Listeners and Readers Generalize Their Experience With Word Meanings Across Modalities

Research has shown that adults' lexical-semantic representations are surprisingly malleable. For instance, the interpretation of ambiguous words (e.g., bark) is influenced by experience such that recently encountered meanings become more readily available (Rodd et al., 2016, 2013). However, the mechanism underlying this word-meaning priming effect remains unclear, and competing accounts make different predictions about the extent to which information about word meanings that is gained within one modality (e.g., speech) is transferred to the other modality (e.g., reading) to aid comprehension. In two Web-based experiments, ambiguous target words were primed with either written or spoken sentences that biased their interpretation toward a subordinate meaning, or were unprimed. About 20 min after the prime exposure, interpretation of these target words was tested by presenting them in either written or spoken form, using word association (Experiment 1, N = 78) and speeded semantic relatedness decisions (Experiment 2, N = 181). Both experiments replicated the auditory unimodal priming effect shown previously (Rodd et al., 2016, 2013) and revealed significant cross-modal priming: primed meanings were retrieved more frequently and swiftly across all primed conditions compared with the unprimed baseline. Furthermore, there were no reliable differences in priming levels between unimodal and cross-modal prime-test conditions. These results indicate that recent experience with ambiguous word meanings can bias the reader's or listener's later interpretation of these words in a modality-general way. We identify possible loci of this effect within the context of models of long-term priming and ambiguity resolution

Checkpoints are blind to replication restart and recombination intermediates that result in gross chromosomal rearrangements

Replication fork inactivation can be overcome by homologous recombination, but this can cause gross chromosomal rearrangements that subsequently missegregate at mitosis, driving further chromosome instability. It is unclear when the chromosome rearrangements are generated and whether individual replication problems or the resulting recombination intermediates delay the cell cycle. Here we have investigated checkpoint activation during HR-dependent replication restart using a site-specific replication fork-arrest system. Analysis during a single cell cycle shows that HR-dependent replication intermediates arise in S phase, shortly after replication arrest, and are resolved into acentric and dicentric chromosomes in G2. Despite this, cells progress into mitosis without delay. Neither the DNA damage nor the intra-S phase checkpoints are activated in the first cell cycle, demonstrating that these checkpoints are blind to replication and recombination intermediates as well as to rearranged chromosomes. The dicentrics form anaphase bridges that subsequently break, inducing checkpoint activation in the second cell cycle

Preparation, structural characterisation and antibacterial properties of Ga-doped sol-gel phosphate-based glass

A sol-gel preparation of Ga-doped phosphate-based glass with potential application in antimicrobial devices has been developed. Samples of composition (CaO)(0.30)(Na2O)(0.20-x) (Ga2O3) (x) (P2O5)(0.50) where x = 0 and 0.03 were prepared, and the structure and properties of the gallium-doped sample compared with those of the sample containing no gallium. Analysis of the P-31 MAS NMR data demonstrated that addition of gallium to the sol-gel reaction increases the connectivity of the phosphate network at the expense of hydroxyl groups. This premise is supported by the results of the elemental analysis, which showed that the gallium-free sample contains significantly more hydrogen and by FTIR spectroscopy, which revealed a higher concentration of -OH groups in that sample. Ga K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure and X-ray absorption near-edge structure data revealed that the gallium ions are coordinated by six oxygen atoms. In agreement with the X-ray absorption data, the high-energy XRD results also suggest that the Ga3+ ions are octahedrally coordinated with respect to oxygen. Antimicrobial studies demonstrated that the sample containing Ga3+ ions had significant activity against Staphylococcus aureus compared to the control

Dielectric Relaxation of La-Doped Zirconia Caused by Annealing Ambient

La-doped zirconia films, deposited by ALD at 300°C, were found to be amorphous with dielectric constants (k-values) up to 19. A tetragonal or cubic phase was induced by post-deposition annealing (PDA) at 900°C in both nitrogen and air. Higher k-values (~32) were measured following PDA in air, but not after PDA in nitrogen. However, a significant dielectric relaxation was observed in the air-annealed film, and this is attributed to the formation of nano-crystallites. The relaxation behavior was modeled using the Curie–von Schweidler (CS) and Havriliak–Negami (HN) relationships. The k-value of the as-deposited films clearly shows a mixed CS and HN dependence on frequency. The CS dependence vanished after annealing in air, while the HN dependence disappeared after annealing in nitrogen

