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Front Psychol 2021 8;12:569987. Epub 2021 Mar 8.

Department of Information Engineering, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.

The current pandemic and the measures taken to address it, on a global scale, are unprecedented. Times of crisis call for creative solutions, and these are not reduced to the work of scientists or politicians. In everyday life, both in online and offline spaces, people use their creativity to make sense of the current situation, to cope with it, and to learn its lessons. Read More

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2021 Mar 22. Epub 2021 Mar 22.

University of Bristol, School of Chemistry, UNITED KINGDOM.

Due to their intrinsic rigidity, three-dimensionality and structural novelty, spirocyclic molecules have become increasingly sought-after moieties in drug discovery. Herein, we report a strain-release driven synthesis of azetidine-containing spirocycles by harnessing the inherent ring strain of the azabicyclo[1.1. Read More

PLoS One 2021 22;16(3):e0248833. Epub 2021 Mar 22.

Unit of Preventive Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.

In Europe and America, associations between personality traits and body-mass index (BMI) have been reported. However, in Japan, the association between personality traits and BMI (i.e. Read More

Appl Ergon 2021 Mar 4;94:103394. Epub 2021 Mar 4.

Université de Lorraine, PErSEUs, F-57000, Metz, France. Electronic address:

With the growing emergence of ergonomic intervention aiming at designing future artefacts, needs analysis is extending to the anticipation of future needs. Both precursory users and experts are known for their deep knowledge of the studied field. In this study, we conducted 36 needs anticipation interviews with ordinary users, precursory users and experts, in order to determine the contribution of each profile to the identification of future needs. Read More

Digit Health 2020 Jan-Dec;6:2055207620976755. Epub 2020 Nov 30.

Holcombe Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, USA.

Self-efficacy (SE) and information processing (IP) may be important constructs to target when designing mHealth interventions for weight loss. The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between SE and IP with weight loss at six-months as part of the Dietary Interventions Examining Tracking with mobile study, a six-month randomized trial with content delivered remotely via twice-weekly podcasts. Participants were randomized to self-monitor their diet with either a mobile app (n = 42) or wearable Bite Counter device (n = 39). Read More

Materials (Basel) 2020 Oct 19;13(20). Epub 2020 Oct 19.

Department of Materials Technology and Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Lodz, Pomorska 163, 90-236 Lodz, Poland.

This work is focused on photocatalytic properties of titanium dioxide thin coatings modified with silver nanostructures (AgNSs) and graphene oxide (GO) sheets which were analyzed in processes of chemical transformations of rhodamine B (RhB) under ultraviolet (UV) or visible light (Vis) irradiation, respectively. UV-Vis spectroscopy was applied to analyze the changes in the RhB spectrum during photocatalytic processes, revealing decolorization of RhB solution under UV irradiation while the same process coexisting with the transformation of RhB to rhodamine 110 was observed under Vis irradiation. The novelty of this study is the elaboration of a methodology for determining the parameters characterizing the processes occurring under the Vis irradiation, which enables the comparison of photocatalysts' activity. Read More

Proc Biol Sci 2020 10 21;287(1937):20202055. Epub 2020 Oct 21.

Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

The cephalopod visual system is an exquisite example of convergence in biological complexity. However, we have little understanding of the genetic and molecular mechanisms underpinning its elaboration. The generation of new genetic material is considered a significant contributor to the evolution of biological novelty. Read More

Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 2020 Oct;45(10 (Suppl. 2)):S57-S102

Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, ON K1H 8L1, Canada.

The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology assembled a Consensus Panel representing national organizations, content experts, methodologists, stakeholders, and end-users and followed an established guideline development procedure to create the . These guidelines underscore the importance of movement behaviours across the whole 24-h day. The development process followed the strategy outlined in the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) II instrument. Read More

Neuroimage 2020 12 1;223:117325. Epub 2020 Sep 1.

Defence Research and Development Canada, Toronto Research Centre, 1133 Sheppard Avenue West, Toronto, ON M3K 2C9, Canada; University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.

Divergent thinking tests have been used extensively in neuroscientific studies of creativity. However, output from tests of divergent thinking can be scored in different ways, and those scores can influence assessments of divergent thinking performance and its relationship with brain activation. Here we sought to investigate the relationship between various methods of scoring the Alternate Uses Task (AUT)-a well-known test of divergent thinking-and regional grey matter volume (GMV) using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Read More

Carbohydr Polym 2020 Apr 26;234:115899. Epub 2020 Jan 26.

Institut De Chimie Moléculaire Et Des Matériaux d'Orsay, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS,, 91405 Orsay, France. Electronic address:

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are used to design nanocomposites because of their high aspect ratio and their outstanding mechanical and barrier properties. However, the low compatibility of hydrophilic CNCs with hydrophobic polymers remains a barrier to their use in the nanocomposite field. To improve this compatibility, poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) was grafted from CNCs containing α-bromoisobutyryl moieties via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization. Read More

Front Psychol 2019 12;10:699. Epub 2019 Apr 12.

