Task-induced deactivation from rest extends beyond the default mode brain network

Activity decreases, or deactivations, of midline and parietal cortical brain regions are routinely observed in human functional neuroimaging studies that compare periods of task-based cognitive performance with passive states, such as rest. It is now widely held that such task-induced deactivations index a highly organized"default-mode network" (DMN): a large-scale brain system whose discovery has had broad implications in the study of human brain function and behavior. In this work, we show that common task-induced deactivations from rest also occur outside of the DMN as a function of increased task demand. Fifty healthy adult subjects performed two distinct functional magnetic resonance imaging tasks that were designed to reliably map deactivations from a resting baseline. As primary findings, increases in task demand consistently modulated the regional anatomy of DMN deactivation. At high levels of task demand, robust deactivation was observed in non-DMN regions, most notably, the posterior insular cortex. Deactivation of this region was directly implicated in a performance-based analysis of experienced task difficulty. Together, these findings suggest that task-induced deactivations from rest are not limited to the DMN and extend to brain regions typically associated with integrative sensory and interoceptive processes.

Effects of CPAP on oxidative stress and nitrate efficiency in sleep apnoea: a randomised trial.

Background: Previous studies have presented contradictory data concerning obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS), lipid oxidation and nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability. This study was undertaken to (1) compare the concentration of 8-isoprostane and total nitrate and nitrite (NOx) in plasma of middle-aged men with OSAS and no other known co-morbidity and healthy controls of the same age, gender and body mass index; and (2) test the hypothesis that nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy attenuates oxidative stress and nitrate deficiency. Methods: A prospective, randomised, placebo controlled, double-blind, crossover study was performed in 31 consecutive middle-aged men with newly diagnosed OSAS and 15 healthy control subjects. Patients with OSAS were randomised to receive sham CPAP or effective CPAP for 12 weeks. Blood pressure, urinary catecholamine levels and plasma 8-isoprostane and NOx concentrations were obtained before and after both treatment modalities. Results: Patients with OSAS had significantly higher 8-isoprostane levels (median (IQR) 42.5 (29.2-78.2) vs 20.0 (12.5-52.5) pg/ml, p = 0.041, Mann-Whitney test) and lower NOx levels (264 (165-650) vs 590 (251- 1465) mmol/l, p = 0.022) than healthy subjects. Body mass index, blood pressure and urinary catecholamines were unchanged by CPAP therapy, but 8-isoprostane concentrations decreased (38.5 (24.2-58.7) pg/ml at baseline vs 22.5 (16.2-35.3) pg/ml on CPAP, p = 0.0001) and NOx levels increased (280 (177-707) vs 1373 (981-1517) mmol/l, p = 0.0001) after CPAP. Conclusions: OSAS is associated with an increase in oxidative stress and a decrease in NOx that is normalised

Seroprevalence of Angiostrongylus cantonensis in wild rodents from the Canary Islands

Background: Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a lungworm of rats (Muridae) that is the causative agent of human cerebral angiostrongyliasis. The life cycle of A. cantonensis involves rats and mollusks as the definitive and intermediate hosts, respectively. This study was designed to increase the knowledge about the occurrence and distribution of A. cantonensis in its definitive host in the Canary Islands, using parasitological and serological analysis in different areas and age groups.Methodology/Principal Findings: Between 2009 and 2010, 54 black rats (Rattus rattus) from Tenerife were captured from six human-inhabited areas and sera samples were obtained. The lung nematodes were identified by morphological and molecular tools as A. cantonensis. The 31-kDa glycoprotein antigen was purified from A. cantonensis adult worms by electrophoresis and electroelution. Of the 54 tested rodents, 30 showed IgG antibodies against A. cantonensis 31-kDa antigen by ELISA. Therefore, the overall seroprevalence was 55.6% (95% CI: 42.4-68). Seroprevalent rodents were found in all the 6 areas. This 31-kDa antigen was not recognized by some sera of rats infected by other helminth species (but not A. cantonensis). Seroprevalence of IgG antibodies against A. cantonensis and prevalence based on the presence of adult worms showed significant correlation (R2 = 0.954, p,0.05). Conclusions/Significance: The present results could indicate a high prevalence of A. cantonensisin Tenerife and suggest the inclusion of two new zones in the distribution area of the parasite. The commonness and wide distribution of A. cantonensis in rats implies the presence of intermediate hosts, indicating that humans may be at risk of getting infected.

Salvador Espriu i la Universitat de Barcelona. D'arqueòleg frustrat a Doctor honoris causa.

