Entraining and copying of temporal correlations in dissociated cultured neurons

Here we used multi-electrode array technology to examine the encoding of temporal information in dissociated hippocampal networks. We demonstrate that two connected populations of neurons can be trained to encode a defined time interval, and this memory trace persists for several hours. We also investigate whether the spontaneous firing activity of a trained network, can act as a template for copying the encoded time interval to a naive network. Such findings are of general significance for understanding fundamental principles of information storage and replicatio

How Industry 4.0 concepts are applied in the portuguese clothing industry: some evidences

Industry 4.0 is the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies, including textile and clothing industry. The concept of Industry 4.0 is based on the integration of information and communication technologies, industrial technology and is mainly dependent on building a Cyber-Physical System (CPS) to prepare a digital and intelligent factory, to become more digital, customized and (why not?) also green. The purpose of Industry 4.0 is to build a highly flexible production model of personalized and digital products and services, with real-time interactions between people, products and devices during the production process. This paper will show how a Portuguese clothing company (GUIMA) is preparing their processes, skills and resources to be in the Industry 4.0. The research team is following the industrial process for four months, starting from the reception and quality control of raw materials and accessories, until the orders expedition to different customers. Some results already obtained shows how the digitalization is yet in a preliminary stage in the clothing industry and is necessary to prepare the entire resources from the clothing company to achieve the horizontal and vertical integration in the manufacturing I4.0.“This work is financed by FEDER funds through the Competitivity Factors Operational Programme - COMPETE and by national funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007136”info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Advanced composite material simulation

A computational methodology is presented for modeling the non-linear mechanical behavior of composite structures made of FRP (Fiber-Reinforced Polymers) laminates. The model is based on the appropriate combination of the constitutive models of compounding materials, considered to behave as isolated continua, together with additional “closure equations” that characterize the micro-mechanics of the composite from a morphological point of view. To this end, any appropriate constitutive model may be selected for each phase. Each component is modeled separately and the global response is obtained by assembling all contributions taking into account the interactions between components in a general phenomenological way. To model the behavior of a single uni-directional (UD) composite laminated, a Serial-Parallel continuum approach has been developed assuming that components behave as parallel materials in the fibers alignment direction and as serial materials in orthogonal directions. Taking into account the internal morphology of the composite material, it is devised a strategy for decoupling and coupling component phases. This methodology [Rastellini 2006], named "compounding of behavior", allows to take into consideration local non linear phenomenon in the compounding materials, like damage, plasticity, etc. in a coupled manner. It is based on the proper management of homogenous constitutive models, already available for each component. In this way, it is used all developments achieved in constitutive modeling for plain materials, what makes possible the transference of this technology to composites. A laminated theory complemented with the proposed UD model is employed to describe the mechanical behavior of multi-directional laminates. A specific solution strategy for the general non linear case is proposed. It provides quick local and global convergences, what makes the model suitable for large scale structures. The model brings answers on the non-linear behavior of composites, where classical micro-mechanics formulas are restricted to their linear elastic part. The methodology is validated through several numerical analyses and contrasted against experimental data and benchmark tests

Multi-processor system-level synthesis for multiple applications on platform fpga

ABSTRACT Multiprocessor systems-on-chip (MPSoC) are being developed in increasing numbers to support the high number of applications running on modern embedded systems. Designing and programming such systems prove to be a major challenge. Most of the current design methodologies rely on creating the design by hand, and are therefore error-prone and time-consuming. This also limits the number of design points that can be explored. While some efforts have been made to automate the flow and raise the abstraction level, these are still limited to single-application designs. In this paper, we present a design methodology to generate and program MPSoC designs in a systematic and automated way for multiple applications. The architecture is automatically inferred from the application specifications, and customized for it. The flow is ideal for fast design space exploration (DSE) in MPSoC systems. We present results of a case study to compute the buffer-throughput trade-offs in real-life applications, H263 and JPEG decoders. The generation of the entire project takes about 100ms, and the whole DSE was completed in 45 minutes, including the FPGA mapping and synthesis

Glycyrrhizic Acid Can Attenuate Metabolic Deviations Caused by a High-Sucrose Diet without Causing Water Retention in Male Sprague-Dawley Rats

