Action Control Research Articles

Estimation of genetic variability for seed yield and yield related traits in mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek

Genetic variability is the most important factor for the success of any crop improvement program. Hence, the evaluation of genotypes has to be conducted as a preliminary step to study the extent of variability available in the genotypes and to identify suitable high-yielding genotypes that can be utilized in the crop improvement program. The present investigation was carried out to estimate genetic variability, heritability, and genetic advance for yield and yield contributing characters among 38 genotypes of mungbean for eleven quantitative traits. Significant differences were observed among genotypes for all eleven characters studied. The high degree of genetic variability along with high heritability and high genetic advance as percent of mean were recorded for seed yield per plant, harvest index, number of pods per plant, plant height, and the number of branches per plant which indicates that these characteristics were under the control of additive gene action and therefore, form the basis of selection for the mungbean improvement program.

Psychological Determinants of Health Behavior.

This review provides a critical overview of current evidence on psychological health behavior determinants and its value in informing intervention and future determinants research. The review begins with work labeling and classifying the myriads of determinants available in the extant research to arrive at core groups of determinants. Next, the conceptual bases of these determinant groups are identified, and the weight of the evidence for their purported effects on health behavior, including belief-based determinants (e.g., outcome expectancies, capacity beliefs), determinants representing self-regulatory capacity (e.g., planning, action control) and nonconscious processes (e.g., habit, implicit cognition), and dispositional determinants (e.g., personality, regulatory control), is critically evaluated. The review also focuses on the theory-based mechanisms underpinning determinant effects and moderating conditions that magnify or diminish them. Finally, the review recommends a shift away from research on determinants as correlates, outlines how determinants can inform intervention development and mechanisms of action tests, suggests alternatives to predominant individualist approaches, and proposes future research directions.

Examining real-time physical activity in adolescents using the Multi-Process Action Control Model: An ecological momentary assessment study

The purpose of this study was to examine real-time associations between reflective (i.e., state motivation), regulatory (i.e., self-control), and reflexive (i.e., habit) constructs from the Multi-Process Action Control (M-PAC) model and real-time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) behaviour among adolescents using ecological momentary assessments. One hundred and ninety adolescents (Mage = 15.76 ± .47 years; n = 101 males) wore an accelerometer for seven consecutive days and responded to digital survey prompts up to four times daily during the after-school periods. MVPA in the 60-minute time window following each survey prompt was recorded. Multilevel mixed-effects linear and logistic models were computed with disaggregated between- and within-person effects to analyze the data. Results from both linear and logistic multilevel models revealed adolescents with higher state motivation in general and experiencing higher state motivation than one’s typical levels were associated with engaging in more MVPA and higher likelihood of engaging in ≥10 minutes of MVPA. Engaging in activities less consistent with habitual behaviours were associated with more MVPA and higher likelihood of engaging in ≥10 minutes of MVPA. By contrast, self-control was not associated with MVPA. Results from this study extend previous work demonstrating the importance of conscious and non-conscious processes on MVPA behaviour by examining associations in real-time using intensive longitudinal methods. Collectively, this study provides partial support for use of the M-PAC framework to explain acute MVPA among adolescents in real-time and natural contexts.

A Pilot Randomized Control Trial Testing a Smartphone-Delivered Food Attention Retraining Program in Adolescent Girls with Overweight or Obesity.

Attention bias (AB) toward food is associated with obesity, but it is unclear if programs designed to reduce AB can impact adolescents' eating behavior. We investigated whether a two-week, smartphone-delivered attention retraining (AR) program (vs a control program) altered food AB in adolescent girls with overweight. Participants completed three food-cue visual-probe trainings/day. The AR and control programs directed attention away from food stimuli during 100% and 50% of trainings, respectively. Before and after completion of the programs, girls completed a food-cue visual-probe task while undergoing magnetoencephalography (MEG), and then a laboratory test meal. Sixty-eight adolescents were randomized; 58 completed post-program visits. There was minimal effect of condition on AB scores (β [95%CI] = -1.9 [-20.8, 16.9]; d = -0.06). There was a small effect of condition on energy intake (EMMcontrol = 1017 kcal, EMMAR = 1088 kcal, d = 0.29). Within the AR group, there was slightly blunted initial engagement in brain areas associated with reward response and subsequent increased goal-directed attention and action control. We found preliminary support for efficacy of an intensive smartphone-delivered AR program to alter neural correlates of attention processing in adolescent girls with overweight or obesity. Studies with larger sample sizes are needed to elucidate if AR trainings disrupt the link between food AB and eating behavior.