Parlar de la relació de Salvador Espriu amb la Universitat de Barcelona és donar a aquesta institució l"autèntic paper d"Alma Mater, de mare nutrícia, que tantes vegades se li atribueix i que en tan poques s"acompleix. Lluny del senil desencís que traspua la seva carta d"acceptació del doctorat honoris causa que li va ser concedit l"any 1980, d"altra banda lúcid testimoni i testament de la seva experiència acadèmica estroncada, hem de baixar als seus anys juvenils, universitaris, per retrobar un Salvador Espriu optimista, alegre, vital, enginyós i punyent, ple d"il·lusions.

Influencia de la atmosfera de sinterizacion en la estabilidad termica de ceramicas de hidroxiapatita reforzadas con circona

En este trabajo se estudia la influencia de la atmósfera de sinterización sobre la estabilidad térmica de cerámicas de hidroxiapatita (HA) reforzadas con partículas de circona parcialmente estabilizada con magnesia (Mg-PSZ). Los cuerpos verdes fueron obtenidos por prensado uniaxial y las sinterizaciones se realizaron en aire y en oxígeno húmedo. El estudio por difracción de rayos-X y espectroscopía infrarroja permitió comprobar que la atmósfera húmeda evita la descomposición de la hidroxiapatita, todo lo contrario a lo que sucede en aire donde es evidente la presencia del zirconato cálcico (CZ) en la interfaz entre la partícula de circona y la matriz de HA. La caracterización microestructural de los materiales por Microscopía Electrónica de Barrido permitió apreciar el desarrollo de tamaño de grano de los materiales sinterizados. El estudio del comportamiento mecánico mediante ensayos de indentación reveló un aumento de la tenacidad a la fractura en el caso de los materiales que presentaban Mg-PSZ con respecto a la HA pura.

Demand-based structural change and balanced economic growth

[eng] We analyze the equilibrium of a multi-sector exogenous growth model where the introduction of minimum consumption requirements drives structural change. We show that equilibrium dynamics simultaneously exhibt structural change and balanced growth of aggregate variables as is observed in US when the initial intensity of minimum consumption requirements is sufficiently small. This intensity is measured by the ratio between the aggregate value of the minimum consumption requirements and GDP and, therefore, it is inversely related with the level of economic development. Initially rich economies benefit from an initially low intensity of the minimum consumption requirements and, as a consequence, these economies end up exhibiting balanced growth of aggregate variables, while there is structural change. In contrast, initially poor economies suffer from an initially large intensity of the minimum consumption requirements, which makes the growth of the aggregate variables unbalanced during a very large period. These economies may never exhibit simultaneously balanced growth of aggregate variables and structural change.

Demand-based structural change and balanced economic growth

[eng] We analyze the equilibrium of a multi-sector exogenous growth model where the introduction of minimum consumption requirements drives structural change. We show that equilibrium dynamics simultaneously exhibt structural change and balanced growth of aggregate variables as is observed in US when the initial intensity of minimum consumption requirements is sufficiently small. This intensity is measured by the ratio between the aggregate value of the minimum consumption requirements and GDP and, therefore, it is inversely related with the level of economic development. Initially rich economies benefit from an initially low intensity of the minimum consumption requirements and, as a consequence, these economies end up exhibiting balanced growth of aggregate variables, while there is structural change. In contrast, initially poor economies suffer from an initially large intensity of the minimum consumption requirements, which makes the growth of the aggregate variables unbalanced during a very large period. These economies may never exhibit simultaneously balanced growth of aggregate variables and structural change.

Building Partnerships and Fostering Activities to Promote English Outside the Classroom

Becoming proficient in at least one foreign language is a target for educational authorities throughout Europe. The question is how we can improve our students’ command of English without increasing the workload on teachers and without much funding. In El Prat de Llobregat, a city located in the vicinity of Barcelona, we have addressed that issue by creating a group of teachers, educational advisors and city council administrators, who have been acting in a coordinated way to enhance English language exposure beyond the classroom. Our interest in promoting English stems from our location: our municipality is situated next to an international airport where finding a job is bound to be dependent on English fluency. We aim to show that, through a network of members at school and administrative levels, an array of meaningful and empowering initiatives can be implemented in a city where resources are scarce and cultural backgrounds diverse.

Reducción del vector de características de reconocimiento facial

In this present work, we are proposing a characteristics reduction system for a facial biometric identification system, using transformed domains such as discrete cosine transformed (DCT) and discrete wavelets transformed (DWT) as parameterization; and Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Neural Network (NN) as classifiers. The size reduction has been done with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and with Independent Component Analysis (ICA). This system presents a similar success results for both DWT-SVM system and DWT-PCA-SVM system, about 98%. The computational load is improved on training mode due to the decreasing of input’s size and less complexity of the classifier.

Alzheimer Disease Diagnosis based on Automatic Spontaneous Speech Analysis

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of progressive degenerative dementia and it has a high socio-economic impact in Western countries, therefore is one of the most active research areas today. Its diagnosis is sometimes made by excluding other dementias, and definitive confirmation must be done trough a post-mortem study of the brain tissue of the patient. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to improvement of early diagnosis of AD and its degree of severity, from an automatic analysis performed by non-invasive intelligent methods. The methods selected in this case are Automatic Spontaneous Speech Analysis (ASSA) and Emotional Temperature (ET), that have the great advantage of being non invasive, low cost and without any side effects.

