Human place and response learning: navigation strategy selection, pupil size and gaze behavior.

In this study, we examined the cognitive processes and ocular behavior associated with on-going navigation strategy choice using a route learning paradigm that distinguishes between three different wayfinding strategies: an allocentric place strategy, and the egocentric associative cue and beacon response strategies. Participants approached intersections of a known route from a variety of directions, and were asked to indicate the direction in which the original route continued. Their responses in a subset of these test trials allowed the assessment of strategy choice over the course of six experimental blocks. The behavioral data revealed an initial maladaptive bias for a beacon response strategy, with shifts in favor of the optimal configuration place strategy occurring over the course of the experiment. Response time analysis suggests that the configuration strategy relied on spatial transformations applied to a viewpoint-dependent spatial representation, rather than direct access to an allocentric representation. Furthermore, pupillary measures reflected the employment of place and response strategies throughout the experiment, with increasing use of the more cognitively demanding configuration strategy associated with increases in pupil dilation. During test trials in which known intersections were approached from different directions, visual attention was directed to the landmark encoded during learning as well as the intended movement direction. Interestingly, the encoded landmark did not differ between the three navigation strategies, which is discussed in the context of initial strategy choice and the parallel acquisition of place and response knowledge

Investigating Executive Working Memory and Phonological Short-Term Memory in Relation to Fluency and Self-Repair Behavior in L2 Speech

This paper reports the findings of a study investigating the relationship of executive working memory (WM) and phonological short-term memory (PSTM) to fluency and self-repair behavior during an unrehearsed oral task performed by second language (L2) speakers of English at two levels of proficiency, elementary and lower intermediate. Correlational analyses revealed a negative relationship between executive WM and number of pauses in the lower intermediate L2 speakers. However, no reliable association was found in our sample between executive WM or PSTM and self-repair behavior in terms of either frequency or type of self-repair. Taken together, our findings suggest that while executive WM may enhance performance at the conceptualization and formulation stages of the speech production process, self-repair behavior in L2 speakers may depend on factors other than working memory

A new synaptic player leading to autism risk: Met receptor tyrosine kinase

The validity for assigning disorder risk to an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) candidate gene comes from convergent genetic, clinical, and developmental neurobiology data. Here, we review these lines of evidence from multiple human genetic studies, and non-human primate and mouse experiments that support the conclusion that the MET receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) functions to influence synapse development in circuits relevant to certain core behavioral domains of ASD. There is association of both common functional alleles and rare copy number variants that impact levels of MET expression in the human cortex. The timing of Met expression is linked to axon terminal outgrowth and synaptogenesis in the developing rodent and primate forebrain, and both in vitro and in vivo studies implicate this RTK in dendritic branching, spine maturation, and excitatory connectivity in the neocortex. This impact can occur in a cell-nonautonomous fashion, emphasizing the unique role that Met plays in specific circuits relevant to ASD

Evolutionary Trajectory of White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) Genome Shrinkage during Spread in Asia

Background - White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is the sole member of the novel Nimaviridae family, and the source of major economic problems in shrimp aquaculture. WSSV appears to have rapidly spread worldwide after the first reported outbreak in the early 1990s. Genomic deletions of various sizes occur at two loci in the WSSV genome, the ORF14/15 and ORF23/24 variable regions, and these have been used as molecular markers to study patterns of viral spread over space and time. We describe the dynamics underlying the process of WSSV genome shrinkage using empirical data and a simple mathematical model. Methodology/Principal Findings - We genotyped new WSSV isolates from five Asian countries, and analyzed this information together with published data. Genome size appears to stabilize over time, and deletion size in the ORF23/24 variable region was significantly related to the time of the first WSSV outbreak in a particular country. Parameter estimates derived from fitting a simple mathematical model of genome shrinkage to the data support a geometric progression (

Actin Dynamics Regulate Multiple Endosomal Steps during Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Entry and Trafficking in Endothelial Cells

The role of actin dynamics in clathrin-mediated endocytosis in mammalian cells is unclear. In this study, we define the role of actin cytoskeleton in Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) entry and trafficking in endothelial cells using an immunofluorescence-based assay to visualize viral capsids and the associated cellular components. In contrast to infectivity or reporter assays, this method does not rely on the expression of any viral and reporter genes, but instead directly tracks the accumulation of individual viral particles at the nuclear membrane as an indicator of successful viral entry and trafficking in cells. Inhibitors of endosomal acidification reduced both the percentage of nuclei with viral particles and the total number of viral particles docking at the perinuclear region, indicating endocytosis, rather than plasma membrane fusion, as the primary route for KSHV entry into endothelial cells. Accordingly, a viral envelope protein was only detected on internalized KSHV particles at the early but not late stage of infection. Inhibitors of clathrin- but not caveolae/lipid raft-mediated endocytosis blocked KSHV entry, indicating that clathrin-mediated endocytosis is the major route of KSHV entry into endothelial cells. KSHV particles were colocalized not only with markers of early and recycling endosomes, and lysosomes, but also with actin filaments at the early time points of infection. Consistent with these observations, transferrin, which enters cells by clathrin-mediated endocytosis, was found to be associated with actin filaments together with early and recycling endosomes, and to a lesser degree, with late endosomes and lysosomes. KSHV infection induced dynamic actin cytoskeleton rearrangements. Disruption of the actin cytoskeleton and inhibition of regulators of actin nucleation such as Rho GTPases and Arp2/3 complex profoundly blocked KSHV entry and trafficking. Together, these results indicate an important role for actin dynamics in the internalization and endosomal sorting/trafficking of KSHV and clathrin-mediated endocytosis in endothelial cells

