Mimicking a robot: Facial EMG in response to emotional robotic facial expressions

Humans tend to anthropomorphize i.e., to attribute human-like characteristics (e.g. motivations, intentions, emotions) to non-humans. This suggests that we can interact with non-humans (televisions, computers, robots) in a similar way we interact with humans. Robots, in particular, have physical presence and can be programmed to display social interaction capabilities, i.e. to be social robots, amplifying those similarities. Past studies have shown that social robots in negative situations tend to elicit strong emotional responses and empathy in humans. However, it remains to be tested whether empathy can be felt towards a social robot, set in a situation of positive social interaction. We proposed that facial mimicry, one indicator of empathy, may occur towards a robot in a positive social context, i.e. while the robot is playing a board game with human opponents. Fifty-nine participants (46 females), aged 17 to 27 years (M=19.56, SD=2.11) were exposed to videos of a robotic head (EMYS, the EMotive headY System), previously programmed to display six emotional expressions (joy, surprise, anger, disgust, fear, sadness) and a neutral expression, while playing a board game. EMYS’s facial expressions were shown in two blocks: in the first, no social context was provided and sound was omitted; in the second, a positive social context was provided, which included sound of verbal interaction with humans. In each block, 14 videos were randomly presented. Facial electromyography (fEMG) activity, in response to EMYS’s facial expressions, was measured over the corrugator supercilii and zygomaticus major muscles. fEMG responses were calculated as difference from stimulus presentation to 1 sec baseline. Changes in fEMG reactivity, between conditions, were analyzed comparing fEMG responses to robotic emotional expressions with responses to robotic neutral expressions. In the positive social context condition, results revealed an overall reduction of corrugator supercilii reactivity for the majority of negative emotional expressions (except anger). There was also a significant reduction of the zygomaticus major activity to surprise, compared to neutral, in the positive social context. Overall, our results suggest the important role of the social context in our physiological responses to a robot, and more specifically a reduction of emotional negativity to non-threatening robotic facial expressions, displayed in a positive social context.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Zebrafish as a disease model for studying human Rett Syndrome

Background: Rett syndrome (RTT) is a severe neurological disorder that affects almost exclusively females. This disease is characterized by normal growth and intellectual development until around the first year, then progression in development starts to slow down, with loss of purposeful use of the hands, distinctive hand movements, slowed brain and head growth, problems with walking, seizures, and intellectual disability. Mutations in the X-linked genes methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2) and cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 (CDKL5) were described in RTT and recently several bone diseases related with decreased bone mass were also described in those patients, starting early in life. Because zebrafish was largely validated as a model for human diseases, the main objective of this work was to investigate if zebrafish can be a good model to study RTT

Educação Infantil nos EUA: a oferta pré-escolar no Distrito Educacional Unificado de Los Angeles em foco

This article analyzes educational offerings for four-year-old in the Los Angeles Unified School District in the United States between 2013 and 2018. The available data on official websites of different levels of government and research institutes across the United States, have shown that the majority of offerings for this age group in the district are provided in elementary schools through the programs California State Preschool program e Transitional Kindergarten. During the period studied, there was a significant growth of charter schools for this level of education, resulting in the growth of this service also in early childhood education and configuring the expansion of the privatization of education via public subsidy to privately managed schools in this educational district, resources such as increased with the inclusion and accounting of such children. From a more general point of view, the absence of a federal policy to universalize access to early childhood education has been identified, which generates inequalities in access to this right.Este artículo analiza la oferta educativa para niños de cuatro años en el Distrito Educativo Unificado de Los Ángeles, en Estados Unidos, entre 2013 y 2018. Con base en datos disponibles en sitios web oficiales de diferentes niveles de gobiernos y institutos de investigación estadounidense, se descubrió que la mayoría de la oferta para este grupo de edad en Los Ángeles son en las escuelas primarias a través de los programas California State Preschool program e Transitional Kindergarten. Durante el período estudiado, hubo un crecimiento significativo de escuelas charter para este nivel de educación, resultando en el crecimiento de este servicio también en educación infantil y configurando la expansión de la privatización de la educación vía subsidio público a escuelas de gestión privada en este ámbito educativo, recursos que se incrementaron con la inclusión y contabilidad de estos niños. Desde un punto de vista más general, se identificó la ausencia de una política federal para universalizar el acceso a la educación infantil, lo que genera desigualdades en el acceso a este derecho.O presente artigo analisa o atendimento educacional para crianças de quatro anos no Distrito Educacional Unificado de Los Angeles, nos Estados Unidos, entre 2013 e 2018.  A partir de consulta a dados disponíveis em sites oficiais dos diferentes níveis de governos e de institutos de pesquisas estadunidenses, constatou-se que a maior parte das vagas para essa idade em Los Angeles é oferecida em escolas elementares por meio dos programas California State Preschool program e Transitional Kindergarten. Durante o período estudado, houve um crescimento significativo das escolas charter para esse nível de ensino, redundando no crescimento desse atendimento também na educação infantil e configurando a ampliação da privatização da educação via subsídio público a escolas de gestão privada no distrito educacional analisado, recursos esses aumentados com a inclusão e contabilização de tais crianças. Do ponto de vista mais geral, identificou-se a ausência de política federal de universalização do acesso à educação infantil, o que gera desigualdades no acesso a este direito

