From implantation to birth: insight into molecular melatonin functions

Melatonin is a lipophilic hormone synthesized and secreted mainly in the pineal gland, acting as a neuroendocrine transducer of photoperiodic information during the night. In addition to this activity, melatonin has shown an antioxidant function and a key role as regulator of physiological processes related to human reproduction. Melatonin is involved in the normal outcome of pregnancy, beginning with the oocyte quality, continuing with embryo implantation, and finishing with fetal development and parturition. Melatonin has been shown to act directly on several reproductive events, including folliculogenesis, oocyte maturation, and corpus luteum (CL) formation. The molecular mechanism of action has been investigated through several studies which provide solid evidence on the connections between maternal melatonin secretion and embryonic and fetal development. Melatonin administration, reducing oxidative stress and directly acting on its membrane receptors, melatonin thyroid hormone receptors (MT1 and MT2), displays effects on the earliest phases of pregnancy and during the whole gestational period. In addition, considering the reported positive effects on the outcomes of compromised pregnancies, melatonin supplementation should be considered as an important tool for supporting fetal development, opening new opportunities for the management of several reproductive and gestational pathologies

Centros de Estudiantes en escuelas secundarias de la zona este de Mendoza : posibilidades y desafíos

La presente ponencia surge como consecuencia de la investigación realizada a partir de la Tesina de Grado de la autora, titulada: “Los Centros de Estudiantes de Nivel Medio y la Participación Estudiantil. La situación de las escuelas secundarias de la Zona Este de Mendoza." (Peralta Minini, V., 2016). Un Centro de Estudiantes puede ser comprendido como “un órgano representativo de los estudiantes en un establecimiento educativo" (Ministerio de Desarrollo Social de la Nación, s/f, s/p), y su conformación se encuentra garantizada en la Ley Nacional N° 26.877/13 y en la Ley Provincial N° 8.469/12. Sin embargo, de las siete escuelas con las que se estableció comunicación durante la investigación mencionada, tres no cuentan con Centro de Estudiantes. Por su parte, durante el estudio realizado se pudo conocer que los/as alumnos/as que integran los Centros de Estudiantes de las escuelas en estudio, conciben a estos órganos de diferente manera, como por ejemplo: “(…) un grupo representante de la escuela que… que soluciona los problemas o que ayuda a los chicos con sus necesidades", o como “(…) representante de todos los alumnos de la institución. Ser un grupo reducido de representantes y defender los derechos de los alumnos." En relación a las actividades planificadas y organizadas por los Centros de Estudiantes de las escuelas en estudio, en la tesina éstas fueron clasificadas como: actividades culturales (incluyendo las recreativas y las educativas) y actividades materiales (incluyendo la compra y/o colecta de materiales necesarios para los/as alumnos/as o para el edificio escolar). Finalmente, se analizó también la relación que establecen los Centros de Estudiantes con otros agentes escolares, tales como el/la Orientador/a Social, dando cuenta de que algunos Centros de Estudiantes no tienen una relación constante con el agente mencionado, sino que en algunos casos, su conformación y consolidación ha sido apoyada por directivos o preceptores.Fil: Peralta Minini, Verónica Beatriz . Universidad Nacional de Cuy

An exploration of visuomotor and perceptual mechanisms in humans and rats.

Neuropsychological, neurophysiological and psychophysical evidence support the notion of two separate and largely independent cortical visual systems: a dorsal system mediating visually guided action and a ventral system mediating object perception and recognition (Goodale & Milner, 1992). This thesis is divided into three parts that explore questions related to the two-visual-systems model, two in humans and one in rats. The first part explores whether dorsal representations are based on the veridical properties of the stimuli or whether they include information produced by filling-in mechanisms of cortical visual areas. All human experiments were carried out with the ELITE and SMART motion tracking systems. Kinematic analysis showed that grasping Kanizsa illusory squares and partly-occluded objects was as accurate as grasping luminance-defined targets and it is concluded that information about interpolated regions is available to the dorsal system for the calibration of the movement parameters. A Vernier acuity task confirmed that the perceptual localization of Kanizsa and luminance-defined contours is not equally accurate in the ventral visual system. The second part explores the effect of target dimensionality on grasping, focusing on the possibility that actions aimed at targets that contain two-dimensional information could be modulated by ventral visual mechanisms. The Diagonal Illusion (DI) was chosen to investigate this possibility because it is entirely the product of three- dimensional objects. The DI exerted an effect on both perception and action, although the latter was smaller, suggesting that the effects of illusions on action previously reported are not attributable to the presence of 2D information and, by implication, that 2D information in the target array does not elicit modulation by the ventral visual system. These conclusions were confirmed by a study that found similar kinematic profiles from grasps aimed at 3D, 2D and 2D-enhanced targets. Control studies ruled out potential confounding effects resulting from curvatures of the stimuli that could have acted as obstacles and from differences in haptic feedback. It is concluded that object-directed action is mediated by dorsal visual mechanisms, irrespective of target dimensionality. The third part seeks to find evidence of ventral visual processing in rats by measuring the perception of visual illusions and object recognition in this species. The aim is to establish whether rats could provide a suitable model to further investigate the dorsal and ventral visual systems. An automated apparatus with a touch-screen and computer generated stimuli was developed to train the animals. The results from the illusion studies are not conclusive as only one out of three groups of rats was able to solve a discrimination with Kanizsa illusory figures. The preliminary results from the object recognition studies are however clearer. Rats were able to use aspect ratio to solve a discrimination with stimuli that varied in size and location suggesting that size- and location-independent object recognition occurs in this species. Probe trials confirmed these results. It is concluded that rats may have visual processes comparable to those occurring in the ventral visual system of humans and primates