Smc5/6 coordinates formation and resolution of joint molecules with chromosome morphology to ensure meiotic divisions

During meiosis, Structural Maintenance of Chromosome (SMC) complexes underpin two fundamental features of meiosis: homologous recombination and chromosome segregation. While meiotic functions of the cohesin and condensin complexes have been delineated, the role of the third SMC complex, Smc5/6, remains enigmatic. Here we identify specific, essential meiotic functions for the Smc5/6 complex in homologous recombination and the regulation of cohesin. We show that Smc5/6 is enriched at centromeres and cohesin-association sites where it regulates sister-chromatid cohesion and the timely removal of cohesin from chromosomal arms, respectively. Smc5/6 also localizes to recombination hotspots, where it promotes normal formation and resolution of a subset of joint-molecule intermediates. In this regard, Smc5/6 functions independently of the major crossover pathway defined by the MutLγ complex. Furthermore, we show that Smc5/6 is required for stable chromosomal localization of the XPF-family endonuclease, Mus81-Mms4Eme1. Our data suggest that the Smc5/6 complex is required for specific recombination and chromosomal processes throughout meiosis and that in its absence, attempts at cell division with unresolved joint molecules and residual cohesin lead to severe recombination-induced meiotic catastroph

True versus False Parasite Interactions: A Robust Method to Take Risk Factors into Account and Its Application to Feline Viruses

International audienceBACKGROUND: Multiple infections are common in natural host populations and interspecific parasite interactions are therefore likely within a host individual. As they may seriously impact the circulation of certain parasites and the emergence and management of infectious diseases, their study is essential. In the field, detecting parasite interactions is rendered difficult by the fact that a large number of co-infected individuals may also be observed when two parasites share common risk factors. To correct for these "false interactions", methods accounting for parasite risk factors must be used. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In the present paper we propose such a method for presence-absence data (i.e., serology). Our method enables the calculation of the expected frequencies of single and double infected individuals under the independence hypothesis, before comparing them to the observed ones using the chi-square statistic. The method is termed "the corrected chi-square." Its robustness was compared to a pre-existing method based on logistic regression and the corrected chi-square proved to be much more robust for small sample sizes. Since the logistic regression approach is easier to implement, we propose as a rule of thumb to use the latter when the ratio between the sample size and the number of parameters is above ten. Applied to serological data for four viruses infecting cats, the approach revealed pairwise interactions between the Feline Herpesvirus, Parvovirus and Calicivirus, whereas the infection by FIV, the feline equivalent of HIV, did not modify the risk of infection by any of these viruses. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This work therefore points out possible interactions that can be further investigated in experimental conditions and, by providing a user-friendly R program and a tutorial example, offers new opportunities for animal and human epidemiologists to detect interactions of interest in the field, a crucial step in the challenge of multiple infections

Antenna-assisted picosecond control of nanoscale phase transition in vanadium dioxide

Nanoscale devices in which the interaction with light can be configured using external control signals hold great interest for next-generation optoelectronic circuits. Materials exhibiting a structural or electronic phase transition offer a large modulation contrast with multi-level optical switching and memory functionalities. In addition, plasmonic nanoantennas can provide an efficient enhancement mechanism for both the optically induced excitation and the readout of materials strategically positioned in their local environment. Here, we demonstrate picosecond all-optical switching of the local phase transition in plasmonic antenna-vanadium dioxide (VO2) hybrids, exploiting strong resonant field enhancement and selective optical pumping in plasmonic hotspots. Polarization- and wavelength-dependent pump-probe spectroscopy of multifrequency crossed antenna arrays shows that nanoscale optical switching in plasmonic hotspots does not affect neighboring antennas placed within 100 nm of the excited antennas. The antenna-assisted pumping mechanism is confirmed by numerical model calculations of the resonant, antenna-mediated local heating on a picosecond time scale. The hybrid, nanoscale excitation mechanism results in 20 times reduced switching energies and 5 times faster recovery times than a VO2 film without antennas, enabling fully reversible switching at over two million cycles per second and at local switching energies in the picojoule range. The hybrid solution of antennas and VO2 provides a conceptual framework to merge the field localization and phase-transition response, enabling precise, nanoscale optical memory functionalities

