Decrease of preccurent behavior as training increases : effects of task complexity

When someone is described as memorizing ~ phone number, part of what is being asserted is that the person is capable of dialing the number without looking it up in the directory. Such responses, which may decrease and stop occurring as training increases, can be interpreted as nonrequired precurrent behavior. In different experiments, participants could look up an auxiliary screen to see the numbers (Experiment 1) or arbitrary characters (Experiment 3) corresponding to different shapes. In Experiment 2, a typing task with a covered keyboard was used, in which participants could look up an auxiliary screen to see key positions. Duration of precurrent response, divided by correct current responses, decreased as a linear function of the logarithm ot trials in ali three experiments. In Experiment 3, the complexity of the task was changed, by altering the number of responses to be learned per pair, per position, and in the total task. Results indicated that these variables produced systematic effects on performance and are compatible with an interpretation of task complexity based upon the quantification of the programmed contingencies of reinforcement

Consumer maximization of utilitarian and informational reinforcement: comparing two utility measures with reference to social class

Based upon the Behavioral Perspective Model (BPM), previous analysis has shown that consumers tend to maximize utility as a function of the level of utilitarian (functional) and informational (social) reinforcement offered by brands. A model of consumer brand choice was developed, which applied a Cobb-Douglas utility function to the parameters that constitute the BPM, using consumer panel data. The present paper tested a variation of the previous model, which allows for measures of consumer utility at the level of aggregate household, in addition to utility per consumed product unit (e.g., gram), and examined the relations of obtained utility with consumers’ social class and age. Results indicate that the model fitted the data well, generating consistent parameters, and that utility per product unit, but not total household utility, was positively correlated to social class. These findings suggest that, in the case of supermarket food items, higher-income households obtain higher levels of utility than lower-income households by purchasing brands that offer more utilitarian and informational reinforcement per product unit rather than their buying larger quantities of brands offering lower reinforcement levels

Performance Assessment of UWB-Over-Fiber and Applications

Organic chemistr

UM RESGATE HISTÓRICO DA CORRUPÇÃO E OS DESAFIOS NO SEU ENFRENTAMENTO

Este artigo tem o objetivo de apresentar uma análise histórica da corrupção e seus meandros, além de discorrer sobre a percepção da corrupção pela sociedade a partir de pesquisas de opinião. A metodologia se lastreou na revisão bibliográfica e na análise de estudos empíricos. Confirmando a hipótese da pesquisa, constatou-se que a corrupção é um fenômeno existente na sociedade e que, apesar de amplamente reprovável, as iniciativas de combatê-la recebem forte resistência, dado que seu enfrentamento afeta camadas sociais com grande poder político e econômico. O trabalho, então, permitiu estabelecer que o avanço no combate à corrupção depende de constante engajamento social, o que inclui desde o aperfeiçoamento de políticas públicas até efetivas manifestações populares

Empresários e sua propensão a punir atos classificados pelo direito como corrupção

O presente trabalho consiste em estudo detalhado de uma pesquisa empírica que abordou casos hipotéticos envolvendo a chamada pequena corrupção, tendo como público-alvo a classe empresarial. Participaram da pesquisa 104 empresários de todo o Brasil que responderam um questionário com 15 perguntas, aplicados por meio da rede mundial de computadores e que incluíram cenários hipotéticos (vinhetas) que envolviam atos de pequena corrupção, cuja adequação foi avaliada pelos respondentes. Em que pese a complexidade do propósito da pesquisa, os resultados indicaram, em geral, convergência entre o posicionamento dos entrevistados e a previsão legal no que diz respeito a práticas corruptas, sugerindo a ocorrência de maior propensão a punir relativamente a atos de corrupção passiva. Os resultados, ainda, proporcionaram interessantes inferências comportamentais ligadas não só à propensão a punir, como também à propensão a delinquir

