Multilayer Spiking Neural Network for Audio Samples Classification Using SpiNNaker

Audio classification has always been an interesting subject of research inside the neuromorphic engineering field. Tools like Nengo or Brian, and hardware platforms like the SpiNNaker board are rapidly increasing in popularity in the neuromorphic community due to the ease of modelling spiking neural networks with them. In this manuscript a multilayer spiking neural network for audio samples classification using SpiNNaker is presented. The network consists of different leaky integrate-and-fire neuron layers. The connections between them are trained using novel firing rate based algorithms and tested using sets of pure tones with frequencies that range from 130.813 to 1396.91 Hz. The hit rate percentage values are obtained after adding a random noise signal to the original pure tone signal. The results show very good classification results (above 85 % hit rate) for each class when the Signal-to-noise ratio is above 3 decibels, validating the robustness of the network configuration and the training step.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TEC2012-37868-C04-02Junta de Andalucía P12-TIC-130

Analysis of specific physical fitness in high-level table tennis players—sex differences

: Table tennis performance depends on multiple factors such as technique, tactics and fitness. Several studies have focused on investigating different technical-tactical variables. However, research analysing the specific physical qualities of this sport is scarce, particularly in the female sex. The aim of the present study was to assess the physical fitness variables associated with individual performance in elite table tennis players according to sex. Forty-eight elite players divided into males (n = 24; 25.38 ± 4.01 years) and females (n = 24; 22.33 ± 3.83 years) participated in the study. To determine physical fitness, participants performed vertical jump, hand grip strength, ergospirometry and lateral displacement tests (reaction time, displacement time and lateral acceleration). Male players showed higher values in vertical jump, hand grip strength and maximum oxygen consumption (p < 0.001). Likewise, male players moved laterally faster (p < 0.001). On the other hand, female players had a better reaction time towards the dominant side (p < 0.01). Elite male table tennis players showed better physical fitness compared to female players. Due to the scarcity of data on elite table tennis players, these results can serve as reference values for different table tennis practitioners

Interfacing PDM MEMS Microphones with PFM Spiking Systems: Application for Neuromorphic Auditory Sensors

Neuromorphic computation processes sensors output in the spiking domain, which presents constraints in many cases when converting information to spikes, loosing, as example, temporal accuracy. This paper presents a spike-based system to adapt audio information from low-power pulse-density modulation (PDM) microelectromechanical systems microphones into rate coded spike frequencies. These spikes could be directly used by the neuromorphic auditory sensor (NAS) for frequency decomposition in different bands, avoiding the analog or digital conversion to spike streams. This improves the time response of the NAS, allowing its use in more time restrictive applications. This adaptation was conducted in VHDL as an interface for PDM microphones, converting their pulses into temporal distributed spikes following a pulse-frequency modulation scheme with an accurate inter-spike-interval, known as PDM to spikes interface (PSI). We introduce a new architecture of spike-based band-pass filter to reject DC components and distribute spikes in time. This was tested in two scenarios, first as a stand-alone circuit for its characterization, and then integrated with a NAS for verification. The PSI achieves a total harmonic distortion of −46.18 dB and a signal-to-noise ratio of 63.47 dB, demands less than 1% of the resources of a Spartan-6 FPGA and its power consumption is around 7 mW.Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2019-105556GB-C33/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 (MINDROB)Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades PCI2019-111841-2 (CHIST-ERA SMALL

Acute caffeine intake increases muscle oxygen saturation during a maximal incremental exercise test.

