An Explanation for the Role of the Amygdala in Aesthetic Judgments

Contains fulltext : 168787.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)It has been proposed that the top-down guidance of feature-based attention is the basis for the involvement of the amygdala in various tasks requiring emotional decision-making (Jacobs, Renken, Aleman & Cornelissen, 2012). Aesthetic judgements are correlated with particular visual features and can be considered emotional in nature (Jacobs et al., 2016). Moreover, we have previously shown that various aesthetic judgements result in observers preferentially attending to different visual features (Jacobs et al., 2010). Here, we argue that - together - this explains why the amygdalae become active during aesthetic judgements of visual materials. We discuss potential implications and predictions of this theory that can be tested experimentally.7 p

Different judgments about visual textures invoke different eye movement patterns

Top-down influences on the guidance of the eyes are generally modeled as modulating influences on bottom-up salience maps. Interested in task-driven influences on how, rather than where, the eyes are guided, we expected differences in eye movement parameters accompanying beauty and roughness judgments about visual textures. Participants judged textures for beauty and roughness, while their gaze-behavior was recorded. Eye movement parameters differed between the judgments, showing task effects on how people look at images. Similarity in the spatial distribution of attention suggests that differences in the guidance of attention are non-spatial, possibly feature-based. During the beauty judgment, participants fixated on patches that were richer in color information, further supporting the idea that differences in the guidance of attention are feature-based. A finding of shorter fixation durations during beauty judgments may indicate that extraction of the relevant features is easier during this judgment. This finding is consistent with a more ambient scanning mode during this judgment. The differences in eye movement parameters during different judgments about highly repetitive stimuli highlight the need for models of eye guidance to go beyond salience maps, to include the temporal dynamics of eye guidance

Measurement repeatability of 18 F-FDG PET/CT versus 18 F-FDG PET/MRI in solid tumors of the pelvis

Knowledge of the within-subject variability o

Global Proteomic Analysis Reveals an Exclusive Role of Thylakoid Membranes in Bioenergetics of a Model Cyanobacterium

Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic microbes with highly differentiated membrane systems. These organisms contain an outer membrane, plasma membrane, and an internal system of thylakoid membranes where the photosynthetic and respiratory machinery are found. This existence of compartmentalization and differentiation of membrane systems poses a number of challenges for cyanobacterial cells in terms of organization and distribution of proteins to the correct membrane system. Proteomics studies have long sought to identify the components of the different membrane systems in cyanobacteria, and to date about 450 different proteins have been attributed to either the plasma membrane or thylakoid membrane. Given the complexity of these membranes, many more proteins remain to be identified, and a comprehensive catalogue of plasma membrane and thylakoid membrane proteins is needed. Here we describe the identification of 635 differentially localized proteins in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 by quantitative iTRAQ isobaric labeling; of these, 459 proteins were localized to the plasma membrane and 176 were localized to the thylakoid membrane. Surprisingly, we found over 2.5 times the number of unique proteins identified in the plasma membrane compared with the thylakoid membrane. This suggests that the protein composition of the thylakoid membrane is more homogeneous than the plasma membrane, consistent with the role of the plasma membrane in diverse cellular processes including protein trafficking and nutrient import, compared with a more specialized role for the thylakoid membrane in cellular energetics. Thus, our data clearly define the two membrane systems with distinct functions. Overall, the protein compositions of the Synechocystis 6803 plasma membrane and thylakoid membrane are quite similar to that of the plasma membrane of Escherichia coli and thylakoid membrane of Arabidopsis chloroplasts, respectively. Synechocystis 6803 can therefore be described as a Gram-negative bacterium with an additional internal membrane system that fulfills the energetic requirements of the cell

International Guillain-Barré Syndrome Outcome Study (IGOS): protocol of a prospective observational cohort study on clinical and biological predictors of disease course and outcome in Guillain-Barré syndrome

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an acute polyradiculoneuropathy with a highly variable clinical presentation, course, and outcome. The factors that determine the clinical variation of GBS are poorly understood which complicates the care and treatment of individual patients. The protocol of the ongoing International GBS Outcome Study (IGOS), a prospective, observational, multi-centre cohort study that aims to identify the clinical and biological determinants and predictors of disease onset, subtype, course and outcome of GBS is presented here. Patients fulfilling the diagnostic criteria for GBS, regardless of age, disease severity, variant forms, or treatment, can participate if included within two weeks after onset of weakness. Information about demography, preceding infections, clinical features, diagnostic findings, treatment, course and outcome is collected. In addition, cerebrospinal fluid and serial blood samples for serum and DNA is collected at standard time points. The original aim was to include at least 1000 patients with a follow-up of 1-3 years. Data are collected via a web-based data entry system and stored anonymously. IGOS started in May 2012 and by January 2017 included more than 1400 participants from 143 active centres in 19 countries across 5 continents. The IGOS data/biobank is available for research projects conducted by expertise groups focusing on specific topics including epidemiology, diagnostic criteria, clinimetrics, electrophysiology, antecedent events, antibodies, genetics, prognostic modelling, treatment effects and long-term outcome of GBS. The IGOS will help to standardize the international collection of data and biosamples for future research of GBS. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01582763