Department of Computer Science, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, United States.

We examined the impact of task-relevant expertise level in groups on the idea sharing and elaboration process and on idea development. Participants were assigned to low, heterogeneous, and high expertise groups and were asked to generate ideas for the development of a new sport. Following two asynchronous divergent ideation phases using an electronic discussion board for ideational exchanges, groups completed a synchronous convergent discussion phase in which they selected and refined their ideas for a new sport. Read More

PLoS One 2019 27;14(2):e0212608. Epub 2019 Feb 27.

Department of Brain and Cognition, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

We investigate the involvement of Working Memory Capacity (WMC, the cognitive resource necessary for controlled elaborate thinking) in voice behavior (speaking up with suggestions, problems, and opinions to change the organization). While scholars assume voice requires elaborate thinking, some empirical evidence suggests voice might be more automatic. To explain this discrepancy, we distinguish between voice quantity (frequency of voice) and voice quality (novelty and value of voiced information) and propose that WMC is important for voice quality, but less for voice quantity. Read More

Adv Physiol Educ 2019 Mar;43(1):93-98

Institute of Biology and School Gardening, University of Education Karlsruhe , Karlsruhe , Germany.

Sculpting representations of human organs out of modeling clay is an acknowledged method of teaching anatomical structures. Because of its potential to provide detailed spatial information, stereoscopic imagery can be understood to function as a suitable template for such sculpting tasks. Currently, it is unknown whether the advantages of stereoscopic images for modeling structures result from enhanced depth impression alone, or whether task performance is impacted by factors such as situational intrinsic motivation and perceived competence while sculpting a human organ using stereoscopic imagery as template. Read More

Front Psychol 2018 28;9:2437. Epub 2019 Jan 28.

Department of General Psychology and Methodology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany.

With the advent of modernity, change and novelty have become the core values of artistic production. At the same time the derogatory term "kitsch" was coined to contrast truly ground-breaking artistic achievements. In this article, we argue that kitsch and avant-garde art ideally represent two complementary types of aesthetic experience: a fluent one that allows for immediate emotional gratification (kitsch) and a disfluent one that requires cognitive elaboration (art). Read More

Curr Opin Genet Dev 2017 Aug 18;45:115-123. Epub 2017 May 18.

Department of Comparative Development and Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linne-Weg 10, 50829 Köln, Germany. Electronic address:

A central goal of evolutionary biology is to understand the genetic origin of morphological novelties-i.e. anatomical structures unique to a taxonomic group. Read More

Am Nat 2016 Oct 28;188(4):475-83. Epub 2016 Jul 28.

Environmentally induced behavior (behavioral plasticity) has long been hypothesized to promote the origins of novel morphological traits, but this idea remains controversial. One context in which this hypothesis can be evaluated is animal communication, where behavior and morphology are often linked. Here, we examined the evolution of one of nature's most spectacular communication signals: the rattlesnake rattle. Read More

Curr Opin Insect Sci 2016 02 12;13:24-32. Epub 2015 Nov 12.

Utah State University, Department of Biology, 5305 Old Main Hill, Logan UT 84322, USA. Electronic address:

Genomic resources are now available for closely related species that vary in social behavior, providing insight on the genomics of social evolution. Changes in the architecture of gene regulatory networks likely influence the evolutionary trajectory of social traits. Evolutionarily novel genes are likely important in the evolution of social diversity among insects, but it is unclear whether new genes played a driving role in the advent or elaboration of eusociality or if they were instead a result of other genomic features of eusociality. Read More

J Evol Biol 2015 Apr 17;28(4):739-55. Epub 2015 Apr 17.

Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.

Sexual selection drives fundamental evolutionary processes such as trait elaboration and speciation. Despite this importance, there are surprisingly few examples of genes unequivocally responsible for variation in sexually selected phenotypes. This lack of information inhibits our ability to predict phenotypic change due to universal behaviours, such as fighting over mates and mate choice. Read More

Proc Biol Sci 2015 Mar;282(1803):20142778

Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

By enforcing specific pollinator interactions, Aquilegia petal nectar spurs maintain reproductive isolation between species. Spur development is the result of three-dimensional elaboration from a comparatively two-dimensional primordium. Initiated by localized, oriented cell divisions surrounding the incipient nectary, this process creates a pouch that is extended by anisotropic cell elongation. Read More

Cell Rep 2014 Dec 11;9(6):2139-51. Epub 2014 Dec 11.

