Feedback in hypothesis testing: An ERP study

We used event-related potentials (ERPs) to probe the effects of feedback in a hypothesis testing (HT) paradigm. Thirteen college students serially tested hypotheses concerning a hidden rule by judging its presence or absence in triplets of digits and revised them on the basis of an exogenous performance feedback. ERPs time-locked to performance feedback were then examined. The results showed differences between responses to positive and negative feedback at all cortical sites. Negative feedback, indicating incorrect performance, was associated to a negative deflection preceding a P300-like wave. Spatiotemporal principal component analysis (PCA) showed the interplay between early frontal components and later central and posterior ones. Lateralization of activity was selectively detectable at frontal sites, with a left frontal dominance for both positive and negative feedback. These results are discussed in terms of a proposed computational model of trial-to-trial feedback in HT in which the cognitive and emotive aspects of feedback are explicitly linked to putative mediating brain mechanisms. The properties of different feedback types and feedback-related deficits in depression are also discussed

Epilessia e morbo di Wilson: discussione di un caso clinico e revisione della letteratura = Epilepsy and Wilson's disease: case report and literature review

We describe the case of a 26 years old patient, with neuro-psychiatric onset of Wilson's disease, who developed severe generalized dystonia, dysphagia and dysphonia, two weeks after introducing Penicillamine treatment. Brain MRI showed extensive damage of cerebral white matter and cortex in temporal lobes, basal ganglia, thalamus and brainsteam. Despite of treatment was shifted to Trientine and Zinc Acetate, there was not clinical improvement and a month later the patient presented a status epilepticus. In addition a new MRI showed an important extension of temporal lesions

DEVICE FOR REDUCING FAN-GENERATED NOISE

The present invention relates to a device (10) for reducing fan-generated noise, comprising: a plurality of grid elements (201, 902) identifying a main development plane, and empty portions (202) delimited by the grid elements (201, 902) and configured for the passage of an airflow through the device (10), wherein each of the grid elements (201, 902) comprises a respective inner cavity (501, 903) delimited by side walls, the side walls defining at least one tube opening (401) facing a respective one of the empty portions (202) and substantially orthogonal to the main development plane, the inner cavity (501, 903) being acoustic resonant for reducing the fan-generated noise. The device (10) has a substantially circular overall shape (101, 102, 103, 104) having a substantially circular outer edge (203), first grid elements (201) of the grid elements (201, 902) having their main direction of development aligned to the outer edge (203), the first grid elements (201) being tangentially arranged and aligned with each other on concentric circumferences in the substantially circular overall shape (101, 102, 103, 104)

ACOUSTIC ATTENUATION DEVICE FOR PROPAGATED SOUND THROUGH SURFACES

The present invention relates to un acoustic attenuation device (100) for propagated sound through surfaces. The acoustic attenuation device is of the layered type and comprises an innermost connection layer (101), adapted to associate the acoustic attenuation device (100) with at least one surface. The acoustic attenuation device (100) further comprises an intermediate layer (102), comprising a plurality of attenuation modules (103), each of which comprises at least one movable element (201) defined by at least one first opening (202), the at least one movable element (201) being adapted to vibrate relative to the at least one first opening (202) in a resonant manner when hit by the propagated sound, to attenuate the propagated sound by mechanical dissipation. The acoustic attenuation device (100) further comprises an outermost layer (104), comprising at least one closure surface (105) defining at least one cavity (301) facing the movable elements (201) and adapted to encapsulate the movable elements (201) of the attenuation modules (103) of the intermediate layer (102), to further attenuate the propagated sound by sound-absorbing effect