Differing Processing Abilities for Specific Face Properties in Mid-Childhood and Adulthood

The ability to process facial information is vital for social interactions. Previous research has shown that mature face processing depends on the extraction of featural and configural face information. It has been also shown that the acquisition of these processing skills is prolonged in children. The order in which different face properties are processed is currently less understood. Namely, while some research has supported a parallel-route model which groups different properties according to their variability, other studies have shown that specific invariant properties, such as facial identity, can serve as a reference frame for interpreting more dynamic aspects, such as facial expression or eye gaze direction. The current study tested a different approach, which proposes that face property processing varies with task requirements. Sixteen adults did a same-different task where the second face could differ from the first in the identity, expression, or gaze, or any combination of those. We found that reaction times increased and accuracy rates decreased when the identity was repeated, suggesting that changes in facial identity were the most salient ones. Finally, we tested two groups of 7-to 8- and 10- to 11-year-old children and found lower accuracy rates for those face properties that rely in particular on configural information processing strategies. This suggests that while overall, face processing strategies are adult-like from 7 years of age, the processing of specific face properties develops continuously throughout mid-childhood

Do Antibiotics in Early Life Contribute to Obesity?

In recent years, science has made great strides in its understanding of the microbiome, discovering that it plays a role in regulating many body processes. One area of study is the microbiomes interaction and influence on host metabolic processes. Studies using both mice and humans have established a clear correlation between obesity and the composition of the microbiome, identifying a microbiome unique to obese individuals. Furthermore, experiments with germ-free mice have shown that the microbiome effects host metabolism, causing germ free mice to increase in mass when inoculated with normal microbiota. Inoculation with microbiota from obese mice yielded greater increases in mass, showing the obesogenic effect of the microbiota. The mechanisms through which the microbiome can contribute to obesity are enhanced extraction of energy from food, and increased capacity for nutrient uptake in the gut, and alteration of metabolic pathways by suppressing fasting induced adipose factor and decreasing AMPK activity. Many of these pathways show increased activity in obese mice. The enhanced energy extraction coupled with greater deposition of fat mediated by altered metabolic pathways can contribute to obesity. The role of the microbiota in obesity, combined with decades-old observations that antibiotics, particularly early in life, increased the weight of livestock, led to a hypothesis that antibiotics can disrupt the development of the microbiome, causing metabolic changes, leading to obesity. Recently, this hypothesis has been tested, both in studies utilizing mice, and in many epidemiological studies. This paper will evaluate the available evidence to determine if exposure to antibiotics early in life can lead to increased incidence of obesity later

CP violation and FCNC in a warped A4 flavor model

We recently proposed a spontaneous A4 flavor symmetry breaking scheme implemented in a warped extra dimensional setup to explain the observed pattern of quark and lepton masses and mixings. The quark mixing is induced by bulk A4 flavons mediating "cross-brane" interactions and a "cross-talk" between the quark and neutrino sectors. In this work we explore the phenomenology of RS-A4 and systematically obtain bounds on the Kaluza-Klein (KK) mass scale implied by flavor changing neutral current (FCNC) processes. In particular, we study the constraints arising from Re(\epsilon'/\epsilon_K), b->s\gamma, the neutron EDM and Higgs mediated FCNCs, while the tree level contribution to \epsilon_K through a KK gluon exchange vanishes. We find an overall lower bound on the Kaluza-Klein mass scale M_{KK} > 1.3 TeV from FCNCs, induced by b->s\gamma, differently from flavor anarchic models. This bound is still weaker than the bound M_{KK} > 4.6 TeV induced by Zb_L\bar{b}_L in RS-A4. The little CP problem, related to the largely enhanced new physics contributions to the neutron EDM in flavor anarchic models, is absent. The subtleties of having the Higgs and flavons in the bulk are taken into account and final predictions are derived in the complete three-generation case.Comment: 53 pages, 7 figure

Predicting learning and achievement using GABA and glutamate concentrations in human development

Previous research has highlighted the role of glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in learning and plasticity. What is currently unknown is how this knowledge translates to real-life complex cognitive abilities that emerge slowly and how the link between these neurotransmitters and human learning and plasticity is shaped by development. While some have suggested a generic role of glutamate and GABA in learning and plasticity, others have hypothesized that their involvement shapes sensitive periods during development. Here we used a cross-sectional longitudinal design with 255 individuals (spanning primary school to university) to show that glutamate and GABA in the intraparietal sulcus explain unique variance both in current and future mathematical achievement (approximately 1.5 years). Furthermore, our findings reveal a dynamic and dissociable role of GABA and glutamate in predicting learning, which is reversed during development, and therefore provide novel implications for models of learning and plasticity during childhood and adulthood

Food consumption in school-age children : a new web-based recall for dietary assessment in Portugal

