Preferencia por el olor del etanol tras la interacción social con un congénere intoxicado en ratas adolescentes expuestas a la droga in-útero

Background: Prenatal exposure to ethanol and later socially mediated exposure predicts ethanol intake in human adolescents. Animal rat models indicate that brief interactions with an ethanol-intoxicated peer result in heightened preference for ethanol odor and ethanol intake. Methods: This study assessed preference for ethanol odor in adolescent male rats (observers) following social interaction with an ethanol intoxicated peer (demonstrators) as a function of prenatal ethanol exposure (gestational days 17-20, 1.0 g/kg, intragastric). Social behavior and locomotion during social interaction was also measured. Results: Social investigation was greater in observers that interacted with an intoxicated demonstrator in comparison to those that interacted with a sober peer. Social contact increased when the demonstrator was under the effects of ethanol, but only if the observer had experienced ethanol prenatally. Ethanol inhibited locomotion in the demonstrators. Finally, social interaction with an intoxicated peer during adolescence as well as prenatal ethanol experience increased preference for ethanol odor. Conclusions: Fetal exposure to ethanol mediated by maternal intoxication at late gestation or by interaction with an intoxicated peer at adolescence heightens preference for the chemosensory cues of the drug.Antecedentes: la exposición prenatal al alcohol y la exposición postnatal en contextos sociales predice el consumo de alcohol durante la adolescencia en humanos. Modelos animales indican que la interacción con un congéner intoxicado aumenta la preferencia por el olor del alcohol y su consumo. Método: se analizó la preferencia hacia el olor del etanol en ratas macho adolescentes (observadores) que interactuaron con un compañero intoxicado con alcohol (demostrador), en función de la exposición prenatal al alcohol (días gestacionales 17-20, 1,0 g/kg, intragástrica). Durante la interacción social, se evaluó la conducta social y la locomoción. Resultados: la investigación social fue mayor en los observadores que interactuaron con un sujeto intoxicado en comparación con aquellos que interactuaron con un sujeto sobrio. El contacto social aumentó cuando el demostrador estaba intoxicado, solo si el observador había sido expuesto al alcohol prenatalmente. El alcohol inhibió la locomoción en los demostradores. Finalmente, tanto la interacción social con un congéner intoxicado como la exposición prenatal incrementaron la preferencia por el olor a etanol. Conclusiones: el contacto con etanol durante la vida fetal, así como mediante la exposición a un par intoxicado durante la adolescencia, incrementa la preferencia por las claves quimiosensoriales de la droga.Fil: March, Samanta Mabel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Pautassi, Ricardo Marcos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Nizhnikov, Michael. University Of Binghamton; Estados UnidosFil: Fernandez Vidal, Juan Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra; ArgentinaFil: Spear, Norman E.. University Of Binghamton; Estados UnidosFil: Molina, Juan Carlos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; Argentin

Nocturnal but not Diurnal Hypertension Is Associated to Insulin Resistance Markers in Subjects with Normal or Mildly Elevated Office Blood Pressure

Objective: The aim was to evaluate the relationships among insulin resistance markers and nocturnal and diurnal hypertension in normotensive or mildly untreated hypertensive adults. Methods: The study was performed in both female and male adults referred to the Cardiometabolic Unit of the Hospital San Martín, La Plata, Argentina, in order to perform an ambulatory blood pressure measurement (ABPM) for the evaluation of a possible hypertensive disorder. The population was stratified according to their ABPM in: 1-presence or absence of diurnal hypertension and 2-presence or absence of nocturnal hypertension; both conditions were analyzed separately. Fasting plasma insulin (FPI), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and triglycerides (TG)/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio were used as surrogate markers of insulin resistance and compared among subjects with vs. without diurnal or nocturnal hypertension. Results: One hundred and five patients, 55 women, 47 (11) years old, and 50 men, 44 (16) years old, were included. Diurnal and nocturnal hypertension were found in 60% and 64% of the sample, respectively. There were no significant differences among the levels of insulin resistance markers between individuals with or without diurnal hypertension. In contrast, individuals with nocturnal hypertension were more insulin resistant irrespectively of whether they were evaluated using FPI (P = 0.016), HOMA-IR (P = 0.019), or TG/HDL-C ratio (P = 0.011); FPI differences remained significant after adjustment for sex, age, and obesity indicators (P = 0.032). Conclusions: Nocturnal but not diurnal hypertension was related to higher levels of 3 insulin resistance markers in normotensive and untreated mildly hypertensive adults; this relationship seems partially independent of obesity.Facultad de Ciencias Médica

