Environmental enrichment results in both brain connectivity efficiency and selective improvement in different behavioral tasks

Exposure to environmental enrichment (EE) has been a useful model for studying the effects of experience on brain plasticity, but to date, few is known about the impact of this condition on the brain functional networks that probably underlies the multiple behavioral improvements. Hence, we assessed the effect of an EE protocol in adult Wistar rats on the performance in several behavioral tasks testing different domains (Open field (OP): locomotor activity; Elevated-zero maze (EZM): anxiety-related behaviors; 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT): attentional processes; 4-arm radial water maze (4-RAWM): spatial memory) in order to check its effectiveness in a wide range of functions. After this, we analyzed the functional brain connectivity underlying each experimental condition through cytochrome C oxidase (COx) histochemistry. Our EE protocol reduced both locomotor activity in the OP and anxiety-related behaviors in the EZM. On the other hand, enriched rats showed more accuracy in the 4-RAWM, whereas 5-CSRTT performance was not significantly ameliorated by EE condition. In relation to COx functional connectivity, we found that EE reduced the number of strong positive correlations both in basal and training conditions, suggesting a modulating effect on specific brain connections. Our results suggest that EE seems to have a selective effect on specific brain regions, such as prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, leading to a more efficient brain connectivity.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. PPIT.UMA.B1.2017/3

Measuring the Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Crime in a Medium-Sized City in China

Objectives: The study examines the variation in the daily incidence of eight acquisitive crimes: automobile theft, electromobile theft, motorcycle theft, bicycle theft, theft from automobiles, pickpocketing, residential burglary, and cyber-fraud before the lockdown and the duration of the lockdown for a medium-sized city in China. Methods: Regression discontinuity in time (RDiT) models are used to test the effect of the lockdown measures on crime by examining the daily variation of raw counts and rate. Results: It is indicated that in contrast to numerous violent crime categories such as domestic violence where findings have repeatedly found increases during the COVID-19 pandemic, acquisitive crimes in this city were reduced during the lockdown period for all categories, while “cyber-fraud” was found more resilient in the sense that its decrease was not as salient as for most other crime types, possibly due to people’s use of the internet during the lockdown period. Conclusions: The findings provide further support to opportunity theories of crime that are contingent upon the need for a motivated offender to identify a suitable target in physical space

Deterring Serious and Chronic Offenders

This chapter examines ways of deterring serious and chronic offenders based on evidence from the Pathways to Desistance Study, which addresses the issue of perceptions of deterrence and looks into the mechanisms of deterrence for serious offenders. After a brief overview of the Pathways study, the chapter reviews empirical evidence that demonstrates the rationality of high-risk adolescents regarding involvement in crime. It argues that offenders take into account rational-choice perceptions in their offending decisions and goes on to discuss the elasticity and malleability of these perceptions, and whether adolescent offenders act differently when they change risk and cost perceptions. It also considers policy efforts aimed at maximizing deterrence among adolescent offenders and concludes by outlining future directions for theory and research

Synthesis of Multiple-Pattern Planar Antenna Arrays with Single Prefixed or Jointly Optimized Amplitude Distributions

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article:Brégains, J. C.; Trastoy, A.; Ares Pena, F. J.; Moreno Piquero, E. "Synthesis of multiple-pattern planar antenna arrays with single prefixed or jointly optimized amplitude distributions", Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, 74 - 78 Volume: 32, Issue: 1 , 5 Jan. 2002, which has been published in final form at DOI: 10.1002/mop.10094. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving."[Abstract] Previous work on the generation of multiple radiation patterns by a single linear array antenna with an unchanging excitation amplitude distribution is generalized to planar arrays. The amplitude distribution common to all of the excitation distributions can be prefixed or optimized jointly with the phase distributions

On the Multiplicity of Solutions of Taylor Linear Sources Generating Symmetrical Power Patterns with Filled Nulls

[Abstract] As expressed in earlier works, if filled nulls are required in a power pattern generated by a Taylor line source, their corresponding roots must be complex. This leads to a multiplicity of solutions emerged from the fact that the power pattern keeps unaltered if the signs of the imaginary part of the roots are changed. In view of this attribute, the selection of the most favorable roots set, in terms of variability of amplitude excitation distribution, for example, is allowed. It is shown in this paper that, if the pattern is symmetric, a further consideration, never reported so far, can increase the number of available solutions

Optimal Synthesis Of Circular Apertures Based On Ludwig Distributions

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Electromagnetics on January of 2003, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/02726340390159414[Abstract] Ludwig distributions are a generalization of circular Taylor distributions that generate radiation patterns with wide-angle side lobe levels decaying faster than for Taylor patterns. In this paper we show that by means of an appropriate optimization technique the zeros of Ludwig patterns can be perturbed so as to improve or modify pattern and/or aperture distribution characteristics without altering the wide-angle decay behavior. The examples presented include footprint patterns, pencil beam patterns with individually controlled side lobe heights, footprint beams generated by real excitations, and pencil beam patterns with aperture distributions that are smoother than the original Ludwig distribution

Optimal Synthesis of Line Source Antennas Based On Rhodes Distributions

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Electromagnetic Waves and Applications on 2002, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1163/156939302X01245[Abstract] In this paper we show that by means of an appropriate optimization technique the zeros of Rhodes radiation patterns can be perturbed so as to improve or modify pattern and/or the aperture distribution characteristics without altering the behaviour of the excitation amplitude distribution at the ends of the aperture. The examples presented include symmetric and asymmetric shaped beams, sum patterns with individually controlled side lobe heights, shaped beams generated by real excitations, and sum pattern aperture distributions that are smoother than the original Rhodes distribution