Vaccinia virus lacking the Bcl-2-like protein N1 induces a stronger natural killer cell response to infection

The vaccinia virus (VACV) N1 protein is an intracellular virulence factor that has a Bcl-2-like structure and inhibits both apoptosis and signalling from the interleukin 1 receptor, leading to nuclear factor kappa B activation. Here, we investigated the immune response to intranasal infection with a virus lacking the N1L gene (vΔN1L) compared with control viruses expressing N1L. Data presented show that deletion of N1L did not affect the proportion of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells infiltrating the lungs or the cytotoxic T-cell activity of these cells. However, vΔN1L induced an increased local natural killer cell activity between days 4 and 6 post-infection. In addition, in the absence of N1 the host inflammatory infiltrate was characterized by a reduced proportion of lymphocytes bearing the early activation marker CD69. Notably, there was a good correlation between the level of CD69 expression and weight loss. The implications of these findings are discussed

Dynamic proteomic profiling of a unicellular cyanobacterium Cyanothece ATCC51142 across light-dark diurnal cycles

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Unicellular cyanobacteria of the genus <it>Cyanothece </it>are recognized for their ability to execute nitrogen (N₂)-fixation in the dark and photosynthesis in the light. An understanding of these mechanistic processes in an integrated systems context should provide insights into how <it>Cyanothece </it>might be optimized for specialized environments and/or industrial purposes. Systems-wide dynamic proteomic profiling with mass spectrometry (MS) analysis should reveal fundamental insights into the control and regulation of these functions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To expand upon the current knowledge of protein expression patterns in <it>Cyanothece </it>ATCC51142, we performed quantitative proteomic analysis using partial ("unsaturated") metabolic labeling and high mass accuracy LC-MS analysis. This dynamic proteomic profiling identified 721 actively synthesized proteins with significant temporal changes in expression throughout the light-dark cycles, of which 425 proteins matched with previously characterized cycling transcripts. The remaining 296 proteins contained a cluster of proteins uniquely involved in DNA replication and repair, protein degradation, tRNA synthesis and modification, transport and binding, and regulatory functions. Functional classification of labeled proteins suggested that proteins involved in respiration and glycogen metabolism showed increased expression in the dark cycle together with nitrogenase, suggesting that N₂-fixation is mediated by higher respiration and glycogen metabolism. Results indicated that <it>Cyanothece </it>ATCC51142 might utilize alternative pathways for carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) acquisition, particularly, aspartic acid and glutamate as substrates of C and N, respectively. Utilization of phosphoketolase (PHK) pathway for the conversion of xylulose-5P to pyruvate and acetyl-P likely constitutes an alternative strategy to compensate higher ATP and NADPH demand.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study provides a deeper systems level insight into how <it>Cyanothece </it>ATCC51142 modulates cellular functions to accommodate photosynthesis and N₂-fixation within the single cell.</p

The Antarctic Submillimeter Telescope and Remote Observatory (AST/RO)

AST/RO, a 1.7 m diameter telescope for astronomy and aeronomy studies at wavelengths between 200 and 2000 microns, was installed at the South Pole during the 1994-1995 Austral summer. The telescope operates continuously through the Austral winter, and is being used primarily for spectroscopic studies of neutral atomic carbon and carbon monoxide in the interstellar medium of the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds. The South Pole environment is unique among observatory sites for unusually low wind speeds, low absolute humidity, and the consistent clarity of the submillimeter sky. Four heterodyne receivers, an array receiver, three acousto-optical spectrometers, and an array spectrometer are installed. A Fabry-Perot spectrometer using a bolometric array and a Terahertz receiver are in development. Telescope pointing, focus, and calibration methods as well as the unique working environment and logistical requirements of the South Pole are described.Comment: 57 pages, 15 figures. Submitted to PAS

Interplay between Side Chain Density and Polymer Alignment: Two Competing Strategies for Enhancing the Thermoelectric Performance of P3HT Analogues

A series of polythiophenes with varying side chain density was synthesized, and their electrical and thermoelectric properties were investigated. Aligned and non-aligned thin films of the polymers were characterized in the neutral and chemically doped states. Optical and diffraction measurements revealed an overall lower order in the thin films with lower side chain density, also confirmed using polarized optical experiments on aligned thin films. However, upon doping the non-aligned films, a sixfold increase in electrical conductivity was observed for the polythiophene with the lowest side chain density compared to poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). We found that the improvement in conductivity was not due to a larger charge carrier density but an increase in charge carrier mobility after doping with 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (F4TCNQ). On the other hand, doped aligned films did not show the same trend; lower side chain density instead led to a lower conductivity and Seebeck coefficient compared to those for P3HT. This was attributed to the poorer alignment of the polymer thin films with lower side chain density. The study demonstrates that optimizing side chain density is a synthetically simple and effective way to improve electrical conductivity in polythiophene films relevant to thermoelectric applications