Nocturnal but not Diurnal Hypertension Is Associated to Insulin Resistance Markers in Subjects with Normal or Mildly Elevated Office Blood Pressure

Objective: The aim was to evaluate the relationships among insulin resistance markers and nocturnal and diurnal hypertension in normotensive or mildly untreated hypertensive adults. Methods: The study was performed in both female and male adults referred to the Cardiometabolic Unit of the Hospital San Martín, La Plata, Argentina, in order to perform an ambulatory blood pressure measurement (ABPM) for the evaluation of a possible hypertensive disorder. The population was stratified according to their ABPM in: 1-presence or absence of diurnal hypertension and 2-presence or absence of nocturnal hypertension; both conditions were analyzed separately. Fasting plasma insulin (FPI), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and triglycerides (TG)/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio were used as surrogate markers of insulin resistance and compared among subjects with vs. without diurnal or nocturnal hypertension. Results: One hundred and five patients, 55 women, 47 (11) years old, and 50 men, 44 (16) years old, were included. Diurnal and nocturnal hypertension were found in 60% and 64% of the sample, respectively. There were no significant differences among the levels of insulin resistance markers between individuals with or without diurnal hypertension. In contrast, individuals with nocturnal hypertension were more insulin resistant irrespectively of whether they were evaluated using FPI (P = 0.016), HOMA-IR (P = 0.019), or TG/HDL-C ratio (P = 0.011); FPI differences remained significant after adjustment for sex, age, and obesity indicators (P = 0.032). Conclusions: Nocturnal but not diurnal hypertension was related to higher levels of 3 insulin resistance markers in normotensive and untreated mildly hypertensive adults; this relationship seems partially independent of obesity.Facultad de Ciencias Médica

Genetic and oceanographic tools reveal high population connectivity and diversity in the endangered pen shell Pinna nobilis

For marine meta-populations with source-sink dynamics knowledge about genetic connectivity is important to conserve biodiversity and design marine protected areas (MPAs). We evaluate connectivity of a Mediterranean sessile species, Pinna nobilis. To address a large geographical scale, partial sequences of cytochrome oxidase I (COI, 590 bp) were used to evaluate phylogeographical patterns in the Western Mediterranean, and in the whole basin using overlapping sequences from the literature (243 bp). Additionally, we combined (1) larval trajectories based on oceanographic currents and early life-history traits and (2) 10 highly polymorphic microsatellite loci collected in the Western Mediterranean. COI results provided evidence for high diversity and low inter-population differentiation. Microsatellite genotypes showed increasing genetic differentiation with oceanographic transport time (isolation by oceanographic distance (IBD) set by marine currents). Genetic differentiation was detected between Banyuls and Murcia and between Murcia and Mallorca. However, no genetic break was detected between the Balearic populations and the mainland. Migration rates together with numerical Lagrangian simulations showed that (i) the Ebro Delta is a larval source for the Balearic populations (ii) Alicante is a sink population, accumulating allelic diversity from nearby populations. The inferred connectivity can be applied in the development of MPA networks in the Western MediterraneanProject MEDEICG funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (CTM2009-07013)IEH was supported by Ramon y Cajal Fellowship RYC2014-14970Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness IFCT Investigator Programme-Career Development (IF/00998/2014)MGW and AHE was supported by FCT fellowships SFRH/BPD/63703/2009 and SFRH/BPD/107878/2015National Science Foundation (OCE-1419450)CCMAR team via excellence research line EXCL/AAG-GLO/0661/2012Ciencias del Ma

String Unification, Higher-Level Gauge Symmetries, and Exotic Hypercharge Normalizations