Spontaneous Speech and Emotional Response modeling based on One-class classifier oriented to Alzheimer Disease diagnosis

The purpose of our project is to contribute to earlier diagnosis of AD and better estimates of its severity by using automatic analysis performed through new biomarkers extracted from non-invasive intelligent methods. The methods selected in this case are speech biomarkers oriented to Sponta-neous Speech and Emotional Response Analysis. Thus the main goal of the present work is feature search in Spontaneous Speech oriented to pre-clinical evaluation for the definition of test for AD diagnosis by One-class classifier. One-class classifi-cation problem differs from multi-class classifier in one essen-tial aspect. In one-class classification it is assumed that only information of one of the classes, the target class, is available. In this work we explore the problem of imbalanced datasets that is particularly crucial in applications where the goal is to maximize recognition of the minority class as in medical diag-nosis. The use of information about outlier and Fractal Dimen-sion features improves the system performance.

M.A.T.

La memòria del projecte que us presentem, tracta el procés de realització del Treball Final de Grau, M.A.T.. Aquest és un projecte audiovisual i multimèdia creat per set alumnes de Comunicació Audiovisual de la Universitat de Vic. El grup encarregat de la part audiovisual, format per la Dámaris Alonso, en Guillem Bover, en Raúl Caso i la Irina Mora, ha creat un curtmetratge lineal. M.A.T. és un projecte que sorgeix per impulsar el gènere del thriller dins de les produccions catalanes. A més a més, la nostra idea ha consistit en generar un producte que es pogués distribuir a través de plataformes interactives. Per aquest motiu, el projecte es divideix en un curtmetratge audiovisual i un joc interactiu inclòs a la pàgina oficial. Els integrants del grup ens vam encarregar de desenvolupar la peça audiovisual, la qual narra una història de venjança i traïció en un entorn de la màfia actual del nostre país. Una de les principals característiques d’aquest projecte és el tractament del temps i del ritme de la narració. És a dir, hem creat una trama audiovisual que s’estén durant quinze anys i hem generat el suspens que s’escau segons els paràmetres del gènere cinematogràfic de la peça. Un factor clau d’aquest projecte és una partida d’escacs, la qual juga un paper molt important, no tan sols en la història del curtmetratge, sinó perquè és la forma d’interacció que fa servir l’usuari a la pàgina web.

Sociodemographic Factors and Clinical Conditions Associated to Hospitalization in Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Virus Infected Patients in Spain, 2009-2010

The emergence and pandemic spread of a new strain of influenza A (H1N1) virus in 2009 resulted in a serious alarm in clinical and public health services all over the world. One distinguishing feature of this new influenza pandemic was the different profile of hospitalized patients compared to those from traditional seasonal influenza infections. Our goal was to analyze sociodemographic and clinical factors associated to hospitalization following infection by influenza A(H1N1) virus. We report the results of a Spanish nationwide study with laboratory confirmed infection by the new pandemic virus in a case-control design based on hospitalized patients. The main risk factors for hospitalization of influenza A (H1N1) 2009 were determined to be obesity (BMI≥40, with an odds-ratio [OR] 14.27), hematological neoplasia (OR 10.71), chronic heart disease, COPD (OR 5.16) and neurological disease, among the clinical conditions, whereas low education level and some ethnic backgrounds (Gypsies and Amerinds) were the sociodemographic variables found associated to hospitalization. The presence of any clinical condition of moderate risk almost triples the risk of hospitalization (OR 2.88) and high risk conditions raise this value markedly (OR 6.43). The risk of hospitalization increased proportionally when for two (OR 2.08) or for three or more (OR 4.86) risk factors were simultaneously present in the same patient. These findings should be considered when a new influenza virus appears in the human population.

El estanque

Cada vez me sobrecoge la suavidad de la curva de sus hombros. Es una redondez exquisita, en completa armonia con la palida extension de su pie!. Su piel, esa superficie impoluta, que mis ojos recorren por enesima vez. Sigo sin encontrar una peca, una cicatriz de la infancia, el mas minimo recordatorio de alguna picadura de mosquito, tan abundantes en este pais. La totalidad de su came se ofrece al ojo observador inmaculada, iluminada por el suave bronceado que ha adquirido a 10 largo de aflos de coqueteo con este sol implacable. Deja morir las tardes en la hamaca que cuelga de los dos melocotoneros del patio. Dormita con la audacia de un tigre, con la inocencia de un pajarillo. Yo paso mucho tiempo espiandola a traves de la mosquitera. Hay algo en la cremosidad de sus brazos.