Interactions between visual and semantic processing during object recognition revealed by modulatory effects of age of acquisition

The age of acquisition (AoA) of objects and their names is a powerful determinant of processing speed in adulthood, with early-acquired objects being recognized and named faster than late-acquired objects. Previous research using fMRI (Ellis et al., 2006. Traces of vocabulary acquisition in the brain: evidence from covert object naming. NeuroImage 33, 958–968) found that AoA modulated the strength of BOLD responses in both occipital and left anterior temporal cortex during object naming. We used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to explore in more detail the nature of the influence of AoA on activity in those two regions. Covert object naming recruited a network within the left hemisphere that is familiar from previous research, including visual, left occipito-temporal, anterior temporal and inferior frontal regions. Region of interest (ROI) analyses found that occipital cortex generated a rapid evoked response (~ 75–200 ms at 0–40 Hz) that peaked at 95 ms but was not modulated by AoA. That response was followed by a complex of later occipital responses that extended from ~ 300 to 850 ms and were stronger to early- than late-acquired items from ~ 325 to 675 ms at 10–20 Hz in the induced rather than the evoked component. Left anterior temporal cortex showed an evoked response that occurred significantly later than the first occipital response (~ 100–400 ms at 0–10 Hz with a peak at 191 ms) and was stronger to early- than late-acquired items from ~ 100 to 300 ms at 2–12 Hz. A later anterior temporal response from ~ 550 to 1050 ms at 5–20 Hz was not modulated by AoA. The results indicate that the initial analysis of object forms in visual cortex is not influenced by AoA. A fastforward sweep of activation from occipital and left anterior temporal cortex then results in stronger activation of semantic representations for early- than late-acquired objects. Top-down re-activation of occipital cortex by semantic representations is then greater for early than late acquired objects resulting in delayed modulation of the visual response

Water maser variability over 20 years in a large sample of star-forming regions: the complete database

Context. Water vapor emission at 22 GHz from masers associated with star-forming regions is highly variable. Aims. We present a database of up to 20 years of monitoring of a sample of 43 masers within star-forming regions. The sample covers a large range of luminosities of the associated IRAS source and is representative of the entire population of H2O masers of this type. The database forms a good starting point for any further study of H2O maser variability. Methods. The observations were obtained with the Medicina 32-m radiotelescope, at a rate of 4-5 observations per year. Results. To provide a database that can be easily accessed through the web, we give for each source: plots of the calibrated spectra, the velocity-time-flux density plot, the light curve of the integrated flux, the lower and upper envelopes of the maser emission, the mean spectrum, and the rate of the maser occurrence as a function of velocity. Figures for just one source are given in the text for representative purposes. Figures for all the sources are given in electronic form in the on-line appendix. A discussion of the main properties of the H2O variability in our sample will be presented in a forthcoming paper.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, to be published in Astronomy and Astrophysics; all plots in appendix (not included) can be downloaded from http://www.arcetri.astro.it/~starform/water_maser_v2.html or http://www.ira.inaf.it/papers/masers/water_maser_v2.htm

Potent therapeutic efficacy of an alphavirus replicon DNA vaccine expressing human papilloma virus E6 and E7 antigens

Cervical cancer develops as a result of infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) through persistent expression of early proteins E6 and E7. Our group pioneered a recombinant viral vector system based on Semliki Forest virus (SFV) for vaccination against cervical cancer. The most striking benefit of this alphavirus vector-based vaccine platform is its high potency. DNA vaccines on the other hand, have a major advantage with respect to ease of production. In this study, the benefits associated with both SFV-based vaccines and DNA vaccines were combined with the development of a DNA-launched RNA replicon (DREP) vaccine targeting cervical cancer. Using intradermal delivery followed by electroporation, we demonstrated that DREP encoding for E6,7 (DREP-E6,7) induced effective, therapeutic antitumor immunity. While immunizations with a conventional DNA vaccine did not prevent tumor outgrowth, immunization with a 200-fold lower equimolar dose of DREP (0.05 µg of DREP) resulted in approximately 85% of tumor-free mice. To overcome the safety concern of potential malignant transformation at the vaccination site, we evaluated the anti-tumor effect of a DREP vaccine encoding a shuffled version of E7 (DREP-E7sh). DREP-E7sh delayed tumor growth yet not to the same extent as DREP-E6,7. In addition, inclusion of a helper cassette and an ER targeting signal (sigHelp) did not significantly further enhance the suppression of tumor outgrowth in the long term, albeit exhibiting better tumor control early after immunization. Collectively, this study points towards the clinical evaluation of DREP encoding HPV antigens as a potent immunotherapy for patients with HPV16 (pre)-malignancies

