Do doorways really matter : investigating memory benefits of event segmentation in a virtual learning environment

Event segmentation allows the flow of information experienced in life to be partitioned into distinct episodes, facilitating understanding of the world, action within it, and the ability to store information in memory. One basis on which experiences are segmented is the presence of physical boundaries, such as walking through doorways. Previous findings have shown that event segmentation has a significant influence on memory, with better memory for events occurring within a single boundary (compared to events that cross boundaries). By manipulating the features of boundaries and the amount of information presented between boundaries the present research investigates the nature of event boundaries. We make use of a virtual learning environment to present lists of words in virtual rooms, testing memory for the word lists as a function of the presence or absence of spatial-temporal gaps and physical boundaries during encoding (i.e., by maintaining participants within individual rooms or moving them through doorways between rooms). Across four experiments, we show that segmenting information with spatial-temporal gaps results in an increase in clustering (reflecting the structure imposed at encoding) an increase in the number of words remembered during later tests of episodic recall (a memory benefit) and an increase in recalling the words in the order of presentation. Importantly, however, the data show that the presence of doorways is not required for event segmentation to benefit memory: increases in clustering, memory for temporal order and recall performance were found with temporal gaps alone. Furthermore, the results suggest that episodic memory may be optimised if the amount of information between boundaries can be maintained within working memory. We discuss the implications of the findings for Event Segmentation Theory and propose an alternative theoretical account of the episodic memory benefits based on temporal clustering. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.]PostprintPeer reviewe

Hacia un renovado vínculo entre la obra y su exterior: El desperdicio de Matilde Sánchez Ilse Logie

Este artículo analiza El desperdicio de Matilde Sánchez a partir de una serie de paradojas narrativas (presentes en la voz narrativa y en su lugar de enunciación) con implicaciones ideológicas. La novela, que se perfila como una biografía del destino trágico de la protagonista Elena Arteche, ofrece asimismo una crónica de las últimas tres décadas en la vida económica y cultural argentina. Al articular una vida individual con desarrollos colectivos, El desperdicio entra en una línea específica de narrativas argentinas contemporáneas del derrumbe, con la particularidad de enfocar el descalabro del campo a partir de la contraposición entre ciudad y pampa. Un análisis del título polisémico nos permitirá ver cómo se interrelacionan diversas acepciones de este término y ahondar en su vínculo con la concepción moderna de la autonomía tanto existencial (entendida como control sobre la propia vida) como artística (centrada en la noción de la ostranenie). Finalmente, se examinará la posición de este texto en el campo literario argentino, y se enmarcará su fluctuación entre diferentes paradigmas estéticos dentro de la reflexión de Florencia Garramuño acerca de las recientes transformaciones del estatuto de la literatura.This article aims at a thorough interpretation of El desperdicio by Argentinian writer Matilde Sánchez based on a series of narrative paradoxes (patently present in the narrative voice and its locus of enunciation) with ideological implications. The novel not only recounts the tragic life of leading character Elena Arteche, but also provides a chronicle of the last three decades of Argentinian economic and cultural life. In combining a person’s adventures with collective social developments, El desperdicio can be seen as one of several “narratives of collapse” that have recently been written in Argentina. The novel, however, focusses on rural rather than on urban demise. An analysis of the polysemic nature of the title, which can mean both “waste” and “remains”, allows us to establish the link with modern views on autonomy, both in the existential sense of the term (“control over one’s own life”) as in the artistic one (thematized here out of the formalist concept of ostranenie). Our study also considers the place this novel holds within the Argentinian literary field. Finally, the conflicting esthetical paradigms which the author seems to hesitate between are connected with Florencia Garramuño’s ideas on recent changes in the status of literature

