Characterization of Auditory Disability and Its Relation to the Resilience

The objective of the work is to establish the characterization of the auditory disability and its relationship with resilience at the Technical University of Manabí. The article shows a conceptual analysis related to the inclusion and social integration of disabled students. Based on the fact that the person with disabilities grows and develops in the same way as that of people without disabilities and what usually happens is that disabled people are rejected and discriminated against based on a prefabricated and erroneous conceptualization of these people. The results associated with the application of the SV-RES test prepared by the researchers are shown (Saavedra & Villalta, 2008b). Characterization of the auditory deficit is made in the students, and the limitations that derive from it are pointed out. We analyze the particularities related to communication with students who have a hearing disability and resilience in this type of student, where some personal highlights that in this sense constitute an example of resilience. Finally, the results related to the study of the relationship between students' hearing disability and the level of resilience dimensions are shown

Experimental library screening demonstrates the successful application of computational protein design to large structural ensembles

The stability, activity, and solubility of a protein sequence are determined by a delicate balance of molecular interactions in a variety of conformational states. Even so, most computational protein design methods model sequences in the context of a single native conformation. Simulations that model the native state as an ensemble have been mostly neglected due to the lack of sufficiently powerful optimization algorithms for multistate design. Here, we have applied our multistate design algorithm to study the potential utility of various forms of input structural data for design. To facilitate a more thorough analysis, we developed new methods for the design and high-throughput stability determination of combinatorial mutation libraries based on protein design calculations. The application of these methods to the core design of a small model system produced many variants with improved thermodynamic stability and showed that multistate design methods can be readily applied to large structural ensembles. We found that exhaustive screening of our designed libraries helped to clarify several sources of simulation error that would have otherwise been difficult to ascertain. Interestingly, the lack of correlation between our simulated and experimentally measured stability values shows clearly that a design procedure need not reproduce experimental data exactly to achieve success. This surprising result suggests potentially fruitful directions for the improvement of computational protein design technology

Síntesis y estudio de las propiedades estructurales de zeolitas crecidas a partir del sistema NaOH+H2O+A* (A*= SiO2, Al) en un medio alcalino (pH > 10)

In this paper we present the synthesis of Zeolitesthrough the obtaining of a gel composed forthe mixture of alkaline and aluminosilicate solutes.We studied the kinetics of the structurationof zeolites taking into account the reactions A:NaOH+H2O+SiO2 and B: NaOH+H2O+Al. Thevalues of concentration used on each one of thesesolutes were 4.2 g (NaOH), 60- 20 ml (H2O forthe solutes A and B respectively), 6.0 g (SiO2) y 1,7(Al). For the resulting gel, which was gotten whenadding in a slowly way the solute B to the A one, weobtained a Ph equals 14. The synthesized zeoliteswere under thermic treatments of 120°C per cyclesfrom 8 to 10 hours. The structural properties withthe identification of the growing phases were studiedthrough the technic of X- ray diffraction changing2q in the interval 5-60°. From the spectrums ofXRD we observed a mainly predominance of thecrystal phase in the composition of Zeolita with anamorphous component. The presence of phasescoming from other minerals which have been theproducts of the reaction is reflected in the synthesisof the samples. We studied the morphology ofthe surface through scanning electron microscopy(SEM). Based on SEM images it is seen that someareas of the surface are led by isolated grains andcharacterized for values in the size of the grain atabout 20 mm.En este trabajo se presenta la síntesis de zeolitasmediante la obtención de un gel compuesto por lamezcla de soluciones alcalinas y aluminosilicatos.La cinética de formación de las zeolitas se estudióa partir de las reacciones A: NaOH+H2O+SiO2 yB: NaOH+H2O+Al. Los valores de concentraciónempleados en cada una de las soluciones fueron 4.2g (NaOH), 60-20 ml (H2O para las soluciones A yB respectivamente), 6.0 g (SiO2) y 1,7 (Al). Para elgel resultante de la zeolita obtenido al añadir lentamentela disolución B a la A se obtuvo un pH=14.Las zeolitas sintetizadas fueron sometidas a tratamientostérmicos de 120 ºC por ciclos de 8 a 10horas. Las propiedades estructurales junto con laidentificación de las fases de crecimiento fueron estudiadasmediante la técnica de difracción de rayosX (XRD), variando 2q en el rango entre 5-60º. Apartir de los espectros de XRD se observa un predominiode la fase cristalina en la composición dela zeolita acompañado de una componente amorfa.La presencia de fases de otros minerales, productosde la reacción, es evidenciada en el crecimientode las muestras. La morfología de la superficie fueestudiada por microscopia electrónica de barrido(SEM). A partir de las imágenes de SEM se observaque algunas regiones de la superficie son gobernadaspor granos aislados caracterizadas por valoresen el tamaño de grano alrededor de 20 nm

