The feedback 's effect on motor learning task in pianists

openla presente tesi vuole investigare gli effetti di feedback positivi o negativi sull'apprendimento motorio in pianisti, con l'ipotesi che i pianisti mostreranno un apprendimento più veloce con feedback negativi. Inoltre, si vuole investigare se l'elaborazione di feedback negativi sia associata ad una riduzione di beta oscillations.The research's aim is to investigate if pianist will learn faster from negative feedback or positive feedback and if the motor learning process with negative feedabck is associated to reduced beta power

Recent advances in mathematical modeling and statistical analysis of exocytosis in endocrine cells

open5noMost endocrine cells secrete hormones as a result of Ca(2+)-regulated exocytosis, i.e., fusion of the membranes of hormone-containing secretory granules with the cell membrane, which allows the hormone molecules to escape to the extracellular space. As in neurons, electrical activity and cell depolarization open voltage-sensitive Ca(2+) channels, and the resulting Ca(2+) influx elevate the intracellular Ca(2+) concentration, which in turn causes exocytosis. Whereas the main molecular components involved in exocytosis are increasingly well understood, quantitative understanding of the dynamical aspects of exocytosis is still lacking. Due to the nontrivial spatiotemporal Ca(2+) dynamics, which depends on the particular pattern of electrical activity as well as Ca(2+) channel kinetics, exocytosis is dependent on the spatial arrangement of Ca(2+) channels and secretory granules. For example, the creation of local Ca(2+) microdomains, where the Ca(2+) concentration reaches tens of µM, are believed to be important for triggering exocytosis. Spatiotemporal simulations of buffered Ca(2+) diffusion have provided important insight into the interplay between electrical activity, Ca(2+) channel kinetics, and the location of granules and Ca(2+) channels. By confronting simulations with statistical time-to-event (or survival) regression analysis of single granule exocytosis monitored with TIRF microscopy, a direct connection between location and rate of exocytosis can be obtained at the local, single-granule level. To get insight into whole-cell secretion, simplifications of the full spatiotemporal dynamics have shown to be highly helpful. Here, we provide an overview of recent approaches and results for quantitative analysis of Ca(2+) regulated exocytosis of hormone-containing granules.openPedersen, Morten Gram; Tagliavini, Alessia; Cortese, Giuliana; Riz, Michela; Montefusco, FrancescoPedersen, MORTEN GRAM; Tagliavini, Alessia; Cortese, Giuliana; Riz, Michela; Montefusco, Francesc

Helping the Child to Become an Adult, Helping the Adult to Become a Child. The Contribution of Psychomotor Activity to the Process of Growth and Maturation of the Child and the Adult

La intervenció té com a objectiu posar en evidència les connexions entre el procés de maduració de l’infant a la sala de psicomotricitat i el de creixement personal de l’adult durant el procés de formació en pràctica psicomotriu. La contribució de la pràctica psicomotriu a aquests processos es manifesta a través de la creativitat com a aspecte fonamental d’aquest procés, la conquesta de la identitat, la importància del món simbòlic: el valor de la metàfora i la paraula que neix d’un gest, d’una emoció. El plaer del moviment, del joc compartit. El cos en la relació. La funció del grup. La complexitat social: la diferència, la diversitat, un repte per al món de l’educació.La intervención tiene como objetivo evidenciar las conexiones entre el proceso de maduración del niño en la sala de psicomotricidad y el de crecimiento personal del adulto durante el proceso de formación en práctica psicomotriz. La contribución de la práctica psicomotriz a estos procesos se manifiesta a través de la creatividad como aspecto fundamental de este proceso, la conquista de la identidad, la importancia del mundo simbólico: el valor de la metáfora y la palabra que nace de un gesto, de una emoción. El placer del movimiento, del juego compartido. El cuerpo en la relación. La función del grupo. La complejidad social: la diferencia, la diversidad, un reto para el mundo de la educación.The intervention has as a main goal to prove the connections between the process of the child’s maturation at the psychomotor therapy room and the adult’s personal growth through the process of learning psychomotor skills. The contribution of psychomotor activity to these processes operates through creativity as the main aspect of the process, the attainment of one’s identity, the importance of symbolic world: the value of metaphor and the word born from a gesture, from an emotion. The pleasure of movement, of a playtime together. The body within the relationship. The group’s role. The social complexity: difference, diversity, a challenge for the educational world

Progressive supranuclear palsy: Postmortem chemical analysis

No Abstract.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/50312/1/410180502_ftp.pd

Functional group analysis by H NMR/chemical derivatization for the characterization of organic aerosol from the SMOCC field campaign

