Fleeting Perceptual Experience and the Possibility of Recalling Without Seeing

We explore an intensely debated problem in neuroscience, psychology and philosophy: the degree to which the “phenomenological consciousness” of the experience of a stimulus is separable from the “access consciousness” of its reportability. Specifically, it has been proposed that these two measures are dissociated from one another in one, or both directions. However, even if it was agreed that reportability and experience were doubly dissociated, the limits of dissociation logic mean we would not be able to conclusively separate the cognitive processes underlying the two. We take advantage of computational modelling and recent advances in state-trace analysis to assess this dissociation in an attentional/experiential blink paradigm. These advances in state-trace analysis make use of Bayesian statistics to quantify the evidence for and against a dissociation. Further evidence is obtained by linking our finding to a prominent model of the attentional blink – the Simultaneous Type/Serial Token model. Our results show evidence for a dissociation between experience and reportability, whereby participants appear able to encode stimuli into working memory with little, if any, conscious experience of them. This raises the possibility of a phenomenon that might be called sight-blind recall, which we discuss in the context of the current experience/reportability debate

Avian transcriptomics: opportunities and challenges

Recent developments in next-generation sequencing technologies have greatly facilitated the study of whole transcriptomes in model and non-model species. Studying the transcriptome and how it changes across a variety of biological conditions has had major implications for our understanding of how the genome is regulated in different contexts, and how to interpret adaptations and the phenotype of an organism. The aim of this review is to highlight the potential of these new technologies for the study of avian transcriptomics, and to summarise how transcriptomics has been applied in ornithology. A total of 81 peer-reviewed scientific articles that used transcriptomics to answer questions within a broad range of study areas in birds are used as examples throughout the review. We further provide a quick guide to highlight the most important points which need to be take into account when planning a transcriptomic study in birds, and discuss how researchers with little background in molecular biology can avoid potential pitfalls. Suggestions for further reading are supplied throughout. We also discuss possible future developments in the technology platforms used for ribonucleic acid sequencing. By summarising how these novel technologies can be used to answer questions that have long been asked by ornithologists, we hope to bridge the gap between traditional ornithology and genomics, and to stimulate more interdisciplinary research.publishe

Selective Hydrogenation of Carbon Dioxide into Methanol

International audienceThis chapter is dedicated to methanol synthesis from carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Methanol, chemical formula CH3OH, is an important platform molecule which can be transformed into a large number of other chemicals, i.e., formaldehyde, acetic acid, dimethyl ether, methyl tert-butyl ether, and methyl methacrylate, as well as complex hydrocarbon mixtures, e.g., gasoline and diesel. Up to date, methanol is produced at industrial scale by steam reforming of natural gas, leading to high environmental impacts. The selective hydrogenation of carbon dioxide into methanol can be a good alternative since it is possible to capture carbon dioxide from industrial processes and to produce hydrogen from renewable energies, e.g., solar energy and wind energy.From a thermodynamic point of view, carbon dioxide hydrogenation is strongly influenced by the total pressure, temperature, and feeding composition. The use of a catalyst is also mandatory to control the kinetic and the selectivity into methanol. Among solid catalysts studied, copper-based catalysts have been found to be the best catalytic systems. Promoters like zinc oxide were usually used. Nickel-, palladium-, and silver-based catalysts also showed good catalytic performance compared to copper-based catalysts. Soluble catalysts have been intensively studied for this hydrogenation. Ru complexes appeared as the best homogeneous catalyst. Other metal-free homogeneous catalysts, e.g., N-heterocyclic carbenes, have been found to be active and selective in this reaction. Efforts have been made on the mechanistic study of the reaction in both the gas and liquid phases. Large industrial production has started in several countries showing the interest and the feasibility of the process