Interaction Between Visual and Phonotactic Orientation During Flight in \u3ci\u3eMagicicada Cassini\u3c/i\u3e (Homoptera: Cicadidae)

Visual and phonotactic orientation often occur simultaneously in diurnal cicadas. and these animals generally have their largest sensory elaboration in eyes and hearing organs. Phonotactic orientation occurs principally during flight. Males and females of Magicicada cassini commonly perform low- altitude « 5 m) and short-distance « 15 m) flights in their natural habitat at flight speeds of 3 to 6 m/s. During flight, the long body axis is tilted 10° to Q , head upward. Wing beat frequencies of tethered animals at 24° to 26°C averaged 28.8 Hz. Body temperature in the field for flying individuals aver- aged 4.6°C above ambient. Compound eyes of females possess about 7% more facets than males, and the binocular field of view for both is especially expanded dorsa-frontally, frontally, and fronto-ventrally. The role of vision for phonoresponses, and in flight and landing behavior. was studied in nature by comparing controls with cicadas with eyes partly to completely covered with aluminum paint. Cicadas with their three ocelli covered behaved like controls and exhibited low-altitude and short-distance flights with landings on neighboring shrubs, as did cicadas with only both caudal halves or both dorsal halves of the compound eyes covered. Those with both compound eyes covered completely (with or without additionally covering the three ocelli) flew to higher altitudes and for longer distances. Higher and longer flight courses were also seen in cicadas (A) with only one compound eye covered. which in addition circled during walking and flight toward the side of unrestricted vision, (B) with both frontal or both ventral halves of their compound eyes covered. and (C) with either the binocular or monocular fields of the eyes covered. Thus, the paired fronta-antero-ventral regions of the compound eyes provide visual information for habitat-dependent low-altitude flights and landings. Females with intact compound eyes and ocelli responded to playbacks of just the frequency/intensity sweep at the end of the buzz in calling songs of a male by flying within 1.2 m above the ground and landing on a nylon screen- covered small bush directly above the loudspeaker from distances of 2 to 8 m. mostly from lower vegetation. Males that were blinded, or blinded and deafened, sang less and flew less than normal males. However. they performed all of those behaviors, and all also walked and fed. Periodical cicadas (Magicicada, Tibicininae) are known for synchronized adult emergence and noisy aggregations of millions of individuals of three intermingled species in each brood population (Alexander and Moore 1962). Broods are isolated geographically and chronologically, such that in some years no periodical cicada adults emerge, and most areas of the eastern United States have only one brood population appearing as adults at intervals of either 13 or 17 years. In all Magicicada species, daily flights affect spacing and aggregation of both sexes during feeding, chorusing, mating, and ovipositing. Flights are mediated by both acoustical and visual cues. Each species in these aggregations establishes mating leks. These aggregations continue to mix, every day and unpredictably, during the emergence period. Toward the end of the reproductive season, males die sooner than females, leading to little or no chorusing, and then females disperse progressively further from the lek sites. The cohesive effect of the acoustical cues of chorusing males on these cicada populations is obvious. Both sexes of all six species of periodical cicadas live and feed on shrubs and trees of different species, sizes, and shapes, and females lay eggs in their living twigs. Their niches overlap almost completely, the three species of 13­ year or 17-year cicadas being separated principally by diurnal acoustic behavior leading to aggregation sites that change every day and are seldom exclusive to a single Magicicada species. Adults frequently change location in these complex visual environments by short-distance and low-altitude flights. which we call bush-hopping. These flights are associated with sound communication and reproductive activities and are most commonly observed during bright sunlight and at ambient temperatures above 25°C with little wind (Alexander and Moore 1958,1962; Dunning et al. 1979). Otte (1990) and Toms (1992) discuss the common correlation between hearing and flying in orthop­teroid insects, interactions basically similar to those found in cicadas. The present paper describes the interaction of vision (compound eyes and ocelli) and phonoresponses of males and females of Magicicada cassini (Fisher) in walking, but especially in flight and landing behavior, within a natural habitat

Acute psychological and physiological effects of psilocybin in healthy humans: a double-blind, placebo-controlled dose-effect study

