Phosphene-guided transcranial magnetic stimulation of occipital but not parietal cortex suppresses stimulus visibility.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) applied over the occipital lobe approximately 100 ms after the onset of a stimulus decreases its visibility if it appears in the location of the phosphene. Because phosphenes can also be elicited by stimulation of the parietal regions, we asked if the same procedure that is used to reduce visibility of stimuli with occipital TMS will lead to decreased stimulus visibility when TMS is applied to parietal regions. TMS was randomly applied at 0-130 ms after the onset of the stimulus in steps of 10 ms in occipital and parietal regions. Participants responded to the orientation of the line stimulus and rated its visibility. We replicate previous reports of phosphenes from both occipital and parietal TMS. As previously reported, we also observed visual suppression around the classical 100 ms window both in the objective line orientation and subjective visibility responses with occipital TMS. Parietal stimulation, on the other hand, did not consistently reduce stimulus visibility in any time window. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00221-014-3923-z

Les incendies de forêts : quelle évolution du risque et comment les propriétaires forestiers peuvent y faire face

L’objet de cette intervention est de donner quelques clés aux propriétaires forestiers sur l’évolution du risque incendie de forêt et sur les mesures possibles qu’ils peuvent prendre à leur niveau. A l’échelle de l’Europe les modèles de climat prévoient une augmentation du risque incendie qui se traduirait en France par une fréquence et une durée accrues de saisons de feux difficiles, et une extension de la zone à risque incendie vers l’ouest et le nord. En Europe du sud, ce risque est en nette hausse sur les dernières décennies et les surfaces brûlées augmentent, sauf en France, où le risque est encore contenu. Face à ce constat il convient de ne pas relâcher, voire d’augmenter, l’effort de prévention (limitation des départs de feux, équipement des massifs, obligation légale de débroussaillement) et, à leur niveau, les propriétaires peuvent y contribuer. Ils peuvent surtout mettre en place, quand les peuplements le permettent, une sylviculture adaptée au contexte d’incendie, dont quelques principes sont rappelés

Confident texture-based laryngeal tissue classification for early stage diagnosis support

Early stage diagnosis of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is of primary importance for lowering patient mortality or after treatment morbidity. Despite the challenges in diagnosis reported in the clinical literature, few efforts have been invested in computer-assisted diagnosis. The objective of this paper is to investigate the use of texture-based machine-learning algorithms for early stage cancerous laryngeal tissue classification. To estimate the classification reliability, a measure of confidence is also exploited. From the endoscopic videos of 33 patients affected by SCC, a well-balanced dataset of 1320 patches, relative to four laryngeal tissue classes, was extracted. With the best performing feature, the achieved median classification recall was 93% [interquartile range ðIQRÞ ¼ 6%]. When excluding low-confidence patches, the achieved median recall was increased to 98% (IQR ¼ 5%), proving the high reliability of the proposed approach. This research represents an important advancement in the state-of-the-art computer-assisted laryngeal diagnosis, and the results are a promising step toward a helpful endoscope-integrated processing system to support early stage diagnosis

Boring bivalve traces in modern reef and deeper-water macroid and rhodolith beds

Macroids and rhodoliths, made by encrusting acervulinid foraminifera and coralline algae, are widely recognized as bioengineers providing relatively stable microhabitats and increasing biodiversity for other species. Macroid and rhodolith beds occur in different depositional settings at various localities and bathymetries worldwide. Six case studies of macroid/rhodolith beds from 0 to 117m water depth in the Pacific Ocean (northern Central Ryukyu Islands, French Polynesia), eastern Australia (Fraser Island, One Tree Reef, Lizard Island), and the Mediterranean Sea (southeastern Spain) show that nodules in the beds are perforated by small-sized boring bivalve traces (Gastrochanolites). On average, boring bivalve shells (gastrochaenids and mytilids) are more slender and smaller than those living inside shallow-water rocky substrates. In the Pacific, Gastrochaena cuneiformis, Gastrochaena sp., Leiosolenus malaccanus, L. mucronatus, L. spp., and Lithophaga/Leiosolenus sp., for the first time identified below 20m water depth, occur as juvenile forms along with rare small-sized adults. In deep-water macroids and rhodoliths the boring bivalves are larger than the shallower counterparts in which growth of juveniles is probably restrained by higher overturn rates of host nodules. In general, most boring bivalves are juveniles that grew faster than the acervulinid foraminiferal and coralline red algal hosts and rarely reached the adult stage. As a consequence of phenotypic plasticity, small-sized adults with slow growth rates coexist with juveniles. Below wave base macroids and rhodoliths had the highest amounts of bioerosion, mainly produced by sponges and polychaete worms. These modern observations provide bases for paleobiological inferences in fossil occurrences.Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT) Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) 25247083Erasmus+FAR2012-2017FIR2016FIR2018PRIN "Biotic resilience to global change: biomineralization of planktonic and benthic calcifiers in the past, present and future" 2017RX9XXXYBioMed Central-Prepay Membership at the University of FerraraJunta de Andalucía RNM 190Committee on ResearchMuseum of PaleontologyDepartment of Integrative Biology, UC BerkeleyUC Pacific Rim Projec

Geographical variation in shell shape of the pod razor shell Ensis siliqua (Bivalvia: Pharidae)

