Behavioral Types for Embedded Software - A Survey

At present, there is a variety of formalisms for modeling and analyzing the communication behavior of components. Due to a tremendous increase in size and complexity of embedded systems accompanied by shorter time to market cycles and cost reduction, so called behavioral type systems become more and more important. This chapter presents an overview and a taxonomy of behavioral types. The intentions of this taxonomy are to provide a guidance for software engineers and to form the basis for future research.

Puzzling challenges in contemporary neuroscience: Insights from complexity and emergence in epileptogenic circuits

The brain is a complex system that, in the normal condition, has emergent properties like those associated with activity-dependent plasticity in learning and memory, and in pathological situations, manifests abnormal long-term phenomena like the epilepsies. Data from our laboratory and from the literature were classified qualitatively as sources of complexity and emergent properties from behavior to electrophysiological, cellular, molecular, and computational levels. We used such models as brainstem-dependent acute audiogenic seizures and forebrain-dependent kindled audiogenic seizures. Additionally we used chemical OF electrical experimental models of temporal lobe epilepsy that induce status epilepticus with behavioral, anatomical, and molecular sequelae such as spontaneous recurrent seizures and long-term plastic changes. Current Computational neuroscience tools will help the interpretation. storage, and sharing of the exponential growth of information derived from those studies. These strategies are considered solutions to deal with the complexity of brain pathologies such as the epilepsies. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Influence of third-generation oral contraceptives on the complexity analysis and symbolic dynamics of heart rate variability

Objective To evaluate the influence of oral contraceptives (OCs) containing 20 mu mu g ethinylestradiol (EE) and 150 mu mu g gestodene (GEST) on the autonomic modulation of heart rate (HR) in women. Methods One-hundred and fifty-five women aged 24 +/-+/- 2 years were divided into four groups according to their physical activity and the use or not of an OC: active-OC, active-non-OC (NOC), sedentary-OC, and sedentary-NOC. The heart rate was registered in real time based on the electrocardiogram signal for 15 minutes, in the supine-position. The heart rate variability (HRV) was analysed using Shannon`s entropy (SE), conditional entropy (complexity index [CInd] and normalised CInd [NCI]), and symbolic analysis (0V%, 1V%, 2LV%, and 2ULV%). For statistical analysis the Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn post hoc and the Wilcoxon test (p < 0.05 was considered significant) were applied. Results Treatment with this COC caused no significant changes in SE, CInd, NCI, or symbolic analysis in either active or sedentary groups. Active groups presented higher values for SE and 2ULV%, and lower values for 0V% when compared to sedentary groups (p < 0.05). Conclusion HRV patterns differed depending on life style; the non-linear method applied was highly reliable for identifying these changes. The use of OCs containing 20 mu mu g EE and 150 mu mu g GEST does not influence HR autonomic modulation.

Reduction of ICAM-1 expression by carbon monoxide via soluble guanylate cyclase activation accounts for modulation of neutrophil migration

Previously, it was demonstrated that the heme/heme oxygenase (HO)/carbon monoxide (CO) pathway inhibits neutrophil recruitment during the inflammatory response. Herein, we addressed whether the inhibitory effect of the HO pathway on neutrophil adhesion and migration involves the reduction of intracellular adhesion molecule type (ICAM)-1 and beta(2)-integrin expression. Mice pretreated with a specific inhibitor of inducible HO (HO-1), zinc protoporphyrin (ZnPP) IX, exhibit enhanced neutrophil adhesion and migration induced by intraperitoneal injection of Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS). These findings are associated with an increase in ICAM-1 expression on mesentery venular endothelium. In accordance, HO-1 inhibition did not enhance LPS-induced neutrophil migration and adhesion in ICAM-1-deficient mice. Furthermore, the treatment with a CO donor (dimanganese decacarbonyl, DMDC) that inhibits adhesion and migration of the neutrophils, reduced LPS-induced ICAM-1 expression. Moreover, neither DMDC nor ZnPP IX treatments changed LPS-induced beta(2)-integrin expression on neutrophils. The effect of CO on ICAM-1 expression seems to be dependent on soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) activation, since 1H-(1,2,4)oxadiazolo (4,3-a)quinoxalin-1-one (sGC inhibitor) prevented the observed CO effects. Finally, it was observed that the nitric oxide (NO) anti-inflammatory effects on ICAM-1 expression appear to be indirectly mediated by HO-1 activation, since the inhibition of HO-1 prevented the inhibitory effect of the NO donor (S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine) on LPS-induced ICAM-1 expression. Taken together, these results suggest that CO inhibits ICAM-1 expression on endothelium by a mechanism dependent on sGC activation. Thus, our findings identify the HO-1/CO/guanosine 3`5`-cyclic monophosphate pathway as a potential target for the development of novel pharmacotherapy to control neutrophil migration in inflammatory diseases.

