226 research outputs found
Automatic and Intentional Number Processing Both Rely on Intact Right Parietal Cortex: A Combined fMRI and Neuronavigated TMS Study
Practice and training usually lead to performance increase in a given task. In addition, a shift from intentional toward more automatic processing mechanisms is often observed. It is currently debated whether automatic and intentional processing is subserved by the same or by different mechanism(s), and whether the same or different regions in the brain are recruited. Previous correlational evidence provided by behavioral, neuroimaging, modeling, and neuropsychological studies addressing this question yielded conflicting results. Here we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to compare the causal influence of disrupting either left or right parietal cortex during automatic and intentional numerical processing, as reflected by the size congruity effect and the numerical distance effect, respectively. We found a functional hemispheric asymmetry within parietal cortex with only the TMS-induced right parietal disruption impairing both automatic and intentional numerical processing. In contrast, disrupting the left parietal lobe with TMS, or applying sham stimulation, did not affect performance during automatic or intentional numerical processing. The current results provide causal evidence for the functional relevance of right, but not left, parietal cortex for intentional, and automatic numerical processing, implying that at least within the parietal cortices, automatic, and intentional numerical processing rely on the same underlying hemispheric lateralization
Compte-rendu et apport de la conférence-débat : "Nature, conditionnalité et verdissement de la PAC : un tournant wallon ?", 9 novembre 2011, Espace Senghor, Gembloux, Belgique
Proceedings of the conference: "Nature, conditionnalité et verdissement de la PAC : un tournant wallon ?". 9th November 2011. Espace Senghor, Gembloux, Belgium. Recently, the European Union (EU) proposed a reform project for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). One of the proposed reforms consists of imposing a set aside proportion of 7% of arable land for biodiversity support purposes. A conference on this proposal was held in Gembloux, Belgium, on 9th November 2011. Such a set aside system already exists in neighboring countries. The French and Swiss systems were presented at the conference in order to highlight their advantages and limitations. Scientific arguments underlying such policies were also presented. It was shown that the creation of semi-natural elements within the agricultural matrix is an efficient way to promote biodiversity. Both the quantity and the quality of these elements need to be considered. In addition, biodiversity is likely to provide services to agriculture, notably crop pollination and pest control. Currently, uncertainties remain regarding areas that are eligible to be designated as reaching the 7% threshold. However, based on the most probable scenarios, the current likely eligible areas cover only 4.3% of arable land in Wallonia. Less than 20% of Walloon farms already reach the 7% threshold proposed by the EU. If the European project is approved, it will therefore be of great importance to have some form of societal recognition afforded to farmers for their efforts. In order to optimize the positive effects of the policy on biodiversity, it is also imperative to ensure that a high level of biological quality is reached in the areas dedicated to biodiversity and to monitor this quality using clearly defined objectives. Economical, societal and environmental issues all need to be considered when applying this policy in order to improve agricultural sustainability and to stop the decline in biodiversity in agricultural landscapes
Explaining Health Disparities between Heterosexual and LGB Adolescents by Integrating the Minority Stress and Psychological Mediation Frameworks: Findings from the TRAILS Study
Family Belongingness Attenuates Entrapment and Buffers Its Association with Suicidal Ideation in a Sample of Dutch Sexual Minority Emerging Adults
Sexual minority emerging adults are more likely to engage in suicidal ideation than their heterosexual counterparts. Experiences of homophobic violence are associated with suicidal ideation. Yet, the specific mechanisms linking homophobic violence to suicidal ideation remain unclear. Entrapment and social belongingness were tested to determine their relevance for understanding the link between homophobic violence and suicidal ideation. A sample of sexual minority Dutch emerging adults (N = 675; ages 18–29, M = 21.93 years, SD = 3.20) were recruited through online platforms and flyers. Homophobic violence was expected to be positively associated with suicidal ideation and entrapment. The association between homophobic violence and suicidal ideation was expected to be indirectly linked through entrapment. We explored whether various sources of social belongingness moderated the path between entrapment and suicidal ideation and whether those sources of social belongingness moderated the indirect effect of homophobic violence on suicidal ideation through entrapment. Results showed that homophobic violence and entrapment were positively associated with suicidal ideation and that family belongingness was negatively associated with suicidal ideation. Homophobic violence and suicidal ideation were not indirectly linked through entrapment. The interaction effect between entrapment and family belongingness was significant, suggesting that, on average, the effect of entrapment on suicidal ideation decreased when family belongingness was high. These results suggest that family belongingness may reduce the association between entrapment and suicidal ideation while adjusting for homophonic violence. Reducing entrapment and improving family belongingness may be useful targets for programs aimed at preventing suicidal ideation among sexual minority emerging adults
The Challenge of Wide-Field Transit Surveys: The Case of GSC 01944-02289
Wide-field searches for transiting extra-solar giant planets face the
difficult challenge of separating true transit events from the numerous false
positives caused by isolated or blended eclipsing binary systems. We describe
here the investigation of GSC 01944-02289, a very promising candidate for a
transiting brown dwarf detected by the Transatlantic Exoplanet Survey (TrES)
network. The photometry and radial velocity observations suggested that the
candidate was an object of substellar mass in orbit around an F star. However,
careful analysis of the spectral line shapes revealed a pattern of variations
consistent with the presence of another star whose motion produced the
asymmetries observed in the spectral lines of the brightest star. Detailed
simulations of blend models composed of an eclipsing binary plus a third star
diluting the eclipses were compared with the observed light curve and used to
derive the properties of the three components. Our photometric and
spectroscopic observations are fully consistent with a blend model of a
hierarchical triple system composed of an eclipsing binary with G0V and M3V
components in orbit around a slightly evolved F5 dwarf. We believe that this
investigation will be helpful to other groups pursuing wide-field transit
searches as this type of false detection could be more common than true
transiting planets, and difficult to identify.Comment: To appear in ApJ, v. 621, 2005 March 1
TrES-2: The First Transiting Planet in the Kepler Field
We announce the discovery of the second transiting hot Jupiter discovered by
the Trans-atlantic Exoplanet Survey. The planet, which we dub TrES-2, orbits
the nearby star GSC 03549-02811 every 2.47063 days. From high-resolution
spectra, we determine that the star has T_eff = 5960 +/- 100 K and log(g) = 4.4
+/- 0.2, implying a spectral type of G0V and a mass of 1.08 +0.11/-0.05 M_sun.