The Salivary Secretome of the Tsetse Fly Glossina pallidipes (Diptera: Glossinidae) Infected by Salivary Gland Hypertrophy Virus

Tsetse fly (Diptera; Glossinidae) transmits two devastating diseases to farmers (human African Trypanosomiasis; HAT) and their livestock (Animal African Trypanosomiasis; AAT) in 37 sub-Saharan African countries. During the rainy seasons, vast areas of fertile, arable land remain uncultivated as farmers flee their homes due to the presence of tsetse. Available drugs against trypanosomiasis are ineffective and difficult to administer. Control of the tsetse vector by Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) has been effective. This method involves repeated release of sterilized males into wild tsetse populations, which compete with wild type males for females. Upon mating, there is no offspring, leading to reduction in tsetse populations and thus relief from trypanosomiasis. The SIT method requires large-scale tsetse rearing to produce sterile males. However, tsetse colony productivity is hampered by infections with the salivary gland hypertrophy virus, which is transmitted via saliva as flies take blood meals during membrane feeding and often leads to colony collapse. Here, we investigated the salivary gland secretome proteins of virus-infected tsetse to broaden our understanding of virus infection, transmission and pathology. By this approach, we obtain insight in tsetse-hytrosavirus interactions and identified potential candidate proteins as targets for developing biotechnological strategies to control viral infections in tsetse colonies

Global urban environmental change drives adaptation in white clover.

Urbanization transforms environments in ways that alter biological evolution. We examined whether urban environmental change drives parallel evolution by sampling 110,019 white clover plants from 6169 populations in 160 cities globally. Plants were assayed for a Mendelian antiherbivore defense that also affects tolerance to abiotic stressors. Urban-rural gradients were associated with the evolution of clines in defense in 47% of cities throughout the world. Variation in the strength of clines was explained by environmental changes in drought stress and vegetation cover that varied among cities. Sequencing 2074 genomes from 26 cities revealed that the evolution of urban-rural clines was best explained by adaptive evolution, but the degree of parallel adaptation varied among cities. Our results demonstrate that urbanization leads to adaptation at a global scale

Correlation between work impairment, scores of rhinitis severity and asthma using the MASK-air (R) App

Background In allergic rhinitis, a relevant outcome providing information on the effectiveness of interventions is needed. In MASK-air (Mobile Airways Sentinel Network), a visual analogue scale (VAS) for work is used as a relevant outcome. This study aimed to assess the performance of the work VAS work by comparing VAS work with other VAS measurements and symptom-medication scores obtained concurrently. Methods All consecutive MASK-air users in 23 countries from 1 June 2016 to 31 October 2018 were included (14 189 users; 205 904 days). Geolocalized users self-assessed daily symptom control using the touchscreen functionality on their smart phone to click on VAS scores (ranging from 0 to 100) for overall symptoms (global), nose, eyes, asthma and work. Two symptom-medication scores were used: the modified EAACI CSMS score and the MASK control score for rhinitis. To assess data quality, the intra-individual response variability (IRV) index was calculated. Results A strong correlation was observed between VAS work and other VAS. The highest levels for correlation with VAS work and variance explained in VAS work were found with VAS global, followed by VAS nose, eye and asthma. In comparison with VAS global, the mCSMS and MASK control score showed a lower correlation with VAS work. Results are unlikely to be explained by a low quality of data arising from repeated VAS measures. Conclusions VAS work correlates with other outcomes (VAS global, nose, eye and asthma) but less well with a symptom-medication score. VAS work should be considered as a potentially useful AR outcome in intervention studies.Peer reviewe

Guidance to 2018 good practice : ARIA digitally-enabled, integrated, person-centred care for rhinitis and asthma

AimsMobile Airways Sentinel NetworK (MASK) belongs to the Fondation Partenariale MACVIA-LR of Montpellier, France and aims to provide an active and healthy life to rhinitis sufferers and to those with asthma multimorbidity across the life cycle, whatever their gender or socio-economic status, in order to reduce health and social inequities incurred by the disease and to improve the digital transformation of health and care. The ultimate goal is to change the management strategy in chronic diseases.MethodsMASK implements ICT technologies for individualized and predictive medicine to develop novel care pathways by a multi-disciplinary group centred around the patients.StakeholdersInclude patients, health care professionals (pharmacists and physicians), authorities, patient's associations, private and public sectors.ResultsMASK is deployed in 23 countries and 17 languages. 26,000 users have registered.EU grants (2018)MASK is participating in EU projects (POLLAR: impact of air POLLution in Asthma and Rhinitis, EIT Health, DigitalHealthEurope, Euriphi and Vigour).Lessons learnt(i) Adherence to treatment is the major problem of allergic disease, (ii) Self-management strategies should be considerably expanded (behavioural), (iii) Change management is essential in allergic diseases, (iv) Education strategies should be reconsidered using a patient-centred approach and (v) Lessons learnt for allergic diseases can be expanded to chronic diseases.Peer reviewe