We explore the extent to which string theories with higher-level gauge symmetries and non-standard hypercharge normalizations can reconcile the discrepancy between the string unification scale and the GUT scale extrapolated from the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). We determine the phenomenologically allowed regions of (k_Y,k_2,k_3) parameter space, and investigate the proposal that there might exist string models with exotic hypercharge normalizations k_Y which are less than their usual value k_Y=5/3. For a broad class of heterotic string models (encompassing most realistic string models which have been constructed), we prove that k_Y >= 5/3. Beyond this class, however, we show that there exist consistent MSSM embeddings which lead to k_Y < 5/3. We also consider the constraints imposed on k_Y by demanding charge integrality of all unconfined string states, and show that only a limited set of hypercolor confining groups and corresponding values of k_Y are possible.Comment: 59 pages, standard LaTeX, 4 figures (Encapsulated PostScript). Expanded reference

Multicore and FPGA implementations of emotional-based agent architectures

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11227-014-1307-6.Control architectures based on Emotions are becoming promising solutions for the implementation of future robotic agents. The basic controllers of the architecture are the emotional processes that decide which behaviors of the robot must activate to fulfill the objectives. The number of emotional processes increases (hundreds of millions/s) with the complexity level of the application, reducing the processing capacity of the main processor to solve complex problems (millions of decisions in a given instant). However, the potential parallelism of the emotional processes permits their execution in parallel on FPGAs or Multicores, thus enabling slack computing in the main processor to tackle more complex dynamic problems. In this paper, an emotional architecture for mobile robotic agents is presented. The workload of the emotional processes is evaluated. Then, the main processor is extended with FPGA co-processors through Ethernet link. The FPGAs will be in charge of the execution of the emotional processes in parallel. Different Stratix FPGAs are compared to analyze their suitability to cope with the proposed mobile robotic agent applications. The applications are set up taking into account different environmental conditions, robot dynamics and emotional states. Moreover, the applications are run also on Multicore processors to compare their performance in relation to the FPGAs. Experimental results show that Stratix IV FPGA increases the performance in about one order of magnitude over the main processor and solves all the considered problems. Quad-Core increases the performance in 3.64 times, allowing to tackle about 89 % of the considered problems. Quad-Core has a lower cost than a Stratix IV, so more adequate solution but not for the most complex application. Stratix III could be applied to solve problems with around the double of the requirements that the main processor could support. Finally, a Dual-Core provides slightly better performance than stratix III and it is relatively cheaper.This work was supported in part under Spanish Grant PAID/2012/325 of "Programa de Apoyo a la Investigacion y Desarrollo. Proyectos multidisciplinares", Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain.Domínguez Montagud, CP.; Hassan Mohamed, H.; Crespo, A.; Albaladejo Meroño, J. (2015). Multicore and FPGA implementations of emotional-based agent architectures. Journal of Supercomputing. 71(2):479-507. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-014-1307-6S479507712Malfaz M, Salichs MA (2010) Using MUDs as an experimental platform for testing a decision making system for self-motivated autonomous agents. Artif Intell Simul Behav J 2(1):21–44Damiano L, Cañamero L (2010) Constructing emotions. Epistemological groundings and applications in robotics for a synthetic approach to emotions. In: Proceedings of international symposium on aI-inspired biology, The Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence, pp 20–28Hawes N, Wyatt J, Sloman A (2009) Exploring design space for an integrated intelligent system. Knowl Based Syst 22(7):509–515Sloman A (2009) Some requirements for human-like robots: why the recent over-emphasis on embodiment has held up progress. Creat Brain Like Intell 2009:248–277Arkin RC, Ulam P, Wagner AR (2012) Moral decision-making in autonomous systems: enforcement, moral emotions, dignity, trust and deception. In: Proceedings of the IEEE, Mar 2012, vol 100, no 3, pp 571–589iRobot industrial robots website. http://www.irobot.com/gi/ground/ . Accessed 22 Sept 2014Moravec H (2009) Rise of the robots: the future of artificial intelligence. Scientific American, March 2009. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rise-of-the-robots/ . Accessed 14 Oct 2014.Thu Bui L, Abbass HA, Barlow M, Bender A (2012) Robustness against the decision-maker’s attitude to risk in problems with conflicting objectives. IEEE Trans Evolut Comput 16(1):1–19Pedrycz W, Song M (2011) Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in group decision making and its optimization with an allocation of information granularity. IEEE Trans Fuzzy Syst 19(3):527–539Lee-Johnson CP, Carnegie DA (2010) Mobile robot navigation modulated by artificial emotions. IEEE Trans Syst Man Cybern Part B 40(2):469–480Daglarli E, Temeltas H, Yesiloglu M (2009) Behavioral task processing for cognitive robots using artificial emotions. Neurocomputing 72(13):2835–2844Ventura R, Pinto-Ferreira C (2009) Responding efficiently to relevant stimuli using an emotion-based agent architecture. Neurocomputing 72(13):2923–2930Arkin RC, Ulam P, Wagner AR (2012) Moral decision-making in autonomous systems: enforcement, moral emotions, dignity, trust and deception. Proc IEEE 100(3):571–589Salichs MA, Malfaz M (2012) A new approach to modeling emotions and their use on a decision-making system for artificial agents. Affect Comput IEEE Trans 3(1):56–68Altera Corporation (2011) Stratix III device handbook, vol 1–2, version 2.2. http://www.altera.com/literature/lit-stx3.jsp . Accessed 14 Oct 2014.Altera Corporation (2014) Stratix IV device handbook, vol 1–4, version 5.9. http://www.altera.com/literature/lit-stratix-iv.jsp . Accessed 14 Oct 2014.Naouar MW, Monmasson E, Naassani AA, Slama-Belkhodja I, Patin N (2007) FPGA-based current controllers for AC machine drives: a review. IEEE Trans Ind Electr 54(4):1907–1925Intel Corporation (2014) Desktop 4th generation Intel Core Processor Family, Desktop Intel Pentium Processor Family, and Desktop Intel Celeron Processor Family, Datasheet, vol 1, 2March JL, Sahuquillo J, Hassan H, Petit S, Duato J (2011) A new energy-aware dynamic task set partitioning algorithm for soft and hard embedded real-time systems. Comput J 54(8):1282–1294Del Campo I, Basterretxea K, Echanobe J, Bosque G, Doctor F (2012) A system-on-chip development of a neuro-fuzzy embedded agent for ambient-intelligence environments. IEEE Trans Syst Man Cybern Part B 42(2):501–512Pedraza C, Castillo J, Martínez JI, Huerta P, Bosque JL, Cano J (2011) Genetic algorithm for Boolean minimization in an FPGA cluster. J Supercomput 58(2):244–252Orlowska-Kowalska T, Kaminski M (2011) FPGA implementation of the multilayer neural network for the speed estimation of the two-mass drive system. IEEE Trans Ind Inf 7(3):436–445Cassidy AS, Merolla P, Arthur JV, Esser SK, Jackson B, Alvarez-icaza R, Datta P, Sawada J, Wong TM, Feldman V, Amir A, Ben-dayan D, Mcquinn E, Risk WP, Modha DS (2013) Cognitive computing building block: a versatile and efficient digital neuron model for neurosynaptic cores. 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Nocturnal but not Diurnal Hypertension Is Associated to Insulin Resistance Markers in Subjects with Normal or Mildly Elevated Office Blood Pressure

Objective: The aim was to evaluate the relationships among insulin resistance markers and nocturnal and diurnal hypertension in normotensive or mildly untreated hypertensive adults. Methods: The study was performed in both female and male adults referred to the Cardiometabolic Unit of the Hospital San Martín, La Plata, Argentina, in order to perform an ambulatory blood pressure measurement (ABPM) for the evaluation of a possible hypertensive disorder. The population was stratified according to their ABPM in: 1-presence or absence of diurnal hypertension and 2-presence or absence of nocturnal hypertension; both conditions were analyzed separately. Fasting plasma insulin (FPI), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and triglycerides (TG)/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio were used as surrogate markers of insulin resistance and compared among subjects with vs. without diurnal or nocturnal hypertension. Results: One hundred and five patients, 55 women, 47 (11) years old, and 50 men, 44 (16) years old, were included. Diurnal and nocturnal hypertension were found in 60% and 64% of the sample, respectively. There were no significant differences among the levels of insulin resistance markers between individuals with or without diurnal hypertension. In contrast, individuals with nocturnal hypertension were more insulin resistant irrespectively of whether they were evaluated using FPI (P = 0.016), HOMA-IR (P = 0.019), or TG/HDL-C ratio (P = 0.011); FPI differences remained significant after adjustment for sex, age, and obesity indicators (P = 0.032). Conclusions: Nocturnal but not diurnal hypertension was related to higher levels of 3 insulin resistance markers in normotensive and untreated mildly hypertensive adults; this relationship seems partially independent of obesity.Facultad de Ciencias Médica