Department of Neuroscience, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT 06030, USA. Electronic address:

Evolutionary elaboration of tissues starts with changes in the genome and location of the stem cells. For example, GABAergic interneurons of the mammalian neocortex are generated in the ventral telencephalon and migrate tangentially to the neocortex, in contrast to the projection neurons originating in the ventricular/subventricular zone (VZ/SVZ) of the dorsal telencephalon. In human and nonhuman primates, evidence suggests that an additional subset of neocortical GABAergic interneurons is generated in the cortical VZ and a proliferative niche, the outer SVZ. Read More

J Appl Res Intellect Disabil 2014 Sep;27(5):481-8

Background: The use of common psychological assessment tools is invalidated with persons with PIMD. The aim of this study was to test the feasibility of using a visual habituation procedure with a group of adults with PIMD, to develop a new theoretical and practical framework for the assessment of cognitive abilities.

Methods: To test the existence of the habituation/novelty reaction phenomenon with adults with PIMD, fifteen participants were exposed repeatedly to two different objects, following the principles of a participant-controlled procedure. Read More

Bioorg Med Chem 2013 Jul 23;21(13):3643-7. Epub 2013 Apr 23.

SynBioC Research Group, Department of Sustainable Organic Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.

The concept of pharmacophore hybridization is attracting an increasing interest from medicinal chemists. Whereas the main motivation for the application of this methodology relates to the pharmacological advantages associated with hybrid molecules, molecular hybridization can also deliver a synthetic advantage through selective chemical modification of the more reactive entity within hybrid systems. Moreover, if both features are combined, new hybrid structures result displaying both a biological and a synthetic benefit, and elaboration of this methodology might culminate in structural diversity and chemical novelty. Read More

J Anat 2013 Jan 14;222(1):19-31. Epub 2012 Mar 14.

Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.

Urochordates (ascidians) have recently supplanted cephalochordates (amphioxus) as the extant sister taxon of vertebrates. Given that urochordates possess migratory cells that have been classified as 'neural crest-like'- and that cephalochordates lack such cells--this phylogenetic hypothesis may have significant implications with respect to the origin of the neural crest and neural crest-derived skeletal tissues in vertebrates. We present an overview of the genes and gene regulatory network associated with specification of the neural crest in vertebrates. Read More

Interact J Med Res 2012 Nov 14;1(2):e16. Epub 2012 Nov 14.

University of Malaga, Computer Sciences and Languages Department, Málaga, Spain.

Background: Until recently, laboratory automation has focused primarily on improving hardware. Future advances are concentrated on intelligent software since laboratories performing clinical diagnostic testing require improved information systems to address their data processing needs. In this paper, we propose DB4US, an application that automates information related to laboratory quality indicators information. Read More

Appetite 2009 Apr 25;52(2):345-54. Epub 2008 Nov 25.

IRTA - Monells, Finca Camps i Armet, E-17121 Monells, Spain.

Traditional food products (TFP) are an important part of European culture, identity, and heritage. In order to maintain and expand the market share of TFP, further improvement in safety, health, or convenience is needed by means of different innovations. The aim of this study was to obtain a consumer-driven definition for the concept of TFP and innovation and to compare these across six European countries (Belgium, France, Italy, Norway, Poland and Spain) by means of semantic and textual statistical analyses. Read More

Neuropsychologia 2007 Apr 28;45(7):1363-77. Epub 2006 Nov 28.

Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

People can consciously re-experience past events and pre-experience possible future events. This fMRI study examined the neural regions mediating the construction and elaboration of past and future events. Participants were cued with a noun for 20s and instructed to construct a past or future event within a specified time period (week, year, 5-20 years). Read More

Rev Neurosci 2005 ;16(4):359-76

Departamento de Psiquiatría, Escuela de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Mammalian cortical development is preceded by the elaboration of a transient preplate, which is split into a superficial marginal zone and a deep subplate after the arrival of the cortical plate. There has been some controversy in the evolutionary interpretation of this transient structure, as some propose it to represent the ancestral cortex or pallium of non-mammals, while others consider it to be a phylogenetic novelty. The preplate and its derivatives contain components derived by both tangential and radial migration. Read More

Rev Neurol 2004 Apr 1-15;38(7):656-63

Unidad de Daño Cerebral, Hospital Beata M, Ana, Madrid.

Introduction: The executive functions are the high-level functions that have generated many studies. These functions comprise a whole range of cognitive abilities related to novelty problem solving. So, it includes: goal selection, planning, initiation of activity, self regulation and use of feedback. Read More

J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 2000 Dec;22(6):817-29

Psychonomics Department, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Korsakoff patients are generally agreed to be impaired in conscious recollection, but whether their implicit memory performance is also affected is less certain. A deficit in novelty dependent encoding (i.e. Read More

Brain 1998 Jun;121 ( Pt 6):1013-52

Department of Neurology, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago 60611, USA.

Sensory information undergoes extensive associative elaboration and attentional modulation as it becomes incorporated into the texture of cognition. This process occurs along a core synaptic hierarchy which includes the primary sensory, upstream unimodal, downstream unimodal, heteromodal, paralimbic and limbic zones of the cerebral cortex. Connections from one zone to another are reciprocal and allow higher synaptic levels to exert a feedback (top-down) influence upon earlier levels of processing. Read More