High-precision radial-velocity measurements confirm a sinusoidal variation with
the period and phase predicted by the photometry, and rule out the presence of
line-bisector variations that would indicate that the spectroscopic orbit is
spurious. We estimate a planetary mass of 1.28 +0.09/-0.04 M_Jup. We model B,
r, R, and I photometric timeseries of the 1.4%-deep transits and find a
planetary radius of 1.24 +0.09/-0.06 R_Jup. This planet lies within the field
of view of the NASA Kepler mission, ensuring that hundreds of upcoming transits
will be monitored with exquisite precision and permitting a host of
unprecedented investigations.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJL. 15 pages, 2 figure
TrES-1: The Transiting Planet of a Bright K0V Star
We report the detection of a transiting Jupiter-sized planet orbiting a
relatively bright (V=11.79) K0V star. We detected the transit light-curve
signature in the course of the TrES multi-site transiting planet survey, and
confirmed the planetary nature of the companion via multicolor photometry and
precise radial velocity measurements. We designate the planet TrES-1; its
inferred mass is 0.75 +/- 0.07 Jupiter masses, its radius is 1.08 (+0.18/-0.04)
Jupiter radii, and its orbital period is 3.030065 +/- 0.000008 days. This
planet has an orbital period similar to that of HD 209458b, but about twice as
long as those of the OGLE transiting planets. Its mass is indistinguishable
from that of HD 209458b, but its radius is significantly smaller and fits the
theoretical models without the need for an additional source of heat deep in
the atmosphere, as has been invoked by some investigators for HD 209458b.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables. To be published in Astrophysical
Journal Letters. Ascii data in
http://www.hao.ucar.edu/public/research/stare/data/TrES1.as
Sexual orientation, peer relationships, and depressive symptoms: Findings from a sociometric design
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scDual-Seq: mapping the gene regulatory program of Salmonella infection by host and pathogen single-cell RNA-sequencing
The interaction between a pathogen and a host is a highly dynamic process in which both agents activate complex programs. Here, we introduce a single-cell RNA-sequencing method, scDual-Seq, that simultaneously captures both host and pathogen transcriptomes. We use it to study the process of infection of individual mouse macrophages with the intracellular pathogen Salmonella typhimurium. Among the infected macrophages, we find three subpopulations and we show evidence for a linear progression through these subpopulations, supporting a model in which these three states correspond to consecutive stages of infection. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13059-017-1340-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users
Mass and radius determinations for five transiting M-dwarf stars
We have derived masses and radii for both components in five short-period
single-lined eclipsing binary stars discovered by the TrES wide-angle
photometric survey for transiting planets. All these systems consist of a
visible F-star primary and an unseen M-star secondary (M_A > 0.8 M_sun, M_B <
0.45 M_sun). The spectroscopic orbital solution combined with a high precision
transit light curve for each system gives sufficient information to calculate
the density of the primary star and the surface gravity of the secondary. The
masses of the primary stars were obtained using stellar evolution models. The
solutions were compared with results obtained by calculating the radius of the
primary stars under the assumption of rotational synchronization with the
orbital period and alignment between their spin axis and the axis of the orbit.
Four systems show an acceptable match between the two sets of results, but one
system shows a clear mismatch between the two solutions, which may indicate the
absence of synchronization or a misalignment between the rotational and orbital
axis. When compared to low-mass stellar evolution models, the derived masses
and radii of the unseen M dwarfs are inconsistent (three only marginally) with
the predicted values, with all of the radii being larger than expected for
their masses. These results confirm the discrepancy shown in previous work
between the predicted and observed radii on low-mass binary stars. This work
also shows that reliance on the assumption of synchronization to derive the
mass and radius of stars in eclipsing single--lined F+M binaries is a useful
tool, but may not always be warranted and should be carefully tested against
stellar evolution models.Comment: 36 pages: 20 pages of text, 13 tables, 7 figures. Accepted for
publication in Ap
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