Context dependency as a Function of Prediction Error-Based Attention

Context dependence of information has been shown to be based, at least in part, on the attention contexts received at the time of training. Recent research suggests that attention to irrelevant contexts may be a byproduct of the activation of a general exploratory attentional mechanism prompted by high prediction errors associated with situations of uncertainty. Alternatively, low prediction errors may engage an attentional mechanism of exploitation in situations in which contexts play a relevant role. A selective review discusses the potential of this approach to explain context switch effects from an attentional perspective.The work and its presentation here were supported by Grants PSI2014-52263-C2-1-P and PSI2014-52263-C2-2-P from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Competitiveness

Roles of context in acquisition of human instrumental learning: Implications for the understanding of the mechanisms underlying context-switch effects

Four experiments in human instrumental learning explored the associations involving the context that develop after three trials of training on simple discriminations. Experiments 1 and 4 found a deleterious effect of switching the learning context that cannot be explained by the context-outcome binary associations commonly used to explain context-switch effects after short training in human predictive learning and in animal Pavlovian conditioning. Evidence for context-outcome (Experiment 2), context-discriminative stimulus (Experiment 3), and context-instrumental response (Experiment 4) binary associations was found within the same training paradigm, suggesting that contexts became associated with all the elements of the situation, regardless of whether those associations played a role in a specific context-switch effect detected on performance.This research was funded by Grants PSI2010-15215 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, and PSI2014-52263-C2-1-P from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness

Mechanisms of Contextual Control when Contexts are Informative to Solve the Task

An experiment was conducted using a human instrumental learning task with the goal of evaluating the mechanisms underlying the deleterious effect of context-switching on responding to an unambiguous stimulus when contexts are informative to solve the task. Participants were trained in a context-based reversal discrimination in which two discriminative stimuli (X and Y) interchange their meaning across contexts A and B. In context A, discriminative stimulus Z consistently announced that the relationship between a specific instrumental response (R1) and a specific outcome (O1) was in effect. Performance in the presence of stimulus Z was equally deteriorated when the test was conducted outside the training context, regardless of whether the test context was familiar (context B) or new (context C). This result is consistent with the idea that participants code all the information presented in an informative context as context-specific with the context playing a role akin to an occasion setter

Context–outcome associations mediate context-switch effects in a human predictive learning task

Four experiments explored the role of contexts in information retrieval after different levels of acquisition training in human predictive learning. Participants were trained where cue (X) was followed by an outcome in context A while a different cue (Y) was followed by the absence of the outcome in context B. When 4 training trials with each cue were conducted, testing the stimuli in the alternative contexts decreased predictive judgments to X and increased predictive judgments to Y. These effects disappeared both when training was increased up to 18 trials (Experiments 1a and 1b), and when the outcome was presented in both contexts A and B (Experiments 2 and 4). When the outcome was presented in both contexts, the nonreinforced cue Y, trained in the presumably excitatory context B, became a conditioned inhibitor (Experiment 3). Additional experience with one of the contexts, but not with both, made the context-switch effect reappear (Experiment 4). These results suggest that irrelevant contexts may enter into direct associations with the outcome before prolonged training leads participants to discard them as predictors

Context switch effects and Context Experience in Rats’ Conditioned Taste Aversion

Context specificity of rats’ conditioned taste aversion as a function of context experience was assessed in two experiments. Rats received a single pairing between a flavor X and a LiCl injection in a distinctive context (context A) being subsequently tested either in the same context or in a different but equally familiar context (context B). Experiment 1 found that the context change attenuated aversion to X when contexts were new at the time of conditioning. No effect of context change was found when rats had experience with the contexts before conditioning. Experiment 2 found that consumption was lower in the context of conditioning than in the alternative context, regardless of whether the stimulus was conditioned or not, suggesting that contexts exert their control through direct context-outcome associations in this situation

Aplicaciones eléctricas del acrilonitrilo butadieno estireno (ABS) reforzado con neumáticos fuera de uso (GTR)

La masiva fabricación de neumáticos, así como su posterior almacenamiento una vez utilizados, constituye un grave problema medioambiental al que se intenta dar salida de diversas formas, entre las que se encuentra el mezclar estos neumáticos fuera de uso (old used tires, GTR) con diferentes polímeros termoplásticos y termoestables. Estas mezclas se realizan variando el tratamiento previo al que se somete el GTR, el grado de desvulcanizado, las condiciones de mezcla o prensado, etc. Posteriormente, se analizan estas mezclas estructural y mecanicamente, buscando posibles aplicaciones industriales para ellas. El presente trabajo, pretende conseguir materiales aptos para la industria eléctrica a partir de la mezcal del Acrilonitrilo butadieno estireno (ABS) reutilizado con neumáticos fuera de uso (GTR), pero partiendo del requisito de unos mínimos costes de reciclado posibles, es decir, utilizando GTR vulcanizado y sin aplicar ningún pretratamiento previo, y en cambio, actuando sobre el tamaño de sus partículas, el cual se puede conseguir con un simple y economico tamizado. Otra novedad que introduce el presente estudio, es el elevado número de compuestos analizados, aparte del profundo analisis a los que se les ha sometido (dieléctrico, mecánico, térmico y de microestructura), obteniendose de cada ensayo una gran cantidad de variables. Los compuestos se obtuvieron tomando como variables los tres tamaños de particula del GTR (p<200μm, 200<p<500μm, y p>500μm), y las siete concentraciones de GTR en la mezcla (0%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 40%, 50% y70%), lo que representa, un total de 21 nuevos compuestos. Aparte, para que los ensayos dieléctricos fueran lo más exhaustivos posibles y mostraran el comportamiento del compuesto en condiciones muy diversas, se consideró un amplio régimen de temperaturas (30ºC hasta 120ºC) así como de frecuencias (1・10  -2 Hz hasta 3・106 Hz). Todos estos datos, han permitido caracterizar con bastante exactitud las propiedades de los nuevos compuestos, y dependiendo de estos resultados, se han buscado posibles aplicaciones eléctricas, con el requisito de que estas debían ajustarse a las Normativas Oficiales

