No evidence that footedness in pheasants influences cognitive performance in tasks assessing colour discrimination and spatial ability

The differential specialization of each side of the brain facilitates the parallel processing of information and has been documented in a wide range of animals. Animals that are more lateralized as indicated by consistent preferential limb use are commonly reported to exhibit superior cognitive ability as well as other behavioural advantages.We assayed the lateralization of 135 young pheasants (Phasianus colchicus), indicated by their footedness in a spontaneous stepping task, and related this measure to individual performance in either 3 assays of visual or spatial learning and memory. We found no evidence that pronounced footedness enhances cognitive ability in any of the tasks. We also found no evidence that an intermediate footedness relates to better cognitive performance. This lack of relationship is surprising because previous work revealed that pheasants have a slight population bias towards right footedness, and when released into the wild, individuals with higher degrees of footedness were more likely to die. One explanation for why extreme lateralization is constrained was that it led to poorer cognitive performance, or that optimal cognitive performance was associated with some intermediate level of lateralization. This stabilizing selection could explain the pattern of moderate lateralization that is seen in most non-human species that have been studied. However, we found no evidence in this study to support this explanation

How to Adapt to Changing Markets: Experience and Personality in a Repeated Investment Game

Investment behavior is traditionally investigated with the assumption that it is on average advantageous to invest. However, this may not always be the case. In this paper, we experimentally studied investment choices made by students and financial professionals facing alternately an advantageous and disadvantageous environment in a multi-round investment game. Expected returns from investment in the advantageous environment were higher than a safe alternative, while expected returns were lower in the disadvantageous environment. We investigate how experience and personality are related to choices. Investment behavior does not differ dependent on expected returns and professionals do not significantly differ from students. Personality predicts behavior and in particular we observe that openness to experience was an asset in unfavorable markets, leading to reduced risk taking

Tensile Deformation of Oriented Poly(ε-caprolactone) and Its Miscible Blends with Poly(vinyl methyl ether)

The structural evolution of micromolded poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and its miscible blends with noncrystallizable poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) at the nanoscale was investigated as a function of deformation ratio and blend composition using in situ synchrotron smallangle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and scanning SAXS techniques. It was found that the deformation mechanism of the oriented samples shows a general scheme for the process of tensile deformation: crystal block slips within the lamellae occur at small deformations followed by a stressinduced fragmentation and recrystallization process along the drawing direction at a critical strain where the average thickness of the crystalline lamellae remains essentially constant during stretching. The value of the critical strain depends on the amount of the amorphous component incorporated in the blends, which could be traced back to the lower modulus of the entangled amorphous phase and, therefore, the reduced network stress acting on the crystallites upon addition of PVME. When stretching beyond the critical strain the slippage of the fibrils (stacks of newly formed lamellae) past each other takes place resulting in a relaxation of stretched interlamellar amorphous chains. Because of deformation-induced introduction of the amorphous PVME into the interfibrillar regions in the highly oriented blends, the interactions between fibrils becomes stronger upon further deformation and thus impeding sliding of the fibrils to some extent leading finally to less contraction of the interlamellar amorphous layers compared to the pure PCLNational Natural Science Foundation of China (21204088 and 21134006). This work is within the framework of the RCUK/EPSRC Science Bridges China project of UK−China Advanced Materials Research Institute (AMRI)

The repeatability of cognitive performance:A meta-analysis

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from The Royal Society via the DOI in this record.Behavioural and cognitive processes play important roles in mediating an individual's interactions with its environment. Yet, while there is a vast literature on repeatable individual differences in behaviour, relatively little is known about the repeatability of cognitive performance. To further our understanding of the evolution of cognition, we gathered 44 studies on individual performance of 25 species across six animal classes and used meta-analysis to assess whether cognitive performance is repeatable. We compared repeatability (R) in performance (1) on the same task presented at different times (temporal repeatability), and (2) on different tasks that measured the same putative cognitive ability (contextual repeatability). We also addressed whether R estimates were influenced by seven extrinsic factors (moderators): type of cognitive performance measurement, type of cognitive task, delay between tests, origin of the subjects, experimental context, taxonomic class and publication status. We found support for both temporal and contextual repeatability of cognitive performance, with mean R estimates ranging between 0.15 and 0.28. Repeatability estimates were mostly influenced by the type of cognitive performance measures and publication status. Our findings highlight the widespread occurrence of consistent inter-individual variation in cognition across a range of taxa which, like behaviour, may be associated with fitness outcomes.PKYC is supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (PE1801); JOvH was funded by an ERC consolidator grant (616474). MC and this research was supported by a grant from the Human Frontier Science Program to ASC and JM-F (RGP0006/2015)

A comprehensive characterization of ice nucleation by three different types of cellulose particles immersed in water