Role of preoptic opioid receptors in the body temperature reduction during hypoxia

Evidence indicates that endogenous opioids play a role in body temperature (Tb) regulation in mammals but no data exist about the involvement of the specific opioid receptors, mu, kappa and delta, in the reduction of Tb induced by hypoxia. Thus, we investigated the participation of these opioid receptors in the anteroventral preoptic region (AVPO) in hypoxic decrease of Th. To this end, Th of unanesthetized Wistar rats was monitored by temperature data loggers before and after intra-AVPO microinjection of the selective kappa-opioid receptor antagonist nor-binaltorphimine dihydrochloride (nor-BNI; 0.1 and 1.0 mu g/100 nL/animal), the selective mu-opioid receptor antagonist D-Phe-Cys-Tyr-D-Trp-Arg-Thr-Pen-Thr-NH(2) cyclic (CTAP; 0.1 and 1.0 mu g/100 nL/animal), and the selective delta-opioid receptor antagonist Naltrindole (0.06 and 0.6 mu g/100 nL/animal) or saline (vehicle, 100 nu animal), during normoxia and hypoxia (7% inspired O(2)). Under normoxia, no effect of opioid antagonists on Th was observed. Hypoxia induced Th to reduce in vehicle group, a response that was inhibited by the microinjection intra-AVPO of nor-BNI. In contrast, CTAP and Naltrindole did not change Th during hypoxia but caused a longer latency for the return of Th to the normoxic values just after low O(2) exposure. Our results indicate the kappa-opioid receptor in the AVPO is important for the reduction of Th during hypoxia while the mu and delta receptors are involved in the increase of Th during normoxia post-hypoxia. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

GABAergic antagonist blocks the reduction of tonic immobility behavior induced by activation of 5-HT(2) receptors in the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala in guinea pigs

Tonic immobility (TI) is a temporary state of profound motor inhibition induced by situations that generate intense fear, with the objective of protecting an animal from attacks by predators. A preliminary study by our group demonstrated that microinjection into the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA) of an agonist to 5-HT(1A) and 5-HT(2) receptors promoted a decrease in TI duration. In the current study, the effects of GABAergic stimulation of the BLA and the possible interaction between GABA(A) and 5-HT(2) receptors on TI modulation were investigated. Observation revealed that GABAergic agonist muscimol (0.26 nmol) reduced the duration of TI episodes, while microinjection of the GABAergic antagonist bicuculline (1 nmol) increased TI duration. Additionally, microinjection of 5-HT(2) agonist receptors (alpha-methyl-5-HT, 0.32 nmol) into the BLA decreased TI duration, an effect reversed by pretreatment with bicuculline (at the dose that had no effect per se, 0.2 nmol). Moreover, the activation of GABA(A) and 5-HT(2) receptors in the BLA did not alter the spontaneous motor activity in the open field test. These experiments demonstrated that the activation of GABA(A) and 5-HT(2) receptors of the BLA possibly produce a reduction in unconditioned fear that decreases the TI duration in guinea pigs, but this is not due to increased spontaneous motor activity, which could affect a TI episode nonspecifically. Furthermore, these results suggest an interaction between GABAergic and serotoninergic mechanisms mediated by GABA(A) and 5-HT(2) receptors. In addition, the GABAergic circuit of the BLA presents a tonic inhibitory influence on TI duration. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Non-coding RNAs: the architects of eukaryotic complexity

Around 98% of all transcriptional output in humans is noncoding RNA. RNA-mediated gene regulation is widespread in higher eukaryotes and complex genetic phenomena like RNA interference, co-suppression, transgene silencing, imprinting, methylation, and possibly position-effect variegation and transvection, all involve intersecting pathways based on or connected to RNA signaling. I suggest that the central dogma is incomplete, and that intronic and other non-coding RNAs have evolved to comprise a second tier of gene expression in eukaryotes, which enables the integration and networking of complex suites of gene activity. Although proteins are the fundamental effectors of cellular function, the basis of eukaryotic complexity and phenotypic variation may lie primarily in a control architecture composed of a highly parallel system of trans-acting RNAs that relay state information required for the coordination and modulation of gene expression, via chromatin remodeling, RNA-DNA, RNA-RNA and RNA-protein interactions. This system has interesting and perhaps informative analogies with small world networks and dataflow computing.

Proactive interference and complexity

C. L. Isaac and A. R. Mayes (1999a, 1999b) compared forgetting rates in amnesic patients and normal participants across a range of memory tasks. Although the results are complex, many of them appear to be replicable and there are several commendable features to the design and analysis. Nevertheless, the authors largely ignored 2 relevant literatures: the traditional literature on proactive inhibition/interference and the formal analyses of the complexity of the bindings (associations) required for memory tasks. It is shown how the empirical results and conceptual analyses in these literatures are needed to guide the choice of task, the design of experiments, and the interpretation of results for amnesic patients and normal participants.