Wearing a bike helmet leads to less cognitive control, revealed by lower frontal midline theta power and risk indifference

A recent study claims that participants wearing a bike helmet behave riskier in a computer-based risk task compared to control participants without a bike helmet. We hypothesized that wearing a bike helmet reduces cognitive control over risky behavior. To test our hypothesis, we recorded participants' EEG brain responses while they played a risk game developed in our laboratory. Previously, we found that, in this risk game, anxious participants showed greater levels of cognitive control as revealed by greater frontal midline theta power, which was associated with less risky decisions. Here, we predicted that cognitive control would be reduced in the helmet group, indicated by reduced frontal midline theta power, and that this group would prefer riskier options in the risk game. In line with our hypothesis, we found that participants in the helmet group showed significantly lower frontal midline theta power than participants in the control group, indicating less cognitive control. We did not replicate the finding of generally riskier behavior in the helmet group. Instead, we found that participants chose the riskier option in about half of trials, no matter how risky the other option was. Our results suggest that wearing a bike helmet reduces cognitive control, as revealed by reduced frontal midline theta power, leading to risk indifference when evaluating potential behaviors

Local capacity building and adaptive processes: the place of teachers in the project ClimAdaPT.Local

[Resumo] Assumindo como pressuposto o papel estratégico dos municípios, das comunidades locais e da educação ambiental no esforço conjunto de resposta às alterações climáticas, o projeto ClimAdaPT.Local teve como objetivo a elaboração de Estratégias Municipais de Adaptação às Alterações Climáticas e a sua integração no planeamento municipal. Pretendeu-se alcançar este objetivo através do desenvolvimento de ferramentas e metodologias de implementação que incluíram o envolvimento do corpo técnico autárquico de 26 municípios e, ainda a participação e a capacitação das comunidades locais. Estes últimos aspetos surgiram como condição sine qua non para se alcançarem as metas predefinidas e para criar novas oportunidades de transformação individual e social que potenciassem a resiliência local e global. Para tal, contou-se, entre outros atores, com a mobilização dos professores, a sua experiencia formativa e a sua capacidade pedagógica para promover os processos de reflexão individual e coletiva. Centrando-se nos resultados de um inquérito por questionário, este capítulo irá descrever algumas conclusões de uma análise comparativa que postula a mais-valia acrescentada pelos professores no processo de mobilização da comunidade e confronta as suas posturas, capacidades e predisposições com as de outros atores igualmente mobilizados para a adaptação e defesa ambiental.[Abstract] Assuming the strategic role of municipalities, local communities, and Environmental education in the joint e ort to climate change response, the ClimAdaPT.Local project aimed to launch a set of Municipal Strategies for Adaptation to Climate Change and its integration into municipal planning. The objective was to achieve this goal by developing tools and methodologies, by training local technical sta of 26 municipalities, and by empowering of local actors. This last factor emerged as a sine qua non condition to reach the planned goals and to provide new opportunities for individual and social transformation that can enhance local and global resilience. For this end, within other local actors, teachers of all levels have been mobilised, as well as their formative experience, and their pedagogical capacity to promote individual and collective re ection. This chapter is focused on results of a questionnaire survey, and will draw some conclusions from a comparative analysis that posits the added value of teachers in the community mobilisation process, and confronts their positions, capacities and predispositions with other local actors equally mobilised for adaptation and environment protection.

Melting of Amphibole-bearing Wehrlites: an Experimental Study on the Origin of Ultra-calcic Nepheline-normative Melts

Olivine + clinopyroxene ± amphibole cumulates have been widely documented in island arc settings and may constitute a significant portion of the lowermost arc crust. Because of the low melting temperature of amphibole (∼1100°C), such cumulates could melt during intrusion of primary mantle magmas. We have experimentally (piston-cylinder, 0·5-1·0 GPa, 1200-1350°C, Pt-graphite capsules) investigated the melting behaviour of a model amphibole-olivine-clinopyroxene rock, to assess the possible role of such cumulates in island arc magma genesis. Initial melts are controlled by pargasitic amphibole breakdown, are strongly nepheline-normative and are Al2O3-rich. With increasing melt fraction (T > 1190°C at 1·0 GPa), the melts become ultra-calcic while remaining strongly nepheline-normative, and are saturated with olivine and clinopyroxene. The experimental melts have strong compositional similarities to natural nepheline-normative ultra-calcic melt inclusions and lavas exclusively found in arc settings. The experimentally derived phase relations show that such natural melt compositions originate by melting according to the reaction amphibole + clinopyroxene = melt + olivine in the arc crust. Pargasitic amphibole is the key phase in this process, as it lowers melting temperatures and imposes the nepheline-normative signature. Ultra-calcic nepheline-normative melt inclusions are tracers of magma-rock interaction (assimilative recycling) in the arc crus

