were identified as independent predictive factors of OS in NSCLC. CONCLUSION: A set of genes was identified as independent prognostic factors of OS in NSCLC through gene cluster analysis. This method may act as a tool to reveal more prognostic-associated genes in NSCLC.