Effect of Different Postharvest Pre-Cooling Treatments on Quality of Water Bamboo Shoots (Zizania latifolia) during Refrigerated Storage

Post-harvest pre-cooling of water bamboo shoots (WBS) [Zizania latifolia] can effectively delay its quality deterioration. Six types of pre-cooling treatments were used to pre-cooling post-harvest WBS, including cold slightly acidic electrolytic water pre-cooling (CSAEW), cold water pre-cooling (CWPC), vacuum pre-cooling (VPC), strong wind pre-cooling (SWPC), refrigerator pre-cooling (RPC), and fluid ice pre-cooling (FIPC). The effects of different pre-cooling treatments on the quality of refrigerated WBS were investigated. The results showed that the FIPC treatment was harmful to the storage quality of WBS, while the other five pre-cooling treatments could extend the shelf life of WBS to some extent. These pre-cooling treatments can inhibit the respiration of WBS, slow down its weight loss and lignification process, and maintain its relatively high levels of nutrient content and antioxidant activity. The CSAEW treatment outperformed other treatments in terms of bactericidal action and microbiological content control for WBS during storage. The protective effect of CSAEW treatment on the storage quality of WBS was relatively the best, and extended the shelf life of WBS by 12 days compared to the control group. This study indicated that the CSAEW pre-cooling treatment offers a new choice for pre-cooling root vegetables.

No need to execute: Omitted responses still yield response-response binding effects.

In the literature on human action control, the binding and retrieval of responses are assumed to shape the coordination of more complex actions. Specifically, the consecutive execution of two responses is assumed to result in their integration into cognitive representations (so-called event files) and can be retrieved from that upon later response repetition, thereby influencing behavior. Against the background of ideomotor theory and more recent theorizing in the binding and retrieval in action control framework (Frings et al., 2020), we investigated whether response execution is necessary for binding and retrieval of responses. We manipulated whether the retrieving response (Experiment 1), as well as the to-be-bound response (Experiment 2), is executed or omitted. The results showed that responses do not need to be executed to retrieve other responses or to be bound to other responses. Apparently, activating the cognitive representation of a response sufficed for this response to trigger event file binding and retrieval. Our results are the first to show that response-response binding is not dependent on executing responses. Together, the results support the core assumptions of ideomotor theory and the binding and retrieval in action control framework, namely a common coding of action and perception. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Evidence for interacting but decoupled controls of decisions and movements in non-human primates.

Many recent studies indicate that control of decisions and actions is integrated during interactive behavior. Among these, several carried out in humans and monkeys conclude that there is a co-regulation of choices and movements. Another perspective, based on human data only, proposes a decoupled control of decision duration and movement speed, allowing for instance to trade decision duration for movement duration when time pressure increases. Crucially, it is not currently known whether this ability to flexibly dissociate decision duration from movement speed is specific to humans, whether it can vary depending on the context in which a task is performed, and whether it is stable over time. These are important questions to address, especially to rely on monkey electrophysiology to infer the neural mechanisms of decision-action coordination in humans. To do so, we trained two macaque monkeys in a perceptual decision-making task and analyzed data collected over multiple behavioral sessions. Our findings reveal a strong and complex relationship between decision duration and movement vigor. Decision duration and action duration can co-vary but also "compensate" each other. Such integrated but decoupled control of decisions and actions aligns with recent studies in humans, validating the monkey model in electrophysiology as a means of inferring neural mechanisms in humans. Crucially, we demonstrate for the first time that this control can evolve with experience, in an adapted manner. Together, the present findings contribute to deepening our understanding of the integrated control of decisions and actions during interactive behavior.

