A kinematic study on (un)intentional imitation in bottlenose dolphins

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of observing other's movements on subsequent performance in bottlenose dolphins. The imitative ability of non-human animals has intrigued a number of researchers. So far, however, studies in dolphins have been confined to intentional imitation concerned with the explicit request to imitate other agents. In the absence of instruction to imitate, do dolphins (un)intentionally replicate other's movement features? To test this, dolphins were filmed while reaching and touching a stimulus before and after observing another dolphin (i.e., model) performing the same action. All videos were reviewed and segmented in order to extract the relevant movements. A marker was inserted post hoc via software on the videos upon the anatomical landmark of interest (i.e., rostrum) and was tracked throughout the time course of the movement sequence. The movement was analyzed using an in-house software developed to perform two-dimensional (2D) post hoc kinematic analysis. The results indicate that dolphins' kinematics is sensitive to other's movement features. Movements performed for the "visuomotor priming" condition were characterized by a kinematic pattern similar to that performed by the observed dolphin (i.e., model). Addressing the issue of spontaneous imitation in bottlenose dolphins might allow ascertaining whether the potential or impulse to produce an imitative action is generated, not just when they intend to imitate, but whenever they watch another conspecific's behavior. In closing, this will clarify whether motor representational capacity is a by-product of factors specific to humans or whether more general characteristics such as processes of associative learning prompted by high level of encephalization could help to explain the evolution of this ability

Training Support Vector Machines Using Frank-Wolfe Optimization Methods

Training a Support Vector Machine (SVM) requires the solution of a quadratic programming problem (QP) whose computational complexity becomes prohibitively expensive for large scale datasets. Traditional optimization methods cannot be directly applied in these cases, mainly due to memory restrictions. By adopting a slightly different objective function and under mild conditions on the kernel used within the model, efficient algorithms to train SVMs have been devised under the name of Core Vector Machines (CVMs). This framework exploits the equivalence of the resulting learning problem with the task of building a Minimal Enclosing Ball (MEB) problem in a feature space, where data is implicitly embedded by a kernel function. In this paper, we improve on the CVM approach by proposing two novel methods to build SVMs based on the Frank-Wolfe algorithm, recently revisited as a fast method to approximate the solution of a MEB problem. In contrast to CVMs, our algorithms do not require to compute the solutions of a sequence of increasingly complex QPs and are defined by using only analytic optimization steps. Experiments on a large collection of datasets show that our methods scale better than CVMs in most cases, sometimes at the price of a slightly lower accuracy. As CVMs, the proposed methods can be easily extended to machine learning problems other than binary classification. However, effective classifiers are also obtained using kernels which do not satisfy the condition required by CVMs and can thus be used for a wider set of problems

Exploring the boundaries of vinylogous Mukaiyama aldol processes: stereoselective access to polyunsaturated homoallylic alcohols

Catalytic enantioselective vinylogous aldol reactions using extended enolates are of prominent value in synthetic organic chemistry. Here, we report our advances in the development of enantioselective bis-vinylogous and hyper-vinylogous Mukaiyama aldol reactions between a series of polyenylsilyloxy furans or polyenylsilyoxy indoles and aromatic aldehydes, realized by use of the enabling catalyst combination of silicon tetrachloride and Denmark’s chiral bis-phosphoramide base (R,R)-I. Several crucial issues such as the remote site-, enantio- and geometrical selectivity of the reaction will be highlighted, ultimately focusing on one main question: how far can we push the limits of the vinylogous reactivity transmittal?</i

Impairment of Goodwill: Level of Compliance and Quality of Disclosure during the Crisis-An Analysis of Italian Listed Companies

This paper investigates the level of disclosure on impairment test of goodwill in the Italian context. The research is based on the analysis of the consolidated financial statements 2007\u20132011 of companies listed on FTSE MIB of Milan Stock Exchange at 31st December 2012. The main objective of the research is to verify if financial crisis has impacted on the level of compliance with IAS 36 and Guidelines issued by Italian Authorities. In addition, it tests if there are any relations between the level of disclosure and factors such as market capitalization, the ratio Goodwill on Equity and Impairment loss/Goodwill. Our results show that the quality of disclosure is still incomplete, even if it is clear that there is a significant improvement in the period covered by the analysis. In addition, we observe that, at least in relation to our data, there is no relation between the quality of mandatory disclosure on goodwill and the mentioned factors