X-ray Absorption and Reflection in Active Galactic Nuclei

X-ray spectroscopy offers an opportunity to study the complex mixture of emitting and absorbing components in the circumnuclear regions of active galactic nuclei, and to learn about the accretion process that fuels AGN and the feedback of material to their host galaxies. We describe the spectral signatures that may be studied and review the X-ray spectra and spectral variability of active galaxies, concentrating on progress from recent Chandra, XMM-Newton and Suzaku data for local type 1 AGN. We describe the evidence for absorption covering a wide range of column densities, ionization and dynamics, and discuss the growing evidence for partial-covering absorption from data at energies > 10 keV. Such absorption can also explain the observed X-ray spectral curvature and variability in AGN at lower energies and is likely an important factor in shaping the observed properties of this class of source. Consideration of self-consistent models for local AGN indicates that X-ray spectra likely comprise a combination of absorption and reflection effects from material originating within a few light days of the black hole as well as on larger scales. It is likely that AGN X-ray spectra may be strongly affected by the presence of disk-wind outflows that are expected in systems with high accretion rates, and we describe models that attempt to predict the effects of radiative transfer through such winds, and discuss the prospects for new data to test and address these ideas.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomy and Astrophysics Review. 58 pages, 9 figures. V2 has fixed an error in footnote

Properties of Graphene: A Theoretical Perspective

In this review, we provide an in-depth description of the physics of monolayer and bilayer graphene from a theorist's perspective. We discuss the physical properties of graphene in an external magnetic field, reflecting the chiral nature of the quasiparticles near the Dirac point with a Landau level at zero energy. We address the unique integer quantum Hall effects, the role of electron correlations, and the recent observation of the fractional quantum Hall effect in the monolayer graphene. The quantum Hall effect in bilayer graphene is fundamentally different from that of a monolayer, reflecting the unique band structure of this system. The theory of transport in the absence of an external magnetic field is discussed in detail, along with the role of disorder studied in various theoretical models. We highlight the differences and similarities between monolayer and bilayer graphene, and focus on thermodynamic properties such as the compressibility, the plasmon spectra, the weak localization correction, quantum Hall effect, and optical properties. Confinement of electrons in graphene is nontrivial due to Klein tunneling. We review various theoretical and experimental studies of quantum confined structures made from graphene. The band structure of graphene nanoribbons and the role of the sublattice symmetry, edge geometry and the size of the nanoribbon on the electronic and magnetic properties are very active areas of research, and a detailed review of these topics is presented. Also, the effects of substrate interactions, adsorbed atoms, lattice defects and doping on the band structure of finite-sized graphene systems are discussed. We also include a brief description of graphane -- gapped material obtained from graphene by attaching hydrogen atoms to each carbon atom in the lattice.Comment: 189 pages. submitted in Advances in Physic

Exploring health systems research and its influence on policy processes in low income countries

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The interface between research and policymaking in low-income countries is highly complex. The ability of health systems research to influence policy processes in such settings face numerous challenges. Successful analysis of the research-policy interface in these settings requires understanding of contextual factors as well as key influences on the interface. <it>Future Health Systems (FHS): Innovations for Equity </it>is a consortium conducting research in six countries in Asia and Africa. One of the three cross-country research themes of the consortium is analysis of the relationship between research (evidence) and policy making, especially their impact on the poor; insights gained in the initial conceptual phase of FHS activities can inform the global knowledge pool on this subject.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This paper provides a review of the research-policy interface in low-income countries and proposes a conceptual framework, followed by directions for empirical approaches. First, four developmental perspectives are considered: social institutional factors; virtual versus grassroots realities; science-society relationships; and construction of social arrangements. Building on these developmental perspectives three research-policy interface entry points are identified: 1. Recognizing policy as complex processes; 2. Engaging key stakeholders: decision-makers, providers, scientists, and communities; and 3. Enhancing accountability. A conceptual framework with three entry points to the research-policy interface – policy processes; stakeholder interests, values, and power; and accountability – within a context provided by four developmental perspectives is proposed. Potential empirical approaches to the research-policy interface are then reviewed. Finally, the value of such innovative empirical analysis is considered.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The purpose of this paper is to provide the background, conceptual framework, and key research directions for empirical activities focused on the research-policy interface in low income settings. The interface can be strengthened through such analysis leading to potential improvements in population health in low-income settings. Health system development cognizant of the myriad factors at the research-policy interface can form the basis for innovative future health systems.</p