Aims: The main mechanism behind caffeine’s ergogenicity lies in its tendency to bind to adenosine A1 and A2A receptors. However, other mechanisms might contribute to caffeine’s ergogenicity. The aim of this investigation was to analyze the effects of caffeine on muscle oxygen saturation during exercise of increasing intensity. Methods: Thirteen healthy and active individuals volunteered to participate in a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial. During two different trials, participants either ingested a placebo (cellulose) or 3 mg/kg of caffeine. After waiting for 60 min to absorb the substances, participants underwent a maximal ramp cycle ergometer test (25 W/min). Near infrared spectrometers were positioned on each leg’s vastus lateralis to monitor tissue O2 saturation. Blood lactate concentration was measured 1 min after the end of the exercise test. Results: In comparison to the placebo, the ingestion of caffeine improved the maximal wattage (258±50 vs 271±54 W, respectively, P < 0.001) and blood lactate concentration (11.9±3.8 vs 13.7±3.5 mmol/L, P = 0.029) at the end of the test. Caffeine increased muscle oxygen saturation at several exercise workloads with a main effect found in respect to the placebo (F = 6.28, P = 0.029). Peak pulmonary ventilation (124±29 vs 129±23 L/min, P=0.035) and VO2peak (3.18±0.70 vs 3.33±0.88 L/min, P=0.032) were also increased with caffeine. Conclusion: Acute ingestion of 3 mg/kg of caffeine improved peak aerobic performance while caffeine-induced changes seen in muscle oxygen saturation, pulmonary ventilation, and blood lactate accumulation suggest that these mechanisms might also contribute to caffeine’s ergogenic effect.pre-print430 K

Recurrent calcium lithiasis and its relationship with serum metabolic markers

Introducción: La litiasis de composición cálcica es una enfermedad muy prevalente entre la población adulta. La influencia de la dieta y de los hábitos de vida puede jugar un papel importante en la fisiopatología de la litiasis. Además las alteraciones en las distintas vías metabólicas secundarias a disregulaciones hormonales o por la dieta pueden tener relación con la litiasis cálcica. El objetivo de este estudio es valorar si existe relación entre la litiasis cálcica recidivante y el metabolismo lipídico, glucídico, proteico, tensión arterial y el índice de masa corporal. Material y métodos: Hemos diseñado un estudio de casos y controles con 120 pacientes, divididos en 2 grupos: Grupo A, 60 pacientes sin litiasis; Grupo B, 60 pacientes con litiasis cálcica recidivante. Se valora presión arterial, índice de masa corporal, niveles de glucosa, lípidos, proteínas, ácido úrico en sangre. En orina se estudia calciuria, natriuria y uricosuria. Se realiza estudio estadístico con test t-student y correlación lineal con programa SPSS 17.0 Resultados: No hemos encontrado diferencias estadísticamente significativas en relación a los niveles de presión arterial entre grupo A y grupo B y tampoco en cuanto al índice de masa corporal. En referencia a los valores sanguíneos de glucosa, lípidos, proteínas o ácido úrico tampoco han existido diferencias significativas. El único factor alterado en el grupo B, que se encuentra de forma elevado estadísticamente significativo es la calciuria, en donde los niveles ascienden a 18,2 mg/dl en grupo B frente a 11,6 mg/dl en grupo A (p=0.000). Además hemos encontrado una fuerte relación lineal estadísticamente significativa entre calciuria-natriuria (R=0,509) y calciuria-uricosuria (R=0,496) [p=0.000]. Conclusiones: En la litiasis cálcica recidivante el nivel de calcio en orina es el principal factor alterado en estos pacientes, no habiendo encontrado en nuestro estudio alteraciones en los niveles de las variables estudiadas en relación con el metabolismo lipídico, glucídico o proteico, ni tampoco con los niveles de presión arterial o el índice de masa corporal.Introduction: The composition of calcium stones is a very common disease among adults. The influence of diet and lifestyle can play an important role in the pathophysiology of urolithiasis. Besides alterations in the various secondary metabolic pathways dysregulations hormonal or diet may be associated with calcium stones. The aim of this study is to assess the correlation between recurrent calcium stones and lipid metabolism, carbohydrate, protein, blood pressure and body mass index. Material and methods: We designed a case-control study with 120 patients divided into 2 groups: Group A, 60 patients without stones, Group B, 60 patients with recurrent calcium stones. Is assessed blood pressure, body mass index, glucose, lipids, proteins, blood uric acid. Calciuria, uricosuria and natriuria in urine were studied. Statistical analysis was performed with student t-test and linear correlation with SPSS 17.0. Results: We found no statistically significant differences regarding blood pressure levels between group A and group B and not in terms of body mass index. In reference to blood levels of glucose, lipids, proteins or uric acid have not been significant differences. The only factor altered in group B, which is so high is statistically significant calciuria, where levels rise to 18.2 mg / dl in group B compared with 11.6 mg / dl in group A (p = 0.000). We also found a strong statistically significant linear relationship between calciuria-natriuria (R = 0.509) and urinary calcium-uricosuria (R = 0.496) [p=0.000]. Conclusion: Recurrent calcium stones in the urinary calcium level is the main causal factor in these patients, not finding in our study changes in the levels of the variables studied in relation to lipid metabolism, carbohydrate or protein, nor with the levels blood pressure or body mass index

