Emotion, rationality, and decision-making: How to link affective and social neuroscience with social theory

In this paper, we argue for a stronger engagement between concepts in affective and social neuroscience on the one hand, and theories from the fields of anthropology, economics, political science, and sociology on the other. Affective and social neuroscience could provide an additional assessment of social theories. We argue that some of the most influential social theories of the last four decades-rational choice theory, behavioral economics, and post-structuralism-contain assumptions that are inconsistent with key findings in affective and social neuroscience. We also show that another approach from the social sciences-plural rationality theory-shows greater compatibility with these findings. We further claim that, in their turn, social theories can strengthen affective and social neuroscience. The former can provide more precise formulations of the social phenomena that neuroscientific models have targeted, can help neuroscientists who build these models become more aware of their social and cultural biases, and can even improve the models themselves. To illustrate, we show how plural rationality theory can be used to further specify and test the somatic marker hypothesis. Thus, we aim to accelerate the much-needed merger of social theories with affective and social neuroscience

Impact of the dicyanomethylene substitution position on the cyclophane macrocycle formation in carbazole-based biradicals

π-Conjugated biradical compounds, featuring unique unsaturated valences and radical centers in the ground state, are fundamentally important for understanding the nature of chemical bonds and have potential applications in material science. [1] Recently, it has been demonstrated that several -conjugated mono- and biradicals systems form long strain -bonds between two unpaired electrons resulting in macrocyclic or staircase oligomers or polymers by self-assembly processes. [2] Therefore, these materials are potential building blocks for dynamic covalent chemistry (DCC) since the aggregates can be formed or broken upon soft external stimuli. For instance, 2,7-dicyanomethylene-9-(2-ethylhexyl)carbazole biradical (p-Cz-alkyl in Figure 1) reversibly converts upon soft stimuli (temperature, pressure, light) to a cyclophane tetramer as a result from the formation (or bond cleavage) of long C-C single bonds.[3] Here, we present an experimental and theoretical study in order to investigate how the N-substitution and the change from para- to meta-dicyanomethylene substitution on carbazole-based biradicals affects their biradical character and thus, their tendency to act as useful motifs for DCC (see Figure 1).Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Coercivity and squareness enhancement in ball-milled hard magnetic-antiferromagnetic composites

This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics.The room-temperature coercivity,HC, and squareness, MR/MS (remanence/saturation magnetizations), of permanent magnet,SmCo5powders have been enhanced by ball milling with antiferromagnetic NiO (with Néel temperature, TN=590 K). This enhancement is observed in the as-milled state. However, when the milling of SmCo5 is carried out with an antiferromagnet with TN below room temperature (e.g., for CoO, TN=290 K), the coercivity enhancement is only observed at low temperatures after field cooling through TN. The ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic exchange coupling induced either by local heating during milling(SmCo5+NiO) or field cooling (SmCo5+CoO) is shown to be the origin of the HC increase

Effects of caffeine supplementation on physical performance and mood dimensions in elite and trained-recreational athletes.

Background: Caffeine supplementation (CAFF) has an established ergogenic effect on physical performance and the psychological response to exercise. However, few studies have compared the response to CAFF intake among athletes of different competition level. This study compares the acute effects of CAFF on anaerobic performance, mood and perceived effort in elite and moderately-trained recreational athletes. Methods: Participants for this randomized, controlled, crossover study were 8 elite athletes (in the senior boxing national team) and 10 trained-recreational athletes. Under two experimental conditions, CAFF supplementation (6 mg/kg) or placebo (PLAC), the athletes completed a Wingate test. Subjective exertion during the test was recorded as the rating of perceived exertion (RPE) both at the general level (RPEgeneral) and at the levels muscular (RPEmuscular) and cardiorespiratory (RPEcardio). Before the Wingate test, participants completed the questionnaires Profiles of Moods States (POMS) and Subjective Vitality Scale (SVS). Results: In response to CAFF intake, improvements were noted in Wpeak (11.22 ± 0.65 vs 10.70 ± 0.84; p = 0.003; η2 p =0.44), Wavg (8.75 ± 0.55 vs 8.41 0.46; p = 0.001; η2 p =0.53) and time taken to reach Wpeak (7.56 ± 1.58 vs 9.11 ± 1.53; p < 0.001; η2 p =0.57) both in the elite and trained-recreational athletes. However, only the elite athletes showed significant increases in tension (+ 325%), vigor (+ 31%) and SVS (+ 28%) scores after the intake of CAFF compared to levels recorded under the condition PLAC (p < 0.05). Similarly, levels of vigor after consuming CAFF were significantly higher in the elite than the trained-recreational athletes (+ 5.8%). Conclusions: CAFF supplementation improved anaerobic performance in both the elite and recreational athletes. However, the ergogenic effect of CAFF on several mood dimensions and subjective vitality was greater in the elite athletes.post-print700 K

