Representational organization of novel task sets during proactive encoding

Recent multivariate analyses of brain data have boosted our understanding of the organizational principles that shape neural coding. However, most of this progress has focused on perceptual visual regions (Connolly et al., 2012), whereas far less is known about the organization of more abstract, action-oriented representations. In this study, we focused on humans{\textquoteright} remarkable ability to turn novel instructions into actions. While previous research shows that instruction encoding is tightly linked to proactive activations in fronto-parietal brain regions, little is known about the structure that orchestrates such anticipatory representation. We collected fMRI data while participants (both males and females) followed novel complex verbal rules that varied across control-related variables (integrating within/across stimuli dimensions, response complexity, target category) and reward expectations. Using Representational Similarity Analysis (Kriegeskorte et al., 2008) we explored where in the brain these variables explained the organization of novel task encoding, and whether motivation modulated these representational spaces. Instruction representations in the lateral prefrontal cortex were structured by the three control-related variables, while intraparietal sulcus encoded response complexity and the fusiform gyrus and precuneus organized its activity according to the relevant stimulus category. Reward exerted a general effect, increasing the representational similarity among different instructions, which was robustly correlated with behavioral improvements. Overall, our results highlight the flexibility of proactive task encoding, governed by distinct representational organizations in specific brain regions. They also stress the variability of motivation-control interactions, which appear to be highly dependent on task attributes such as complexity or novelty.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTIn comparison with other primates, humans display a remarkable success in novel task contexts thanks to our ability to transform instructions into effective actions. This skill is associated with proactive task-set reconfigurations in fronto-parietal cortices. It remains yet unknown, however, how the brain encodes in anticipation the flexible, rich repertoire of novel tasks that we can achieve. Here we explored cognitive control and motivation-related variables that might orchestrate the representational space for novel instructions. Our results showed that different dimensions become relevant for task prospective encoding depending on the brain region, and that the lateral prefrontal cortex simultaneously organized task representations following different control-related variables. Motivation exerted a general modulation upon this process, diminishing rather than increasing distances among instruction representations

Social information and personal interests modulate neural activity during economic decision-making

In the present study we employed electrophysiological recordings to investigate the levels of processing at which positive and negative descriptions of other people bias social decision-making in a game in which participants accepted or rejected economic offers. Besides social information, we manipulated the fairness of the assets distribution, whether offers were advantageous or not for the participant and the uncertainty of the game context. Results show that a negative description of the interaction partner enhanced the medial frontal negativity (MFN) in an additive manner with fairness evaluations. The description of the partner interacted with personal benefit considerations, showing that this positive or negative information only biased the evaluation of offers when they did not favor the participant. P300 amplitudes were enhanced by advantageous offers, suggesting their heightened motivational significance at later stages of processing. Throughout all stages, neural activity was enhanced with certainty about the personal assignments of the split. These results provide new evidence on the importance of interpersonal information and considerations of self-interests relative to others in decision-making situations.Financial support to this research came from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through a “Ramón y Cajal” research fellowship (RYC-2008-03008) and grant PSI2010-16421 to María Ruz, and also from the European Commission through a “Leonardo da Vinci” fellowship (DE/10/LLP-LdV/PLM/282611) to Anna Moser

The role of Artificial Intelligence in transforming HRM functions. A literature review

[EN] Artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized the way employees and managers work. This paper studies how AI is transforming Human Resource Management (HRM) functions: Staffing, Learning & Development and, Motivation. Using recent advances in science mapping, this article analyses 30 journals and proceedings using three main keywords: “Artificial intelligence”; “Human Resource Management”; and “Transformation”. All the consulted papers have been published in Scopus databases between 1998 to 2021 in order to explore and understand topic content and intellectual structure of how AI is transforming HRM functions. The results reveal a gap in literature to build a complete framework for the transforming role of AI in HRM functions. Particularly, Strategic HR Planning, Job Design and Compensation. This study gives insights and foundations for researchers to expand their study on the role of AI in HRM.Tuffaha, M.; Perelló Marín, MR.; Suárez Ruz, ME. (2022). The role of Artificial Intelligence in transforming HRM functions. A literature review. En Proceedings 3rd International Conference. Business Meets Technology. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 195-200. https://doi.org/10.4995/BMT2021.2021.1369619520

Entrenamiento basado en el modelo de periodización “day to day” en corredores amateurs

