Connections between the facial and trigeminal nerves: Anatomical basis for facial muscle proprioception

Proprioception is a quality of sensibility that originates in specialized sensory organs (proprioceptors) that inform the central nervous system about static and dynamic conditions of muscles and joints. The facial muscles are innervated by efferent motor nerve fibers and typically lack proprioceptors. However, facial proprioception plays a key role in the regulation and coordination of the facial musculature and diverse reflexes. Thus, facial muscles must be necessarily supplied also for afferent sensory nerve fibers provided by other cranial nerves, especially the trigeminal nerve. Importantly, neuroanatomical studies have demonstrated that facial proprioceptive impulses are conveyed through branches of the trigeminal nerve to the central nervous system. The multiple communications between the facial and the trigeminal nerves are at the basis of these functional characteristics. Here we review the literature regarding the facial (superficial) communications between the facial and the trigeminal nerves, update the current knowledge about proprioception in the facial muscles, and hypothesize future research in facial proprioception

Genetic analysis of the effects of heat stress before and after lambing on pre-weaning live weight in Spanish Merino lambs

Background: Heat stress (HS) is a major environmental effect on sheep production. Hereby, we estimated the genetic (co)variance component of HS on the pre-weaning performance of 19,022 Merino lambs by analysing the climatological index of temperature and relative humidity (recorded 30 days before lambing and after lambing) using transversal and longitudinal mixed linear models. Methods and Results: The global impact of HS during the last 30 days of pregnancy was −17% for birthweight and ranged between −4% and −8% for live weight at 15, 30 days of age (W30), and average daily gain from birth at 30 days. The results from both statistical approaches showed very similar heritabilities (h2), ranging from 0.192 to 0.237 for the direct genetic (D) effects and from 0.072 to 0.082 for the maternal genetic (M) effects, but the antagonism between (D) and (M) was higher when a longitudinal model was used. A significant genotype-environmental effect was also found regardless of whether the climatological covariables were considered in the model. In addition, we employed D and M breeding values for W30 as an example to create a new subjacent index by first using a principal component analysis and employing the leading eigenvalues as a weighted factor that provides the information needed to identify those genotypes that maximise the response for both genetic effects over a wide range of climate–environment levels. Conclusions: Our study revealed that the HS indexes of the mother during the gestation period have a significant effect on the growth of the lambs during the early stages of life.Fil: Molina, Antonio. Universidad de Córdoba; EspañaFil: Demyda-peyrás, Sebastian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Sánchez, Manuel. Universidad de Córdoba; EspañaFil: Serradilla, Juan M.. Universidad de Córdoba; EspañaFil: Menéndez Buxadera, Alberto. Universidad de Córdoba; Españ

Análisis e Implementación en el Lenguaje Abierto Preprocesador de Hipertexto (PHP) Bajo Linux de una Central de Conmutación Móvil (MSC) Virtual para la Interacción a Nivel de Protocolo de Señalización Parte de Usuario de Red Digital de Servicios Integrados (ISUP) con un Sistema de Respuesta Interactiva (IVR), Elemento que Presta el Servicio de Ingreso y Consulta de Saldos para los Abonados Prepago de una Red Celular

El presente trabajo simula el funcionamiento de una Central de Conmutación Móvil (MSC) que cuenta con la implementación del protocolo de señalización de la pila SS7 llamado Parte Usuario de la Red Digital de Servicios Integrados (ISUP), para interactuar con un sistema de respuesta interactiva (IVR) de una red de telefonía celular. Los componentes de la red de la cual forma parte este proyecto fueron desarrollados en el lenguaje abierto Preprocesador de Hipertexto (PHP) e implementados en computadoras portátiles que poseen la distribución del sistema operativo Linux llamada Ubuntu. Se desarrolló una interfaz gráfica con el fin de obtener información más detallada de cada uno de los mensajes de señalización del protocolo ISUP. La gran cantidad de parámetros opcionales que permiten transportar los mensajes del protocolo ISUP, brinda la flexibilidad de adaptar el sistema implementado a un vasto número de requerimientos, pudiendo ser capaz de simular el comportamiento real de diferentes servicios presentes en la telefonía alrededor del mundo.This work simulates the operation of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) which has the implementation of the protocol stack signaling SS7 called integrated services user part of a digital network (ISUP) to interact with an interactive re-sponse system (IVR) of a mobile telephone network. The components of the network were developed in the open source hypertext preprocessor (PHP) and were implemented in laptops employing a Linux-based operative system in Ubuntu. A graphical interface was developed in order to get more detailed information of each ISUP signaling message. The large number of optional parameters that let the transport of ISUP messages provides the flexibility to adapt the implemented system to a large number of requirements, and it makes our project be able to simulate the real behavior of a mobile tele-phone network in the world with all the services that it includes