Rationale: Serotonin (5-Hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) receptors play an important role in perception, affect regulation and attention. Pharmacological challenge with the 5-HT2A agonist psilocybin (PY) is useful in studying the neurobiological basis of cognition and consciousness. Objective: Investigation of dose-dependent effects of PY on psycho(patho)logical and physiological parameters. Methods: Eight subjects received placebo (PL), and 45 ("very low dose, VLD”), 115 ("low dose, LD”), 215 ("medium dose, MD”), and 315 ("high dose, HD”) μg/kg body weight PY. The "Altered States of Consciousness Rating Scale” (5D-ASC), the "Frankfurt Attention Inventory” (FAIR), and the "Adjective Mood Rating Scale” (AMRS) were used to assess the effects of PY on psycho(patho)logical core dimensions, attention, and mood. A 24-h electrocardiogram (EKG) was recorded and blood pressure was measured. Plasma concentrations of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), prolactin (PRL), cortisol (CORT), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and standard clinical chemical parameters were determined. Results: PY dose dependently increased scores of all 5D-ASC core dimensions. Only one subject reacted with transient anxiety to HD PY. Compared with PL, MD and HD PY led to a 50% reduction of performance in the FAIR test. "General inactivation”, "emotional excitability”, and "dreaminess” were the only domains of the AMRS showing increased scores following MD and HD PY. The mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) was moderately elevated only 60min following administration of HD PY. Neither EKG nor body temperature was affected by any dose of PY. TSH, ACTH, and CORT plasma levels were elevated during peak effects of HD PY, whereas PRL plasma levels were increased following MD and HD PY. Conclusion: PY affects core dimensions of altered states of consciousness and physiological parameters in a dose-dependent manner. Our study provided no cause for concern that PY is hazardous with respect to somatic healt

Characterization and prediction of acute and sustained response to psychedelic psilocybin in a mindfulness group retreat

Meditation and psychedelics have played key roles in humankind’s search for self-transcendence and personal change. However, neither their possible synergistic effects, nor related state and trait predictors have been experimentally studied. To elucidate these issues, we administered double-blind the model psychedelic drug psilocybin (315 μg/kg PO) or placebo to meditators (n = 39) during a 5-day mindfulness group retreat. Psilocybin increased meditation depth and incidence of positively experienced self-dissolution along the perception-hallucination continuum, without concomitant anxiety. Openness, optimism, and emotional reappraisal were predictors of the acute response. Compared with placebo, psilocybin enhanced post-intervention mindfulness and produced larger positive changes in psychosocial functioning at a 4-month follow-up, which were corroborated by external ratings, and associated with magnitude of acute self-dissolution experience. Meditation seems to enhance psilocybin’s positive effects while counteracting possible dysphoric responses. These findings highlight the interactions between non-pharmacological and pharmacological factors, and the role of emotion/attention regulation in shaping the experiential quality of psychedelic states, as well as the experience of selflessness as a modulator of behavior and attitudes. A better comprehension of mechanisms underlying most beneficial psychedelic experiences may guide therapeutic interventions across numerous mental conditions in the form of psychedelic-assisted applications

The CHARA Array Angular Diameter of HR 8799 Favors Planetary Masses for Its Imaged Companions

HR 8799 is an hF0 mA5 gamma Doradus, lambda Bootis, Vega-type star best known for hosting four directly imaged candidate planetary companions. Using the CHARA Array interferometer, we measure HR 8799's limb-darkened angular diameter to be 0.342 +/- 0.008 mas; this is the smallest interferometrically measured stellar diameter to date, with an error of only 2%. By combining our measurement with the star's parallax and photometry from the literature, we greatly improve upon previous estimates of its fundamental parameters, including stellar radius (1.44 +/- 0.06 R_Sun), effective temperature (7193 +/- 87 K, consistent with F0), luminosity (5.05 +/- 0.29 L_Sun), and the extent of the habitable zone (1.62 AU to 3.32 AU). These improved stellar properties permit much more precise comparisons with stellar evolutionary models, from which a mass and age can be determined, once the metallicity of the star is known. Considering the observational properties of other lambda Bootis stars and the indirect evidence for youth of HR 8799, we argue that the internal abundance, and what we refer to as the effective abundance, is most likely near-solar. Finally, using the Yonsei-Yale evolutionary models with uniformly scaled solar-like abundances, we estimate HR 8799's mass and age considering two possibilities: 1.516 +0.038/-0.024 M_Sun and 33 +7/-13 Myr if the star is contracting toward the zero age main-sequence or 1.513 +0.023/-0.024 M_Sun and 90 +381/-50 Myr if it is expanding from it. This improved estimate of HR 8799's age with realistic uncertainties provides the best constraints to date on the masses of its orbiting companions, and strongly suggests they are indeed planets. They nevertheless all appear to orbit well outside the habitable zone of this young star.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; 37 pages, 6 tables, 13 figure

