Functional magnetic resonance imaging: Comparison between activation maps and computation pipelines in a clinical context

In this study new evaluation strategies for comparing different Statistical Parametric Maps computed from fMRI time-series analysis software tools are proposed. The aim of our work is to assess and quantitatively evaluate the statistical agreement of activation maps. Some pre-processing steps are necessary to compare SPMs (Statistical Parametric Maps), including segmentation and co-registration. The study of the statistical agreement is carried out following two ways. The first way considers SPMs as the result of two classification processes and extracts confusion matrix and Cohen's kappa index to assess agreement. Some considerations will be made on the statistical dependence of classes and a new formulation of kappa index will be used for overcoming this problem. The second way considers SPMs as two 3D images, and computes the similarity of SPMs images with a fuzzy formulation of the Jaccard Index. Several experiments were conducted both to assess the performance of the proposed evaluation tools and to compare activation maps computation pipelines from two widely used software tools in a clinical context.     

Satisficing search versus aspiration adaptation in sales competition: experimental evidence

In a duopoly market, aspiration levels express how much sellers want to earn given their expectations about the other’s behavior. We augment the sellers’ decision task by eliciting their profit aspiration. In a first experimental phase, whenever satisficing is not possible, sales choices, point beliefs, or aspiration levels have to be adapted. This allows us to compare “aspiration-based satisficing” to “aspiration adaptation”. In a second phase, testing the absorption of satisficing, participants are free to select non-satisficing sales profiles. The results reveal that most participants are satisficers who, in line with aspiration adaptation theory, tend to adjust aspiration levels and to keep sales behavior nearly unchanged.     

Imperfect recall and time inconsistencies: an experimental test of the absentminded driver “paradox”

Absentmindedness is a special case of imperfect recall, in which a single history includes more than one decision node in an information set. Put differently, players, after making a decision, sometimes face it again without recalling having ‘been there before’. Piccione and Rubinstein (Game Econ Behav 20(1):3–24, 1997b) have argued that absentmindedness may lead to time inconsistencies. Specifically, in certain cases, a player’s optimal strategy as calculated when called to choose an action (the action stage) deviates from the optimal strategy as calculated in a preceding planning stage, although preferences remain constant and no new information is revealed between the two stages. An alternative approach assumes that the player maximizes expected payoff in the action stage while considering his actions at other decision nodes to be immutable. With this approach, no time inconsistencies arise. The present paper explores this issue from a behavioral point of view. We elicit participants’ strategies in an experimental game of absentmindedness, separately for a planning stage and an action stage. We find systematic and robust time inconsistencies under four variations of the experiment and using ten different parameterizations of the game. We conclude that real decisions under absentmindedness without commitment are susceptible to time inconsistencies.     

Fabry-Perot interferometers built by photonic crystal fiber pressurization during fusion splicing

We report on a microscopic Fabry-Perot interferometer whose cavity is a bubble trapped inside an optical fiber. The microcavity is formed by pressuring a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with large voids during fusion splicing with a conventional single-mode fiber. The technique allows achieving high repeatability and full control over the cavity size and shape. It was found that the size of the PCF voids contributes to control the cavity size independently of the pressure in the PCF. Our devices exhibit a record fringe contrast of 30?dB (visibility of 0.999) due to the ellipsoidal cavity whose surfaces compensate for the diffraction of the reflected beam. The strain sensitivity of the interferometers is higher when the cavities are ellipsoidal than when they are spherical.     

Analysis of N-acylhomoserine lactone dynamics in continuous cultures of Pseudomonas putida IsoF by use of ELISA and UHPLC/qTOF-MS-derived measurements and mathematical models

In this interdisciplinary approach, the dynamics of production and degradation of the quorum sensing signal 3-oxo-decanoylhomoserine lactone were studied for continuous cultures of Pseudomonas putida IsoF. The signal concentrations were quantified over time by use of monoclonal antibodies and ELISA. The results were verified by use of ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography. By use of a mathematical model we derived quantitative values for non-induced and induced signal production rate per cell. It is worthy of note that we found rather constant values for different rates of dilution in the chemostat, and the values seemed close to those reported for batch cultures. Thus, the quorum-sensing system in P. putida IsoF is remarkably stable under different environmental conditions. In all chemostat experiments, the signal concentration decreased strongly after a peak, because emerging lactonase activity led to a lower concentration under steady-state conditions. This lactonase activity probably is quorum sensing-regulated. The potential ecological implication of such unique regulation is discussed.     

An alternative model to the two-magnon magnetic relaxation process in permalloy films

The thickness dependence of the linewidth difference for parallel and perpendicular ferromagnetic resonance in permalloy films at x-band and room temperature is calculated for the exchange conductivity-constant damping theory and is compared with experiment. The results are in good agreement for thin (d< 800 Å) and thick (d > 1500 Å) films. The data show a somewhat greater difference than the theory for intermediate thickness. The result indicate that a previously proposed two-magnon interpretation for the observed difference may be inappropriate.     

