Eye placement bias is remarkably robust

When drawing faces, people show a systematic bias of placing the eyes higher up the head than they are placed in reality. This study investigated the development of this phenomenon while removing the potential confound of drawing ability. Participants (N = 124) in three age groups (3–5 yo, 10–11 yo, and adults) reconstructed two foam faces: one from observation and one from memory. The high eye placement bias was remarkably robust with mean eye placement in every condition significantly higher than the original faces. The same bias was not shown for mouth placement. Eye placement was highest for the youngest participants and for the memory conditions. The results suggest that an eye placement bias is not caused by the motor skill demands required for drawing and lend evidence to the suggestion that an eye placement bias is caused by perceptual and decision-making processes

Evolution of the Northern Rockweed, Fucus distichus, in a Regime of Glacial Cycling: Implications for Benthic Algal Phylogenetics

peer reviewedNorthern hemisphere rockweeds (Fucus) are thought to have evolved in the North Pacific and then spread to the North Atlantic following the opening of the Bering Strait. They have dispersed and widely speciated in the North Atlantic and its tributary seas. Fucus distichus is likely near the ancestral member of this genus, and studies have shown that there are several species/subspecies in this complex (i.e. F. evanescens and F. gardneri). We used phylogenetic and haplotype analyses to test the phylogenetic relationships and biogeogra- phy of F. distichus. Our data and subsequent analyses demonstrate that, unlike previous studies that lacked samples from an extensive geographical area of the Arctic and Subarc- tic, there is a distinct Arctic haplotype that is the source of subspecies in both the North Pacific and North Atlantic. Fucus distichus occupies a low tide zone habitat, and in Arctic/ Subarctic regions it is adapted to the severe stress of sea ice coverage and disturbance dur- ing many months per year. We hypothesize that the very large geographic area of Arctic and Subarctic rocky shores available to this species during interglacials, supported by large Arctic/Subarctic fringe areas as well as unglaciated refugia during glacial cycles, provided a robust population and gene pool (described by the Thermogeographic Model). This gene pool dilutes that of the more fragmented and area-limited Temperate/Boreal area popula- tions when they are brought together during glacial cycles. We suggest that similar subspe- cies complexes for a variety of Arctic/Subarctic shore biota should be examined further in this context, rather than arbitrarily being split up into numerous species

Evaluation of the availability and applicability of computational approaches in the safety assessment of nanomaterials: Final report of the Nanocomput project

This is the final report of the Nanocomput project, the main aims of which were to review the current status of computational methods that are potentially useful for predicting the properties of engineered nanomaterials, and to assess their applicability in order to provide advice on the use of these approaches for the purposes of the REACH regulation. Since computational methods cover a broad range of models and tools, emphasis was placed on Quantitative Structure-Property Relationship (QSPR) and Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) models, and their potential role in predicting NM properties. In addition, the status of a diverse array of compartment-based mathematical models was assessed. These models comprised toxicokinetic (TK), toxicodynamic (TD), in vitro and in vivo dosimetry, and environmental fate models. Finally, based on systematic reviews of the scientific literature, as well as the outputs of the EU-funded research projects, recommendations for further research and development were also made. The Nanocomput project was carried out by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) for the Directorate-General (DG) for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) under the terms of an Administrative Arrangement between JRC and DG GROW. The project lasted 39 months, from January 2014 to March 2017, and was supported by a steering group with representatives from DG GROW, DG Environment and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).JRC.F.3-Chemicals Safety and Alternative Method

Importance of low-relief nursery habitat for reef fishes

Coastal restoration projects to mitigate environmental impacts have increased global demand for sand resources. Unfortunately, these resources are often extracted from sand/shell banks on the inner continental shelf, resulting in significant alteration or loss of low-relief reefs in coastal oceans. Experimental reefs (oyster shell, limestone rubble, composite) were deployed in the western Gulf of Mexico to assess their potential value as nurseries for newly settled reef fishes. Occurrence, abundance, and species richness of juvenile fishes were significantly higher on all three types of low-relief reefs compared with unconsolidated sediment. Moreover, reefs served as nursery habitat for a range of reef fish taxa (angelfishes, grunts, sea basses, snappers, and triggerfishes). Red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) was the dominant species present on all experimental reefs (100% occurrence), and mean density of this species was markedly higher on each of the three low-relief reefs (\u3e40.0 individuals/reef) relative to comparable areas over unconsolidated sediment (0.2 individuals). Our results suggest creation or restoration of structurally complex habitat on the inner shelf has the potential to markedly increase early life survival and expedite the recovery of exploited reef fish populations, and therefore may represent a critical conservation tool for increasing recruitment and maintaining reef fish diversity

