Individually distinctive features facilitate numerical discrimination of sets of objects in domestic chicks

Day-old domestic chicks approach the larger of two groups of identical objects, but in a 3 vs 4 comparison, their performance is random. Here we investigated whether adding individually distinctive features to each object would facilitate such discrimination. Chicks reared with 7 objects were presented with the operation 1 + 1 + 1 vs 1 + 1 + 1 + 1. When objects were all identical, chicks performed randomly, as expected (Experiment 1). In the remaining experiments, objects differed from one another due to additional features. Chicks succeeded when those features were differently oriented segments (Experiment 2) but failed when the features were arranged to depict individually different face-like displays (Experiment 3). Discrimination was restored if the face-like stimuli were presented upside-down, disrupting global processing (Experiment 4). Our results support the claim that numerical discrimination in 3 vs 4 comparison benefits from the presence of distinctive features that enhance object individuation due to individual processing. Interestingly, when the distinctive features are arranged into upright face-like displays, the process is susceptible to global over local interference due to configural processing. This study was aimed at assessing whether individual object processing affects numerical discrimination. We hypothesise that in humans similar strategies aimed at improving performance at the non-symbolic level may have positive effects on symbolic mathematical abilities

Effects of animacy on the processing of morphological Number: A cognitive inheritance?

Language encodes into morphology part of the information present in the referential world. Some features are marked in the great majority of languages, such as the numerosity of the referents that is encoded in morphological Number. Other features do not surface as frequently in morphological markings, yet they are pervasive in natural languages. This is the case of animacy, that can ground Gender systems as well as constrain the surfacing of Number. The diffusion of numerosity and animacy could mirror their biological salience at the extra-linguistic cognitive level. Human extralinguistic numerical abilities are phylogenetically ancient and are observed in non-human animal species, especially when counting salient animate entities such as social companions. Does the saliency of animacy influence the morphological encoding of Number in language processing? We designed an experiment to test the encoding of morphological Number in language processing in relation to animacy. In Italian, Gender and Number are mandatorily expressed in a fusional morpheme. In some nouns denoting animate referents, Gender encodes the sex of referents and is semantically interpretable. In some other animate nouns and in inanimate nouns, Gender is uninterpretable at the semantic level. We found that it is easier to inflect for Number nouns when the inflectional morpheme is interpretable with respect to a semantic feature related to animacy. We discuss the possibility that the primacy of animacy in counting is mirrored in morphological processing and that morphology is designed to easily express information that is salient from a cognitive point of view

Do Akiskal & Mallya's affective temperaments belong to the domain of pathology or to that of normality?

BACKGROUND: Kraepelin and Kretschmer hypothesized a continuum between full-blown affective pathology and premorbid temperaments. More recently Akiskal proposed a putative adaptive role for the four fundamental temperaments: the hyperthymic one characterized by emotional intensity, the cyclothymic one by emotional instability, the depressive one by a low energy level, and the irritable one by an excessive response to stimuli. Today it is widely debated whether affective temperaments belong to the domain of pathology or to that of normality. PURPOSE: To make clear, by applying an integrated model, the position of affective temperaments within the continuum between normality and pathology. METHODS: We reviewed several papers that explore the distribution of affective temperaments among the general population, and their involvement both in pathological conditions (somatic and psychiatric) and in human activities (professions and other occupations). RESULTS: Far from being intrinsically pathological conditions, affective temperaments seem to represent adaptive dispositions whose dysregulation can lead to full-blown affective pathology. All the temperamental types display some impact on people's lives by influencing personal skills and professional choices over a wide field of human activities. CONCLUSIONS: Affective temperaments are not problematic when they appear in a mild form, but when they occur in extreme form we have observed a gap between the hyperthymic temperament, which represents the most functional and desirable, and the cyclothymic, depressive, irritable and phobic anxious ones, which are closer to mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders, and imply a component of somatic diseases and life stressors

Linking land use inventories to biodiversity impact assessment methods

There is generally a mismatch in the land use classification of life cycle inventory (LCI) databases and life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods. This mismatch can hinder the proper assessment of land use impacts on biodiversity. To facilitate such assessments, we matched the land use classes of two global LCIA methods to five widely used LCI databases, one LCI nomenclature, and one multi-regional input-output database. In unclear cases, we assumed the worst case. Assumptions were especially necessary for unspecified land use intensity classes. We conclude with recommendations for LCI database and LCIA method developers.Industrial Ecolog

Lipophosphoglycans from \u3cem\u3eLeishmania amazonensis\u3c/em\u3e Strains Display Immunomodulatory Properties via TLR4 and Do Not Affect Sand Fly Infection