Should the first blood pressure reading be discarded?

We evaluated the consequences of excluding the first of three blood pressure (BP) readings in different settings: a random population sample (POS, n=1525), a general practice office (GPO, n=942) and a specialized hypertension center (SHC, n=462). Differences between systolic and diastolic BP (SBP and DBP) estimates obtained including and excluding the first reading were compared and their correlation with ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) was estimated. The samples were divided into quartiles according to the difference between the third and the first SBP (3-1ΔSBP). SBP decreased through sequential readings, 3-1ΔSBP was -5.5 ± 9.7 mm Hg (P<0.001), -5.1 ± 10.4 mm Hg (P<0.001) and -6.1 ± 9.3 mm Hg (P<0.001) for POS, GPO and SHC, respectively. However, individuals included in the top quartile of 3-1ΔSBP showed their highest values on the third reading. The mean SBP estimate was significantly higher excluding the first reading (P<0.001), but the differences among both approaches were small (1.5-1.6 mm g). Moreover, the correlation between SBP values including and excluding the first reading and daytime ABPM were comparable (r = 0.69 and 0.68, respectively). Similar results were observed for DBP. In conclusion, our study does not support the notion of discarding the first BP measurement and suggests that it should be measured repeatedly, regardless the first value.Facultad de Ciencias Médica

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Participation of the endogenous opioid system in the acquisition of a prenatal ethanol-related memory: Effects on neonatal and preweanling responsiveness to ethanol

The present study tested the involvement of the opioid system in the acquisition and expression of prenatal ethanol-related memories. We evaluated how this prenatal experience modulates ethanol self-administration in newborn rats, and preweanling's ingestion of the drug.During Gestational Days (GDs) 17-20, four groups of dams were treated with ethanol (2. g/kg) or water, followed immediately by naloxone (10. mg/kg) or saline administration. A fifth group received a similar dose of naloxone 20. min before ethanol administration. On PD 1, pups were tested on an operant learning procedure to obtain milk or 3% ethanol. One hour later, an extinction session was performed. At Postnatal Days (PDs) 14 and 15, preweanlings representing each prenatal treatment were evaluated in an intake test with infusions of 5% ethanol or water. Prior to the intake test on PD14, preweanlings were administered naloxone (1. mg/kg), saline or remained untreated. In both tests, animals representative of both genders were utilized.One-day-old pups rapidly learned the operant behavior to gain access to milk. In contrast, only pups prenatally treated with ethanol (administered immediately before naloxone or saline injection) increased operant responding to gain access to ethanol. On an intake test at PDs 14 and 15, those animals prenatally exposed to naloxone 20. min before ethanol administration consumed significantly lower ethanol levels than the remaining prenatal ethanol groups. Postnatal treatment with naloxone diminished intake of all solutions at PD14.These results suggest that prenatal ethanol exposure facilitates neonatal operant learning reinforced by intraoral administration of ethanol and increases ethanol consumption during PDs 14-15. The endogenous opioid system apparently is involved in the acquisition of prenatal ethanol memories, which can modulate the reinforcing attributes of the drug in neonatal and preweanling rats.Fil: Miranda Morales, Roberto Sebastián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra; ArgentinaFil: Molina, Juan Carlos. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología; Argentina. University of Binghamton; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra; ArgentinaFil: Spear, Norman E.. University of Binghamton; Estados UnidosFil: Abate, Paula. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra; Argentin