Water soluble organic compounds (WSOC) in aerosol samples collected in the Amazon Basin in a period encompassing the middle/late dry season and the beginning of the wet season, were investigated by H NMR spectroscopy. HiVol filter samples (PM2.5 and PM>2.5) and size-segregated samples from multistage impactor were subjected to H NMR characterization. The H NMR methodology, recently developed for the analysis of organic aerosol samples, has been improved by exploiting chemical methylation of carboxylic groups with diazomethane, which allows the direct determination of the carboxylic acid content of WSOC. The content of carboxylic carbons for the different periods and sizes ranged from 12% to 20% of total measured carbon depending on the season and aerosol size, with higher contents for the fine particles in the transition and wet periods with respect to the dry period. A comprehensive picture is presented of WSOC functional groups in aerosol samples representative of the biomass burning period, as well as of transition and semi-clean atmospheric conditions. A difference in composition between fine (PM2.5) and coarse (PM>2.5) size fractions emerged from the NMR data, the former showing higher alkylic content, the latter being largely dominated by R-O-H (or R-O-R') functional groups. Very small particles (<0.14 &mu;m), however, present higher alkyl-chain content and less oxygenated carbons than larger fine particles (0.42&ndash;1.2 &mu;m). More limited variations were found between the average compositions in the different periods of the campaign

A hierarchical dataset of vegetative and reproductive growth in apple tree organs under conventional and non-limited carbon resources

A monitoring of apple fruit, shoot and trunk growth was performed on 15 trees, equally split according to three treatments, which determined heavily contrasting carbon assimilate availability: unmanipulated trees (FRU), thinned trees (THI) and defruited trees (DEF). Several variables describe the vegetative growth on FRU and DEF trees (shoot length, base diameter, number of fruits on shoot, and height, diameter, pruning intensity and number of fruits of the branch carrying the shoot; trunk circumference), as well as the fruit growth on FRU and THI trees (3 fruit diameters). Additional measurements from ancillary shoots (apical diameter, number of leaves, leaf dry weight, stem dry weight, fresh mass, volume) and fruits (3 diameters, dry weight) from trees undergoing the same treatments, provide a more complete (destructive) characterization of organs growth, thanks to several measurements performed across the growing season. Organs are provided with categorical variables indicating the treatment, tree, canopy height, orientation (for both shoots and fruit), as well as branch and shoot identifiers, so that hierarchical modeling of the dataset can be performed. The dataset is completed with dates and day of the year of the measurements and the accumulated growing degree days from full bloom. Data can be used to calculate apple tree absolute and relative growth rates, maximum potential growth rates, as well as shoot growth responses to thinning and pruning. The dataset can also be used to calibrate allometric relationships, estimate structural apple tree growth parameters and their variabilit

A Scheme to Improve the Effectiveness of the Bus Services in Lombardy Through Tenders

In Lombardy public subsidies to bus companies have increased in the last ten years, while market share and quality of public transport have declined. In 1996, the Lombardy Region began a reform of public local transport. In line with EU regulations, the regional transport acts 13/1995 and 22/1998 aim to improve the effectiveness of the public transport through competition and economic incentives. This paper describes the scheme developed for the tenders. In the present concession system, the routes and the schedules for each service are decided by the Region. The reform calls for tenders for a network divided into areas. The areas must be homogeneous in terms of transport demand and attractive for the tenderisers. Their size is chosen to make the management of the services affordable for sufficient competitors. A methodology has been developed to support the grantor in setting the following service requirements for each area: the links to be included in the network and the minimum number of seats to be assured by each route. Further requirements concerning fares, environmental and quality standards, and the information provided to users and to the transport authority are also set. The effectiveness of the planned services is encouraged by economic incentives: part of the subsidy is paid only if specific objectives set by the public authorities are met. The criteria to compare the offers are complex, because of the need to evaluate not only the tendered price, but also the effectiveness of the network and schedule proposals, as well as the usefulness of the additional routes and seats served or the improved quality. A Decision Support System (DSS) software application based on multi-criteria analysis automatically chooses the best project, ensuring a transparent procedure. The reliability of this evaluation system has been tested in simulated tender involving representatives of Lombardy bus companies.Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies. Faculty of Economics and Business. The University of Sydne

Evaluating the Alignment of IT with Business Processes in SMEs

This paper takes a new approach to IT alignment by focusing on the alignment of IT with business processes. Thus the paper focuses on operational alignment rather than strategic alignment. The paper proposes a new instrument for measuring IT alignment, based on the process view of firms. The Process Classification Framework (PCF) (APQC 2006) was used to create a 24 item instrument that formed part of a questionnaire for structured interviews with managers in 66 SMEs. Analysis using partial least squares indicated a positive relationship between IT alignment and IT Success. In addition, IT alignment was found to be low in many firms, and low for many business processes. The typical SME had about 5 business processes with insufficient IS support. However, IT alignment was at an acceptable level for the most important business processes. The study also indicates that the business process view could provide an efficient measure of IT alignment. Opportunities for further research are outlined