Big Losses Lead to Irrational Decision-Making in Gambling Situations: Relationship between Deliberation and Impulsivity

In gambling situations, we found a paradoxical reinforcing effect of high-risk decision-making after repeated big monetary losses. The computerized version of the Iowa Gambling Task (Bechara et al., 2000), which contained six big loss cards in deck B', was conducted on normal healthy college students. The results indicated that the total number of selections from deck A' and deck B' decreased across trials. However, there was no decrease in selections from deck B'. Detailed analysis of the card selections revealed that some people persisted in selecting from the “risky” deck B' as the number of big losses increased. This tendency was prominent in self-rated deliberative people. However, they were implicitly impulsive, as revealed by the matching familiar figure test. These results suggest that the gap between explicit deliberation and implicit impulsivity drew them into pathological gambling

Is (poly-) substance use associated with impaired inhibitory control? A mega-analysis controlling for confounders.

Many studies have reported that heavy substance use is associated with impaired response inhibition. Studies typically focused on associations with a single substance, while polysubstance use is common. Further, most studies compared heavy users with light/non-users, though substance use occurs along a continuum. The current mega-analysis accounted for these issues by aggregating individual data from 43 studies (3610 adult participants) that used the Go/No-Go (GNG) or Stop-signal task (SST) to assess inhibition among mostly "recreational" substance users (i.e., the rate of substance use disorders was low). Main and interaction effects of substance use, demographics, and task-characteristics were entered in a linear mixed model. Contrary to many studies and reviews in the field, we found that only lifetime cannabis use was associated with impaired response inhibition in the SST. An interaction effect was also observed: the relationship between tobacco use and response inhibition (in the SST) differed between cannabis users and non-users, with a negative association between tobacco use and inhibition in the cannabis non-users. In addition, participants' age, education level, and some task characteristics influenced inhibition outcomes. Overall, we found limited support for impaired inhibition among substance users when controlling for demographics and task-characteristics

Mitochondria-SR interaction and mitochondrial fusion/fission in the regulation of skeletal muscle metabolism

International audienceMitochondria-endoplasmic/sarcoplasmic reticulum (ER/SR) interaction and mitochondrial fusion/fission are critical processes that influence substrate oxidation. This narrative review summarizes the evidence on the effects of substrate availability on mitochondrial-SR interaction and mitochondria fusion/fission dynamics to modulate substrate oxidation in human skeletal muscle. Evidence shows that an increase in mitochondria-SR interaction and mitochondrial fusion are associated with elevated fatty acid oxidation. In contrast, a decrease in mitochondria-SR interaction and an increase in mitochondrial fission are associated with an elevated glycolytic activity. Based on the evidence reviewed, we postulate two hypotheses for the link between mitochondrial dynamics and insulin resistance in human skeletal muscle. First, glucose and fatty acid availability modifies mitochondria-SR interaction and mitochondrial fusion/fission to help the cell to adapt substrate oxidation appropriately. Individuals with an impaired response to these substrate challenges will accumulate lipid species and develop insulin resistance in skeletal muscle. Second, a chronically elevated substrate availability (e.g. overfeeding) increases mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species and induced mitochondrial fission. This decreases fatty acid oxidation, thus leading to the accumulation of lipid species and insulin resistance in skeletal muscle. Altogether, we propose mitochondrial dynamics as a potential target for disturbances associated with low fatty acid oxidation

Actitudes de estudiantes universitarios hacia la investigación y el uso de información genética humana

El objetivo de este estudio consiste en recabar información sobre los conocimientos y actitudes de una población universitaria acerca de la investigación genética, sus opiniones acerca de cómo y para qué debería ser usada la información personal de este tipo y su disposición a someterse a pruebas genéticas predictivas. La metodología consistió en la administración colectiva, anónima y voluntaria de un cuestionario adaptado de otros similares a una muestra de 232 estudiantes de primeros cursos de Enfermería y Psicología de la Universidad de Murcia. Los resultados muestran un amplio apoyo a la investigación en genética, sobre todo en lo que respecta a las nuevas posibilidades para prevenir, diagnosticar y tratar enfermedades. No obstante hay ciertas áreas que son percibidas como límites éticos, por lo que se percibe necesario un control riguroso en el uso y el almacenaje de la información genética

Mejorando el acceso, el análisis y la visibilidad de la información y los contenidos multilingües y multimedia en red para la Comunidad de Madrid

Presentación de las actividades del segundo programa de la red de investigación MAVIR de la Comunidad de Madrid.0.141 SJR (2012) Q2, 299/605 Linguistics and language, 276/580 Language and linguistics; Q4, 737/1380 Computer science applicationUE

Customizing thermally-reduced graphene oxides for electrically conductive or mechanical reinforced epoxy nanocomposites

Graphene oxide (GO) can be produced through diverse synthetic routes in large quantities that lead to clear differences in the resulting graphene morphology and properties. Here, we analysed the effect of several thermally reduced graphene oxides (TRGOs), at two different concentrations, on the electrical and mechanical properties of epoxy resin nanocomposites. Natural graphite was oxidised using two methods, Brodie (GO-B) and Hummers (GO-H), and, then, thermally reduced at different temperatures, 700, 1000, and 2000 °C. Intrinsic graphene properties, such as remaining oxygen groups, specific surface area, and aspect ratio, among others, have a profound effect on the final properties of the nanocomposite. The dispersion state was heavily influenced by the specific surface area and the remaining oxygen groups on the graphene. Meanwhile, the electrical and mechanical properties showed a strong and opposite dependency with the reduction temperature, with low temperatures resulting in flakes with high reinforcing characteristics and high temperatures in flakes with high electrical conductivity performance. Finally, TRGOs synthesised via Hummers and reduced at low temperatures appeared to be more suited as reinforcing particles, while TRGOs synthesised via Brodie were more effective as electrically conductive nanofillers.The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the State Secretariat for Research, Development and Innovation of the Spanish Ministry of Economía y Competitividad, through the project MAT2013-48107-C3.Peer Reviewe