Deceptive body movements reverse spatial cueing in soccer

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.The purpose of the experiments was to analyse the spatial cueing effects of the movements of soccer players executing normal and deceptive (step-over) turns with the ball. Stimuli comprised normal resolution or point-light video clips of soccer players dribbling a football towards the observer then turning right or left with the ball. Clips were curtailed before or on the turn (-160, -80, 0 or +80 ms) to examine the time course of direction prediction and spatial cueing effects. Participants were divided into higher-skilled (HS) and lower-skilled (LS) groups according to soccer experience. In experiment 1, accuracy on full video clips was higher than on point-light but results followed the same overall pattern. Both HS and LS groups correctly identified direction on normal moves at all occlusion levels. For deceptive moves, LS participants were significantly worse than chance and HS participants were somewhat more accurate but nevertheless substantially impaired. In experiment 2, point-light clips were used to cue a lateral target. HS and LS groups showed faster reaction times to targets that were congruent with the direction of normal turns, and to targets incongruent with the direction of deceptive turns. The reversed cueing by deceptive moves coincided with earlier kinematic events than cueing by normal moves. It is concluded that the body kinematics of soccer players generate spatial cueing effects when viewed from an opponent's perspective. This could create a reaction time advantage when anticipating the direction of a normal move. A deceptive move is designed to turn this cueing advantage into a disadvantage. Acting on the basis of advance information, the presence of deceptive moves primes responses in the wrong direction, which may be only partly mitigated by delaying a response until veridical cues emerge

Maternal depression and anxiety predicts the pattern of offspring symptoms during their transition to adulthood

Background. Episodes of depression and anxiety (D&A) during the transition from late adolescence to adulthood, particularly when persistent, are predictive of long-term disorders and associated public health burden. Understanding risk factors at this time is important to guide intervention. The current objective was to investigate the associations between maternal symptoms of D&A with offspring symptoms during their transition to adulthood. Method. Data from a large population-based birth cohort study, in South Brazil, were used. Prospective associations between maternal D&A and offspring risk of these symptoms during the transition to adulthood (18/19, 24 and 30 years) were estimated. Results. Maternal D&A in adolescence was associated with offspring symptoms across the transition to adulthood, associations were consistently stronger for females than for males. Daughters whose mothers reported D&A were 4.6 times (95% confidence interval 2.71–7.84) as likely to report D&A at all three time-points, than daughters of symptom-free mothers. Conclusions. Maternal D&A is associated with persistent D&A during the daughter’s transition to adulthood. Intervention strategies should consider the mother’s mental health

On the compact operators case of the Bishop-Phelps-Bollobás property for numerical radius

The authors would like to thank Bill Johnson for kindly answering several inquiries.We study the Bishop–Phelps–Bollobás property for numerical radius restricted to the case of compact operators (BPBp-nu for compact operators in short). We show that C0(L) spaces have the BPBp-nu for compact operators for every Hausdorff topological locally compact space L. To this end, on the one hand, we provide some techniques allowing to pass the BPBp-nu for compact operators from subspaces to the whole space and, on the other hand, we prove some strong approximation property of C0(L) spaces and their duals. Besides, we also show that real Hilbert spaces and isometric preduals of ℓ1 have the BPBp-nu for compact operators

Manipulation of Pre-Target Activity on the Right Frontal Eye Field Enhances Conscious Visual Perception in Humans