Glycyrrhizic acid (GA) ameliorates many components of the metabolic syndrome, but its potential therapeutic use is marred by edema caused by inhibition of renal 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 2 (11β-HSD2). We assessed whether 100 mg/kg per day GA administered orally could promote metabolic benefits without causing edema in rats fed on a high-sucrose diet. Groups of eight male rats were fed on one of three diets for 28 days: normal diet, a high-sucrose diet, or a high-sucrose diet supplemented with GA. Rats were then culled and renal 11β-HSD2 activity, as well as serum sodium, potassium, angiotensin II and leptin levels were determined. Histological analyses were performed to assess changes in adipocyte size in visceral and subcutaneous depots, as well as hepatic and renal tissue morphology. This dosing paradigm of GA attenuated the increases in serum leptin levels and visceral, but not subcutaneous adipocyte size caused by the high-sucrose diet. Although GA decreased renal 11β-HSD2 activity, it did not affect serum electrolyte or angiotensin II levels, indicating no onset of edema. Furthermore, there were no apparent morphological changes in the liver or kidney, indicating no toxicity. In conclusion, it is possible to reap metabolic benefits of GA without edema using the current dosage and treatment time

Intermittent Moderate Energy Restriction Improves Weight Loss Efficiency in Diet-Induced Obese Mice

BACKGROUND:Intermittent severe energy restriction is popular for weight management. To investigate whether intermittent moderate energy restriction may improve this approach by enhancing weight loss efficiency, we conducted a study in mice, where energy intake can be controlled. METHODS:Male C57/Bl6 mice that had been rendered obese by an ad libitum diet high in fat and sugar for 22 weeks were then fed one of two energy-restricted normal chow diets for a 12-week weight loss phase. The continuous diet (CD) provided 82% of the energy intake of age-matched ad libitum chow-fed controls. The intermittent diet (ID) provided cycles of 82% of control intake for 5-6 consecutive days, and ad libitum intake for 1-3 days. Weight loss efficiency during this phase was calculated as (total weight change) ÷ [(total energy intake of mice on CD or ID)-(total average energy intake of controls)]. Subsets of mice then underwent a 3-week weight regain phase involving ad libitum re-feeding. RESULTS:Mice on the ID showed transient hyperphagia relative to controls during each 1-3-day ad libitum feeding period, and overall ate significantly more than CD mice (91.1±1.0 versus 82.2±0.5% of control intake respectively, n = 10, P<0.05). There were no significant differences between CD and ID groups at the end of the weight loss or weight regain phases with respect to body weight, fat mass, circulating glucose or insulin concentrations, or the insulin resistance index. Weight loss efficiency was significantly greater with ID than with CD (0.042±0.007 versus 0.018±0.001 g/kJ, n = 10, P<0.01). Mice on the CD exhibited significantly greater hypothalamic mRNA expression of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) relative to ID and control mice, with no differences in neuropeptide Y or agouti-related peptide mRNA expression between energy-restricted groups. CONCLUSION:Intermittent moderate energy restriction may offer an advantage over continuous moderate energy restriction, because it induces significantly greater weight loss relative to energy deficit in mice

Metode Nonlinear Least Square (NLS) Untuk Estimasi Parameter Model Wavelet Radial Basis Neural Network (WRBNN)

The use of wavelet radial basis model for forecasting nonlinear time series is introduced in this paper. The model is generated by artificial neural network approximation under restriction that the activation function on the hidden layers is radial basis. The current model is developed from the multiresolution autoregressives (MAR) model, with addition of radial basis function in the hidden layers. The power of model is compared to the other nonlinear model existed before, such as MAR model and Generalized Autoregressives Conditional Heteroscedastic (GARCH) model. The simulation data which be generated from GARCH process is applied to support the aim of research. The sufficiency of model is measured by sum squared of error (SSE). The computation results show that the proposed model has a power as good as GARCH model to carry on the heteroscedastic process

Algorithmic Complexity for Short Binary Strings Applied to Psychology: A Primer

Since human randomness production has been studied and widely used to assess executive functions (especially inhibition), many measures have been suggested to assess the degree to which a sequence is random-like. However, each of them focuses on one feature of randomness, leading authors to have to use multiple measures. Here we describe and advocate for the use of the accepted universal measure for randomness based on algorithmic complexity, by means of a novel previously presented technique using the the definition of algorithmic probability. A re-analysis of the classical Radio Zenith data in the light of the proposed measure and methodology is provided as a study case of an application.Comment: To appear in Behavior Research Method