Planeación ambiental para la conservación de la biodiversidad en las Áreas operativas de Ecopetrol, evaluación del estado de los objetos de conservación: identificación y caracterización de Especies objeto de conservación en la ventana de Boyacá

El Parque Natural Municipal Ranchería fue declarado por el concejo municipal de Paipa mediante el Acuerdo Nº 34 de diciembre 14 de 2004, y se encuentra totalmente inserto dentro de la Reserva Forestal del Municipio de Paipa (Acuerdo Nº9/1996). Esta Reserva comprende una superficie de 2.881 ha en un rango altitudinal que va de los 2.800 a los 3.400 msnm, aunque por encima de los 3.000 msnm el área se cataloga como 'Zona Forestal Protectora' y por debajo de esta cota como 'Área Forestal Protectora - Productora' (Vásquez y Serrano 2009).Bogot

Body mass index interacts with a genetic-risk score for depression increasing the risk of the disease in high-susceptibility individuals

Depression is strongly associated with obesity among other chronic physical diseases. The latest mega- and meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies have identified multiple risk loci robustly associated with depression. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether a genetic-risk score (GRS) combining multiple depression risk single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) might have utility in the prediction of this disorder in individuals with obesity. A total of 30 depression-associated SNPs were included in a GRS to predict the risk of depression in a large case-control sample from the Spanish PredictD-CCRT study, a national multicentre, randomized controlled trial, which included 104 cases of depression and 1546 controls. An unweighted GRS was calculated as a summation of the number of risk alleles for depression and incorporated into several logistic regression models with depression status as the main outcome. Constructed models were trained and evaluated in the whole recruited sample. Non-genetic-risk factors were combined with the GRS in several ways across the five predictive models in order to improve predictive ability. An enrichment functional analysis was finally conducted with the aim of providing a general understanding of the biological pathways mapped by analyzed SNPs. We found that an unweighted GRS based on 30 risk loci was significantly associated with a higher risk of depression. Although the GRS itself explained a small amount of variance of depression, we found a significant improvement in the prediction of depression after including some non-genetic-risk factors into the models. The highest predictive ability for depression was achieved when the model included an interaction term between the GRS and the body mass index (BMI), apart from the inclusion of classical demographic information as marginal terms (AUC = 0.71, 95% CI = [0.65, 0.76]). Functional analyses on the 30 SNPs composing the GRS revealed an over-representation of the mapped genes in signaling pathways involved in processes such as extracellular remodeling, proinflammatory regulatory mechanisms, and circadian rhythm alterations. Although the GRS on its own explained a small amount of variance of depression, a significant novel feature of this study is that including non-genetic-risk factors such as BMI together with a GRS came close to the conventional threshold for clinical utility used in ROC analysis and improves the prediction of depression. In this study, the highest predictive ability was achieved by the model combining the GRS and the BMI under an interaction term. Particularly, BMI was identified as a trigger-like risk factor for depression acting in a concerted way with the GRS component. This is an interesting finding since it suggests the existence of a risk overlap between both diseases, and the need for individual depression genetics-risk evaluation in subjects with obesity. This research has therefore potential clinical implications and set the basis for future research directions in exploring the link between depression and obesity-associated disorders. While it is likely that future genome-wide studies with large samples will detect novel genetic variants associated with depression, it seems clear that a combination of genetics and non-genetic information (such is the case of obesity status and other depression comorbidities) will still be needed for the optimization prediction of depression in high-susceptibility individuals