Theory-driven assessment of intentions and behaviours related to mobility of older inpatients: a survey of patients and healthcare professionals.

Low mobility of patients during hospitalisation is associated with adverse outcomes. To successfully change behaviours related to mobility of older hospitalised patients, we need to better understand the mechanisms underlying patient and healthcare professional behaviours. In this study, we thus assessed patient- and healthcare professional-reported intentions and behaviours related to mobility of older patients hospitalised on an acute medical ward, based on a theoretical framework - the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) model - and on additional barriers and facilitators to mobility. We conducted a cross-sectional survey in April 2022 among patients aged ≥60 years recently hospitalised on an an acute medical ward of one of three hospitals of different language/cultural regions of Switzerland, and healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses/nursing assistants, physiotherapists) working on those wards. The survey assessed the HAPA model and additional barriers and facilitators to patient mobility at hospital, as previously identified in the literature. The target behaviour studied was "to move as much as possible during hospitalisation" for patients and "to ensure my patients move as much as possible during hospitalisation" for healthcare professionals. We conducted hierarchical linear regressions to determine factors associated with the self-reported intention to perform the behaviour and with the self-reported behaviour itself. A total of 142 healthcare professionals (61 physicians, 59 nurses, 22 physiotherapists) and 200 patients (mean age 74 years) completed the survey. Patients with higher intention to move as much as possible during hospitalisation scored significantly higher on factual knowledge, outcome expectancies and risk perception. Healthcare professionals with higher intention to ensure that their patients move as much as possible during hospitalisation scored higher on action knowledge, outcome expectancies and risk perception. The more the patients reported that they moved as much as possible during hospitalisation, the higher their action knowledge and action control. The more healthcare professionals reported that they ensure that patients move as much as possible during hospitalisation, the higher they scored on factual knowledge, role perception, planning and action control. factual and action knowledge, self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, risk perception, planning and action control were identified as important drivers of patient- and healthcare professional-reported intentions and behaviours related to inpatient mobility. These parameters can be addressed through behaviour-change interventions and should be considered in future interventions to successfully implement practice changes, with the goal of improving mobility of older patients during hospitalisation, and thus the outcomes of this particularly vulnerable population.

Performance Management, Metric Quality, and Trust: Survey Evidence from Healthcare Organizations

We examine the impact of performance management (PM) and metric quality on trust and performance in healthcare organizations. Prior research found that PM can elicit feelings of distrust, as healthcare professionals can perceive control as curbing their autonomy. We examine whether the quality of metrics (i.e., their accuracy, sensitivity, and verifiability) can help PM to enhance interpersonal trust in healthcare settings. We mobilize self-determination theory (SDT) and argue that PM using high-quality metrics can address managers' needs for competence and autonomy, which in turn can impact interpersonal trust and unit performance. Using survey data from 152 middle managers in healthcare settings, we find that metric quality moderates the relationship between PM and interpersonal trust, which is subsequently positively linked with unit performance. Also, we find that action control and cultural control are positively associated with interpersonal trust. We complement literature on the control-trust nexus by highlighting the importance of metric quality, and by showing which forms of control can be instrumental in creating a high-trust work environment.

Increasing physical activity among adults affected by COVID-19 social distancing restrictions: A feasibility trial of an online intervention.

In response to COVID-19 social distancing restrictions, digitally delivered health interventions present as a potential solution for maintaining or improving individuals' physical activity. This study explored the feasibility of a web-based intervention, informed by the multi-process action control (M-PAC) framework to promote PA among individuals affected by social distancing. Fifty adults self-reporting as insufficiently active were randomized to a 6-week web-intervention (n = 27) or wait-list control (n = 23). Primary feasibility outcomes included recruitment and retention rates and usability and satisfaction scores; secondary outcomes of MVPA and M-PAC constructs and tertiary outcomes of mental health and wellbeing were also assessed. Overall, feasibility of the intervention was high, with a 96% recruitment rate, 84% retention rate, high satisfaction and usability scores, and comparable website usage to similar eHealth interventions. Intervention participants trended towards improved MVPA and M-PAC constructs and outcomes of mental health and wellbeing. Findings suggest study extension to a full-scale RCT.

