Partial dissociation in the neural bases of VSTM and imagery in the early visual cortex

Visual short-term memory (VSTM) and visual imagery are believed to involve overlapping neuronal representations in the early visual cortex. While a number of studies have provided evidence for this overlap, at the behavioral level VSTM and imagery are dissociable processes; this begs the question of how their neuronal mechanisms differ. Here we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to examine whether the neural bases of imagery and VSTM maintenance are dissociable in the early visual cortex (EVC). We intentionally used a similar task for VSTM and imagery in order to equate their assessment. We hypothesized that any differential effect of TMS on VSTM and imagery would indicate that their neuronal bases differ at the level of EVC. In the "alone" condition, participants were asked to engage either in VSTM or imagery, whereas in the "concurrent" condition, each trial required both VSTM maintenance and imagery simultaneously. A dissociation between VSTM and imagery was observed for reaction times: TMS slowed down responses for VSTM but not for imagery. The impact of TMS on sensitivity did not differ between VSTM and imagery, but did depend on whether the tasks were carried concurrently or alone. This study shows that neural processes associated with VSTM and imagery in the early visual cortex can be partially dissociated. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).Peer reviewe

The Effects of Activating Gender-Related Social Roles on Financial Risk-Taking

Previous studies observed differences between men and women in terms of their financial risk-taking. However, these differences may stem not only from the gender of the decision-maker but also from other factors, such as stereotypical gender social roles. Media content exposes both men and women to stereotypical portrayals of their gender, and this might temporarily activate thoughts related to their social roles. A question arises whether such activation might impact the way people make risky financial decisions. The present experimental study investigated whether temporarily activated gender-related social roles influence the risk-taking propensities of men and women (N = 319) in the context of gambling and investment choices. The results show that activating a stereotypically male social role (professional employee) made both men and women more prone to take financial risks relative to a control condition. Furthermore, activating a stereotypically female social role (homemaker) lowered the propensity to take financial risks in both genders for the investment domain and in women only for the gambling domain. This study contributes to the literature on gender differences in economic behavior by showing that researchers should not overlook sociocultural factors

Komunikacja codzienna polskich nauczycieli edukacji elementarnej - krotki przeglad kategorii tematycznych na przykladzie dyskusji na portalach internetowych

Artykul wskazuje na charakterystycznq indeksykalnosc we wspolczesnym dyskursie polskich nauczycieli edukacji elementarnej. Dokonano krotkiej analizy kategorii tematycznych na przykladzie codziennych rozmow, jakie toczq nauczyciele na internetowych portalach. Wskazano jednoczesnie na istot§ socjolektu wraz z zasobami wiedzy zespolu ludzi, ktorych Iqczy zawodowa przynaleznosc

The release of eosinophil chemotactic activity and eosinophil chemokinesis inhibitory activity by mononuclear cells from atopic asthmatic and non-atopic subjects.

The goal of our study was to assess the chemotactic activity for eosinophils (ECA) and neutrophils (NCA) and histamine releasing activity (HRA) in crude supernatants of mononuclear cells in monosensitized atopic asthmatics and healthy controls. Chemotactic activity for ECA and neutrophils was measured in supernatants of cultured mononuclear cells with modified Boyden's chamber and HRA was assessed on healthy donor basophils. With respect to ECA generation two distinct subgroups of subjects were distinguished: releasers [ECA (+)] and non-releasers [ECA (-)]. In atopic and non-atopic ECA (+) the mean ECA index was 3.78 +/- 0.49 and 2.47 +/- 0.27 respectively (P > 0.05). Supernatants from the remaining subjects (seven of 22 atopic and five of 11 non-atopic) did not express ECA, but revealed significant inhibitory activity for chemokinesis of eosinophils (mean chemotactic index 0.25 +/- 0.16 and 0.48 +/- 0.22 for atopic and non-atopic non-releasers respectively). Stimulation with antigen of MNC from atopic and with PHA from non-atopic ECA (-) restored cells ability to release ECA. Sephadex gel chromatography revealed that supernatants of MNC contained chemotactic and chemokinesis inhibitory activity in different fractions. The spontaneous productions of NCA and HRA by mononuclear cells was similar in ECA releasers and non-releasers, although the HRA was higher following stimulation with PHA in the non-atopic ECA (+) subgroup. Our study demonstrated, for the first time, that MNC are capable of generating not only chemotactic activity but also chemokinesis inhibitory activity for eosinophils