Synthesis and Leishmanicidal Activity of Novel Urea, Thiourea, and Selenourea Derivatives of Diselenides

A novel series of thirty-one N-substituted urea, thiourea, and selenourea derivatives containing diphenyldiselenide entities were synthesized, fully characterized by spectroscopic and analytical methods, and screened for their in vitro leishmanicidal activities. The cytotoxic activity of these derivatives was tested against Leishmania infantum axenic amastigotes, and selectivity was assessed in human THP-1 cells. Thirteen of the synthesized compounds showed a significant antileishmanial activity, with 50% effective concentration (EC50) values lower than that for the reference drug miltefosine (EC50, 2.84¿¿M). In addition, the derivatives 9, 11, 42, and 47, with EC50 between 1.1 and 1.95¿¿M, also displayed excellent selectivity (selectivity index ranged from 12.4 to 22.7) and were tested against infected macrophages. Compound 11, a derivative with a cyclohexyl chain, exhibited the highest activity against intracellular amastigotes, with EC50 values similar to those observed for the standard drug edelfosine. Structure-activity relationship analyses revealed that N-aliphatic substitution in urea and selenourea is recommended for the leishmanicidal activity of these analogs. Preliminary studies of the mechanism of action for the hit compounds was carried out by measuring their ability to inhibit trypanothione reductase. Even though the obtained results suggest that this enzyme is not the target for most of these derivatives, their activity comparable to that of the standards and lack of toxicity in THP-1 cells highlight the potential of these compounds to be optimized for leishmaniasis treatment.Comunidad de MadridMinisterio de Economía y CompetitividadFoundation for Applied Medical Investigatio

Nrf2 Plays a Protective Role Against Intravascular Hemolysis-Mediated Acute Kidney Injury

Massive intravascular hemolysis is associated with acute kidney injury (AKI). Nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) plays a central role in the defense against oxidative stress by activating the expression of antioxidant proteins. We investigated the role of Nrf2 in intravascular hemolysis and whether Nrf2 activation protected against hemoglobin (Hb)/heme-mediated renal damage in vivo and in vitro. We observed renal Nrf2 activation in human hemolysis and in an experimental model of intravascular hemolysis promoted by phenylhydrazine intraperitoneal injection. In wild-type mice, Hb/heme released from intravascular hemolysis promoted AKI, resulting in decreased renal function, enhanced expression of tubular injury markers (KIM-1 and NGAL), oxidative and endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER), and cell death. These features were more severe in Nrf2-deficient mice, which showed decreased expression of Nrf2-related antioxidant enzymes, including heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) and ferritin. Nrf2 activation with sulforaphane protected against Hb toxicity in mice and cultured tubular epithelial cells, ameliorating renal function and kidney injury and reducing cell stress and death. Nrf2 genotype or sulforaphane treatment did not influence the severity of hemolysis. In conclusion, our study identifies Nrf2 as a key molecule involved in protection against renal damage associated with hemolysis and opens novel therapeutic approaches to prevent renal damage in patients with severe hemolytic crisis. These findings provide new insights into novel aspects of Hb-mediated renal toxicity and may have important therapeutic implications for intravascular hemolysis-related diseases.Supported by FIS/FEDER CP14/00008, CP16/00014, CP16/00017, PI15/00448, PI16/00735, PI16/02057, PI17/00130, PI17/01495, PI17/01700, ISCIII-RETIC REDinREN RD012/0021, RD016/0009 FEDER funds, Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (RYC-2017-22369), Sociedad Española de Nefrología, Fundacion Renal Iñigo Álvarez de Toledo (FRIAT), Comunidad de Madrid CIFRA2 B2017/BMD-3686 and BMD-3827, Fundacion La Caixa, CaixaImpulse program CI17-00048, and Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Disorders (CIBERDEM).S

Gestión de exámenes online. Base de datos de preguntas y desarrollo de software

Depto. de Farmacología y ToxicologíaFac. de MedicinaFALSEsubmitte