Potato disease detection and control measure recommendation using CNN

Potato cultivation will continue to be a crucial agricultural endeavor, significantly enrich to global food supply. and economic prosperity. However, the ongoing vulnerability of potatoes to diseases, particularly named early Blight and late Blight, will persist as a substantial threat to crop yield and quality. Traditional disease identification methods, reliant on expert visual inspection, are expected to remain time-consuming, error-prone, and inadequate for timely intervention. This paper will outline to find Potato diseases and recommend effective control measures using convolutional Neural-Networks (CNN). The project will adopt an object-oriented methodology to ensure modularity and maintainability, leveraging TensorFlow for comprehensive dataset collection, data cleaning, and model training. TensorFlow Lite will be applied to optimize and quantify the developed model, enhancing the efficiency of the deployment process. The frontend will be crafted with React Native to facilitate user accessibility and seamless interaction. The resulting deep learning technique is anticipated to exhibit high accuracy in identifying early-blight and late-blight in potato plants, enabling users to receive prompt and reliable disease predictions and actionable control suggestions. This innovative approach aims to downgrade crop losses, improve productivity, and foster sustainable agricultural practices, thereby bolstering global food security in the future.

Toward the Design of Allosteric Effectors: Gaining Comprehensive Control of Drug Properties and Actions.

While the therapeutic potential of allosteric drugs is increasingly realized, the discovery of effectors is largely incidental. The rational design of allosteric effectors requires new state-of-the-art approaches to account for the distinct characteristics of allosteric ligands and their modes of action. We present a broadly applicable computational framework for obtaining allosteric site-effector pairs, providing targeted, highly specific, and tunable regulation to any functional site. We validated the framework using the main protease from SARS-CoV-2 and the K-RasG12D oncoprotein. High-throughput per-residue quantification of the energetics of allosteric signaling and effector binding revealed known drugs capable of inducing the required modulation upon binding. Starting from fragments of known well-characterized drugs, allosteric effectors and binding sites were designed and optimized simultaneously to achieve targeted and specific signaling to distinct functional sites, such as, for example, the switch regions of K-RasG12D. The generic framework proposed in this work will be instrumental in developing allosteric therapies aligned with a precision medicine approach.

A question of perspective: Perspective as a feature in stimulus-response binding

ABSTRACT In action control research, stimulus-response binding and retrieval processes are assumed core mechanisms. Stimulus and response features are integrated into event files when they occur together. This event file is retrieved if any feature is repeated. Partial mismatches between current and retrieved episodes cause conflicts, leading to performance costs, while full matches improve performance (the difference between these conditions is known as binding effects). Such binding effects have been found for different stimulus features like colour, shape, or location, using stimulus material that is often kept very simple. In our study, we manipulated the perspective on a real-world three-dimensional distractor stimulus. We found that perspective was bound to the response, independent of stimulus identity. It seems that perspective is treated as a stimulus feature in action control. This result enhances the way we discuss what a feature actually is and how features are bound in event files.

Exploring Genetic Variability, Trait Associations and Path Coefficient Analysis in Pea (Pisum sativum L.) to Advance Breeding Strategies

The experiment was conducted at seed breeding farm, Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Agriculture, JNKVV, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India during the rabi season (November, 2019–April, 2020) to estimate the parameters of genetic variability, assess the correlation among traits, and estimate direct and indirect effects. The ANOVA revealed that the mean sum of squares due to genotypes was highly significant for all the traits. The phenotypic coefficient of variation was higher than the genotypic coefficient of variation for all the characters. High values of phenotypic coefficient of variation and genotypic coefficient of variation were observed for most of the traits, while moderate values of phenotypic coefficient of variation and genotypic coefficient of variation were recorded for 100 seed weight, pod length, days to 50% flowering and days to first flower opening. High heritability with high genetic advance as a % of mean was recorded for most of the traits. Moderate heritability and high genetic advance were recorded for the number of primary branches plant-1, secondary branches plant-1 and pod length, indicating the control of additive gene action. Meanwhile, high heritability with moderate genetic advance for days to maturity showed non-additive gene action. Correlation coefficients and path analysis for phenological and quantitative traits indicated that the most important traits are number of seeds plant-1, number of effective pods plant-1, biological yield plant-1 and harvest index. Hence, directional selection through these traits may effectively improve seed yield and its attributes.