Chicken litter: A waste or a source of chemicals? Fast pyrolysis and hydrothermal conversion as alternatives in the valorisation of poultry waste

Poultry production is one of the main and fastest developing branches of the agri-food industry in the world. Chicken litter (ChL) is the most abundant waste from this industry and requires alternative treatments to help mitigate the environmental impacts of improper disposal. Fast pyrolysis and hydrothermal conversion are two recognized thermochemical approaches for the transformation of different types of biomasses, including agro-industrial waste. Fast pyrolysis takes place at atmospheric pressure or under vacuum at moderate to high temperatures (400–800 °C) in the absence of oxygen and requires drying of the feedstock, whereas hydrothermal conversion is a low temperature (180–300 °C) and high pressure (up to 30 MPa) process that takes place in liquid water and particularly suited for moist materials. In this work, we present experimental results that provide a comparison of bio-oils produced by fast pyrolysis and hydrothermal conversion of ChL. In addition, the composition of the pyrolytic oils from ChL is compared with the data obtained from rice husk (the main component of ChL), studied previously. Fast pyrolysis experiments were carried out in a bed reactor at temperatures ranging from 400° to 700°C and at two reaction times of 20- and 40-min. Phenols and other oxygenated compounds were the main families of chemicals present in the bio-oils. Among oxygenated derivatives, fatty acids were predominant. Hydrothermal conversion experiments were performed between 220 and 240 °C for 20- and 40- min and the oil fraction was obtained by evaporation of water from the reaction mixture followed by freeze-drying. These bioliquids were found to be concentrated in fatty acids, especially palmitic acid.EEA Concepción del UruguayFil: Pachón Gómez, Erica M. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Química Orgánica. Instituto de Investigaciones en Fisicoquímica de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Pachón Gómez, Erica M. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Fisicoquímica de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Domínguez, Rodrigo E. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Química Orgánica. Instituto de Investigaciones en Fisicoquímica de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Domínguez, Rodrigo E. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Fisicoquímica de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: López, Débora A. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Química Orgánica. Instituto de Investigaciones en Fisicoquímica de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: López, Débora A. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Fisicoquímica de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Téllez, Jhoan F. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Química Orgánica. Instituto de Investigaciones en Fisicoquímica de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Téllez, Jhoan F. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Fisicoquímica. Instituto de Investigaciones en Fisicoquímica de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Téllez, Jhoan F. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Fisicoquímica de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Marino, Marcos D. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Química Orgánica. Instituto de Investigaciones en Fisicoquímica de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Marino, Marcos D. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Fisicoquímica de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Almada, Natalia Soledad. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Concepción del Uruguay; Argentina.Fil: Gange, Juan Martí­n. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Concepción del Uruguay; ArgentinaFil: Moyano, E. Laura. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Química Orgánica. Instituto de Investigaciones en Fisicoquímica de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Moyano, E. Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Fisicoquímica de Córdoba; Argentin

Exploiting distant homologues for phasing through the generation of compact fragments, local fold refinement and partial solution combination.

Macromolecular structures can be solved by molecular replacement provided that suitable search models are available. Models from distant homologues may deviate too much from the target structure to succeed, notwithstanding an overall similar fold or even their featuring areas of very close geometry. Successful methods to make the most of such templates usually rely on the degree of conservation to select and improve search models. ARCIMBOLDO_SHREDDER uses fragments derived from distant homologues in a brute-force approach driven by the experimental data, instead of by sequence similarity. The new algorithms implemented in ARCIMBOLDO_SHREDDER are described in detail, illustrating its characteristic aspects in the solution of new and test structures. In an advance from the previously published algorithm, which was based on omitting or extracting contiguous polypeptide spans, model generation now uses three-dimensional volumes respecting structural units. The optimal fragment size is estimated from the expected log-likelihood gain (LLG) values computed assuming that a substructure can be found with a level of accuracy near that required for successful extension of the structure, typically below 0.6 Å root-mean-square deviation (r.m.s.d.) from the target. Better sampling is attempted through model trimming or decomposition into rigid groups and optimization through Phaser's gyre refinement. Also, after model translation, packing filtering and refinement, models are either disassembled into predetermined rigid groups and refined (gimble refinement) or Phaser's LLG-guided pruning is used to trim the model of residues that are not contributing signal to the LLG at the target r.m.s.d. value. Phase combination among consistent partial solutions is performed in reciprocal space with ALIXE. Finally, density modification and main-chain autotracing in SHELXE serve to expand to the full structure and identify successful solutions. The performance on test data and the solution of new structures are described

