A new framework to measure intuitiveness in decision problems

Intuition in decision-making is often seen as a set of heuristic or holistic mental processes applied to decision problems hen they exceed cognitive capacity, or whenever there is a will to achieve a solution that does not exhaust cognitive resources. In this regard, to date it has been solely treated as a  ersonal and frequently solipsist tendency. This paper tests whether different types of problems carry different degrees of intuitiveness’ and whether it would be possible to produce a realistic experimental model of such problems. To cope with both demands, standardized stimuli (mostly IAPS figures) were used to model decision problems as conflicts (approach-avoidance, approach-approach, and avoidanceapproach conflicts). Intuitiveness was argued to be inversely related to arousal, as measured by GSR levels. several solutions to methodological problems involving decision-making designs in the environment of the software BioExplorer were created. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon tests were used to rank problems. According to our analyses, ap-av conflicts are by far less intuitive than av-ap, and av-av (p <.0001). The latter two are not very different in this regard (p = .5712).

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Retinal alterations in a pre-clinical model of an autism spectrum disorder

Abstract Background Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) affect around 1.5% of people worldwide. Symptoms start around age 2, when children fail to maintain eye contact and to develop speech and other forms of communication. Disturbances in glutamatergic and GABAergic signaling that lead to synaptic changes and alter the balance between excitation and inhibition in the developing brain are consistently found in ASD. One of the hallmarks of these disorders is hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli; however, little is known about its underlying causes. Since the retina is the part of the CNS that converts light into a neuronal signal, we set out to study how it is affected in adolescent mice prenatally exposed to valproic acid (VPA), a useful tool to study ASD endophenotypes. Methods Pregnant female mice received VPA (600 mg/kg, ip) or saline at gestational day 11. Their male adolescent pups (P29–35) were behaviorally tested for anxiety and social interaction. Proteins known to be related with ASD were quantified and visualized in their retinas by immunoassays, and retinal function was assessed by full-field scotopic electroretinograms (ERGs). Results Early adolescent mice prenatally exposed to VPA displayed impaired social interest and increased anxiety-like behaviors consistent with an ASD phenotype. The expression of GABA, GAD, synapsin-1, and FMRP proteins were reduced in their retinas, while mGluR5 was increased. The a-wave amplitudes of VPA-exposed were smaller than those of CTR animals, whereas the b-wave and oscillatory potentials were normal. Conclusions This study establishes that adolescent male mice of the VPA-induced ASD model have alterations in retinal function and protein expression compatible with those found in several brain areas of other autism models. These results support the view that synaptic disturbances with excitatory/inhibitory imbalance early in life are associated with ASD and point to the retina as a window to understand their subjacent mechanisms

Connexin36 (Cx36) immunolabeling in transverse sections of the chick retina after mechanical lesions.

<p>We determined spatial distribution of Cx36 protein (green) in retinas counterstained with propidium iodide (PI, red) in control retinas (A–C) and after 1-(D–F), 3-(G–I) and 7-days (J–L) of the mechanical lesion. Control retinas showed a pattern of Cx36 distribution similar to that described in previous studies, with punctate labeling in the inner plexiform layer (IPL) forming horizontal lines, and in the outer plexiform layer (OPL) as well. In the lesion focus it is possible to observe an increase of PI labeling evidencing apoptotic nuclei (arrows). In 1-day lesioned retinas, an unexpected labeling pattern was observed in the outer nuclear layer (arrowheads), revealing that cells in this layer accumulate Cx36 protein close to the lesion. In the 3- and 7-day lesioned retinas, in spite the course of the degeneration process, Cx36 punctate labeling remains visible, indicating the presence of this protein after in these time points after the lesion. Scale bar: 60 µm.</p

TUNEL labeling in retinas from eyes injected with GJ blockers.

<p>Right after mechanical trauma in the retina, eyes were injected with (A) PBS, (B) carbenoxolone (CBX), (C) quinine (Quin) and (D) CBX 500 µM + Quin 500 µM. Animals were euthanized 1 day post-lesion, and transverse sections of retinas were submitted to terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) to characterize apoptotic spatial pattern. In each image it is possible to localize the focus of the lesion (arrows). (E–H) In order to determine whether GJ blockers caused changes in the distribution of apoptotic cells, we have counted the number of TUNEL- positive nuclei located as far as 150 µm away from the focus of the lesion. Values were plotted according to the distance of the focus, and were submitted to linear regression using the least square approach, generating mathematical parameters such as <i>R²</i>, <i>R</i> and also first order equation (<i>y  =  ax + b</i>). (I–L) The same procedure was undertaken using values from pixel analysis. (M) Considering the distribution of TUNEL-positive nuclei, the means of angular coefficient from first order equation (<i>a</i>) were calculated for each experimental condition (n = 3). When compared to the control (PBS), the means of <i>a</i> angular coefficient were higher for Quin 500 µM and CBX 500 µM + Quin 500 µM. (N) Regarding values from bitmap pixel analysis, we observed that the mean of <i>a</i> angular coefficient was higher for retinas from eyes injected with Quin 500 µM. *<i>P</i><0.05 vs. PBS in Newman-Keuls pairwise comparisons after two-way ANOVA. Scale bar: 60 µm.</p

TUNEL labeling in retinal explants treated with GJ blockers.