Geodati e cluster analysis, dalle immagini in bianco e nero alle mappe 3D

Il termine “Geomatica” vent’anni fa non era comunemente utilizzato, o almeno non in maniera così estesa come ora. Non si parlava di “geodati”, ma eventualmente di dati “spatially distributed”, l’analisi spaziale era “analisi dati” e certamente non avremmo definito “spatial analysis tools” i programmi in Fortran 77 o 90 che scrivevamo ad hoc per implementare gli algoritmi di analisi dati, in base alle esigenze delle specifiche ricerche. Certamente l’aspetto della distribuzione spaziale delle informazioni era rilevante, ma non eravamo abituati a visualizzare i dati su cui lavoravamo con la stessa facilità, velocità e versatilità di rappresentazione alle quali gli strumenti GIS e i loro “tool” ci hanno abituato. Per toccare con mano, come se fosse una fotografia in “time-lapse”, l’evoluzione delle tecnologie nelle nostre discipline, abbiamo svolto un esercizio recuperando i file originali delle anomalie di gravità e delle quote ortometriche utilizzate per alcuni test di un software di cluster analysis realizzati durante il triennio 1995/98, e descritti nella Tesi di Dottorato (Tornatore, 1998). Gli stessi dati, importati in ambiente GIS dopo quasi vent’anni, ci hanno permesso di calcolare indici statistici con la ben nota immediatezza e di realizzare facilmente modelli digitali del terreno e delle anomalie di gravità per la zona studiata. In conclusione, una riflessione su quello che nelle informazioni spaziali “vediamo” più di allora (e su come lo “vediamo”) grazie ai GIS

Open Web Services: new tools for Medievalist Historians to manage and share their research work

The research project presented in this paper regards a joint cooperation between Medievalist Historians and Geomatics experts. The idea was to study if new tools based on Geomatics technologies could provide Historians with new methods to develop their studies, archiving digital data in a geo-database and “spatializing” the information sources to produce maps in a GIS environment. So, in the first part of the project, a GIS was designed and implemented based on data collected from documents preserved in the Italian National Archives. Afterwards, the problem of data integration and sharing among research groups working on Medieval History was dealt with, in order to make data available for the consultation and query by several research groups. Three approaches based on a client-server architecture have been explored: one is typical of the WebGIS architecture; the second one is based on OGC Web services and the third one exploits a Web page while the GIS tools are provided by a Desktop GIS installed locally on a PC. In the paper, the different approaches will be described, in order to underline advantages and disadvantages with respect to the Historians' requirements

From historical documents to GIS: A spatial database for medieval fiscal data in Southern Italy

The study presented in this article addresses a geographic information system supporting historical research, including tools for geo-referencing data extracted from medieval source documents. Working closely with historians, an effective model for fiscal and census data has been designed to supply them with tools for digitally archiving data from historical source documents in a database structure, which may suggest new criteria for studying and correlating information. The considered data had been collected from the Quaternus Declaracionum of the Regno di Napoli (Kingdom of Naples) and focuses on an area corresponding to the Principality of Taranto from 1458-1460

¿Qué fue primero: la película o la identidad? "Youth": análisis sobre las configuraciones identitarias

A través del análisis de la película "Youth" (2015), este trabajo buscó reflexionar en torno a las construcciones identitarias juveniles no sólo considerando a los jóvenes como sujetos de consumo sino también como sujetos de discurso así como en relación a las identidades en torno a la vejez. Resultó relevante mediar el análisis desde un producto comunicacional teniendo en cuenta la influencia de los consumos culturales y tecnológicos para la conformación de las configuraciones sociales constructoras de identidades y subjetividades. A partir de una perspectiva comunicacional/educacional, el análisis se enfocó en atravesar las nociones de género, tiempo y espacio, comunidad, consumos culturales y tecnología utilizando a los personajes del film como reproductores de los discursos sociales. En conclusión, a partir de un mismo producto audiovisual se pudo visualizar de qué manera los discursos que forman identidades no son estáticos y la necesidad de considerar a los sujetos jóvenes como agentes sociales que configuran sus identidades y relaciones en diferentes ambientes más allá de los territorios y colectivos delimitados.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