Structural and morphological changes during UV irradiation of the trans-planar form of syndiotactic polypropylene

Syndiotactic polypropylene films, obtained in the trans-planar mesophase, were exposed to accelerated weathering in a UV device at 45 °C for increasing times. A different series of films, characterized by the same structural organization, was annealed at 45 °C for the same times, to discern the thermal effects from those due to UV irradiation. The influence of UV irradiation and thermal treatments on the structural changes in terms of phase composition, crystallite sizes, and chain conformations was studied. Diffractometric and thermal analyses show that UV radiation causes a strong increase of helical crystallinity (189% with respect to the initial value), leaving the trans-planar mesophase unchanged. The mesophase domains have a higher rigidity and hinder the oxygen diffusion slowing down the photooxidative degradation.The chain scission in the amorphous phase produces a higher mobility, allowing crystallization. The crystallinity also increases in the thermally treated samples, but the increase is limited to the first 48 h and reaches about 89% of the initial value. Both in the thermally treated and UV irradiated samples the crystallite coherence length perpendicular to the 200 planes increases with time. The amorphous chains do crystallize at the beginning near the already formed crystals, thus increasing their dimensions. The carbonyl index shows an induction period of 48 h, before a rapid increase which apparently is inversely proportional to the percentage of mesomorphic and crystalline phases of the irradiated samples, indicating that the photooxidative reactions took place mainly in the amorphous region. A comparison with data already published on the photooxidative behavior of samples crystallized in form I shows that the presence of compact domains in trans-planar mesophase led to an increase in the induction period and to a greater stability of the material in the first 150 h of UV treatment.     

Novel Foods and Sustainability as Means to Counteract Malnutrition in Madagascar

Although the trends of international reports show an increase in overweight and obesity, even in developing countries, there are still areas of the world, such as Sub-Saharan Africa, strongly affected by undernutrition. Specifically, in Madagascar, the percentage of stunted children under 5 is extremely high. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to increase the risk of all forms of malnutrition, especially in low-income countries, including Madagascar, with serious intergenerational repercussions. This narrative review aims at investigating eating habits and cooking methods of the Malagasy population, addressing sustainable healthy diets through promotion of novel foods. While novel foods are a recent concept, there are data that describe how they may contribute to counteract food insecurity and malnutrition considering context and place. Efforts to promote native, traditional foods as Moringa oleifera, an indigenous plant in Asia and Africa including Madagascar, rich in protein and micronutrients, as well as edible insects, alternative sustainable source of protein, lipids, iron, and zinc, would provide not only nutritional but also cultural and economic benefits. The potential synergies between food traditions and agroecology have the potential to impact health addressing larger issues of sustainability and food security. Regional, national, and international policies are needed to develop and support one health approach actions.     

Non-uniform interpolatory curve subdivision with edge parameters built upon compactly supported fundamental splines

In this paper we present a family of Non-Uniform Local Interpolatory (NULI) subdivision schemes, derived from compactly supported interpolatory fundamental splines with non-uniform knots (NULIFS). For this spline family, the knot-partition is defined by a sequence of break points and by one additional knot, arbitrarily placed along each knot-interval. The resulting refinement algorithms are linear and turn out to contain a set of edge parameters that, when fixed to a value in the range [0,1], allow us to achieve special shape features by simply moving each auxiliary knot between the break points. Among all the members of this new family of schemes, we will then especially analyze the NULI 4-point refinement. This subdivision scheme has all the fundamental features of the quadratic fundamental spline basis it is originated from, namely compact support, C ¹ smoothness, second order polynomials reproduction and approximation order 3. In addition the NULI 4-point subdivision algorithm has the possibility of setting consecutive edge parameters to simulate double and triple knots—that are not considered by the authors of the corresponding spline basis—thus allowing for limit curves with crease vertices, without using an ad hoc mask. Numerical examples and comparisons with other methods will be given to the aim of illustrating the performance of the NULI 4-point scheme in the case of highly non-uniform initial data.     

Nanostructured functional co-polymers bioconjugate integrin inhibitors

Synthesis and properties of bioconjugates based on functionalized polymeric nanoparticles (PNs) and monoclonal anti-Integrin αV CD51 (aI) antibody were investigated. Polymeric and co-polymeric colloidal nanoparticles with different functionalities, i.e., acid, amine, or thiol, namely poly(methylmethacrylate-co-acrylic acid) [P(MMA-co-AA)], poly(methylmethacrylate-co-dimethylpropargylamine) [P(MMA-co-DMPA)], poly(methylmethacrylate-co-allil mercaptane) [P(MMA-co-AM)], were obtained by tailoring emulsion synthesis and fully characterized by means of spectroscopic techniques and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Bioconjugates (PN/aI) based on P(MMA) or P(MMA-co-AA) were obtained by loading the polymeric nanoparticles with the antibody anti-Integrin with a simple and straightforward immobilization strategy. Bioconjugates qualitative and quantitative loading analyses were carried out by means of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis 1D-PAGE, MALDI-TOF, and LC/ESI-MS/MS investigations. The biological efficacy of bioconjugates was confirmed by the reduced migration potential of PN/aI-treated human kidney cells (HEK293). The easy immobilization procedure and high immobilization capacity of polymeric nanoparticles together with tuneable chemical functionalities and dimension of the polymeric nanoparticles open applicative perspectives for targeted delivery.