Contrast and Phase Combination in Binocular Vision

BACKGROUND: How the visual system combines information from the two eyes to form a unitary binocular representation of the external world is a fundamental question in vision science that has been the focus of many psychophysical and physiological investigations. Ding & Sperling (2006) measured perceived phase of the cyclopean image, and developed a binocular combination model in which each eye exerts gain control on the other eye's signal and over the other eye's gain control. Critically, the relative phase of the monocular sine-waves plays a central role. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We used the Ding-Sperling paradigm but measured both the perceived contrast and phase of cyclopean images in three hundred and eighty combinations of base contrast, interocular contrast ratio, eye origin of the probe, and interocular phase difference. We found that the perceived contrast of the cyclopean image was independent of the relative phase of the two monocular gratings, although the perceived phase depended on the relative phase and contrast ratio of the monocular images. We developed a new multi-pathway contrast-gain control model (MCM) that elaborates the Ding-Sperling binocular combination model in two ways: (1) phase and contrast of the cyclopean images are computed in separate pathways, although with shared cross-eye contrast-gain control; and (2) phase-independent local energy from the two monocular images are used in binocular contrast combination. With three free parameters, the model yielded an excellent account of data from all the experimental conditions. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Binocular phase combination depends on the relative phase and contrast ratio of the monocular images but binocular contrast combination is phase-invariant. Our findings suggest the involvement of at least two separate pathways in binocular combination

LGR5 expression is regulated by EGF in early colorectal adenomas and governs EGFR inhibitor sensitivity.

BACKGROUND LGR5 serves as a co-receptor for Wnt/β-catenin signalling and marks normal intestinal stem cells; however, its role in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains controversial. LGR5 cells are known to exist outside the stem cell niche during CRC progression, and the requirement for epidermal growth factor (EGF) signalling within early adenomas remains to be fully elucidated. METHODS Epidermal growth factor and gefitinib treatments were performed in EGF-responsive LGR5 early adenoma RG/C2 cells. 2D growth assays were measured using an IncuCyte. LGR5 or MEK1/2 silencing studies were executed using siRNA and LGR5 expression was assessed by qRT-PCR and immunoblotting. Ki67 level and cell cycle status were analysed by flow cytometry. RESULTS Epidermal growth factor suppresses expression of LGR5 at both the transcript and protein level in colorectal adenoma and carcinoma cells. Suppression of LGR5 reduces the survival of EGF-treated adenoma cells by increasing detached cell yield but also inducing a proliferative state, as evidenced by elevated Ki67 level and enhanced cell cycle progression. Repression of LGR5 further increases the sensitivity of adenoma cells to EGFR inhibition. CONCLUSIONS LGR5 has an important role in the EGF-mediated survival and proliferation of early adenoma cells and could have clinical utility in predicting response of CRC patients to EGFR therapy

Towards a Confucian geopolitics

In this article, we argue that Confucian philosophies are vital to understanding contemporary Chinese geopolitics. Existing Western geopolitical frameworks, we contend, are insufficient for grasping the complex theories and historical legacies that underpin China’s foreign policy. This issue becomes particularly salient as scholars and the public alike try to manage complex and changing geopolitical ideas underpinning the Belt and Road Initiative, recently heralded by the Chinese state and epitomising China’s ambition for expanded global engagements. This article provides a much-needed critical assessment and review of Confucian ideas and their uptake in Chinese state theory, geographical imaginations, and geopolitical scripts. While Confucianism typically focuses on ideals of harmony, hierarchy, and normative social order, geopolitics analyses geographical influences on politics – in particular, violence and conflict. However, it is precisely within this contradictory dialectic that new possibilities for analysing the geopolitics of a rising global power can emerge

The role of science in fisheries management in Europe: from Mode 1 to Mode 2

The transformation of fisheries science in an applied context (‘Mode 2’) sciences is controversial within the scientific community. To investigate this issue, the conceptual shift from ‘traditional academic science’ (Mode 1 science) to ‘modern post-academic science’ (Mode 2 science) is used. The paper uses EU fisheries science with focus on ICES research as illustration for gaining new insights in the consequences and dilemmas of the transformation, in regards to the production of knowledge for policy-making in fisheries management. Hence the main question to be discussed in this paper is: what does the new kind of more applied ‘Mode 2 science’ mean for reliability, credibility, trustworthiness and quality assurance? This study, therefore, mainly demonstrates what such a transformation may imply to the scientific community and what consequences it might have for the way fisheries science is practised, and perceived in a political context