Mechanical and electromagnetic design of the vacuum vessel of the SMART tokamak

The SMall Aspect Ratio Tokamak (SMART) is a new spherical device that is currently being designed at the University of Seville. SMART is a compact machine with a plasma major radius (R) greater than 0.4 m, plasma minor radius (a) greater than 0.2 m, an aspect ratio (A) over than 1.7 and an elongation (k) of more than 2. It will be equipped with 4 poloidal field coils, 4 divertor field coils, 12 toroidal field coils and a central solenoid. The heating system comprises of a Neutral Beam Injector (NBI) of 600 kW and an Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH) of 6 kW for pre-ionization. SMART has been designed for a plasma current (I) of 500 kA, a toroidal magnetic field (B) of 1 T and a pulse length of 500 ms preserving the compactness of the machine. The free boundary equilibrium solver code FIESTA [1] coupled to the linear time independent, rigid plasma model RZIP [2] has been used to calculate the target equilibria taking into account the physics goals, the required plasma parameters, vacuum vessel structures and power supply requirements. We present here the final design of the SMART vacuum vessel together with the Finite Element Model (FEM) analysis carried out to ensure that the tokamak vessel provides high quality vacuum and plasma performance withstanding the electromagnetic j×B loads caused by the interaction between the eddy currents induced in the vessel itself and the surrounding magnetic fields. A parametric model has been set up for the topological optimization of the vessel where the thickness of the wall has been locally adapted to the expected forces. An overview of the new machine is presented here.This work received funding from the Fondo Europeo de Desarollo Regional (FEDER) by the European Commission under grant agreement numbers IE17-5670 and US-15570. This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 and 2019-2020 under grant agreement No 633053. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission

The funerary phenomenon in the Cantabrian Iron Age. A new ritual space in the necropolis of Monte Bernorio (excavations from 2007 and 2008)

La necrópolis del oppidum de Monte Bernorio fue uno de los primeros cementerios de la Edad del Hierro excavados en España. No obstante, la atención a los excepcionales materiales metálicos descubiertos en ella, unido a la escasez de restos relacionados con los rituales, ha impedido conocer hasta este momento qué tipo de ceremonias funerarias se desarrollaron en ella. En este trabajo se presentan los diversos estudios y análisis realizados sobre las evidencias recuperadas en las excavaciones de las campañas de 2007 y 2008, así como los resultados obtenidos y las interpretaciones que de estos hemos realizado. El resultado es la identificación de un tipo de ritual que invisibiliza los restos y que implica un uso diferente de los espacios funerarios.The necropolis of the oppidum of Monte Bernorio was one of the first Iron Age cemeteries excavated in Spain. However, the focus of previous studies on the exceptional metal objects discovered, plus the scarcity of human remains, prevented us from establishing the type of funerary ceremonies that took place at the site. This work presents the interpretation of the outcome of the different studies and analyses made on the material evidence recovered during the excavations carried out in 2007 and 2008. As a result, a funerary ritual that obscures the presence of human remains and implies an different use of funerary spaces has been identified

Abundance, movements and biodiversity of flying predatory insects in crop and non-crop agroecosystems

[EN] Predatory insects are key natural enemies that can highly reduce crops pest damage. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the movements of flying predatory insects in agroecosystems throughout the year. In particular, it is still unclear how these predators move from crop to non-crop habitats, which are the preferred habitats to overwinter and to spread during the spring and if these predators leave or stay after chemical treatments. Here, the Neuroptera, a generalist, highly mobile, flying predator order of insects, was selected as model. We studied the effects of farming management and the efficiency of edge shelterbelts, ground cover vegetation, and fruit trees canopy on holding flying predatory insects in Mediterranean traditional agroecosystems. Seasonal movements and winter effects were also assessed. We evaluated monthly nine fruit agroecosystems, six organic, and three pesticides sprayed, of 0.5-1 ha in eastern Spain during 3 years using two complementary methods, yellow sticky traps and aspirator. Results show surprisingly that the insect abundance was highest in pesticide sprayed systems, with 3.40 insects/sample versus 2.32 insects/sample in organic systems. The biodiversity indices were highest in agroecosystems conducted under organic management, with S of 4.68 and D of 2.34. Shelterbelts showed highest biodiversity indices, S of 3.27 and D of 1.93, among insect habitats. Insect species whose adults were active during the winter preferred fruit trees to spend all year round. However, numerous species moved from fruit trees to shelterbelts to overwinter and dispersed into the orchard during the following spring. The ground cover vegetation showed statistically much lower attractiveness for flying predatory insects than other habitats. 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