We present the laboratory results of immersion freezing efficiencies of cellulose particles at supercooled temperature (T) conditions. Three types of chemically homogeneous cellulose samples are used as surrogates that represent supermicron and submicron ice-nucleating plant structural polymers. These samples include microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), fibrous cellulose (FC) and nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC). Our immersion freezing dataset includes data from various ice nucleation measurement techniques available at 17 different institutions, including nine dry dispersion and 11 aqueous suspension techniques. With a total of 20 methods, we performed systematic accuracy and precision analysis of measurements from all 20 measurement techniques by evaluating T-binned (1 ∘C) data over a wide T range (−36 ∘C <T<−4 ∘C). Specifically, we intercompared the geometric surface area-based ice nucleation active surface site (INAS) density data derived from our measurements as a function of T, ns,geo(T). Additionally, we also compared the ns,geo(T) values and the freezing spectral slope parameter (Δlog(ns,geo)/ΔT) from our measurements to previous literature results. Results show all three cellulose materials are reasonably ice active. The freezing efficiencies of NCC samples agree reasonably well, whereas the diversity for the other two samples spans ≈ 10 ∘C. Despite given uncertainties within each instrument technique, the overall trend of the ns,geo(T) spectrum traced by the T-binned average of measurements suggests that predominantly supermicron-sized cellulose particles (MCC and FC) generally act as more efficient ice-nucleating particles (INPs) than NCC with about 1 order of magnitude higher ns,geo(T)

CD1a-positive infiltrating-dendritic cell density and 5-year survival from human breast cancer

© Churchill LivingstoneInfiltrating CD1a+ dendritic cells (DCs) have been associated with increased survival in a number of human cancers. This study investigated DC infiltration within breast cancers and the association with survival. Classical established prognostic factors, of tumour size, lymph node status, histological grade, lympho-vascular invasion, the KI-67 (MIB-1) fraction and the Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI) were also compared. A total of 48 breast cancer patients were followed from the time of surgery and CD1a density analysis for 5 years or until death. Our data set validated previous studies, which show a relationship between survival and the NPI (P<0.001), tumour size (P<0.01) and lymph node status (P<0.05). Although more patients were alive at the 5-year time point in the group with higher CD1a DC density than the lower CD1a DC group, this failed to reach statistical significance at the P=0.05 level. Analysis at 10 years postsurgery is required to investigate the association further.B.J.Coventry and J. Morto

Status report on emerging photovoltaics

\ua9 2023 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).This report provides a snapshot of emerging photovoltaic (PV) technologies. It consists of concise contributions from experts in a wide range of fields including silicon, thin film, III-V, perovskite, organic, and dye-sensitized PVs. Strategies for exceeding the detailed balance limit and for light managing are presented, followed by a section detailing key applications and commercialization pathways. A section on sustainability then discusses the need for minimization of the environmental footprint in PV manufacturing and recycling. The report concludes with a perspective based on broad survey questions presented to the contributing authors regarding the needs and future evolution of PV

Shipping blood to a central laboratory in multicenter clinical trials: effect of ambient temperature on specimen temperature, and effects of temperature on mononuclear cell yield, viability and immunologic function

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Clinical trials of immunologic therapies provide opportunities to study the cellular and molecular effects of those therapies and may permit identification of biomarkers of response. When the trials are performed at multiple centers, transport and storage of clinical specimens become important variables that may affect lymphocyte viability and function in blood and tissue specimens. The effect of temperature during storage and shipment of peripheral blood on subsequent processing, recovery, and function of lymphocytes is understudied and represents the focus of this study.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Peripheral blood samples (n = 285) from patients enrolled in 2 clinical trials of a melanoma vaccine were shipped from clinical centers 250 or 1100 miles to a central laboratory at the sponsoring institution. The yield of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) collected before and after cryostorage was correlated with temperatures encountered during shipment. Also, to simulate shipping of whole blood, heparinized blood from healthy donors was collected and stored at 15°C, 22°C, 30°C, or 40°C, for varied intervals before isolation of PBMC. Specimen integrity was assessed by measures of yield, recovery, viability, and function of isolated lymphocytes. Several packaging systems were also evaluated during simulated shipping for the ability to maintain the internal temperature in adverse temperatures over time.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Blood specimen containers experienced temperatures during shipment ranging from -1 to 35°C. Exposure to temperatures above room temperature (22°C) resulted in greater yields of PBMC. Reduced cell recovery following cryo-preservation as well as decreased viability and immune function were observed in specimens exposed to 15°C or 40°C for greater than 8 hours when compared to storage at 22°C. There was a trend toward improved preservation of blood specimen integrity stored at 30°C prior to processing for all time points tested. Internal temperatures of blood shipping containers were maintained longer in an acceptable range when warm packs were included.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Blood packages shipped overnight by commercial carrier may encounter extreme seasonal temperatures. Therefore, considerations in the design of shipping containers should include protecting against extreme ambient temperature deviations and maintaining specimen temperature above 22°C or preferably near 30°C.</p