Beyond comorbidities, sex and age have no effect on COVID-19 health care demand

Mendes, J. M., Baptista, H., Oliveira, A., Jardim, B., & De Castro Neto, M. (2022). Beyond comorbidities, sex and age have no effect on COVID-19 health care demand. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 1-12. [7356]. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-11376-5 -------------------------------- This research was supported by project Data4Covid19 (project ID: 62821), funded by the European Regional Development Fund, through the Operational Competitiveness Programme—COMPETE 2020, in the framework of 15/SI/2020—R&D Companies and Testing and Optimization Infrastructures (COVID-19). The authors acknowledge the editors and reviewers, whose comments and suggestions helped to improve the presentation of the paper.This paper explores the associations between sex, age and hospital health care pressure in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Portuguese mainland municipalities. To represent the impact of sex and age, we calculated COVID-19 standardised incidence ratios (SIR) in Portuguese mainland municipalities over fourteen months daily, especially focusing on the Porto metropolitan area. A daily novel indicator was devised for hospital health care pressure, consisting of an approximation to the ratio of hospitalisations per available hospital medical doctor (HPI). In addition, 14-day incidence rates were also calculated daily (DIR14), both as an approach and an alternative to the current national pandemic surveillance indicator (which is not calculated with such regularity). Daily maps were first visualised to evaluate spatial patterns. Pearson's correlation coefficients were then calculated between each proposed surveillance indicator (SIR and DIR14) and the HPI. Our results suggest that hospital pressure is not strongly associated with SIR (r = 0.34, p value = 0.08). However, DIR14 bears a stronger correlation with hospital pressure (r = 0.84, p value < 0.001). By establishing the importance of tackling sex and age through the inclusion of these factors explicitly in an epidemiological monitoring indicator, and assessing its relationship with a hospital pressure indicator, our findings have public policy implications that could improve COVID-19 incidence surveillance in Portugal and elsewhere, contributing to advancing the management of potential pandemics in the near future, with a particular focus on local and regional territorial scales.publishersversionepub_ahead_of_prin

Auxiliary precurrent behavior: effects of the number of discriminative dimensions in the task

Trabalhos anteriores mostraram que o nível de complexidade de tarefas de pares associados pode ser medido com base na quantificação das probabilidades programadas de reforço na presença das duas diferentes dimensões discriminativas das tarefas. No Experimento 1 (seis estudantes) do presente trabalho, foram investigados possíveis efeitos diferenciais de manipulações nas probabilidades de reforço para essas duas dimensões (aprender n respostas associadas ao mesmo evento versus aprender n respostas associadas cada uma a um evento diferente). No Experimento 2 (16 estudantes), o número de dimensões discriminativas do primeiro membro dos pares variou de dois (forma e posição) a quatro (forma, posição, cor, e forma secundária). De forma geral, os resultados sugerem que o desempenho melhora com aumentos no nível de correspondência unívoca entre estímulos discriminativos e respostas. Os efeitos observados podem ser explicados com base nas mudanças nas probabilidades programadas de reforço na presença das diferentes dimensões.Previous studies have shown that the level of complexity of paired-associates tasks can be measured on the basis of the quantification of programmed reinforcement probabilities in the presence of the two discriminative dimensions of these tasks. In Experiment 1 (six students) of the present paper, possible differential effects of changes in reinforcement probability for these two dimensions were investigated (to learn n responses associated to the same events versus to learn n responses each one associated to a different event). In Experiment 2 (16 students), the number of discriminative dimensions of the first member of the associated pairs varied from two (shape and position) to four (shape, position, color, and secondary shape). In general, results suggest that performance increases with increases in the level of univocal correspondence between discriminative stimuli and responses. The observed effects can be explained on the basis of changes in the programmed probabilities of reinforcement in the presence of different dimensions

Chemical composition and sensory profile of Syrah wines from semiarid tropical Brazil - rootstock and harvest season effects