Decoding social intentions in human prehensile actions: Insights from a combined kinematics-fMRI study

Consistent evidence suggests that the way we reach and grasp an object is modulated not only by object properties (e.g., size, shape, texture, fragility and weight), but also by the types of intention driving the action, among which the intention to interact with another agent (i.e., social intention). Action observation studies ascribe the neural substrate of this `intentional' component to the putative mirror neuron (pMNS) and the mentalizing (MS) systems. How social intentions are translated into executed actions, however, has yet to be addressed. We conducted a kinematic and a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) study considering a reach-to-grasp movement performed towards the same object positioned at the same location but with different intentions: passing it to another person (social condition) or putting it on a concave base (individual condition). Kinematics showed that individual and social intentions are characterized by different profiles, with a slower movement at the level of both the reaching (i.e., arm movement) and the grasping (i.e., hand aperture) components. fMRI results showed that: (i) distinct voxel pattern activity for the social and the individual condition are present within the pMNS and the MS during action execution; (ii) decoding accuracies of regions belonging to the pMNS and the MS are correlated, suggesting that these two systems could interact for the generation of appropriate motor commands. Results are discussed in terms of motor simulation and inferential processes as part of a hierarchical generative model for action intention understanding and generation of appropriate motor commands

Efficacy of epiphytic bacteria to prevent northern leaf blight caused by Exserohilum turcicum in maize

Eight potential biological control agents (BCAs) were evaluated in planta in order toassess their effectiveness in reducing disease severity of northern leaf blight caused by Exserohilumturcicum. The assay was carried out in greenhouse. Twenty-six-day-old plants, V4 phenologicalstage, were inoculated with antagonists by foliar spray. Only one biocontrol agent wasused per treatment. Ten days after this procedure, all treatments were inoculated with E. turcicumby foliar application. Treatments performed were: C-Et: control of E. turcicum; T1: isolate1 (Enterococcus genus) + E. turcicum; T2: isolate 2 (Corynebacterium genus) + E. turcicum; T3:isolate 3 (Pantoea genus) + E. turcicum; T4: isolate 4 (Corynebacterium genus) + E. turcicum; T5:isolate 5 (Pantoea genus) + E. turcicum; T6: isolate 6 (Bacillus genus) + E. turcicum; T7: isolate 7(Bacillus genus) + E. turcicum; T8: isolate 8 (Bacillus genus) + E. turcicum. Monitoring of antagonistson the phyllosphere was performed at different times. Furthermore, the percentage ofinfected leaves and, plant and leaf incidence were determined. Foliar application of differentbacteria significantly reduced the leaf blight between 30---78% and 39---56% at 20 and 39 daysrespectively. It was observed that in the V10 stage of maize plants, isolate 8 (Bacillus spp.)caused the greatest effect on reducing the severity of northern leaf blight. Moreover, isolate 8was the potential BCA that showed more stability in the phyllosphere. At 39 days, all potentialbiocontrol agents had a significant effect on controlling the disease caused by E. turcicum.Se evaluó a 8 potenciales agentes de control biológico (ACB) en un ensayo in planta, con el objetivo de probar su efectividad en la reducción del daño provocado por Exserohilum turcicum, agente causal del tizón foliar del maíz. El ensayo se llevó a cabo en invernadero. Plantas de maíz de 26 días, en estadio fenológico V4, se inocularon con los potenciales antagonistas por aplicación foliar como espray. Solo un agente de biocontrol fue usado por tratamiento y todos los tratamientos se inocularon con E. turcicum 10 días después, también por aplicación foliar. Los tratamientos desarrollados fueron los siguientes: C-Et: control de E. turcicum; T1: aislamiento 1 (género Enterococcus) + E. turcicum; T2: aislamiento 2 (género Corynebacterium) + E. turcicum; T3: aislamiento 3 (género Pantoea) + E. turcicum; T4: aislamiento 4 (género Corynebacterium) + E. turcicum; T5: aislamiento 5 (género Pantoea) + E. turcicum; T6: aislamiento 6 (género Bacillus) + E. turcicum; T7: aislamiento 7 (género Bacillus) + E. turcicum; T8: aislamiento 8 (género Bacillus) + E. turcicum. La monitorización en la filosfera de los antagonistas se llevó a cabo a diferentes tiempos. Además, se determinó el porcentaje de hojas infectadas y la incidencia en plantas y hojas. La aplicación foliar de diferentes bacterias redujo significativamente la gravedad del tizón del maíz: entre el 30 y el 78% a los 20 días y entre el 39 y el 56% a los 39 días. En el estadio V10 de las plantas de maíz se observó que el aislamiento 8 (Bacillus spp.) causó el mayor efecto de reducción del tizón foliar. Además, dicho aislamiento fue el potencial agente de biocontrol que mostró mayor estabilidad en la filosfera. A los 39 días, todos los potenciales agentes de biocontrol demostraban un efecto significativo sobre el control de la enfermedad causada por E. turcicum.Fil: Sartori, Melina Victoria. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Microbiología e Inmunología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Nesci, Andrea Verónica. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Microbiología e Inmunología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: García, Julián. Oro Verde, Servicios Fitosanitarios; ArgentinaFil: Passone, Maria Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Microbiología e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Montemarani, Analía Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Microbiología e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Etcheverry, Miriam Graciela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Microbiología e Inmunología; Argentin