The molecular disk surrounding the protostellar binary L1551 IRS5

The inner three arcminutes surrounding the Class 0/1 binary protostar L1551 IRS5 have been observed using the J=1→0 transitions of the HCO+, H13CO+, 12CO and 13CO molecular species. Since the line core of HCO+ is self reversed over a substantial part of our map, observations of isotopomers such as H13CO+ are required in order to estimate the mass of the molecular gas in the immediate vicinity of IRS5. Our observations demonstrate the presence of a large ( ~ 7000 AU radius) dense, possibly rotating, molecular disk with a mass of a few M⊙ oriented perpendicular to the major axis of an extended molecular outflow. The disk is surrounded by an envelope with a radius of ~ 10 000 AU that contains two massive (each ~ 1 M⊙) clumps. One of these features appears to be kinematically disconnected from both the disk and the molecular outflow

From Motion to Emotion : Accelerometer Data Predict Subjective Experience of Music

Music is often discussed to be emotional because it reflects expressive movements in audible form. Thus, a valid approach to measure musical emotion could be to assess movement stimulated by music. In two experiments we evaluated the discriminative power of mobile-device generated acceleration data produced by free movement during music listening for the prediction of ratings on the Geneva Emotion Music Scales (GEMS-9). The quality of prediction for different dimensions of GEMS varied between experiments for tenderness (R12(first experiment) = 0.50, R22(second experiment) = 0.39), nostalgia (R12 = 0.42, R22 = 0.30), wonder (R12 = 0.25, R22 = 0.34), sadness (R12 = 0.24, R22 = 0.35), peacefulness (R12 = 0.20, R22 = 0.35) and joy (R12 = 0.19, R22 = 0.33) and transcendence (R12 = 0.14, R22 = 0.00). For others like power (R12 = 0.42, R22 = 0.49) and tension (R12 = 0.28, R22 = 0.27) results could be almost reproduced. Furthermore, we extracted two principle components from GEMS ratings, one representing arousal and the other one valence of the experienced feeling. Both qualities, arousal and valence, could be predicted by acceleration data, indicating, that they provide information on the quantity and quality of experience. On the one hand, these findings show how music-evoked movement patterns relate to music-evoked feelings. On the other hand, they contribute to integrate findings from the field of embodied music cognition into music recommender systems

The design and function of birds’ nests

All birds construct nests in which to lay eggs and/or raise offspring. Traditionally, it was thought that natural selection and the requirement to minimize the risk of predation determined the design of completed nests. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that sexual selection also influences nest design. This is an important development as while species such as bowerbirds build structures that are extended phenotypic signals whose sole purpose is to attract a mate, nests contain eggs and/or offspring, thereby suggesting a direct tradeoff between the conflicting requirements of natural and sexual selection. Nest design also varies adaptively in order to both minimize the detrimental effects of parasites and to create a suitable microclimate for parents and developing offspring in relation to predictable variation in environmental conditions. Our understanding of the design and function of birds’ nests has increased considerably in recent years, and the evidence suggests that nests have four nonmutually exclusive functions. Consequently, we conclude that the design of birds’ nests is far more sophisticated than previously realized and that nests are multifunctional structures that have important fitness consequences for the builder/s

T- and B-cell responses to multivalent prime-boost DNA and viral vectored vaccine combinations against hepatitis C virus in non-human primates.