What you give is what you get : payment of one randomly selected trial induces risk-aversion and decreases brain responses to monetary feedback

In economic studies, it is standard practice to pay out the reward of only one randomly selected trial (pay-one) instead of the total reward accumulated across trials (pay-all), assuming that both methods are equivalent. We tested this assumption by recording electrophysiological activity to reward feedback from participants engaged in a decision-making task under both a pay-one and a pay-all condition. We show that participants are approximately 12% more risk averse in the pay-one condition than in the pay-all condition. Furthermore, we observed that the electrophysiological response to monetary rewards, the reward positivity, is significantly reduced in the pay-one condition relative to the pay-all condition. The difference of brain responses is associated with the difference in risky behavior across conditions. We concluded that the two payment methods lead to significantly different results and are therefore not equivalent

Biomimetic microelectronics for regenerative neuronal cuff implants

Smart biomimetics, a unique class of devices combining the mechanical adaptivity of soft actuators with the imperceptibility of microelectronics, is introduced. Due to their inherent ability to self‐assemble, biomimetic microelectronics can firmly yet gently attach to an inorganic or biological tissue enabling enclosure of, for example, nervous fibers, or guide the growth of neuronal cells during regeneration

Specific detection of dengue and Zika virus antibodies using envelope proteins with mutations in the conserved fusion loop

Detection of antibodies is widely used for the diagnosis of infections with arthropod-borne flaviviruses including dengue (DENV) and Zika virus (ZIKV). Due to the emergence of ZIKV in areas endemic for DENV, massive co-circulation is observed and methods to specifically diagnose these infections and differentiate them from each other are mandatory. However, serological assays for flaviviruses in general, and for DENV and ZIKV in particular, are compromised by the high degree of similarities in their proteins which can lead to cross-reacting antibodies and false-positive test results. Cross-reacting flavivirus antibodies mainly target the highly conserved fusion loop (FL) domain in the viral envelope (E-) protein, and we and others have shown previously that recombinant E-proteins bearing FL-mutations strongly reduce cross-reactivity. Here we investigate whether such mutant E-proteins can be used to specifically detect antibodies against DENV and ZIKV in an ELISA-format. IgM antibodies against DENV and ZIKV virus were detected with 100% and 94.2% specificity and 90.7% and 87.5% sensitivity, respectively. For IgG the mutant E-proteins showed cross-reactivity, which was overcome by pre-incubation of the sera with the heterologous antigen. This resulted in specificities of 97.1% and 97.9% and in sensitivities of 100% and 100% for the DENV and ZIKV antigens, respectively. Our results suggest that E-proteins bearing mutations in the FL-domain have a high potential for the development of serological DENV and ZIKV tests with high specificity

Patterns of variability in voice onset time: a developmental study of motor speech skills in humans

This study investigated the developmental patterns of variability in the speech parameter voice onset time (VOT) in forty six children. Five groups of children participated in the study as follows: i) Group 1 - aged 5 years 8 months (n=6); ii) Group 2 - 7 years 10 months (n=10); iii) Group 3 - 9 years 10 months (n=10); iv) Group 4 - 11 years 10 months (n=10), and v) Group 5 - 13 years 2 months (n=10). Coefficient of variation (COV) values were examined for the VOT values of both "voiceless" (/p t k/) and "voiced" (/b d g/) plosives to determine patterns of variability. Significant effects of age were revealed for both the voiceless and voiced plosives, and levels of variability leveled off for Group 4. The data suggest that although variability in VOT decreases with age, the presence of residual variability may be a prerequisite for the further refinement of motor speech skills

Restrições mercadológicas, produtivas e institucionais que afetam o desempenho de agroindústrias processadoras de lácteos orgânicos.

Este artigo buscou identificar, a partir de um estudo multicaso, as principais restrições mercadológicas, tecnológicas e institucionais que afetam o desempenho de agroindústrias processadoras de lácteos orgânicos de maneira a estabelecer alternativas a esses gargalos. Nos estudos empreendidos foi possível evidenciar tanto a importância do estabelecimento de redes sociais para informar e fidelizar os consumidores de produtos orgânicos como, também, da certificação para ampliar os mercados atendidos fora desses limites. A baixa escala de produção e processamento, características relacionadas ao atendimento de mercados de nicho, é uma particularidade agravada pelas dificuldades intrínsecas do sistema orgânico de produção de leite. Essas restrições técnicas só poderão ser equacionadas convenientemente se ocorrer uma consolidação paulatina de instituições públicas e privadas devotadas ao desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias de produção e processamento de alimentos orgânicos. Finalmente, a legislação brasileira relacionada ao sistema de produção orgânica representa um balizamento fundamental para o desenvolvimento do setor. Porém, a ampliação e adequação de mecanismos de suporte a esse sistema produtivo, especialmente os de financiamento e apoio tecnológico, são críticos para a sua difusão