Facial identity and emotional expression as predictors during economic decisions

Two sources of information most relevant to guide social decision making are the cooperative tendencies associated with different people and their facial emotional displays. This electrophysiological experiment aimed to study how the use of personal identity and emotional expressions as cues impacts different stages of face processing and their potential isolated or interactive processing. Participants played a modified trust game with 8 different alleged partners, and in separate blocks either the identity or the emotions carried information regarding potential trial outcomes (win or loss). Behaviorally, participants were faster to make decisions based on identity compared to emotional expressions. Also, ignored (nonpredictive) emotions interfered with decisions based on identity in trials where these sources of information conflicted. Electrophysiological results showed that expectations based on emotions modulated processing earlier in time than those based on identity. Whereas emotion modulated the central N1 and VPP potentials, identity judgments heightened the amplitude of the N2 and P3b. In addition, the conflict that ignored emotions generated was reflected on the N170 and P3b potentials. Overall, our results indicate that using identity or emotional cues to predict cooperation tendencies recruits dissociable neural circuits from an early point in time, and that both sources of information generate early and late interactive patterns

Customer Service During the Health Emergency in the La Condamine Shopping Centre

Sales management involves the establishment of strategic objectives, development and control of the action plan, and planning and management of the necessary resources to increase revenue. Customer service is a fundamental marketing tool and has a direct impact on sales. It is responsible for establishing places of contact with customers and for using channels while establishing relationships with them before, during, and after the sale of a good or service [6]. The purpose of this work was to analyze and predetermine how the quality of customer service influenced sales during the health emergency at the La Condamine Shopping Center in the city of Riobamba. The study sample included 200 merchants. The results show a need for improvement in customer service by the sales representative in order to increase their sales. Keywords: customer care, service, sales, consumers, pandemic. Resumen La gestión en ventas involucra el establecimiento de objetivos estratégicos, el desarrollo y el control del plan de acción, la planificación y la gestión de los recursos necesarios que permita incrementar los ingresos. La atención al cliente es una herramienta fundamental del marketing y consecuentemente tiene una incidencia directa sobre las ventas, es la encargada de establecer lugares de contacto con los clientes, utilizando canales al tiempo de establecer relaciones con ellos, antes durante y después de la venta de un bien o un servicio. [6]. El propósito del presente trabajo fue analizar y predeterminar como el servicio de atención al cliente influyo en las ventas durante la emergencia sanitaria en el Centro Comercial La Condamine de la ciudad de Riobamba La muestra con quienes se realizó el estudio corresponden a 200 comerciantes. Los resultados muestran que los vendedores deben mejorar la atención al cliente para poder aumentar las ventas en sus negocios. Palabras Clave: atención al cliente, servicio, ventas, consumidores, pandemia

Resonant spin tunneling in randomly oriented nanospheres of Mn 12 acetate

Under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license (3.0 Unported or 4.0 International).-- et al.We report measurements and theoretical analysis of resonant spin tunneling in randomly oriented nanospheres of a molecular magnet. Amorphous nanospheres of Mn 12 acetate have been fabricated and characterized by chemical, infrared, TEM, x-ray, and magnetic methods. Magnetic measurements have revealed sharp tunneling peaks in the field derivative of the magnetization that occur at the typical resonant field values for the Mn 12 acetate crystal in the field parallel to the easy axis. Theoretical analysis is provided that explains these observations. We argue that resonant spin tunneling in a molecular magnet can be established in a powder sample, without the need for a single crystal and without aligning the easy magnetization axes of the molecules. This is confirmed by reanalyzing the old data on a powdered sample of nonoriented micron-size crystals of Mn 12 acetate. Our findings can greatly simplify the selection of candidates for quantum spin tunneling among newly synthesized molecular magnets.The work at the University of Barcelona has been supported by Spanish Government Project No. MAT2011-23698. S.L. acknowledges financial support from the FPU Program of Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura, y Deporte of the Spanish Government. I.I. and J.E. thank the MINECO for the Ramon y Cajal contract and the FPI fellowship, respectively. The work of E.M.C. at Lehman College is supported by the US National Science Foundation through Grant No. DMR-1161571. S.J.L.B. was supported by DOE-BES under Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886.Peer reviewe

Rapid detection of cardiac pathologies by neural networks using ECG signals (1D) and sECG images (3D)

