Not all flavor expertise is equal : The language of wine and coffee experts

People in Western cultures are poor at naming smells and flavors. However, for wine and coffee experts, describing smells and flavors is part of their daily routine. So are experts better than lay people at conveying smells and flavors in language? If smells and flavors are more easily linguistically expressed by experts, or more "codable", then experts should be better than novices at describing smells and flavors. If experts are indeed better, we can also ask how general this advantage is: do experts show higher codability only for smells and flavors they are expert in (i.e., wine experts for wine and coffee experts for coffee) or is their linguistic dexterity more general? To address these questions, wine experts, coffee experts, and novices were asked to describe the smell and flavor of wines, coffees, everyday odors, and basic tastes. The resulting descriptions were compared on a number of measures. We found expertise endows a modest advantage in smell and flavor naming. Wine experts showed more consistency in how they described wine smells and flavors than coffee experts, and novices; but coffee experts were not more consistent for coffee descriptions. Neither expert group was any more accurate at identifying everyday smells or tastes. Interestingly, both wine and coffee experts tended to use more source-based terms (e.g., vanilla) in descriptions of their own area of expertise whereas novices tended to use more evaluative terms (e.g., nice). However, the overall linguistic strategies for both groups were en par. To conclude, experts only have a limited, domain-specific advantage when communicating about smells and flavors. The ability to communicate about smells and flavors is a matter not only of perceptual training, but specific linguistic training too

Class, Youth and Dirty Jobs: The Working-Class and Post-War Britain in Pete Townshend's Quadrophenia

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Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

An AP-3-dependent mechanism drives synaptic-like microvesicle biogenesis in pancreatic islet β-cells

Pancreatic islet β-cells contain synaptic-like microvesicles (SLMVs). The origin, trafficking, and role of these SLMVs are poorly understood. In neurons, synaptic vesicle (SV) biogenesis is mediated by two different cytosolic adaptor protein complexes, a ubiquitous AP-2 complex and the neuron-specific AP-3B complex. Mice lacking AP-3B subunits exhibit impaired GABAergic (inhibitory) neurotransmission and reduced neuronal vesicular GABA transporter (VGAT) content. Since β-cell maturation and exocytotic function seem to parallel that of the inhibitory synapse, we predicted that AP-3B-associated vesicles would be present in β-cells. Here, we test the hypothesis that AP-3B is expressed in islets and mediates β-cell SLMV biogenesis. A secondary aim was to test whether the sedimentation properties of INS-1 β-cell microvesicles are identical to those of bona fide SLMVs isolated from PC12 cells. Our results show that the two neuron-specific AP-3 subunits β3B and μ3B are expressed in β-cells, the first time these proteins have been found to be expressed outside the nervous system. We found that β-cell SLMVs share the same sedimentation properties as PC12 SLMVs and contain SV proteins that sort specifically to AP-3B-associated vesicles in the brain. Brefeldin A, a drug that interferes with AP-3-mediated SV biogenesis, inhibits the delivery of AP-3 cargoes to β-cell SLMVs. Consistent with a role for AP-3 in the biogenesis of GABAergic SLMV in β-cells, INS-1 cell VGAT content decreases upon inhibition of AP-3 δ-subunit expression. Our findings suggest that β-cells and neurons share molecules and mechanisms important for mediating the neuron-specific membrane trafficking pathways that underlie synaptic vesicle formation

Identification of north-western Atlantic Porphyra (Bangiaceae, Bangiales) based on sequence variation in nuclear SSU and plastid rbcL genes

Six species of Porphyra have commonly been recognized in the north-western Atlantic from Long Island Sound to the Canadian Maritimes: P. amplissima, P. leucosticra, P. linearis, P. miniata, P. purpurea, and P. umbilicalis. Distinguishing them with certainty has been problematic. A DNA-based system of molecular identification was developed using partial sequences of the nuclear small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (SSU) or the plastid ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase–oxygenase large subunit gene (rbcL). Multiple samples of each taxon were surveyed for intraspecific variation. Intraspecific SSU divergences for Porphyra ‘leucosticta’, P. ‘miniata’, P. ‘umbilicalis’, and P. ‘purpurea’ ranged from 0% to 1%. There was more variation for P. ‘amplissima’ (0–2.1%) and P. ‘linearis’ (0–3.5%); however, each taxon was monophyletic. No intraspecific differences were observed for these taxa in rbcL (one to eight samples per taxon). These sequences were compared with P. yezoensis U51, introduced to Maine, and with P. ‘dioica’, a north-east Atlantic Porphyra easily confused with P. ‘purpurea’. To discriminate between P. ‘purpurea’, P. ‘umbilicalis’, and P. ‘leucosticta’, SSU variation was used to design primers for the Allele-Specific Polymerase Chain Reaction™. With molecular tools, we could classify over 80% of the monostromatic specimens surveyed, but the residue of unidentifiable specimens may indicate the existence of further monostromatic species in the north-west Atlantic. Porphyra ‘purpurea’ was found to occur further south than previously recorded. A morphologically cryptic Porphyra was discovered at Herring Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada.† Phylogenetic analyses using SSU or rbcL sequences showed ‘soft incongruence’ between gene trees, i.e. the topologies of the phylograms were similar but not identical, with only weak to moderate bootstrap support for the nodes that differed. Both trees strongly supported a clade including P. ‘purpurea’, P. ‘umbilicalis’, P. ‘linearis’, and P. ‘dioica’. Porphyra sp. Herring Cove was allied with the remaining Porphyra taxa in the SSU tree. The rbcL phylogeny was less well resolved, consisting of a polytomy of a P. ‘purpurea’–P. ‘umbilicalis’–P. ‘linearis’–P. ‘dioica’ clade, Porphyra sp. Herring Cove, a clade comprising P. ‘amplissima’ and P. ‘miniata’, and a P. ‘suborbiculata’–P. ‘leucosticta’–P. yezoensis clade