Immune responses against multiple epitopes are required for the prevention of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, and the progression to phase I trials of candidates may be guided by comparative immunogenicity studies in non-human primates. Four vectors, DNA, SFV, human serotype 5 adenovirus (HuAd5) and Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) poxvirus, all expressing hepatitis C virus Core, E1, E2 and NS3, were combined in three prime-boost regimen, and their ability to elicit immune responses against HCV antigens in rhesus macaques was explored and compared. All combinations induced specific T-cell immune responses, including high IFN-γ production. The group immunized with the SFV+MVA regimen elicited higher E2-specific responses as compared with the two other modalities, while animals receiving HuAd5 injections elicited lower IL-4 responses as compared with those receiving MVA. The IFN-γ responses to NS3 were remarkably similar between groups. Only the adenovirus induced envelope-specific antibody responses, but these failed to show neutralizing activity. Therefore, the two novel regimens failed to induce superior responses as compared with already existing HCV vaccine candidates. Differences were found in response to envelope proteins, but the relevance of these remain uncertain given the surprisingly poor correlation with immunogenicity data in chimpanzees, underlining the difficulty to predict efficacy from immunology studies.This work was supported by European Union contract QLK2-CT-1999- 00356, by the Biomedical Primate Research Centre, The Netherlands, and by the Swedish Research Council. We are grateful to Alexander van den Berg for technical assistance with the ICS, to our colleagues from Animal Science Department for technical assistance and expert care of the macaques, to the participants of the European HCVacc Cluster who provided help and support, and to Thomas Darton (Oxford Vaccine Group, UK) for input and advice on the manuscript. Christine Rollier is an Oxford Martin fellow and a Jenner Insitute Investigator.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Nature Publishing Group at https://doi.org/10.1038/gt.2016.55

First NH3 detection of the Orion Bar

Odin has successfully observed three regions in the Orion A cloud, i.e. Ori KL, Ori S and the Orion Bar, in the 572.5 GHz rotational ground state line of ammonia, ortho-NH3 (J,K) = (1,0) -> (0,0), and the result for the Orion Bar represents the first detection in an ammonia line. Several velocity components are present in the data. Specifically, the observed line profile from the Orion Bar can be decomposed into two components, which are in agreement with observations in high-J CO lines by Wilson et al. 2001. Using the source model for the Orion Bar by these authors, our Odin observation implies a total ammonia abundance of NH3/H2 = 5E-9.Comment: 4 pages with 2 figures, accepted for publication in A&

A very young star forming region detected by the ISOPHOT Serendipity Survey

We present a multi-wavelength study of the star forming region ISOSS J 20298+3559, which was identified by a cross-correlation of cold compact sources from the 170 micron ISOPHOT Serendipity Survey (ISOSS) database coinciding with objects detected by the MSX, 2MASS and IRAS infrared surveys. ISOSS J 20298+3559 is associated with a massive dark cloud complex (M ~ 760 M$_{\odot}$) and located in the Cygnus X giant molecular cloud. We derive a distance of 1800 pc on the basis of optical extinction data. The low average dust temperature (T ~ 16 K) and large mass (M ~ 120 M$_{\odot}$) of the dense inner part of the cloud, which has not been dispersed, indicates a recent begin of star formation. The youth of the region is supported by the early evolutionary stage of several pre- and protostellar objects discovered across the regio n: I) Two candidate Class 0 objects with masses of 8 and 3.5 M$_{\odot}$, II) a gravitationally bound, cold (T ~ 12 K) and dense (n(H$_{2}$) \~ 2 x 10$^{5}$ cm$^{-3}$) cloud core with a mass of 50 M$_{\odot}$ and III) a Herbig B2 star with a mass of 6.5 M$_{\odot}$ and a bolometric luminosity of 2200 L$_{\odot}$, showing evidence for ongoing accretion and a stellar age of less than 40000 years. The dereddened SED of the Herbig star is well reproduced by an accretion disc + star model. The externally heated cold cloud core is a good candidate for a massive pre-protostellar object. The star formation efficiency in the central cloud region is about 14 %.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, 7 tables. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

De-Novo Transcriptome Sequencing of a Normalized cDNA Pool from Influenza Infected Ferrets

The ferret is commonly used as a model for studies of infectious diseases. The genomic sequence of this animal model is not yet characterized, and only a limited number of fully annotated cDNAs are currently available in GenBank. The majority of genes involved in innate or adaptive immune response are still lacking, restricting molecular genetic analysis of host response in the ferret model. To enable de novo identification of transcriptionally active ferret genes in response to infection, we performed de-novo transcriptome sequencing of animals infected with H1N1 A/California/07/2009. We also included splenocytes induced with bacterial lipopolysaccharide to allow for identification of transcripts specifically induced by Gram-negative bacteria. We pooled and normalized the cDNA library in order to delimit the risk of sequencing only highly expressed genes. While normalization of the cDNA library removes the possibility of assessing expression changes between individual animals, it has been shown to increase identification of low abundant transcripts. In this study, we identified more than 19000 partial ferret transcripts, including more than 1000 gene orthologs known to be involved in the innate and the adaptive immune response