El entrenamiento day-to-day o periodización día a día se basa en el ajuste de la carga de entrenamiento en función del estado del deportista y su capacidad de recuperación ante la carga de entrenamiento previamente conocida mediante la respuesta del sistema nervioso autónomo. El objetivo del trabajo fue aplicar una periodización day-to-day basada en la variabilidad de la frecuencia cardiaca (VFC) durante 8 semanas para la prescripción de la carga de entrenamiento para la preparación de pruebas de fondo en corredores amateurs

Representación de la mujer en la música urbana

La música, como producto de la cultura de masas, tiene una estrecha relación con la sociedad. Debido al patriarcado, a lo largo de la historia la mujer ha tenido un papel desfavorecido en el ámbito musical, tanto como creadora como tema de representación. La evolución del feminismo ha logrado grandes cambios, empoderando a la mujer y eliminando algunas conductas y pensamientos machistas en muchos ámbitos, entre ellos el musical. Sin embargo, hay géneros musicales que socialmente se han considerado machistas, como es el caso de la música urbana, por hipersexualizar y cosificar a la mujer. Esta investigación pretende indagar sobre la mujer en la música urbana y conocer si el feminismo ha conseguido también realizar un cambio en este estilo musical, transmitiendo una representación más favorecedora y empoderada de la mujerMusic, as a product of mass culture, has a close relation with society. Due to patriarchy, throughout history women have had an underprivileged role in the music industry, both as a creator and as a subject of representation. The evolution of feminism has achieved great changes, empowering women and erasing some male chauvinism behaviors and thoughts in a great variety of scopes, including musical one. However, there are musical genres that have been considered male chauvinism, like urban music, for hypersexualizing and objectifying women. This investigation pretends to inquire about women in urban music and check if feminism has also made a change in this musical genre, giving a more favorable and empowered representation of women.Universidad de Sevilla. Grado en Publicidad y Relaciones Pública

A fuzzy approach to construction project risk assessment

The increasing complexity and dynamism of construction projects have imposed substantial uncertainties and subjectivities in the risk analysis process. Most of the real-world risk analysis problems contain a mixture of quantitative and qualitative data; therefore quantitative risk assessment techniques are inadequate for prioritizing risks. This article presents a risk assessment methodology based on the Fuzzy Sets Theory, which is an effective tool to deal with subjective judgement, and on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), which is used to structure a large number of risks. The proposed methodology incorporates knowledge and experience acquired from many experts, since they carry out the risks identification and their structuring, and also the subjective judgements of the parameters which are considered to assess the overall risk factor: risk impact, risk probability and risk discrimination. All of these factors are expressed by qualitative scales which are defined by trapezoidal fuzzy numbers to capture the vagueness in the linguistic variables. The most notable differences with other fuzzy risk assessment methods are the use of an algorithm to handle the inconsistencies in the fuzzy preference relation when pair-wise comparison judgements are necessary, and the use of trapezoidal fuzzy numbers until the defuzzification step. An illustrative example on risk assessment of a rehabilitation project of a building is used to demonstrate the proposed methodology

A fuzzy multi-criteria decision making model for construction contractor prequalification

Selecting an appropriate contractor is essential for the success of any construction project. Contractor prequalification procedure makes it possible to admit for tendering only competent contractor. Prequalification is a multi-criteria decision problem that is, in essence, largely dependent on the uncertainty and vagueness in the nature of construction projects and subjective judgement of the decision-maker. This paper presents a systematic prequalification procedure, based on Fuzzy Set Theory, whose main differences and advantages in comparison with other models are the use of an algorithm to handle the inconsistencies in the fuzzy preference relation when pair-wise comparison judgements are used and the use of linguistic assessment or exact assessment of performance of the contractors on qualitative or quantitative criterion, respectively. Finally, a case study for the rehabilitation project of a building at Technical University of Cartagena is presented to illustrate the use of the proposed model and to demonstrate its effectiveness

Last planner control system applied to a chemical plant construction

The main difference between the Last Planner production control system developed by Ballard and classical control systems is the way in which projects are controlled and planned. The Last Planner system focuses on controlling production units, workflows and the quality of the performed work. It also permits the identification of the causes for the non-completion of planned work and decision making in accordance with the project requirements so that actions are timely and productivity is increased. The objective of this paper is to present the results obtained from implementing the Last Planner system in the construction department of a chemical company. In this department, an information flow problem was detected among its members, in which supervisors lacked knowledge about the work to be performed until the project had been perfectly designed. This problem often led to meant long delays in the projects. The results from Last Planner system implementation show that identifying the constraints of the planned work leads to an improvement in the percentage and quality of completed activitie