Definition of masks related to psychovisual features for video quality assessment

Video Quality Assessment needs to correspond to human perception. Pixel-based metrics (PSNR or MSE) fail in many circumstances for not taking into account the spatio-temporal property of human's visual perception. In this paper we propose a new pixel-weighted method to improve video quality metrics for artifacts evaluation. The method applies a psychovisual model based on motion, level of detail, pixel location and the appearance of human faces, which approximate the quality to the human eye's response. Subjective tests were developed to adjust the psychovisual model for demonstrating the noticeable improvement of an algorithm when weighting the pixels according to the factors analyzed instead of treating them equally. The analysis developed demonstrates the necessity of models adapted to the specific visualization of contents and the model presents an advance in quality to be applied over sequences when a determined artifact is analyzed

FDG-PET studies of the effect of MDMA in rat brain

[Abstract] The 10th International Conference on Functional Mapping of the Human Brain, June 13-17, 2004, Budapest, HungaryAlterations of the human brain due to MDMA use are a focus of ongoing research. MDMA abuse produces both short and long-term effects on brain; MDMA-induced functional alterations of the serotonergic system are reported to alter local energy metabolism of cortical and subcortical structures. Presently, there are no FDG-PET experimental studies reported in animals. The aim of this study is to assess these brain glucose metabolism changes after a single dose of MDMA in rats by using FDG-PETPublicad

Characterisation of Goats’ Response to Heat Stress: Tools to Improve Heat Tolerance

This chapter aims to review present knowledge about the effects of heat stress on goats, summarising what is known about its measurement, its impact on the performances of the animals, mainly milk traits, the physiological and genetic bases of the animals’ response and the improvement of resilience through selection. A short historic review of the climatic indexes used to measure heat stress, with special emphasis on the temperature humidity indexes, and the main consequences on milk yield and composition are followed by a description of the results of experiments carried out to study the physiological and metabolic consequences of heat stress. The results of the quantitative analyses of the genetic bases of heat stress using norm of reaction models and of the application of omic techniques, particularly transcriptomic and genomic, to understand the complexity of the genetic background of animal’s reaction to thermal stress, constitute the next points. The chapter ends treating the possible ways and difficulties of applying selection to increase resilience to heat stress

Dynamic modeling of the solar field in parabolic trough solar power plants

Parabolic trough solar power plants use a thermal fluid to transfer thermal energy from solar radiation to a water-steam Rankine cycle in order to drive a turbine that, coupled to an electrical generator, produces electricity. These plants have a heat transfer fluid (HTF) system with the necessary elements to transform solar radiation into heat and to transfer that thermal energy to the water-steam exchangers. In order to get the best possible performance in the Rankine cycle and, hence, in the thermal plant, it is necessary that the thermal fluid reach its maximum temperature when leaving the solar field (SF). Also, it is mandatory that the thermal fluid does not exceed the maximum operating temperature of the HTF, above which it degrades. It must be noted that the optimal temperature of the thermal fluid is difficult to obtain, since solar radiation can change abruptly from one moment to another. The aim of this document is to provide a model of an HTF system that can be used to optimize the control of the temperature of the fluid without interfering with the normal operation of the plant. The results obtained with this model will be contrasted with those obtained in a real plant