A GO catalogue of human DNA-binding transcription factors

DNA-binding transcription factors recognise genomic addresses, specific sequence motifs in gene regulatory regions, to control gene transcription. A complete and reliable catalogue of all DNA-binding transcription factors is key to investigating the delicate balance of gene regulation in response to environmental and developmental stimuli. The need for such a catalogue of proteins is demonstrated by the many lists of DNA-binding transcription factors that have been produced over the past decade. The COST Action Gene Regulation Ensemble Effort for the Knowledge Commons (GREEKC) Consortium brought together experts in the field of transcription with the aim of providing high quality and interoperable gene regulatory data. The Gene Ontology (GO) Consortium provides strict definitions for gene product function, including factors that regulate transcription. The collaboration between the GREEKC and GO Consortia has enabled the application of those definitions to produce a new curated catalogue of human DNA-binding transcription factors, that can be accessed at https://www.ebi.ac.uk/QuickGO/targetset/dbTF. In addition, this curation effort has led to the GO annotation of almost sixty thousand DNA-binding transcription factors in over a hundred species. Thus, this work will aid researchers investigating the regulation of transcription in both biomedical and basic science

CARMENES input catalogue of M dwarfs IV. New rotation periods from photometric time series

Aims. The main goal of this work is to measure rotation periods of the M-type dwarf stars being observed by the CARMENES exoplanet survey to help distinguish radial-velocity signals produced by magnetic activity from those produced by exoplanets. Rotation periods are also fundamental for a detailed study of the relation between activity and rotation in late-type stars. Methods. We look for significant periodic signals in 622 photometric time series of 337 bright, nearby M dwarfs obtained by long-time baseline, automated surveys (MEarth, ASAS, SuperWASP, NSVS, Catalina, ASAS-SN, K2, and HATNet) and for 20 stars which we obtained with four 0.2-0.8 m telescopes at high geographical latitudes. Results. We present 142 rotation periods (73 new) from 0.12 d to 133 d and ten long-term activity cycles (six new) from 3.0 a to 11.5 a. We compare our determinations with those in the existing literature; we investigate the distribution of P rot in the CARMENES input catalogue,the amplitude of photometric variability, and their relation to vsin i and pEW(Halfa); and we identify three very active stars with new rotation periods between 0.34 d and 23.6 d.Comment: 34 pages, 43 figures, 2 appendix table

The asymmetry and temporal dynamics of incidental letter-location bindings in working memory.

Verbal-spatial bindings are integral to routine cognitive operations (e.g., reading), yet the processes supporting them in working memory are little understood. Campo and colleagues [Campo, P., Poch, C., Parmentier, F. B. R., Moratti, S., Elsley, J. V., Castellanos, N., … Maestú, F. (2010). Oscillatory activity in prefrontal and posterior regions during implicit letter-location binding. Neuroimage, 49, 2807-2815] recently reported data suggesting obligatory letter-location binding when participants were directed to remember the letters in a display (of letters in locations), but no evidence for binding when instructed to remember the filled locations. The present study contrasted two explanations for this binding asymmetry. First, it may result from an obligatory dependence on "where" during the representation of "what" information, while "where" information may be held independently of its contents (the strong asymmetry hypothesis). Second, it may constitute a snapshot of a dynamic feature inhibition process that had partially completed by test: the asymmetrical inhibition hypothesis. Using Campo and colleagues' task with a variable retention interval between display and test, we presented four consonants in distinct locations and contrasted performance between "remember letters" and "remember locations" instructions. Our data supported the strong asymmetry hypothesis through demonstrating binding in the verbal task, but not in the spatial task. Critically, when present, verbal-spatial bindings were remarkably stable, enduring for at least 15 seconds

Intuitive geometry and visuospatial working memory in children showing symptoms of nonverbal learning disabilities.

Visuospatial working memory (VSWM) and intuitive geometry were examined in two groups aged 11-13, one with children displaying symptoms of nonverbal learning disability (NLD; n = 16), and the other, a control group without learning disabilities (n = 16). The two groups were matched for general verbal abilities, age, gender, and socioeconomic level. The children were presented with simple storage and complex-span tasks involving VSWM and with the intuitive geometry task devised by Dehaene, Izard, Pica, and Spelke (2006 ). Results revealed that the two groups differed in the intuitive geometry task. Differences were particularly evident in Euclidean geometry and in geometrical transformations. Moreover, the performance of NLD children was worse than controls to a larger extent in complex-span than in simple storage tasks, and VSWM differences were able to account for group differences in geometry. Finally, a discriminant function analysis confirmed the crucial role of complex-span tasks involving VSWM in distinguishing between the two groups. Results are discussed with reference to the relationship between VSWM and mathematics difficulties in nonverbal learning disabilities