Usually, cardiac pathologies are detected using one-dimensional electrocardiogram signals or two-dimensional images. When working with electrocardiogram signals, they can be represented in the time and frequency domains (one-dimensional signals). However, this technique can present difficulties, such as the high cost of private health services or the time the public health system takes to refer the patient to a cardiologist. In addition, the variety of cardiac pathologies (more than 20 types) is a problem in diagnosing the disease. On the other hand, surface electrocardiography (sECG) is a little-explored technique for this diagnosis. sECGs are three-dimensional images (two dimensions in space and one in time). In this way, the signals were taken in one-dimensional format and analyzed using neural networks. Following the transformation of the one-dimensional signals to three-dimensional signals, they were analyzed in the same sense. For this research, two models based on LSTM and ResNet34 neural networks were developed, which showed high accuracy, 98.71% and 93.64%, respectively. This study aims to propose the basis for developing Decision Support Software (DSS) based on machine learning models. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Long-term outcomes of an acellular dermal matrix for the treatment of complex cryptoglandular anal fistula: a pilot study

Backgound Effective, standardized treatments for complex anal fistula (CAF) still represent a clinical challenge. Emerging procedures attempted to achieve the healing rates of fistulotomy whilst preserving sphincter function. Acellular dermal matrix (ADM) used as a plug inserted through the fistulous tract is among newer treatment options. Varying success rates have been reported, most with short-term follow-up. The aim of this study was to report the long-term results of ADM-plug for CAF. Methods Retrospective analysis of a prospective database of patients treated with CAF. All consecutive patients presenting at two tertiary centers (Vall d'Hebron University Hospital and Bellvitge University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain) between November 2015 and March 2019 with a single, cryptoglandular CAF were evaluated for treatment with an ADM-plug were included. The primary endpoint was absence of discharge at clinical examination at 12 month follow-up. Results Twenty-two patients were included [7 women and 15 men, median age 56 (33-74) years]. Most patients had high transsphincteric fistulas (63.6%). The median follow-up was 42 (21-53) months. The 12 month success rate was 68.2%, with an overall healing rate of 59.1%. 77.8% of recurrences occurred within 12 months from surgery. One plug extrusion was observed. No major complications or mortality occurred during the follow-up. Patients did not report any worsening of fecal continence. Conclusions This pilot study showed that more than half of patients with CAF could benefit from ADM-plug placement, preserving continence. A minimum follow-up of 12 months is recommended, because most recurrences occur during the first year

Digit ratio (2D:4D) and prosocial behavior in economic games: No direct correlation with generosity, bargaining, or trust-related behaviors

Prenatal exposure to sex hormones exerts organizational effects on the brain which have observable behavioural correlates in adult life. There are reasons to expect that social behaviours—fundamental for the evolutionary success of humans—might be related to biological factors such as prenatal sex hormone exposure. Nevertheless, the existing literature is inconclusive as to whether and how prenatal exposure to testosterone and oestrogen, proxied by the second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D : 4D), may predict non-selfish behaviour. Here, we investigate this question using economic experiments with real monetary stakes and analyse five different dimensions of social behaviour in a comparatively large sample of Caucasian participants (n = 560). For both males and females, our results show no robust association between right- or left-hand 2D : 4D and generosity, bargaining or trust-related behaviours. Moreover, no differences in behaviour were found according to sex. We conclude that there is no direct correlation between 2D : 4D and these social behaviours

Percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation in patients with severe low anterior resection syndrome: randomized clinical trial

Treatment of low anterior resection syndrome (LARS) is challenging. Percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) can improve select bowel disorders. An RCT was conducted to assess the efficacy of PTNS compared with sham stimulation in patients with severe LARS

Impacto de la liberación del dividendo digital en la TDT autonómica: los casos de Andalucía, Cataluña, Baleares y Navarra

Este artículo describe y analiza las implicaciones para la televisión terrestre de cobertura autonómica derivadas de la supresión, en el Plan Técnico Nacional de TDT de 2014, de un múltiplex por comunidad. Esta medida es consecuencia de la liberación del denominado dividendo digital cuyas frecuencias (790-862 MHz), hasta ahora ocupadas por la televisión herciana, se destinarán a los servicios de comunicaciones electrónicas. En el texto se profundiza en el análisis de las cuatro comunidades (Andalucía, Cataluña, Baleares y Navarra) cuyo desacuerdo con esta medida ha tenido una mayor trascendencia por cuanto la reducción de espectro afecta a la oferta de TDT existente o prevista