mef2ca and mef2cb Double mutant Zebrafish show altered craniofacial phenotype and motor behaviour

The transcription factor MEF2C is crucial in neuronal, cardiac, bone and cartilage molecular processes, as well as for craniofacial development. MEF2C was associated with the human disease MRD20, whose patients show abnormal neuronal and craniofacial development. Zebrafish mef2ca;mef2cb double mutants were analysed for abnormalities in craniofacial and behaviour development through phenotypic analysis. Quantitative PCR was performed to investigate the expression levels of neuronal marker genes in mutant larvae. The motor behaviour was analysed by the swimming activity of 6 dpf larvae. We found that mef2ca;mef2cb double mutants display several abnormal phenotypes during early development, including those already described in zebrafish carrying mutations in each paralog, but also (i) a severe craniofacial phenotype (comprising both cartilaginous and dermal bone structures), (ii) developmental arrest due to the disruption of cardiac oedema and (iii) clear alterations in behaviour. We demonstrate that the defects observed in zebrafish mef2ca;mef2cb double mutants are similar to those previously described in MEF2C-null mice and MRD20 patients, confirming the usefulness of these mutant lines as a model for studies concerning MRD20 disease, the identification of new therapeutic targets and screening for possible rescue strategies.LA/P/0101/2020info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

FlowDiv: A new pipeline for analyzing flow cytometric diversity

Background: Flow cytometry (FCM) is one of the most commonly used technologies for analysis of numerous biological systems at the cellular level, from cancer cells to microbial communities. Its high potential and wide applicability led to the development of various analytical protocols, which are often not interchangeable between fields of expertise. Environmental science in particular faces difficulty in adapting to non-specific protocols, mainly because of the highly heterogeneous nature of environmental samples. This variety, although it is intrinsic to environmental studies, makes it difficult to adjust analytical protocols to maintain both mathematical formalism and comprehensible biological interpretations, principally for questions that rely on the evaluation of differences between cytograms, an approach also termed cytometric diversity. Despite the availability of promising bioinformatic tools conceived for or adapted to cytometric diversity, most of them still cannot deal with common technical issues such as the integration of differently acquired datasets, the optimal number of bins, and the effective correlation of bins to previously known cytometric populations. Results: To address these and other questions, we have developed flowDiv, an R language pipeline for analysis of environmental flow cytometry data. Here, we present the rationale for flowDiv and apply the method to a real dataset from 31 freshwater lakes in Patagonia, Argentina, to reveal significant aspects of their cytometric diversities. Conclusions: flowDiv provides a rather intuitive way of proceeding with FCM analysis, as it combines formal mathematical solutions and biological rationales in an intuitive framework specifically designed to explore cytometric diversity.Fil: Wanderley, Bruno M. S.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte; BrasilFil: Araújo, Daniel S.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte; BrasilFil: Quiroga, María Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas "Dr. Raúl Alfonsín" (sede Chascomús). Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas "Dr. Raúl Alfonsín" (sede Chascomús); ArgentinaFil: Amado, André M.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte; Brasil. Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora; BrasilFil: Neto, Adrião D. D.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte; BrasilFil: Sarmento, Hugo. Universidade Federal do São Carlos; BrasilFil: Metz, Sebastián Darío. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas "Dr. Raúl Alfonsín" (sede Chascomús). Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas "Dr. Raúl Alfonsín" (sede Chascomús); ArgentinaFil: Unrein, Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas "Dr. Raúl Alfonsín" (sede Chascomús). Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas "Dr. Raúl Alfonsín" (sede Chascomús); Argentin