The present study assessed the existence of variation in the shell shape of the pod razor shell (Ensis siliqua) throughout its distributional range in the north- eastern Atlantic. Shells of E. siliqua caught at seven collecting sites (three in Portugal, three in Spain and one in Ireland) were studied by geometric morphometric methods, using both landmark- and contour-based methods. Both approaches (landmarks inside the valves and shell outline) discriminated the shells from Aveiro (centre of Portugal) and Strangford Lough (Ireland) from those caught in the nearby localities (remaining Portuguese and Spanish sites,maximum distance of 550 km by sea). Landmark analysis revealed that shells from Aveiro were more similar to shells from Ireland (*1,500 km far away). Contour anal- ysis revealed that shells from Aveiro had a shape with a comparatively larger height-to-width ratio, whereas shells from Ireland showed a slightly more curved outline than in the remaining sites. Landmark- and contour-based methods provided coherent complementary information, confirming the usefulness of geometric morphometric analyses for discerning differences in shell shape among populations of E. siliqua. A brief review of previous applications of geometric morphometric methods to modern bivalve spe- cies is also provided.The authors would like to thank Dr. Dai Roberts and Adele Cromie for providing samples of pod razor shells from Ireland. This study was funded by Community Initiative Programmes (INTERREG-IIIB, Atlantic Area) Sustainable HARvesting of Ensis (090–SHARE) and Towards Integrated Management of Ensis Stocks (206–TIMES) from the European Community. Marta M. Rufino and Paulo Vasconcelos benefited from postdoctoral grants (SFRH/BPD/14935/2004 and SFRH/BPD/26348/2006, respectively) awarded by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT—Portugal). Finally, the authors acknowledge three anonymous referees for valuable comments and suggestions that greatly improved the revised manuscript.publishe

Charge identification of fragments with the emulsion spectrometer of the FOOT experiment

The FOOT (FragmentatiOn Of Target) experiment is an international project designed to carry out the fragmentation cross-sectional measurements relevant for charged particle therapy (CPT), a technique based on the use of charged particle beams for the treatment of deep-seated tumors. The FOOT detector consists of an electronic setup for the identification of Z ≥ 3 fragments and an emulsion spectrometer for Z ≤ 3 fragments. The first data taking was performed in 2019 at the GSI facility (Darmstadt, Germany). In this study, the charge identification of fragments induced by exposing an emulsion detector, embedding a C2 H4 target, to an oxygen ion beam of 200 MeV/n is discussed. The charge identification is based on the controlled fading of nuclear emulsions in order to extend their dynamic range in the ionization response

Performance of the ToF detectors in the foot experiment

The FOOT (FragmentatiOn Of Target) experiment aims to deter- mine the fragmentation cross-sections of nuclei of interest for particle therapy and radioprotection in space. The apparatus is composed of several detectors that allow fragment identification in terms of charge, mass, energy and direction. The frag- ment time of flight (ToF) along a lever arm of ∼2 m is used for particle ID, requiring a resolution below 100ps to achieve a sufficient resolution in the fragment atomic mass identification. The timing performance of the ToF system evaluated with 12C and 16O beams is reviewed in this contribution

Charge identification of fragments with the emulsion spectrometer of the FOOT experiment

The FOOT (FragmentatiOn Of Target) experi- ment is an international project designed to carry out the fragmentation cross-sectional measurements relevant for charged particle therapy (CPT), a technique based on the use of charged particle beams for the treatment of deep-seated tumors. The FOOT detector consists of an electronic setup for the identification of Z >= 3 fragments and an emulsion spectrometer for Z <= 3 fragments. The first data taking was performed in 2019 at the GSI facility(Darmstadt, Germany). In this study, the charge identifi-cation of fragments induced by exposing an emulsion detector, embedding a C2H4 target, to an oxygen ion beam of 200 MeV/n is discussed. The charge identifica-tion is based on the controlled fading of nuclear emulsions in order to extend their dynamic range in the ionization response

Measuring the Impact of Nuclear Interaction in Particle Therapy and in Radio Protection in Space: the FOOT Experiment

In Charged Particle Therapy (PT) proton or 12C beams are used to treat deep-seated solid tumors exploiting the advantageous characteristics of charged particles energy deposition in matter. For such projectiles, the maximum of the dose is released at the end of the beam range, in the Bragg peak region, where the tumour is located. However, the nuclear interactions of the beam nuclei with the patient tissues can induce the fragmentation of projectiles and/or target nuclei and needs to be carefully taken into account when planning the treatment. In proton treatments, the target fragmentation produces low energy, short range fragments along all the beam path, that deposit a non-negligible dose especially in the first crossed tissues. On the other hand, in treatments performed using 12C, or other (4He or 16O) ions of interest, the main concern is related to the production of long range fragments that can release their dose in the healthy tissues beyond the Bragg peak. Understanding nuclear fragmentation processes is of interest also for radiation protection in human space flight applications, in view of deep space missions. In particular 4He and high-energy charged particles, mainly 12C, 16O, 28Si and 56Fe, provide the main source of absorbed dose in astronauts outside the atmosphere. The nuclear fragmentation properties of the materials used to build the spacecrafts need to be known with high accuracy in order to optimise the shielding against the space radiation. The study of the impact of these processes, which is of interest both for PT and space radioprotection applications, suffers at present from the limited experimental precision achieved on the relevant nuclear cross sections that compromise the reliability of the available computational models. The FOOT (FragmentatiOn Of Target) collaboration, composed of researchers from France, Germany, Italy and Japan, designed an experiment to study these nuclear processes and measure the corresponding fragmentation cross sections. In this work we discuss the physics motivations of FOOT, describing in detail the present detector design and the expected performances, coming from the optimization studies based on accurate FLUKA MC simulations and preliminary beam test results. The measurements planned will be also presented