The hippocampus pre-orders movements for skilled action sequences.

Plasticity in the subcortical motor basal ganglia-thalamo-cerebellar network plays a key role in the acquisition and control of long-term memory for new procedural skills, from the formation of population trajectories controlling trained motor skills in the striatum to the adaptation of sensorimotor maps in the cerebellum. However, recent findings demonstrate the involvement of a wider cortical and subcortical brain network in the consolidation and control of well-trained actions, including of a brain region traditionally associated with declarative memory - the hippocampus. Here, we probe which role these subcortical areas play in skilled motor sequence control, from sequence feature selection during planning to their integration during sequence execution. An fMRI dataset (N=24, 14 female) collected after participants learnt to produce four finger press sequences entirely from memory with high movement and timing accuracy over several days was examined for both changes in BOLD activity and their informational content in subcortical regions of interest. Although there was a widespread activity increase in effector-related striatal, thalamic and cerebellar regions, in particular during sequence execution, the associated activity did not contain information on the motor sequence identity. In contrast, hippocampal activity increased during planning and predicted the order of the upcoming sequence of movements. Our findings suggests that the hippocampus pre-orders movements for skilled action sequences, thus contributing to the higher-order control of skilled movements that require flexible retrieval. These findings challenge the traditional taxonomy of episodic and procedural memory and carry implications for the rehabilitation of individuals with neurodegenerative disorders.Significance statement Skilled actions like handwriting, typing, and playing music, involve recombining movements into various sequences and producing them from memory. This fMRI study suggests that the hippocampus, traditionally associated with episodic memory and spatial navigation, pre-orders well-trained movement sequences prior to their execution. These findings challenge the canonical separation between episodic and procedural memory systems and the neural basis of skilled motor behaviours.

Oil spills characterization and modeling using remote sensing and geophysical techniques to protect the highly vulnerable coastal zones in Alexandria, Egypt

Nowadays, oil spills threaten both aquatic and terrestrial environments, especially in regions with intensive oil refining and shipping activities and high environmental sensitivity, such as Alexandria city, Egypt. Oil spill characterization in coastal populous cities is particularly difficult due to large chemical/physical soil heterogeneities and saltwater intrusion, which represent a major challenges for soil remediation and restoration. Recently, the development of inversion algorithms enables electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) to perform detailed characterization of near-surface soil pollution. The study implements an interdisciplinary approach using remote sensing and an advanced time-lapse 2D-inversion scheme for detailed characterization of oil spill patterns around oil refinery sites in the Alexandria coastal zone. The implemented scheme was able to improve the depth of investigation while maintaining the shallow lateral model resolution. The findings indicate that the mapped oil spills constitute a wedge-like form where the oil moves gradually downward, and it then shifts horizontally towards the shoreline with thinning in oil-contaminated zones under control of tidal action and ground surface slope. Consequently, guided by remote sensing observations, in-situ trenches/wells are suggested to withdraw the oil-contaminated water at the maximum deduced oil-contaminated soil thickness. The applied procedures in this study are replicable and can be effectively used as a pre-requisite to remedy oil spills along terrestrial coastal environments worldwide.

Predictive Utility of the Multi-Process Action Control Framework for Self-Reported and Device-Measured Physical Activity Behavior of Adolescents.