Synaptic Homeostasis and Restructuring across the Sleep-Wake Cycle

Sleep is critical for hippocampus-dependent memory consolidation. However, the underlying mechanisms of synaptic plasticity are poorly understood. The central controversy is on whether long-term potentiation (LTP) takes a role during sleep and which would be its specific effect on memory. To address this question, we used immunohistochemistry to measure phosphorylation of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (pCaMKIIα) in the rat hippocampus immediately after specific sleep-wake states were interrupted. Control animals not exposed to novel objects during waking (WK) showed stable pCaMKIIα levels across the sleep-wake cycle, but animals exposed to novel objects showed a decrease during subsequent slow-wave sleep (SWS) followed by a rebound during rapid-eye-movement sleep (REM). The levels of pCaMKIIα during REM were proportional to cortical spindles near SWS/REM transitions. Based on these results, we modeled sleep-dependent LTP on a network of fully connected excitatory neurons fed with spikes recorded from the rat hippocampus across WK, SWS and REM. Sleep without LTP orderly rescaled synaptic weights to a narrow range of intermediate values. In contrast, LTP triggered near the SWS/REM transition led to marked swaps in synaptic weight ranking. To better understand the interaction between rescaling and restructuring during sleep, we implemented synaptic homeostasis and embossing in a detailed hippocampal-cortical model with both excitatory and inhibitory neurons. Synaptic homeostasis was implemented by weakening potentiation and strengthening depression, while synaptic embossing was simulated by evoking LTP on selected synapses. We observed that synaptic homeostasis facilitates controlled synaptic restructuring. The results imply a mechanism for a cognitive synergy between SWS and REM, and suggest that LTP at the SWS/REM transition critically influences the effect of sleep: Its lack determines synaptic homeostasis, its presence causes synaptic restructuring.: Support obtained from Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (http://www.finep.gov.br/) Grant # 01.06.1092.00 to SR; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (http:// www.cnpq.br/): Grants 481506/2007-1, 481351/2011- 6 and 306604/2012-4 to SR, Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (http://www.capes.gov.br/) and Ciencias sem Fronteiras (http://www.cienciasemfronteiras.gov.br/ web/csf/home) to AT and CRC; Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Rio Grande do Norte (http://wwwfapern.rn.gov.br/): Grant Pronem 003/2011 to SR; Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (http://www.fapesp.br/): Grant #2013/ 07699-0 - Center for Neuromathematics to SR; CMP and VRC supported by post-doctoral fellowships from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Rio Grande do Norte /CNPq. Additional support obtained from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (www.ufrn. br); Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (http://www.mcti.gov.br/); Associação Alberto Santos Dumont de Apoio à Pesquisa (http://natalneuro.com/ associacao/index.asp); Pew Latin American Fellows Program (http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/projects/pewlatin-american-fellows/) to SR; Informatics Department of the Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte (http:// portal.ifrn.edu.br/) to WB. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscrip

La gestion démocratique des écoles: de l´autogouvernement à l’émergence d’une post-démocratie gestionnaire?

O autor assinala três elementos básicos que têm sido historicamente associados à gestão democrática das escolas: eleição, colegialidade, participação na decisão. A combinação ou rejeição de algumas dessas diferentes dimensões, em contextos sociais específicos, pode resultar em várias concepções de gestão democrática das escolas, desde o autogoverno até à possível ascensão de uma pós-democracia gestionária.The author points out three basic elements that have been historically associated with the democratic management of schools: election, collegiality, participation in decision-making. The combination or the rejection of some of those different dimensions in specific social contexts may result in various conceptions of democratic management of schools, from selfgovernment to the possible rise of a managerial post-democracyL’auteur souligne trois éléments de base qui ont été historiquement associés à la gestion démocratique des écoles: l’élection, la collégialité, la participation à la décision. La combinaison ou le rejet de certaines de ces différentes dimensions, dans des contextes sociaux spécifiques, peuvent entraîner des diverses conceptions de la gestion démocratique des écoles, de l’autogouvernement à l’émergence d’une post-démocratie gestionnaire(undefined