Stimulus contrast information modulates sensorimotor decision making in goldfish

Animal survival relies on environmental information gathered by their sensory systems. We found that contrast information of a looming stimulus biases the type of defensive behavior that goldfish (Carassius auratus) perform. Low-contrast looms only evoke subtle alarm reactions whose probability is independent of contrast. As looming contrast increases, the probability of eliciting a fast escape maneuver, the C-start response, increases dramatically. Contrast information also modulates the decision of when to escape. Although response latency is known to depend on looming retinal size, we found that contrast acts as an additional parameter influencing this decision. When presenting progressively higher contrast stimuli, animals need shorter periods of stimulus processing to initiate the response. Our results comply with the notion that the decision to escape is a flexible process initiated with stimulus detection and followed by assessment of the perceived risk posed by the stimulus. Highly disruptive behaviors as the C-start are only observed when a multifactorial threshold that includes stimulus contrast is surpassed.Fil: Otero Coronel, Santiago. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; ArgentinaFil: Martorell, Nicolás. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; ArgentinaFil: Berón de Astrada, Martín. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; ArgentinaFil: Medan, Violeta. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; Argentin

Estudio de la inserción de reactividad introducida por la secuencia de movimientos de los bancos de barras de control. Aplicación a un transitorio de reducción de potencia

[ES] En el conjunto de estudios del estado del núcleo del reactor que deben realizarse para asegurar la seguridad e integridad del mismo a lo largo de un ciclo de operación, debe prestarse especial atención a los fenómenos producidos por la inserción de reactividades como, por ejemplo, los debidos a los movimientos de los grupos de barras de control, los cuales suelen estar predefinidos por el proveedor de la tecnología en las Especificaciones Técnicas de Funcionamiento. El presente trabajo realiza un estudio acerca de en qué medida la elección de un determinado criterio para el movimiento y selección de los grupos de barras de control puede provocar una determinada inserción de reactividad. De esta forma, se ha realizado un análisis sensibilidad de la reactividad provocada por la extracción o inserción de un determinado grupo de barras de control y su influencia en el estado del núcleo del reactor e incluso en su posible evolución en un transitorio. El estudio de los diferentes casos contemplados se ha realizado mediante el uso del código acoplado termohidráulico-neutrónico TRACE v5.0 patch 3/PARCS v3.0, siendo el modelo escogido representativo de los datos de planta que podríamos encontrar en un reactor comercial PWR.Martorell, JB.; Olmo-Juan, N.; Barrachina, TM.; Miró Herrero, R.; Verdú Martín, GJ.; Garcia-Fenoll, M.; Posada, JM. (2019). Estudio de la inserción de reactividad introducida por la secuencia de movimientos de los bancos de barras de control. Aplicación a un transitorio de reducción de potencia. Sociedad Nuclear Española. 1-8. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/1809611

Effects of treated wastewater irrigation on the establishment of young grapevines

Irrigation with treated wastewater could produce excessive accumulations within the plant and soil, negatively affecting the yield and production quality. In addition, the presence of biological and chemical contaminants could harm the agricultural environment, as well as the health of farmers and consumers. During this work, the suitability of secondary and tertiary treated wastewater for use in young grapevines was evaluated by studying the effect of the wastewater irrigation on the soil-plant system, crop yield, fruit quality and the presence of inorganic chemical contamination (salts, elements and heavy metals), organic chemical contamination (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and microbial contamination (E. coli, total coliforms). The results show that tertiary treated wastewater had positive impact on plant growth and yield while secondary treated wastewater had negative impact on fruit safety in comparison with tap water. Sodium levels in soils irrigated with treated wastewater increased at the end of the irrigation period while decreased during the wet season. The total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations in the soils ranged from 363 μg/kg to 374 μg/kg at the end of the experiment for all irrigation treatments applied. The use of tertiary treated wastewater was recommended for the irrigation of young grapevines as an alternative water source secured protection of environment, plant health and fruit quality

Neuromatch Academy: a 3-week, online summer school in computational neuroscience

Neuromatch Academy (https://academy.neuromatch.io; (van Viegen et al., 2021)) was designed as an online summer school to cover the basics of computational neuroscience in three weeks. The materials cover dominant and emerging computational neuroscience tools, how they complement one another, and specifically focus on how they can help us to better understand how the brain functions. An original component of the materials is its focus on modeling choices, i.e. how do we choose the right approach, how do we build models, and how can we evaluate models to determine if they provide real (meaningful) insight. This meta-modeling component of the instructional materials asks what questions can be answered by different techniques, and how to apply them meaningfully to get insight about brain function

Why Do Voters Risk Democracy?

