Cohomology of D-complex manifolds

In order to look for a well-behaved counterpart to Dolbeault cohomology in D-complex geometry, we study the de Rham cohomology of an almost D-complex manifold and its subgroups made up of the classes admitting invariant, respectively anti-invariant, representatives with respect to the almost D-complex structure, miming the theory introduced by Li and Zhang (2009) in [20] for almost complex manifolds. In particular, we prove that, on a 4-dimensional D-complex nilmanifold, such subgroups provide a decomposition at the level of the real second de Rham cohomology group. Moreover, we study deformations of D-complex structures, showing in particular that admitting D-Kähler structures is not a stable property under small deformations

Modeling Taxi Drivers' Behaviour for the Next Destination Prediction

In this paper, we study how to model taxi drivers' behaviour and geographical information for an interesting and challenging task: the next destination prediction in a taxi journey. Predicting the next location is a well studied problem in human mobility, which finds several applications in real-world scenarios, from optimizing the efficiency of electronic dispatching systems to predicting and reducing the traffic jam. This task is normally modeled as a multiclass classification problem, where the goal is to select, among a set of already known locations, the next taxi destination. We present a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) approach that models the taxi drivers' behaviour and encodes the semantics of visited locations by using geographical information from Location-Based Social Networks (LBSNs). In particular, RNNs are trained to predict the exact coordinates of the next destination, overcoming the problem of producing, in output, a limited set of locations, seen during the training phase. The proposed approach was tested on the ECML/PKDD Discovery Challenge 2015 dataset - based on the city of Porto -, obtaining better results with respect to the competition winner, whilst using less information, and on Manhattan and San Francisco datasets.Comment: preprint version of a paper submitted to IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation System

Bayesian multi--dipole localization and uncertainty quantification from simultaneous EEG and MEG recordings

We deal with estimation of multiple dipoles from combined MEG and EEG time--series. We use a sequential Monte Carlo algorithm to characterize the posterior distribution of the number of dipoles and their locations. By considering three test cases, we show that using the combined data the method can localize sources that are not easily (or not at all) visible with either of the two individual data alone. In addition, the posterior distribution from combined data exhibits a lower variance, i.e. lower uncertainty, than the posterior from single device.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures -- conference paper from EMBEC 2017, Tampere, Finlan

Degree of non-K\"ahlerianity for 6-dimensional nilmanifolds

We use Bott-Chern cohomology to measure the non-K\"ahlerianity of 6-dimensional nilmanifolds endowed with the invariant complex structures in M. Ceballos, A. Otal, L. Ugarte, and R. Villacampa's classification, [Invariant Complex Structures on 6-Nilmanifolds: Classification, Fr\"olicher Spectral Sequence and Special Hermitian Metrics, J. Geom. Anal. (2014)]. We investigate the existence of pluriclosed metric in connection with such a classification

Evalutation of fetal cerebral blood flow perfusion using three dimensional power doppler ultrasound angiography in fetuses affected by intrauterine growth retardation

The aim of the present study is to explore the possible use of 3D Power Doppler Angiography (3D-PDA) using VOCAL software (General Electric Healthcare, USA) in the assessment of different cerebral regions in normal and growth restricted fetuses (IUGR). This is a pilot study, that means a small experiment designed to test the method and gather information prior to a larger study.In Late Onset IUGR fetuses, presenting normal Bidimensional Doppler flow indices of umbilical and middle cerebral arteries, Vascularity Index (VI) and Vascular Flow Index (VFI) of the frontal zone of the fetal brain resulted increased demonstrating the \u201cfrontal brain sparing effect\u201d . On the other hand, these vascular parameters were decreased in the temporal zone suggesting a vascular redistribution during brain sparing effect according to a regional increase in bloody supply to the frontal region sprinkled mainly by the anterior cerebral artery. This shift may indicate that general cognitive functions, such as impulse control, language, memory, problem solving and socialization may be preferentially preserved suggesting a hierarchical order in the protection of the brain function

Loop observables for BF theories in any dimension and the cohomology of knots

A generalization of Wilson loop observables for BF theories in any dimension is introduced in the Batalin-Vilkovisky framework. The expectation values of these observables are cohomology classes of the space of imbeddings of a circle. One of the resulting theories discussed in the paper has only trivalent interactions and, irrespective of the actual dimension, looks like a 3-dimensional Chern-Simons theory.Comment: 13 page

Early Gabapentin Treatment during the Latency Period Increases Convulsive Threshold, Reduces Microglial Activation and Macrophage Infiltration in the Lithium-Pilocarpine Model of Epilepsy

The lithium-pilocarpine model of epilepsy reproduces several features of temporal lobe epilepsy in humans, including the chronological timeline of an initial latency period followed by the development of spontaneous seizures. Epilepsy therapies in humans are implemented, as a rule, after the onset of the spontaneous seizures. We here studied the potential effect on epileptogenesis of starting an early treatment during the latency period, in order to prevent the development of spontaneous seizures. Adult male Wistar rats were treated with 3 mEq/kg LiCl, and 20 h later 30 mg/kg pilocarpine. Once status epilepticus (SE) was achieved, it was allowed to last for 20 min, and then motor seizures were controlled with the administration of 20 mg/kg diazepam. At 1DPSE (DPSE, days post-status epilepticus), animals started to receive 400 mg/kg/day gabapentin or saline for 4 days. At 5DPSE, we observed that SE induced an early profuse microglial and astroglial reactivity, increased synaptogenic trombospondin-1 expression and reduced AQP4 expression in astroglial ending feet. Blood brain barrier (BBB) integrity seemed to be compromised, as infiltrating NG2+ macrophages and facilitated access to the CNS was observed by transplanting eGFP+ blood cells and bone marrow-derived progenitors in the SE animals. The early 4-day gabapentin treatment successfully reduced microglial cell reactivity and blood-borne cell infiltration, without significantly altering the mRNA of proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β and TNFα immediately after the treatment. After 21DSPE, another group of animals that developed SE and received 4 days of gabapentin treatment, were re-exposed to subconvulsive accumulative doses of pilocarpine (10 mg/kg/30 min) and were followed by recording the Racine scale reached. Early 4-day gabapentin treatment reduced the Racine scale reached by the animals, reduced animal mortality, and reduced the number of animals that achieved SE (34% vs. 72%). We conclude that early gabapentin treatment following SE, during the latency period, is able to reduce neuroinflammation and produces a persistent effect that limits seizures and increases convulsive threshold, probably by restricting microglial reactivity and spurious synaptogenesis.Fil: Rossi, Alicia Raquel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia ; ArgentinaFil: Murta, Verónica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia ; ArgentinaFil: Auzmendi, Jerónimo Andrés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia ; ArgentinaFil: Ramos, Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia ; Argentin