Understanding the correlates of physical activity behavior is imperative for informing the development of interventions to address the low rates of physical activity guideline adherence among adolescents living in the United States. This cross-sectional study examined the predictive utility of the Multi-Process Action Control (M-PAC) framework for explaining self-reported and device-measured physical activity behavior among a Hispanic-majority sample of adolescents. A total of 1849 high school students (mean age = 16.0 ± 1.22 SD years; 52.3% women; 87.8% Hispanic) enrolled in one school district in south-central Texas completed a survey including instruments to assess M-PAC framework constructs (instrumental and affective attitudes, perceived capability and opportunity, behavioral regulation, habit, identity) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) behavior. A subsample (n = 435) wore accelerometers for seven days. The results from robust linear regression models revealed role identity and habit were significant predictors of self-reported MVPA. Role identity was a significant predictor of accelerometer-derived daily MVPA and raw acceleration in the most active hour but not daily raw acceleration. The findings indicated reflexive processes are robust predictors of adolescent physical activity and should be the focus of interventions designed to promote adoption and maintenance of physical activity during this developmental life stage.

Guess what? Only correct choices forge immediate stimulus–response bindings in guessing scenarios

A central mechanism of human action control is the prompt binding between actions and the stimuli provoking them. Perceiving the same stimuli again retrieves any bound responses, facilitating their execution. An open question is whether such binding and retrieval only emerges when stimulus–response rules are known upon taking action or also when agents are forced to guess and receive feedback about whether they were successful or not afterward. In two experiments, we tested the hypothesis that knowing rules before responding would boost binding between stimuli and responses during action-taking relative to guessing situations. Second, we assessed whether the content of the feedback matters for binding in that agents might use feedback to build correct stimulus–response bindings even for wrong guesses. We used a sequential prime-probe design to induce stimulus–response binding for prime responses that were either rule-based or guesses, and to measure retrieval of these bindings in response times and errors in the probe. Results indicate that binding and retrieval emerge for successful but not for wrong guesses. Binding effects for correct guesses were consistently small in effect size, suggesting that pre-established stimulus–response bindings from instructed rules might indeed boost binding when taking action.

Application of Computer vision Technologies in Health-Improving Physical Education

Introduction. The article presents the areas of use of computer vision technologies in the field of physical education and sports activities. Methodology. Innovative methods for assessing motor action based on video material, pattern recognition, object tracking are analyzed, the possibility of automated control of motor action based on the use of artificial intelligence and neural networks is shown. Particular attention is paid to the possibilities to integrate computer vision technologies from the field of professional sports and fitness industry into fitness physical culture, educational process. Results. A computer program based on the MediaPipe system has been developed for automated assessment of the effectiveness of physical exercise based on biomechanical properties of motor action, taking into account individual proportions of the body, determining the load on key points of the body in order to obtain an optimal health effect. Conclusions. The prospects for using this program to optimize the methodology of health-improving physical education are discussed.

Complementary cognitive roles for D2-MSNs and D1-MSNs during interval timing.

The role of striatal pathways in cognitive processing is unclear. We studied dorsomedial striatal cognitive processing during interval timing, an elementary cognitive task that requires mice to estimate intervals of several seconds and involves working memory for temporal rules as well as attention to the passage of time. We harnessed optogenetic tagging to record from striatal D2-dopamine receptor-expressing medium spiny neurons (D2-MSNs) in the indirect pathway and from D1-dopamine receptor-expressing MSNs (D1-MSNs) in the direct pathway. We found that D2-MSNs and D1-MSNs exhibited distinct dynamics over temporal intervals as quantified by principal component analyses and trial-by-trial generalized linear models. MSN recordings helped construct and constrain a four-parameter drift-diffusion computational model. This model predicted that disrupting either D2-MSNs or D1-MSNs would increase interval timing response times and alter MSN firing. In line with this prediction, we found that optogenetic inhibition or pharmacological disruption of either D2-MSNs or D1-MSNs increased interval timing response times. Pharmacologically disrupting D2-MSNs or D1-MSNs also changed MSN dynamics and degraded trial-by-trial temporal decoding. Together, our findings demonstrate that D2-MSNs and D1-MSNs make complementary contributions to interval timing despite opposing dynamics, implying that striatal direct and indirect pathways work together to shape temporal control of action. These data provide novel insight into basal ganglia cognitive operations beyond movement and have implications for human striatal diseases and therapies targeting striatal pathways.