<p>Retinal explants were cultured for 4 hours with (A) PBS, (B) carbenoxolone (CBX), (C) quinine (Quin) and (D) CBX 100 µM + quinine 100 µM. Transverse sections of chick retina explants were submitted to terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) to characterize apoptotic spatial pattern. In each image it is possible to localize the focus of the lesion (arrows). (E–H) In order to determine whether GJ blockers caused changes in the distribution of apoptotic cells, we have counted the number of TUNEL- positive nuclei located as far as 150 µm away from the focus of the lesion. Values were plotted according to the distance of the focus, and were submitted to linear regression using the least square approach, generating mathematical parameters such as <i>R²</i>, <i>R</i> and also first order equation (<i>y  =  ax + b</i>). (I–L) The same procedure was undertaken using values from pixel analysis. <i>X–Y</i> axis bitmap analysis was used to view the pixel values in numeric format, where values correspond to the brightness of the pixels. (M) Considering the distribution of TUNEL-positive nuclei, the means of angular coefficient from first order equation (<i>a</i>) were calculated for each experimental condition (n = 3). When compared to the control (PBS), the means of <i>a</i> angular coefficient were higher for all evaluated conditions using GJ blockers (CBX, quinine and CBX + quinine). (N) Regarding values from bitmap pixel analysis, we observed that the means of <i>a</i> angular coefficient were higher for quinine and CBX + quinine conditions. *<i>P</i><0.01 and **<i>P</i><0.05 vs. PBS in Newman-Keuls pairwise comparisons after one-way ANOVA. Scale bar: 60 µm.</p

Assessment of cell viability using quantification of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) released by lesioned retinas treated with GJ blockers and openers.

<p>Retinas were removed after 1 day of binocular mechanical trauma. One retina was conditioned in medium containing PBS (control) whereas the other was conditioned with pharmacological agents (experimental), which were described to modulate cell coupling, either closing (cabenoxolone, CBX; quinine, Quin) or opening (trimethylamine hydrochloride, TMA) the GJ channels. LDH in the retinal explant medium was measured after 1, 2 and 4 hours of in vitro treatment, using the appropriate kit followed by quantification by spectrophotometric analysis. “Experimental” dots were shown as LDH quantification normalized by the respective control, with the horizontal bars representing the means. In some cases, experimental dots overlapped each other and/or the horizontal bar. We have tested two different concentrations of the pharmacological agents, i.e. 50 and 100 µM. We observed no changes in LDH release in retinal explants treated with (A) CBX 50 µM, (B) Quin 50 µM, (C) CBX+Quin 50 µM and (D) TMA 50 µM. On the other hand, we observed changes in LDH release when retinas were treated with the same drugs with a higher concentration (100 µM). (E) After incubating with CBX 100 µM for 4 h, we detected a significant decrease in the LDH release (−22%, <i>P</i><0.01). (F) Incubation with Quin 100 µM decreased LDH release after 1 h (−31%, <i>P</i><0.01), 2 h (−28%, <i>P</i><0.01) and 4 h (39%, <i>P</i><0.01). (G) CBX 100 µM and quinine 100 µM produced similar results: LDH release decreased after 1 h (−21%, <i>P</i><0.01), 2 h (−21%, <i>P</i><0.01) and 4 h (−16%, <i>P</i><0.01) when compared to controls. (H) We observed no significant changes in LDH release using TMA 100 µM in any of the analyzed time points. *<i>P</i><0.01 in paired T Test (n = 5).</p

TUNEL labeling in retinas after mechanical lesions.

<p>Transverse sections of lesioned chick retinas were submitted to terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL, green) to characterize the apoptosis spatial pattern, and counterstained with propidium iodide (PI, red). A–C, after 6 h of the mechanical trauma, we could observe TUNEL-positive nuclei in the focus of the lesion (arrows). D–F, in 24 h-lesioned retinas, we observed a peak in the number of the TUNEL-positive cells, mainly located in the focus of the lesion. These cells were mainly distributed in the inner nuclear layer (INL), but also in the outer nuclear layer (ONL). Notice that some cells located in the lower part of the image were actually from the INL and displaced by the mechanical trauma. G–I, after 3 days, we observed a decrease in the number of TUNEL-positive cells. Moreover, these cells were located away from the focus, in the penumbra area (arrowheads), evidencing the secondary cell death. In 7-day lesioned retinas, we typically observed very few or no TUNEL-positive cells in retinal transverse sections. Scale bar: 60 µm.</p