This study aims to characterise the chemical compositions and sensorial profiles of wines made with Syrah grapes over two harvest seasons (first and second semester), over in different calendar years, from vines on two different rootstocks (1103P and IAC 313). Wine chemical composition and sensory profile were influenced by both rootstock and harvest season. Syrah wines on IAC 313 were favoured with higher concentrations of, petunidin 3-O-acetylglucoside (3.7 mg/L), malvidin 3-O-acetylglucoside (17.8 mg/L), malvidin 3-O-coumarylglucoside (4.4 mg/L), petunidin 3-O-coumarylglucoside (2.0 mg/L), peonidin 3-O-coumarylglucoside (1.4 mg/ L), monomeric flavanols (23.6 mg/L), oligomeric tannins (183.0 mg/L), total condensed tannins (1037.7 mg/L), dimer B1 (9.8 mg/L), B4 (5.0 mg/L), trimer C1 (3.1 mg/L) and calcium (80 mg/L). Syrah wines on 1103P had higher concentrations of total anthocyanins (375.6 mg/L, catechin (8.6 mg/L), epicatechin (12.6 mg/L), dimer B2 (21.0 mg/L), B1 3-O-gallate (1.8 mg/L), B2 3′-O-gallate (6.0 mg/L) and total flavanols (53.4 mg/L). The sensory profiles of the Syrah wines were influenced by rootstock followed by, mainly in relation to aromatic attributes. Syrah wines on IAC 313 were scored more highly by the tastersinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The selective COX-2 inhibitor etoricoxib reduces acute inflammatory markers in a model of neurogenic laryngitis but loses its efficacy with prolonged treatment

The selective COX-2 inhibitor Etoricoxib reduces acute inflammatory markers in a model of neurogenic laryngitis but loses its efficacy with prolonged treatment.OBJECTIVE: A randomised experimental study was used to evaluate the therapeutic effect of a selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor in neurogenic laryngitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male Wistar Han rats were subjected to the nasogastric intubation model (NGI) of laryngitis for 1 and 2 weeks. The NGI animals were divided into three groups: (1) treated with COX-2 inhibitor Etoricoxib, (2) vehicle and (3) non-intubated animals. A fourth group of animals was submitted to NGI only. Laryngeal sections were immunostained for substance P (SP) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) fibre-immunoreactivity (IR) and quantification of COX-2 positive cells through stereological analysis. The expression of COX-2, interleukins IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-10 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) was determined by quantitative real time QRT-PCR. TREATMENT: Etoricoxib (6 mg/kg/day) was prepared in 0.9% sterile saline with 5% glucose (vehicle) and administered daily during 1 or 2 weeks. RESULTS: Treatment for 1 week with Etoricoxib attenuated the CGRP-IR fibre depletion, the COX-2-IR increased cell number and the TNF-alpha and COX-2 mRNA increased levels induced by NGI. Two weeks of treatment had no beneficial effect. CONCLUSIONS: Etoricoxib is effective in neurogenic laryngitis for limited periods of administration, indicating that selective COX-2 inhibitors should be evaluated in the future.This study was supported by Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian Project No 74551 and Fundacao Grunenthal (Portugal)

Delivery of antimicrobial peptides for the treatment of mycobacteriosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which resides inside macrophages, has always been recognized as one of the most “successful” pathogens. Standard treatments have already been used for decades and, therefore, resistances to the first-line medicines are increasing. Additionally, poor patient compliance with stringent therapies is often pointed out as a major reason leading to treatment failure. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), a promising new class of broad spectrum antibiotics, are less prone to result in pathogen resistances due to their target (cellular membranes) and rapid action. In our laboratory we search for AMPs with potent activity against mycobacteria and try to develop efficient delivery systems based on self-assembled colloidal nanocarriers. Additionally, this systems are expected to reduce peptide toxicity and enhance selective uptake on infected cells. Finally, the use of encapsulated drugs in mycobacterial therapy may help reducing drug administration schedules which would ultimately improve patient compliance