The immunomodulatory properties of lipophosphoglycans (LPG) from New World species of Leishmania have been assessed in Leishmania infantum and Leishmania braziliensis, the causative agents of visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis, respectively. This glycoconjugate is highly polymorphic among species with variation in sugars that branch off the conserved Gal(β1,4)Man(α1)-PO4 backbone of repeat units. Here, the immunomodulatory activity of LPGs from Leishmania amazonensis, the causative agent of diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis, was evaluated in two strains from Brazil. One strain (PH8) was originally isolated from the sand fly and the other (Josefa) was isolated from a human case. The ability of purified LPGs from both strains was investigated during in vitro interaction with peritoneal murine macrophages and CHO cells and in vivo infection with Lutzomyia migonei. In peritoneal murine macrophages, the LPGs from both strains activated TLR4. Both LPGs equally activate MAPKs and the NF-κB inhibitor p-IκBα, but were not able to translocate NF-κB. In vivo experiments with sand flies showed that both stains were able to sustain infection in L. migonei. A preliminary biochemical analysis indicates intraspecies variation in the LPG sugar moieties. However, they did not result in different activation profiles of the innate immune system. Also those polymorphisms did not affect infectivity to the sand fly

Ontogeny of Numerical Abilities in Fish

Background: It has been hypothesised that human adults, infants, and non-human primates share two non-verbal systems for enumerating objects, one for representing precisely small quantities (up to 3–4 items) and one for representing approximately larger quantities. Recent studies exploiting fish’s spontaneous tendency to join the larger group showed that their ability in numerical discrimination closely resembles that of primates but little is known as to whether these capacities are innate or acquired. Methodology/Principal Findings: We used the spontaneous tendency to join the larger shoal to study the limits of the quantity discrimination of newborn and juvenile guppies. One-day old fish chose the larger shoal when the choice was between numbers in the small quantity range, 2 vs. 3 fish, but not when they had to choose between large numbers, 4 vs. 8 or 4 vs. 12, although the numerical ratio was larger in the latter case. To investigate the relative role of maturation and experience in large number discrimination, fish were raised in pairs (with no numerical experience) or in large social groups and tested at three ages. Forty-day old guppies from both treatments were able to discriminate 4 vs. 8 fish while at 20 days this was only observed in fish grown in groups. Control experiments showed that these capacities were maintained after guppies were prevented from using non numerical perceptual variables that co-vary with numerosity. Conclusions/Significance: Overall, our results suggest the ability of guppies to discriminate small numbers is innate and i

A research perspective towards a more complete biodiversity footprint: a report from the World Biodiversity Forum

ISSN:0948-3349ISSN:1614-750

Evidence for Two Numerical Systems That Are Similar in Humans and Guppies

Background: Humans and non-human animals share an approximate non-verbal system for representing and comparing numerosities that has no upper limit and for which accuracy is dependent on the numerical ratio. Current evidence indicates that the mechanism for keeping track of individual objects can also be used for numerical purposes; if so, its accuracy will be independent of numerical ratio, but its capacity is limited to the number of items that can be tracked, about four. There is, however, growing controversy as to whether two separate number systems are present in other vertebrate species. Methodology/Principal Findings: In this study, we compared the ability of undergraduate students and guppies to discriminate the same numerical ratios, both within and beyond the small number range. In both students and fish the performance was ratio-independent for the numbers 1–4, while it steadily increased with numerical distance when larger numbers were presented. Conclusions/Significance: Our results suggest that two distinct systems underlie quantity discrimination in both humans and fish, implying that the building blocks of uniquely human mathematical abilities may be evolutionarily ancient, datin

Evaluating the Sustainability of a Small-Scale Low-Input Organic Vegetable Supply System in the United Kingdom

www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainabilit

Autologous bone marrow stem cell intralesional transplantation repairing bisphosphonate related osteonecrosis of the jaw

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Purpose</p> <p>Bisphosphonate - related osteonecrosis of the JAW (BRONJ) is a well known side effect of bisphosphonate therapies in oncologic and non oncologic patients. Since to date no definitive consensus has been reached on the treatment of BRONJ, novel strategies for the prevention, risk reduction and treatment need to be developed. We report a 75 year old woman with stage 3 BRONJ secondary to alendronate and pamidronate treatment of osteoporosis. The patient was unresponsive to recommended treatment of the disease, and her BRONJ was worsening. Since bone marrow stem cells are know as being multipotent and exhibit the potential for differentiation into different cells/tissue lineages, including cartilage, bone and other tissue, we performed autologous bone marrow stem cell transplantation into the BRONJ lesion of the patient.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Under local anesthesia a volume of 75 ml of bone marrow were harvested from the posterior superior iliac crest by aspiration into heparinized siringes. The cell suspension was concentrated, using Ficoll - Hypaque^®centrifugation procedures, in a final volume of 6 ml. Before the injection of stem cells into the osteonecrosis, the patient underwent surgical toilet, local anesthesia was done and spongostan was applied as a carrier of stem cells suspension in the bone cavity, then 4 ml of stem cells suspension and 1 ml of patient's activated platelet-rich plasma were injected in the lesion of BRONJ.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A week later the residual spongostan was removed and two weeks later resolution of symptoms was obtained. Then the lesion improved with progressive superficialization of the mucosal layer and CT scan, performed 15 months later, shows improvement also of bone via concentric ossification: so complete healing of BRONJ (stage 0) was obtained in our patient, and 30 months later the patient is well and without signs of BRONJ.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>To our knowledge this is the first case of BRONJ successfully treated with autologous stem cells transplantation with a complete response.</p