Metodología para evaluar efectos del deslumbramiento en amétropes corregidos

Light originated at a glare source and entering the eye, produces a veiling luminance that causes contrast decrease in retinal images and this effect could differ if the subject wears lenses or not. In this work the glare effects in subjects wearing lenses is studied inducing ammetropies in emmetropes. Contrast thresholds of sinusoidal patterns of 2 cpd and 0.5 cd/m2 are evaluated without and with glare, the glare source being steady, at 12o and producing 60 lx at the cornea. To exemplify the use of this methodology, 2 emmetropes under 8 different conditions are considered: naked eye; 3 control conditions (wearing neutral lenses) and 4 ammetropic conditions, inducing low (2 D) and medium (5 D) myopia and hyperopia with positive and negative contact lenses and correcting them with adequate ophthalmic lenses. The contrast threshold differences between the naked eye and the other 7 conditions are statistically not significant without glare and significant (up to more than 100%) with glare, independently of lens power and probably due to ectopic scattering and multiple reflections. The method proposed enables the determination of the glare effects if lenses are worn though a greater population is required to attain conclusive data.La luz originada en una fuente deslumbrante que entra al ojo, produce una luminancia de velo que causa una disminución de contraste en las imágenes retinianas y este efecto podría diferir si el sujeto usa lentes o no. En este trabajo se estudian los efectos del deslumbramiento en sujetos que usan lentes induciendo ametropías en emétropes. Se evalúan contrastes umbrales de patrones sinusoidales de 2 cpd y 0.5 cd/m2 sin y con deslumbramiento, la fuente deslumbrante siendo estable, a 12º y produciendo 60 lx en la córnea. Para ejemplificar el uso de esta metodología, se consideran 2 emétropes en 8 condiciones diferentes: ojo desnudo; 3 condiciones de control (lentes neutras) y 4 condiciones ametrópicas, induciendo miopía e hipermetropía baja (±2 D) y media (±5 D) con lentes de contacto positivas y negativas y corrigiéndolas con adecuadas lentes oftálmicas. Las diferencias de contraste entre el ojo desnudo y las otras 7 condiciones son estadísticamente no significativas sin deslumbramiento y significativas (hasta más de 100%) con deslumbramiento, independientemente de la potencia de la lente y probablemente debido a scattering ectópico y reflexiones múltiples. El método propuesto permite determinar los efectos de deslumbramiento al usar lentes aunque, para tener datos contundentes, se requiere una mayor poblaciónFil: de Paul Camacho, Anibal Gabriel. Universidad Nacional de Tucuman. Facultad de Cs.exactas y Tecnologia. Departamento de Luminotecnia, Luz y Vision; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucuman. Instituto de Investigacion En Luz, Ambiente y Vision; ArgentinaFil: Colombo, Elisa Margarita. Universidad Nacional de Tucuman. Facultad de Cs.exactas y Tecnologia. Departamento de Luminotecnia, Luz y Vision; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucuman. Instituto de Investigacion En Luz, Ambiente y Vision; ArgentinaFil: Comastri, Silvia Ana Elva. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingenieria. Departamento de Fisica; ArgentinaFil: Aparicio, Juan A.. Universidad de Valladolid. Facultad de Ciencias; EspañaFil: Menéndez, José Antonio. Universidad de Valladolid. Facultad de Ciencias; EspañaFil: Issolio, Luis Alberto. Universidad Nacional de Tucuman. Facultad de Cs.exactas y Tecnologia. Departamento de Luminotecnia, Luz y Vision; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucuman. Instituto de Investigacion En Luz, Ambiente y Vision; Argentin

La formación del profesorado de Educación Infantil y Primaria en el marco del EEES

Updating of the educational methodology to build the European Higher Education Area stands as a key goal to the Spanish universities. In the case of primary and kindergarten teacher training was necessary to design qualifications as the teacher's professional profile and identify the skills that make up that profile. The present work illustrates an example of this situation with a specific case of this new training carried out in the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education at the University of Oviedo. Firstly the structure of the new undergraduate degrees in teacher training is described followed by a description of management and structural aspects. The implications of the change lead us to think about the chance to improve the training of future primary and kindergarten teacher.En el proceso de construcción del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior la renovación de la metodología educativa se erige como un foco clave y fundamental para toda la Universidad española. En el caso de la Formación del Profesorado de Infantil y Primaria fue necesario el diseño de las titulaciones conforme al perfil profesional del maestro y determinar las competencias que dicho perfil integra. En el presente trabajo, se ejemplifica esta necesidad con un caso concreto de esta nueva formación en la recientemente creada Facultad de Formación del Profesorado y Educación de la Universidad de Oviedo. El objetivo se centró en describir primeramente, la estructura de las nuevas titulaciones de grado de la formación del profesorado, seguido de una descripción de aspectos de gestión, estructurales, etc., que acompañaron la transformación de los estudios. Las implicaciones derivadas del cambio producido, nos llevan a pensar en las posibilidades de mejora en la formación de los futuros maestros de infantil y primaria

Control strategies based on symmetrical components for grid-connected converters under voltage dips

Low-voltage ride-through (LVRT) requirements demand wind-power plants to remain connected to the network in presence of grid-voltage dips. Most dips present positive-, negative-, and zero-sequence components. Hence, regulators based on symmetrical components are well suited to control gridconnected converters. A neutral-point-clamped topology has been considered as an active front end of a distributed power-generation system, following the trend of increasing power and voltage levels in wind-power systems. Three different current controllers based on symmetrical components and linear quadratic regulator have been considered. The performance of each controller is evaluated on LVRT requirement fulfillment, grid-current balancing, maximum grid-current value control, and oscillating power flow. Simulation and experimental results show that all three controllers meet LVRT requirements, although different system performance is found for each control approach. Therefore, controller selection depends on the system constraints and the type of preferred performance features.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version