Size-assortative mating in simultaneous hermaphrodites: an experimental test and a meta-analysis

Assortative mating by size has been argued to be widespread in the animal kingdom. However, the strength of size-assortative mating is known to vary considerably between species and the underlying mechanisms promoting this inter-specific variation remain largely unexplored. Size-assortative mating has been proposed to be particularly strong in simultaneous hermaphrodites, i.e. organisms that produce male and female gametes at the same time. Here, we build on this hypothesis by arguing that size-assortative mating mediated by sexual selection is generally stronger in reciprocally mating hermaphrodites compared with unilaterally mating species and separate-sexed organisms. We report a series of empirical tests suggesting that size-assortative mating in the unilaterally copulating freshwater snail Physa acuta is caused by spatial clustering of similar-sized individuals and not by mate choice. In addition, we present a meta-analysis testing, for the first time, the hypothesis that sexual selection-mediated size-assortative mating is stronger in reciprocally copulating simultaneous hermaphrodites. Overall, we found significant size-assortative mating across 18 tested species and substantial inter-specific variation. Importantly, part of this variation can be explained by mating type, providing support for the hypothesis that size-assortative mating is stronger in reciprocally mating hermaphrodites compared with unilaterally mating species. We highlight potential pitfalls when testing for sexual selection-mediated size-assortative mating and discuss the need for more experimental and comparative approaches in order to resolve the observed variation in the strength of size-assortative mating among species.Fil: Graham, Stuart. Université de Montpellier. Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive; Francia. Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier; Francia. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; FranciaFil: Chapuis, Elodie. Université de Montpellier. Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive; Francia. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Institut de Recherche pour le Développement,. Intéractions Plantes-Microrganismes-Environement; Francia. Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier; FranciaFil: Meconcelli, Stefania. Université de Montpellier. Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive; Francia. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Università di Torino; ItaliaFil: Bonel, Nicolás. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Laboratorio de Zoología de Invertebrados I; Argentina. Université de Montpellier. Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive; Francia. Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier; FranciaFil: Sartori, Kevin. Université de Montpellier. Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive; Francia. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier; FranciaFil: Christophe, Ananda. Université de Montpellier. Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive; Francia. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier; FranciaFil: Alda, Maria del Pilar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores; ArgentinaFil: Patrice David. Université de Montpellier. Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive; Francia. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier; FranciaFil: Janicke, Tim. Université de Montpellier. Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive; Francia. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier; Franci

Proposta de implantação do sistema de qualidade boas praticas de fabricação na empresa Semix Tecnologia em Produtos

Orientador: Joel Souza e SilvaMonografia(Especialização) - Universidade Federal do Paraná,Setor de Ciências Sociais Aplicadas, Curso de Especialização em Gestão da Qualidad

Personality profiles in adult women with turner`s syndrome. Relations with percentile of height and puberal development