Efficacy of the Irreversible ErbB Family Blocker Afatinib in Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (TKI)–Pretreated Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer Patients with Brain Metastases or Leptomeningeal Disease

IntroductionAfatinib is an effective first-line treatment in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and has shown activity in patients progressing on EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). First-line afatinib is also effective in patients with central nervous system (CNS) metastasis. Here we report on outcomes of pretreated NSCLC patients with CNS metastasis who received afatinib within a compassionate use program.MethodsPatients with NSCLC progressing after at least one line of chemotherapy and one line of EGFR-TKI treatment received afatinib. Medical history, patient demographics, EGFR mutational status, and adverse events including tumor progression were documented.ResultsFrom 2010 to 2013, 573 patients were enrolled and 541 treated with afatinib. One hundred patients (66% female; median age, 60 years) had brain metastases and/or leptomeningeal disease with 74% having documented EGFR mutation. Median time to treatment failure for patients with CNS metastasis was 3.6 months, and did not differ from a matched group of 100 patients without CNS metastasis. Thirty-five percent (11 of 31) of evaluable patients had a cerebral response, five (16%) responded exclusively in brain. Response duration (range) was 120 (21–395) days. Sixty-six percent (21 of 32) of patients had cerebral disease control on afatinib. Data from one patient with an impressive response showed an afatinib concentration in the cerebrospinal fluid of nearly 1 nMol.ConclusionAfatinib appears to penetrate into the CNS with concentrations high enough to have clinical effect on CNS metastases. Afatinib may therefore be an effective treatment for heavily pretreated patients with EGFR-mutated or EGFR–TKI-sensitive NSCLC and CNS metastasis

SIMPATIQCO: A server-based software suite which facilitates monitoring the time course of LC-MS performance metrics on orbitrap instruments

While the performance of liquid chromatography (LC) and mass spectrometry (MS) instrumentation continues to increase, applications such as analyses of complete or near-complete proteomes and quantitative studies require constant and optimal system performance. For this reason, research laboratories and core facilities alike are recommended to implement quality control (QC) measures as part of their routine workflows. Many laboratories perform sporadic quality control checks. However, successive and systematic longitudinal monitoring of system performance would be facilitated by dedicated automatic or semiautomatic software solutions that aid an effortless analysis and display of QC metrics over time. We present the software package SIMPATIQCO (SIMPle AuTomatIc Quality COntrol) designed for evaluation of data from LTQ Orbitrap, Q-Exactive, LTQ FT, and LTQ instruments. A centralized SIMPATIQCO server can process QC data from multiple instruments. The software calculates QC metrics supervising every step of data acquisition from LC and electrospray to MS. For each QC metric the software learns the range indicating adequate system performance from the uploaded data using robust statistics. Results are stored in a database and can be displayed in a comfortable manner from any computer in the laboratory via a web browser. QC data can be monitored for individual LC runs as well as plotted over time. SIMPATIQCO thus assists the longitudinal monitoring of important QC metrics such as peptide elution times, peak widths, intensities, total ion current (TIC) as well as sensitivity, and overall LC-MS system performance; in this way the software also helps identify potential problems. The SIMPATIQCO software package is available free of charge

Turbulent transport in the scrape-off layer of Wendelstein 7-X

Turbulent transport is widely considered to be the main driver for cross-field transport in the scrape-off layer (SOL) of toroidal magnetized plasmas. Here, reciprocating Langmuir probes are employed to measure both the plasma profiles and the turbulent particle transport in the SOL of the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator. The relation between turbulent radial particle flux Γr and the local pressure gradient is often approximately linear across the entire SOL width, indicating that radial turbulence spreading is absent. This observation holds across a wide range of magnetic configurations and different plasma heating and density scenarios. The magnitude of the turbulent transport for a given gradient reveals a dependence on the magnetic configuration and the position in the SOL, which we relate to the cross-spectral characteristics of multi-tip floating potential measurements. Magnetic islands can add further complexity due to non-monotonic SOL profiles and the breaking of the transport-gradient relation. Finally, anomalous diffusion coefficients are determined from the probe measurements