The right Frontal Eye Field (FEF) is a region of the human brain, which has been consistently involved in visuo-spatial attention and access to consciousness. Nonetheless, the extent of this cortical site’s ability to influence specific aspects of visual performance remains debated. We hereby manipulated pre-target activity on the right FEF and explored its influence on the detection and categorization of low-contrast near-threshold visual stimuli. Our data show that pre-target frontal neurostimulation has the potential when used alone to induce enhancements of conscious visual detection. More interestingly, when FEF stimulation was combined with visuo-spatial cues, improvements remained present only for trials in which the cue correctly predicted the location of the subsequent target. Our data provide evidence for the causal role of the right FEF pre-target activity in the modulation of human conscious vision and reveal the dependence of such neurostimulatory effects on the state of activity set up by cue validity in the dorsal attentional orienting network

Cue-target contingencies modulate voluntary orienting of spatial attention: dissociable effects for speed and accuracy

Voluntary orienting of spatial attention is typically investigated by visually presented directional cues, which are called predictive when they indicate where the target is more likely to appear. In this study, we investigated the nature of the potential link between cue predictivity (the proportion of valid trials) and the strength of the resulting covert orienting of attention. Participants judged the orientation of a unilateral Gabor grating preceded by a centrally presented, non-directional, color cue, arbitrarily prompting a leftwards or rightwards shift of attention. Unknown to them, cue predictivity was manipulated across blocks, whereby the cue was only predictive for either the first or the second half of the experiment. Our results show that the cueing effects were strongly influenced by the change in predictivity. This influence differently emerged in response speed and accuracy. The speed difference between valid and invalid trials was significantly larger when cues were predictive, and the amplitude of this effect was modulated at the single trial level by the recent trial history. Complementary to these findings, accuracy revealed a robust effect of block history and also a different time-course compared with speed, as if it mainly mirrored voluntary processes. These findings, obtained with a new manipulation and using arbitrary non-directional cueing, demonstrate that cue-target contingencies strongly modulate the way attention is deployed in space

Computational modelling of meiotic entry and commitment

In response to developmental and environmental conditions, cells exit the mitotic cell cycle and enter the meiosis program to generate haploid gametes from diploid germ cells. Once cells decide to enter the meiosis program they become irreversibly committed to the completion of meiosis irrespective of the presence of cue signals. How meiotic entry and commitment occur due to the dynamics of the regulatory network is not well understood. Therefore, we constructed a mathematical model of the regulatory network that controls the transition from mitosis to meiosis in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Upon nitrogen starvation, yeast cells exit mitosis and undergo conjugation and meiotic entry. The model includes the regulation of Mei2, an RNA binding protein required for conjugation and meiotic entry, by multiple feedback loops involving Pat1, a kinase that keeps cells in mitosis, and Ste11, a transcription activator required for the sexual differentiation. The model accounts for various experimental observations and demonstrates that the activation of Mei2 is bistable, which ensures the irreversible commitment to meiosis. Further, we show by integrating the meiosis-specific regulation with a cell cycle model, the dynamics of cell cycle exit, G1 arrest and entry into meiosis under nitrogen starvation. © 2017 The Author(s)

Hypothalamic miR-30 regulates puberty onset via repression of the puberty-suppressing factor, Mkrn3.

Mkrn3, the maternally imprinted gene encoding the makorin RING-finger protein-3, has recently emerged as putative pubertal repressor, as evidenced by central precocity caused by MKRN3 mutations in humans; yet, the molecular underpinnings of this key regulatory action remain largely unexplored. We report herein that the microRNA, miR-30, with three binding sites in a highly conserved region of its 3' UTR, operates as repressor of Mkrn3 to control pubertal onset. Hypothalamic miR-30b expression increased, while Mkrn3 mRNA and protein content decreased, during rat postnatal maturation. Neonatal estrogen exposure, causing pubertal alterations, enhanced hypothalamic Mkrn3 and suppressed miR-30b expression in female rats. Functional in vitro analyses demonstrated a strong repressive action of miR-30b on Mkrn3 3' UTR. Moreover, central infusion during the juvenile period of target site blockers, tailored to prevent miR-30 binding to Mkrn3 3' UTR, reversed the prepubertal down-regulation of hypothalamic Mkrn3 protein and delayed female puberty. Collectively, our data unveil a novel hypothalamic miRNA pathway, involving miR-30, with a prominent role in the control of puberty via Mkrn3 repression. These findings expand our current understanding of the molecular basis of puberty and its disease states