Quasi-point separation of variables for the Henon-Heiles system and a system with quartic potential

We examine the problem of integrability of two-dimensional Hamiltonian systems by means of separation of variables. The systematic approach to construction of the special non-pure coordinate separation of variables for certain natural two-dimensional Hamiltonians is presented. The relations with SUSY quantum mechanics are discussed.Comment: 11 pages, Late

211. Cytometryczna analiza ploidii DNA komórek uzyskanych techniką aspiracyjnej biopsji cienkoigłowej (BAC) w pierwotnych rakach piersi

Założenia i cel pracyCelem badania było wykazanie przydatności aspiracyjnej biopsji cienkoigłowej, jako źródła materiału do analizy ploidii DNA komórek guzów nowotworowych oraz oceny stanu receptorów estrogenowych, progesteronowych i Ki-67 w pierwotnych rakach piersi.Materiał i metodykaMateriał do analizy ploidii DNA w cytometrze przepływowym stanowiła zawiesina komórek guzów piersi pobierana przez lekarzy patomorfologów metodą BAC. Badania immunocytochemiczne i preparaty cytologiczne przygotowywano w sposób typowy.WynikiW latach (1999–2002 r.) wykonano badania u 275 kobiet w wieku od 24 do 85 lat. W tej grupie znalazło się 195 przypadków guzów o typie aneuploidalnym cyklu komórkowego, gdzie wartość CV mieściła się w granicach od 1.4 – 9.0 (śr. 4,76), a liczba komórek będących w fazie S cyklu aneuploidalnego wynosiła od 0.4% – 87.4%. W 80 przypadkach guzów piersi o wyłącznie diploidalnym typie cyklu komórkowego, wartość CV mieściła się w granicach od 2.1 – 7.8 (śr. 4.7), a liczba komórek będących w fazie S cyklu diploidalnego wynosiła od 0.1% – 28.5%. Ploidię DNA porównywano ze stanem receptorowym badanych komórek. Aneuploidia DNA korelowała ze słabą reakcją (27 przypadków) lub brakiem reakcji (81 przypadków) na obecność receptora estrogenowego oraz progesteronowego (odpowiednio 26 i 96 przypadków), natomiast towarzyszyła silnej reakcji na obecność Ki-67 (15 – 60%).WnioskiNiskie wartości CV w parametrach zarówno guzów aneuploidalnych jak i diploidalnych wskazują na przydatność metody oceny ploidii DNA oraz fazy S cyklu aneuploidalnego w materiale cytologicznym uzyskanym na drodze BAC. Badania wskazują, że cytometryczna analiza zawartości komórkowego DNA oraz fazy S cyklu aneuploidalnego, korelują z wynikami immunocytochemicznymi (PgR, ER, Ki-67). Metody te mogą być szczególnie użyteczne klinicznie przy prognozowaniu i przewidywaniu odpowiedzi na indywidualne leczenie pacjentek, kwalifikujących się do wcześniejszej chemioterapii lub/i hormonoterapii. Oznaczanie wymienionych markerów przy użyciu BAC jest bardzo przydatne dla leczenia pacjentów (gdy nie dysponujemy materiałem tkankowym a tylko cytologicznym) z np. nieoperacyjnym rakiem piersi lub w przypadku małych zmian pierwotnych

Slow dynamics of solid proteins : Nuclear Magnetic Resonance relaxometry versus Dielectric Spectroscopy

Acknowledgement This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 668119 (project “IDentIFY”).Peer reviewedPublisher PD