Feminist Emergency: The art field

Helena Reckitt contributed to the breakout session ‘The art field,’ moderated by Angela Dimitrakaki (Edinburgh College of Art) and moderated by Kirsten Lloyd, as part of the three-day Feminist emergency conference at Birkbeck, University of London, 22nd – 24th June 2017. Other instigators were Kerri Jefferis (artist), Lara Perry (University of Brighton), and Hilary Robinson (Middlesex University). Panel convenor Angela Dimitrakaki framed the session by noting how, as elsewhere under neoliberal governance, the art field is affected by the normalisation of precarity and austerity and the ‘feminisation’ of labour, even if art is still seen as a terrain for the privileged or, ultimately, of marginal relevance to ‘real world’ emergencies. Art workers are accustomed to suppressed or missing wages and reside at the bottom of the art pyramid; over 3/4 of art students, but 1/2 of art school lecturers, 1/3 of professors, and 1/3 of exhibiting artists; we legitimise antagonism in supporting business-oriented institutions from the museum as a collecting facility to art schools as hubs for entrepreneurial ideology; we participate in a degraded higher education often based on fees, debt, and rampant competition; we have achieved no consensus on whether artworks can be a site of oppositional politics as the structures and institutions in which artworks are encountered, and even produced, are often held responsible for affirming the status quo; our struggles are ridiculed as ‘political correctness’ or delusional utopianism; there is much uncertainty over forms of collective opposition; always short of time; our alternative formations and collectives are hard to sustain; we make do. Is it time to see these conditions as a feminist emergency? The session posed the questions: What does it mean to live, work and struggle as feminists today? Is there really a feminist ‘we’ in the art field in 2017? Following brief introductory comments from the speakers, designed to instigate debate, discussions primarily focussed on structures of work in the art, educational, and academic sectors, rather than art works or their production per se. Issues explored included cultural and academic work under neoliberalism; ways of accessing institutional resources; collective power v. general lack of power; subterfuge and anonymity as feminist tactics; and the shrinking access to art through 'public' education

Evaluation of diagnostic criteria and red flags of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein encephalomyelitis in a clinical routine cohort.

AIMS Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibodies (MOG-IgG) have been proposed to define "MOG encephalomyelitis" (MOG-EM), with published diagnostic and "red flag" criteria. We aimed to evaluate these criteria in a routine clinical setting. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed patients with borderline/positive MOG-IgG and applied the diagnostic and red flag criteria to determine likelihood of MOG-EM diagnosis. Para-/clinical parameters were described and analyzed with chi-square test. RESULTS In total, 37 patients fulfilled MOG-EM diagnostic criteria (female-to-male ratio: 1.6:1, median onset age: 28.0 years [IQR 18.5-40.5], n = 8 with pediatric onset). In 24/37, red flags were present, predominantly MOG-IgG at assay cutoff and/or MRI lesions suggestive of multiple sclerosis (MS). As proposed in the consensus criteria, these patients should rather be described as "possible" MOG-EM. Of these, we classified 13 patients as "unlikely" MOG-EM in the presence of the red flag "borderline MOG-IgG" with negative MOG-IgG retest or coincidence of ≥1 additional red flag. This group mainly consisted of patients diagnosed with MS (n = 11). Frequency of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF-)-specific oligoclonal bands (OCB) is significantly lower in definite vs possible and unlikely MOG-EM (P = .0005). CONCLUSION Evaluation of diagnostic and red flag criteria, MOG-IgG retesting (incl. change of assay), and CSF-specific OCB are relevant in clinical routine cohorts to differentiate MOG-EM from MS

Distinct Mechanisms of Pathogenic DJ-1 Mutations in Mitochondrial Quality Control

The deglycase and chaperone protein DJ-1 is pivotal for cellular oxidative stress responses and mitochondrial quality control. Mutations in PARK7, encoding DJ-1, are associated with early-onset familial Parkinson’s disease and lead to pathological oxidative stress and/or disrupted protein degradation by the proteasome. The aim of this study was to gain insights into the pathogenic mechanisms of selected DJ-1 missense mutations, by characterizing protein–protein interactions, core parameters of mitochondrial function, quality control regulation via autophagy, and cellular death following dopamine accumulation. We report that the DJ-1M26I mutant influences DJ-1 interactions with SUMO-1, in turn enhancing removal of mitochondria and conferring increased cellular susceptibility to dopamine toxicity. By contrast, the DJ-1D149A mutant does not influence mitophagy, but instead impairs Ca2+ dynamics and free radical homeostasis by disrupting DJ-1 interactions with a mitochondrial accessory protein known as DJ-1-binding protein (DJBP/EFCAB6). Thus, individual DJ-1 mutations have different effects on mitochondrial function and quality control, implying mutation-specific pathomechanisms converging on impaired mitochondrial homeostasis