En la actualidad existe consenso sobre la importancia de integrar medidas biológicas y psicológicas, dando lugar a trabajos interdisciplinarios que acrecientan el conocimiento en el campo de la psicología del desarrollo. En este contexto, el estudio de las características psicológicas y fisiológicas de personas con trastornos genéticos abre nuevas líneas de investigación destinadas a diseñar modelos explicativos que permitan analizar la interacción de factores biológicos y ambientales en el desarrollo de caracteres psicológicos. La presente investigación tiene por objetivo caracterizar la personalidad de mujeres adultas con diagnóstico de Síndrome de Turner y determinar si existen perfiles distintivos asociados al percentil de talla y al desarrollo puberal. Se trabajará con un diseño de tipo ex post facto retrospectivo con un grupo simple conformado por 30 mujeres adultas con diagnóstico de Sindrome de Turner a quienes se le administrará el Inventario Clínico Multiaxial de Millon II (MCMI-II). Se espera que los resultados brinden mayores conocimientos sobre las características de personalidad de dicha población y permitan elaborar instrumentos clínicos y estrategias terapéuticas acordes a dicha población y a sus problemáticas que redunden en una mejor la calidad de vida de las mujeres con dicho diagnostico.There is now consensus on the importance of integrating biological and psychological measures, leading to interdisciplinary work that increase knowledge in the field of developmental psychology. In this context, the study of physiological and psychological characteristics of people with genetic disorders opens up new lines of research aimed at designing explanatory models that analyze the interaction of biological and environmental factors in the development of psychological characteristics. This research aims to characterize the personality of adult women with Turner Syndrome diagnosis and determine whether there are distinctive profiles associated percentile of height and pubertal development. It will work with a type design ex post facto retrospective single group consisted of 30 adult women diagnosed with Turner syndrome who will be given the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory II (MCMI-II). Results are expected to provide more knowledge about the personality characteristics of this population and develop tools allow clinical and therapeutic strategies in line with this population and their problems that result in a better quality of life for women with this diagnosis.Fil: Sartori, Maria Soledad. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Psicología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; Argentin

Gestão em educação suas expectativas e desafios

Esse trabalho aborda o tema da gestão em educação, abrangendo aspectos como democracia, gestão administrativa, posição social e política, cultura e currículo, e cultura institucional, entre outros. Ao pesquisar o tema observou-se que há necessidade de rever os possíveis desafios e buscar as compatíveis soluções, discutindo metodologias, organizando mudanças na gestão educacional, priorizando o projeto político pedagógico e viabilizando novas práticas, sem esquecer de oferecer a formação e a capacitação dos professores para um trabalho de excelência. Na atualidade, têm-se desafios em todas as instituições de ensino e sabe-se que vencê-los não é um processo fácil, pois cada necessidade exige adaptações, seja na estrutura física ou quanto aos profissionais que nelas atuam. É uma tarefa que exige aperfeiçoamento constante, visando uma educação humanitária e eficiente. Assim, através de pesquisa qualitativa em obras de autores que aprofundaram este tema, buscou-se discutir aspectos que envolvem toda a comunidade escolar e que são essenciais para a elaboração e execução de propostas pedagógicas eficientes, que busquem a participação de todos os interessados e responsáveis no processo de tomada de decisão, construindo uma educação inclusiva, coletiva e participativa.This work addresses the theme of management in education, covering aspects such as democracy, administrative management, social and political position, culture and curriculum, and institutional culture, among others. In researching the theme, it was observed that there is a need to review possible challenges and seek compatible solutions, discussing methodologies, organizing changes in educational management, prioritizing the pedagogical political project and making new practices feasible, without forgetting to offer training and capacity building for teachers for a job of excellence. At present, there are challenges in all educational institutions and it is known that overcoming them is not an easy process, because each need requires adaptations, either in the physical structure or the professionals in them. It is a task that requires constant improvement, aiming at a humane and efficient education. Thus, through a qualitative research in works of authors that study the theme, we sought to discuss aspects that involve the whole school community and that are essential for the elaboration and execution of efficient pedagogical proposals that seek the participation of all the stakeholders and decision makers, building an inclusive, collective and participatory education