Brain Interconnections

The interaction brain-machine is now an indissoluble fact. The repercussions this fact will have in future are presently unimaginable. As mentioned in [1] the nerve axon can now be modeled by a cable or a planar high speed interconnection, no matter what kind of interconnection will be used.  The brain development is clearly shown in a stupendous book of the SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE treating the brain and the nervous system. An extraction of the brain development chapter is here included to show the relationship among the physiological brain connections [2] and the high speed electrical connections [1]. On the other hand, because of the massive volume of information storage now a day the synchronization clock speeds are all in the range of GHz almost reaching the THz. At these very high frequencies the behavior of the interconnects are more like that of a transmission line, and hence distortion, delay, and phase shift-effects caused by phenomena like cross talk, ringing, and overshoot are present and may be undesirable for the performance of a circuit or system. Thus, the interconnects do not have to be considered like simple conductors or lumped elements. All this gives rise to a new emerging discipline known as signal integrity. This discipline is extremely important to maintain the signal quality on microstrip circuits [3]. In this discipline the correct timing and signal quality preservation preventing transients and false switching are studied in order to avoid excessive delays

The state of transfer of stimulus control after extinction in human instrumental conditioning: A key factor in therapy strategies based in nonhuman animal research

Link to data in OSF: https://osf.io/pbuxj/Previous research has shown that instrumental training can encourage the formation of binary associations between the representations of the elements present at the time of learning, that is, between the discriminative stimulus and the instrumental response (the S–R association), between the stimulus and outcome (the S–O association), and between the response and outcome (the R–O association). Studies with rats have used transfer procedures to explore the effects of discriminative extinction (i.e., extinction that is carried out in the presence of the discriminative stimuli) on these three binary associations. Thus, a reduction in the response rate of the extinguished response (R) can be detected in situations involving a different discriminative stimulus that was associated with the same outcome, and to unextinguished responses controlled by the discriminative stimulus (S) and associated with the outcome (O). These transfer effects suggest that R-O and S-O associations remain active after extinction in non-human animals. We carried out an experiment to explore these post-extinction transfer effects in humans using a within-subject design. Contrary to non-human reports, the S-O association was affected by discriminative extinction, suggesting differences in the associative structure of instrumental conditioning in human and nonhuman animals that should be considered by those therapeutic strategies based in nonhuman animal research aimed to reduce unhealthy instrumental behaviors in human beings.Research was made possible by Grants PGC2018-097769-B-C22 and RTI2018-096700-J-I00 from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities and European Regional Development Fund (FEDER)

UAS architecture for forest fire remote sensing

This paper presents the hardware/software architecture of the Sky-Eye UAS prototype. In particular it details the hardware of the prototype, its operational concept and the software avionics architecture. The software architecture is named UAS Service Abstraction Layer (USAL) and consists on the set of standard services required for most UAS missions. The USAL is a distributed architecture which follows the publish / subscribe communication paradigm, allowing fast development of new functionalities. We describe the USAL services required to properly manage the remote sensing mission of hot spot detection. This includes the sensor management, data storage, communications, image processing, flight plan management and mission management.Postprint (published version

Características dieléctricas de diversos polímeros (PVC, EVA, HDPE, y PP) reforzados con neumáticos fuera de uso (GTR)

La masiva fabricación de neumáticos y la dificultad para su almacenamiento o eliminación constituye un grave problema medioambiental. En la actualidad, se utilizan diversos metodos para el reciclaje de los neumáticos, como por ejemplo la trituración mecánica, que separa el caucho vulcanizado del acero y las fibras, utilizandose este caucho en numerosas aplicaciones industriales como pavimentos, aislantes, calzados, etc. El presente artículo se centra en buscar una nueva aplicación para estos neumáaticos reutilizados (GTR), y para ello, se ha mezclado el polvo de los neumáticos con diferentes polímeros termoplásticos como son el Policloruro de Vinilo (PVC), el Polietileno de Alta Densidad (HDPE), el Etileno Acetato de Vinilo (EVA) y el Polipropileno (PP), comprobando hasta que valores de concentracion en GTR admitenestos nuevos compuestos manteniendo dentro de unos valores aceptables sus propiedades dielectricas, y por tanto, sus posibles aplicaciones industriales en la fabricación de aislantes para cables eléctricos. Concretamente, el polvo de los neumáticos reutilizados y con un tamaño de partícula inferior a 200 μm, ha sido mezclado con los polímeros con cuatro concentraciones diferentes, 5%, 10%, 20% y 50% en GTR para asi determinar su comportamiento mediante los ensayos dieléctricos realizados en un rango de temperaturas que varia desde los 30oC hasta los 120oC, y con unas frecuencias entre 1・10  -2 Hz, hasta 3・10  6Hz, analizandose la conductividad, la permitividad, el factor de perdidas dieléctricas, las relajaciones, etc. Finalmente, las superficies de fractura de las muestras compuestas han sido evaluadas por microscopía electronicade barrido (SEM)