Single-Pair FRET Microscopy Reveals Mononucleosome Dynamics

We applied spFRET microscopy for direct observation of intranucleosomal DNA dynamics. Mononucleosomes, reconstituted with DNA containing a FRET pair at the dyad axis and exit of the nucleosome core particle, were immobilized through a 30 bp DNA tether on a polyethyleneglycol functionalized slide and visualized using Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence microscopy. FRET efficiency time-traces revealed two types of dynamics: acceptor blinking and intramolecular rearrangements. Both Cy5 and ATTO647N acceptor dyes showed severe blinking in a deoxygenated buffer in the presence of 2% βME. Replacing the triplet quencher βME with 1 mM Trolox eliminated most blinking effects. After suppression of blinking three subpopulations were observed: 90% appeared as dissociated complexes; the remaining 10% featured an average FRET efficiency in agreement with intact nucleosomes. In 97% of these intact nucleosomes no significant changes in FRET efficiency were observed in the experimentally accessible time window ranging from 10 ms to 10’s of seconds. However, 3% of the intact nucleosomes showed intervals with reduced FRET efficiency, clearly distinct from blinking, with a lifetime of 120 ms. These fluctuations can unambiguously be attributed to DNA breathing. Our findings illustrate not only the merits but also typical caveats encountered in single-molecule FRET studies on complex biological systems

Survey of Period Variations of Superhumps in SU UMa-Type Dwarf Novae. VIII: The Eighth Year (2015-2016)

Continuing the project described by Kato et al. (2009, arXiv:0905.1757), we collected times of superhump maxima for 128 SU UMa-type dwarf novae observed mainly during the 2015-2016 season and characterized these objects. The data have improved the distribution of orbital periods, the relation between the orbital period and the variation of superhumps, the relation between period variations and the rebrightening type in WZ Sge-type objects. Coupled with new measurements of mass ratios using growing stages of superhumps, we now have a clearer and statistically greatly improved evolutionary path near the terminal stage of evolution of cataclysmic variables. Three objects (V452 Cas, KK Tel, ASASSN-15cl) appear to have slowly growing superhumps, which is proposed to reflect the slow growth of the 3:1 resonance near the stability border. ASASSN-15sl, ASASSN-15ux, SDSS J074859.55+312512.6 and CRTS J200331.3-284941 are newly identified eclipsing SU UMa-type (or WZ Sge-type) dwarf novae. ASASSN-15cy has a short (~0.050 d) superhump period and appears to belong to EI Psc-type objects with compact secondaries having an evolved core. ASASSN-15gn, ASASSN-15hn, ASASSN-15kh and ASASSN-16bu are candidate period bouncers with superhump periods longer than 0.06 d. We have newly obtained superhump periods for 79 objects and 13 orbital periods, including periods from early superhumps. In order that the future observations will be more astrophysically beneficial and rewarding to observers, we propose guidelines how to organize observations of various superoutbursts.Comment: 123 pages, 162 figures, 119 tables, accepted for publication in PASJ (including supplementary information

Visual similarity effects on short-term memory for order: The case of verbally labeled pictorial stimuli

Four experiments examined the effect of visual similarity on immediate memory for order. Experiments 1 and 2 used easily nameable line drawings. Following a sequential presentation in either silent or suppression conditions, participants were presented with the drawings in a new, random order and were required to remember their original serial position. In Experiment 3, participants first learned to associate a verbal label with an abstract matrix pattern. Then they completed an immediate memory task in which they had to name the matrices aloud during presentation. At recall, the task required remembering either the order of the matrices or the order of their names. In Experiment 4, participants learned to associate nonword labels with schematic line drawings of faces; the phonemic similarity of the verbal labels was also manipulated. All four experiments indicate that the representations supporting performance comprise both verbal and visual features. The results are consistent with a multiattribute encoding view