Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
Published: July 2020
AI Article Synopsis
Article Abstract
There is considerable evidence that animals are able to discriminate between quantities. Despite the fact that quantitative skills have been extensively studied in adult individuals, research on their development in early life is restricted to a limited number of species. We, therefore, investigated whether 2-month-old puppies could spontaneously discriminate between different quantities of food items. We used a simultaneous two-choice task in which puppies were presented with three numerical combinations of pieces of food (1 vs. 8, 1 vs. 6 and 1 vs. 4), and they were allowed to select only one option. The subjects chose the larger of the two quantities in the 1 vs. 8 and the 1 vs. 6 combinations but not in the 1 vs. 4 combination. Furthermore, the last quantity the puppies looked at before making their choice and the time spent looking at the larger/smaller amounts of food were predictive of the choices they made. Since adult dogs are capable of discriminating between more difficult numerical contrasts when tested with similar tasks, our findings suggest that the capacity to discriminate between quantities is already present at an early age, but that it is limited to very easy discriminations.
Imaging spectral information of materials and analysis of its properties have become an intriguing tool for consumer electronics used for food inspection, beauty care, etc. Those sensory physical quantities are difficult to quantify. Hyperspectral imaging cameras, which capture the figure and spectral information simultaneously, can be a good candidate for nondestructive remote sensing.
Background: This commentary article critically assesses the inclusion and recognition of young adults with lived and living experiences (YALLE) in academic publishing. Stemming from our involvement in a health research study, this analysis interrogates the disparity between the stated importance of YALLE contributions in health research and their actual recognition, specifically in academic publications, which serve as the principal "currency" in research. This tokenism limits the potential for their unique insights to substantially enrich the discourse and dissemination of knowledge.
Researchers have hypothesized that infant language learning starts from the third trimester of pregnancy. This is supported by studies with fetuses and newborns showing discrimination/preference for their native language. Jointly with empirical research, initial computational modeling studies have investigated whether learning language patterns from speech input benefits from auditory prenatal language exposure (PLE), showing some advantages for prior adaptation to speech-like patterns.
Background: Preservation of erectogenic nerves during radical prostatectomy (RP) is hampered by limited understanding of their precise localization, due to their complex, intertwined paths, and the inherent individual variations across patients. Because erection utilizes a subset of cavernous nerves (CNs) that in response to sexual stimuli reveal phosphorylation of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) on its stimulatory site Ser-1412, we hypothesized that delineation of nerves containing phosphorylated (P)-nNOS on Ser-1412 would establish the location of functional erectogenic nerves within the periprostatic region.
Aim: To identify the distribution and quantity of functional erection-relevant ([P-nNOS]-containing) nerves in the periprostatic area and discriminate them among the CNs distribution.
The increasing use of zebrafish () as a model for studying the neural bases of numerical/quantity abilities pushes toward the development of fast and reliable behavioral tasks for this species. Here, we investigated the spontaneous use of proto-arithmetic in quantity discrimination in zebrafish taking advantage of their shoaling behavior. Male fish underwent preference choice tests in which sets of live female conspecifics sequentially disappeared one by one behind one of two opaque identical panels.