Democracy has allowed the understanding of citizens’ Political Preferences, for then lead the implementation of Public Policy Menus consistent with those preferences. I argue that Democratic Instability may be caused in Full-Democracies when the Democratic Institutions fail to process most citizens’ Political Preferences. I test this hypothesis by using Voters Turnout as a proxy of the share of citizens’ Represented Political Preferences, and estimate its effect on Internal Conflict as proxy of Democratic Instability. Using a novel instrumental variable based on exogenous shock provided by Rainfall on Election Days, I find a positive causal effect of Voters Turnout in Internal Conflict. As my empirical strategy also corrects for mismeasurment error presented in proxy variables, I find a causal positive effect of the Represented Political Preferences on Democratic Stability

Identificación de factores determinantes de conflictos laborales en el personal cosechero de arándanos

Labor conflicts constitute an area of relevant theoretical and practical study in order to understand organizational behavior. There exist situations and labor conflicts that influence the agricultural company and to know them is part of an appropriate management. In this sense, the aim is to approach and transform them into growth opportunities and productivity increases. The present work identifies causes of conflicts within a group of blueberry reapers through information generated from the application of a field survey. The information was analyzed through the application of multivariate methods, specifically factorial analysis of principal components in order to determine factors that represent causes of conflict. In this study, the factors named "labor causes" and “interpersonal causes" were obtained with 55,64% and 57,89% of the explained variance, respectively. Finally, by means of an analysis of hierarchical conglomerates, three segments or groups of workers in relation to the causes of identified conflicts were determined. They were, "Concerned over labor situation" equivalent to 24% of the sample, "Concerned over labor climate and discrimination" corresponding to 54% of the sample, and "Concerned over interpersonal relations" equivalent to the remaining 22%

Dynamic neurocognitive changes in interoception after heart transplant.

Heart-brain integration dynamics are critical for interoception (i.e. the sensing of body signals). In this unprecedented longitudinal study, we assessed neurocognitive markers of interoception in patients who underwent orthotopic heart transplants and matched healthy controls. Patients were assessed longitudinally before surgery (T1), a few months later (T2) and a year after (T3). We assessed behavioural (heartbeat detection) and electrophysiological (heartbeat evoked potential) markers of interoception. Heartbeat detection task revealed that pre-surgery (T1) interoception was similar between patients and controls. However, patients were outperformed by controls after heart transplant (T2), but no such differences were observed in the follow-up analysis (T3). Neurophysiologically, although heartbeat evoked potential analyses revealed no differences between groups before the surgery (T1), reduced amplitudes of this event-related potential were found for the patients in the two post-transplant stages (T2, T3). All these significant effects persisted after covariation with different cardiological measures. In sum, this study brings new insights into the adaptive properties of brain-heart pathways

Escola d'Arquitectura de Barcelona : documentos y archivo = documents and archive = documents i arxiu

Text en castellà, anglès i catalàDescripció del recurs: 30 maig 2019Los dibujos y el fondo bibliográfico antiguo del Archivo de la Escuela de Arquitectura constituyen el principal centro de atención de este libro. Se muestran no sólo para dar a conocer unos documentes, de interés indudable por sí mismo, sino también para que nos ayuden a examinar la historia de la Escuela y a reflexionar sobre los métodos de enseñar y de aprender arquitectura. A pesar de lo fragmentario y a veces aleatorio de la procedencia del material que se expone, éste permite obtener una visión global de la Escuela. En correspondencia con este carácter, se reúnen una serie de textos que, a modo de mosaico, dan cabida a una variedad de interpretaciones. Evitando mirar únicamente el mundo de la docencia local, se busca establecer la relación de la Escuela con los métodos de enseñanza, con tendencias arquitectónicas y con el desarrollo de la ciudad.The drawings and the old bibliographical source in the Archives of the Escola d'Arquitectura de Barcelona are this book's main focus of attention, serving not only to divulge the contents of a whole documentary source, of undoubtable interest in its own right, but also to help us examine the history of the School and reflect on ways to teach and learn architecture. Despite the fragmentary and occasionally haphazard nature of the provenance of the material published here, it nonetheless allows us to obtain on overall view of the School. In harmony with this character, the accompanying texts form a kind of mosaic which accommodates a whole variety of different interpretations. Finally, in an attempt to go beyond purely local educational considerations, the book establishes links between the School, with training methods and architectural trends, and the development of the city.Els dibuixos de l'Arxiu de l'Escola d'Arquitectura i el seu fons bibliogràfic antic constitueixen el principal centre d'atenció d'aquest llibre. Es mostren no només per donar a conèixer uns documents d'interès indubtable per si mateixos, sinó també perquè ens ajudin a examinar la història de l'Escola i a reflexionar sobre els mètodes d'aprenentatge i ensenyament de l'arquitectura. Malgrat la procedència fragmentària i de vegades aleatòria dels materials que s'hi exposen, aquest recull permet tenir una visió global de l'Escola. En correspondència amb aquest caràcter, es reuneixen una sèrie de textos que, a manera de mosaic, donen cabuda a una varietat d'interpretacions. Evitant mirar únicament el món de la docència local, es busca establir la relació de l'Escola amb els mètodes d'ensenyament, amb tendències arquitectòniques i amb el desenvolupament de la ciutat