Trayectorias académicas de estudiantes con becas y el atravesamiento de la pandemia por Covid-19 : indicios e interrogantes para contribuir a su análisis

Ante la emergencia sanitaria que se instaló en nuestro país a principios de 2020, como consecuencia de la pandemia por Covid-19, comenzaron a presentarse algunos interrogantes, indagaciones, evidencias, percepciones, acerca de los impactos que tal situación global tendría en distintas dimensiones de la vida de los sujetos: la dimensión de salud, la dimensión económica, la dimensión educativa, entre otras. En este marco, el presente trabajo surge a partir del siguiente interrogante: ¿De qué formas impactó la pandemia por Covid-19 en las trayectorias académicas de estudiantes? Ese impacto, ¿se acrecienta en estudiantes que tienen becas en las instituciones educativas, y particularmente en la UNCuyo? ¿Por qué? Si bien las respuestas a estas preguntas requieren vastas investigaciones sobre múltiples aspectos, se intentará en este trabajo aportar ideas que contribuyan a esas investigaciones, a partir de la investigación y de la intervención profesional. La indagación se realiza a partir del quehacer profesional de Trabajo Social llevado a cabo en el marco de los programas de becas que la UNCuyo ofrece a través de la Secretaría de Bienestar Universitario, así como de la participación en equipos de investigación. De este modo, a partir de registros, encuentros y diálogos que emergen de la intervención profesional con estudiantes que tienen distintas becas, y de los resultados de investigación en los procesos en que se ha participado, se buscará reconocer indicios, aspectos a tener en cuenta para comenzar a reflexionar sobre esta problemática, y generar nuevos interrogantes que abonen posteriores investigaciones, sistematizaciones y/o análisis.Fil: Peralta Minini, Verónica. Universidad Nacional de Cuy

Understanding Sample Generation Strategies for Learning Heuristic Functions in Classical Planning

We study the problem of learning good heuristic functions for classical planning tasks with neural networks based on samples that are states with their cost-to-goal estimates. It is well known that the learned model quality depends on the training data quality. Our main goal is to understand better the influence of sample generation strategies on the performance of a greedy best-first heuristic search guided by a learned heuristic function. In a set of controlled experiments, we find that two main factors determine the quality of the learned heuristic: the regions of the state space included in the samples and the quality of the cost-to-goal estimates. Also, these two factors are interdependent: having perfect estimates of cost-to-goal is insufficient if an unrepresentative part of the state space is included in the sample set. Additionally, we study the effects of restricting samples to only include states that could be evaluated when solving a given task and the effects of adding samples with high-value estimates. Based on our findings, we propose practical strategies to improve the quality of learned heuristics: three strategies that aim to generate more representative states and two strategies that improve the cost-to-goal estimates. Our resulting neural network heuristic has higher coverage than a basic satisficing heuristic. Also, compared to a baseline learned heuristic, our best neural network heuristic almost doubles the mean coverage and can increase it for some domains by more than six times.Comment: 27 page

Direito funerário: a quem compete decidir o destino dos restos mortais

There is a gap in Brazilian legal system about the decision on the destination of the “de cujus” remains when there is no written will. Thus, this article seeks to answer the following question: “in the absence of specific legal provision in Brazil, the destination of the remains of the “de cujus” should be analyzed by succession, or property law?” As a general objective, this article aims to analyze who should be held responsible for deciding on the destination of the remains of the deceased according to the theses of succession and property law focusing on funeral law. For this purpose, the specific objectives are the followings: to list the rights of the “de cujus”, to present the main legal establishments of the succession and property law, to establish links between the line of succession and/or property law regarding whom should be responsible of decision about the destination of the mortal remains of the “de cujus”. The present research is documentary and indirect and its method is dialectical. In conclusion it is clear that the affectivity is determinative for the decision making regarding the destination of the remains when there is no written will of the “de cujus”.O ordenamento jurídico brasileiro contém uma lacuna em relação a decisão sobre a destinação dos restos mortais do “de cujus” quando não há vontade expressa deixada em vida. Assim, o presente artigo busca responder ao seguinte problema: “frente a ausência de codificação específica a um direito funeral na legislação brasileira a destinação dos restos mortais do “de cujus” deve ser analisada frente ao direito sucessório, ou ao direito das coisas?” Como objetivo geral busca-se analisar a quem compete decidir sobre o destino dos retos mortais do “de cujus” frente as teses da linha sucessória e do direito de propriedade no âmbito do direito funeral. Para tanto, destaca-se como objetivos específicos: relacionar os direitos inerentes ao “de cujus”, conhecer os institutos principais do direito sucessório e do direito das coisas, estabelecer ligações entre a linha sucessória e/ou o direito das coisas em relação a quem compete a tomada de decisão quanto ao destino dos restos mortais do “de cujus”. A presente pesquisa é documental indireta e o método de pesquisa utilizado é o dialético. Como conclusão apresenta-se que a afetividade é a determinante para a tomada de decisão em relação a destinação do “de cujus”