Tese de doutoramento, Doenças Metabólicas e Comportamento Alimentar (Ciências e Tecnologias da Saúde) (Nutrição), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Medicina, 2016Accurate dietary assessment is critical for monitoring the nutritional status of children, examining associations between diet and health, and identifying dietary intake patterns and eating behaviours. The study of diets of children poses methodological problems relating to the accuracy of assessment. The 24-hour Dietary Recall (24-h DR) is among the most accurate methods to estimate total energy and nutrient intakes in school-age children. Traditional 24-h DR is expensive and impractical for large-scale studies. The application of technology to automate the more accurate 24-h DR is being conducted in multiple countries across the world, making them less expensive and easier to use. The objective of this study is to develop, validate and test a new web-based recall for dietary assessment in Portuguese school-age children: the Portuguese self-administered computerised 24-h DR (PAC24). The PAC24 is a self-administered web-based 24-h DR based on multiple pass method directed to second-, third- or fourth-grade Portuguese children (7-10 years old). In PAC24, children are first questioned about food and drink consumption on the previous day. Food entry is done via free text search, supported by a spell check application. For the majority of foods, amount consumed is estimated by selecting the closest portion size, served and leftover, if any, among seven different digital images. Data about time, place, television watching and computer use are assigned to each eating occasion. The food composition code and weight (g or mL) of selected items are automatically allocated and stored. A database of 380 food items is available. Food, energy and nutrient information is linked to a database that contains essentially information about Portuguese food composition table. The development of PAC24 was based on literature review, 21 focus groups (FG) developed in seven primary schools of the seven main regions of Portugal and input from national and international researchers with experience in computer-dietary assessment among children. A prototype of PAC24 was tested and its content was validated through an expert meeting. Accuracy was determined by comparison of PAC24 with lunch observations (‘gold standard’) in two schools in Lisbon and Tagus Valley (LTV) region. A pilot study was conducted to check the feasibility of PAC24 with respect to procedures, methods and data processing in one primary school in LTV region on two non-consecutive days with 15 days apart. The food consumption, particularly total energy and nutrient (protein, total fat, carbohydrate, fibre, calcium, sodium, potassium) intakes were studied. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to compare the food consumption between the first and second measurement occasion. A p-value 0.05). In summary, PAC24 is a cost-effective, intuitive and an engaging method for Portuguese school-age children. The PAC24 could be used to estimate dietary intake on a group level, accurately. This method will provide useful information for epidemiological studies on the links between diet and health and contribute to the improvement of public health policies at national level

Location of Emergency Treatment Sites after Earthquake using Hybrid Simulation

A mass-casualty natural disaster such as an earthquake is a rare, surprising event that is usually characterized by chaos and a lack of information, resulting in an overload of casualties in hospitals. Thus, it is very important to refer minor and moderately-injured casualties, that are the majority of casualties and whose injuries are usually not life threatening, to ad hoc care facilities such as Emergency Treatment Sites (ETSs). These facilities support the efficient use of health resources and reduce the burden on permanent healthcare facilities. In our study, a hybrid simulation model, based on a combination of discrete events and an agent-based simulation, provides a solution to the uncertainty of positioning temporary treatment sites. The simulation methodology used compares between "rigid" and "flexible" operating concepts of ETSs (main vs. main+minor ETSs) and found the "flexible" concept to be more efficient in terms of the average walking distance and number of casualties treated in the disaster area

Automatic and Intentional Number Processing Both Rely on Intact Right Parietal Cortex: A Combined fMRI and Neuronavigated TMS Study

Practice and training usually lead to performance increase in a given task. In addition, a shift from intentional toward more automatic processing mechanisms is often observed. It is currently debated whether automatic and intentional processing is subserved by the same or by different mechanism(s), and whether the same or different regions in the brain are recruited. Previous correlational evidence provided by behavioral, neuroimaging, modeling, and neuropsychological studies addressing this question yielded conflicting results. Here we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to compare the causal influence of disrupting either left or right parietal cortex during automatic and intentional numerical processing, as reflected by the size congruity effect and the numerical distance effect, respectively. We found a functional hemispheric asymmetry within parietal cortex with only the TMS-induced right parietal disruption impairing both automatic and intentional numerical processing. In contrast, disrupting the left parietal lobe with TMS, or applying sham stimulation, did not affect performance during automatic or intentional numerical processing. The current results provide causal evidence for the functional relevance of right, but not left, parietal cortex for intentional, and automatic numerical processing, implying that at least within the parietal cortices, automatic, and intentional numerical processing rely on the same underlying hemispheric lateralization

Basic and advanced numerical performances relate to mathematical expertise but are fully mediated by visuospatial skills

Recent studies have highlighted the potential role of basic numerical processing in the acquisition of numerical and mathematical competences. However, it is debated whether high-level numerical skills and mathematics depends specifically on basic numerical representations. In this study mathematicians and nonmathematicians performed a basic number line task, which required mapping positive and negative numbers on a physical horizontal line, and has been shown to correlate with more advanced numerical abilities and mathematical achievement. We found that mathematicians were more accurate compared with nonmathematicians when mapping positive, but not negative numbers, which are considered numerical primitives and cultural artifacts, respectively. Moreover, performance on positive number mapping could predict whether one is a mathematician or not, and was mediated by more advanced mathematical skills. This finding might suggest a link between basic and advanced mathematical skills. However, when we included visuospatial skills, as measured by block design subtest, the mediation analysis revealed that the relation between the performance in the number line task and the group membership was explained by non-numerical visuospatial skills. These results demonstrate that relation between basic, even specific, numerical skills and advanced mathematical achievement can be artifactual and explained by visuospatial processing