Ultrafast spectroscopy of single molecules

We present a single-molecule study on femtosecond dynamics in multichromophoric systems, combining fs pump-probe, emission-spectra and fluorescence-lifetime analysis. At the single molecule level a wide range of exciton delocalisation lengths and energy redistribution times is revealed. Next, two color pump-probe experiments are presented as a step to addressing ultrafast energy transfer in individual complexes

Process orientation of the world heritage city management system

Purpose This article aims to explain how the world heritage city management system may be improved, and the structure of its processes enhanced by including relevant stakeholders to reach better results, i.e. outputs and outcomes. With this aim, process-based orientation is proposed as a new management approach. Design/methodology The article is divided into two parts. In the first part, theoretical background of the world heritage city management system is given, and process orientation of heritage city management explained. In the second part theoretical concepts were applied to the cases of the world heritage cities (sites) of Split (Croatia) and Venice (Italy). A brief description of the basic characteristics (elements, processes) and of the main problems related to the results (outputs and outcomes) is followed by the application of the Unified Modelling Language as the method. The process architecture of the new management meta-model is presented, processes designed and documented, and activities and responsibilities among stakeholders, both existing as well as potential, within the proposed hierarchical structure shared. Findings By proposing the process-oriented approach to the management of world heritage cities, the paper sets out to contribute to the growing body of knowledge related to cultural heritage management (especially world heritage cities). By applying knowledge from different theories into a process-based approach to the management of world heritage cities, it enables UNESCO's directives to be implemented into the actual managerial system of a World Heritage Site (WHS). We find it potentially useful not only to WHS managers, but also to scholars and other experts who have managerial responsibilities but limited knowledge in this area

Interaction between episodic and semantic memory networks in the acquisition and consolidation of novel spoken words

When a novel word is learned, its memory representation is thought to undergo a process of consolidation and integration. In this study, we tested whether the neural representations of novel words change as a function of consolidation by observing brain activation patterns just after learning and again after a delay of one week. Words learned with meanings were remembered better than those learned without meanings. Both episodic (hippocampus-dependent) and semantic (dependent on distributed neocortical areas) memory systems were utilised during recognition of the novel words. The extent to which the two systems were involved changed as a function of time and the amount of associated information, with more involvement of both systems for the meaningful words than for the form-only words after the one-week delay. These results suggest that the reason the meaningful words were remembered better is that their retrieval can benefit more from these two complementary memory system

Managing the complexity of doing it all : an exploratory study on students' experiences when trained stepwise in conducting consultations

Background: At most medical schools the components required to conduct a consultation, medical knowledge, communication, clinical reasoning and physical examination skills, are trained separately. Afterwards, all the knowledge and skills students acquired must be integrated into complete consultations, an art that lies at the heart of the medical profession. Inevitably, students experience conducting consultations as complex and challenging. Literature emphasizes the importance of three didactic course principles: moving from partial tasks to whole task learning, diminishing supervisors' support and gradually increasing students' responsibility. This study explores students' experiences of an integrated consultation course using these three didactic principles to support them in this difficult task. Methods: Six focus groups were conducted with 20 pre-clerkship and 19 clerkship students in total. Discussions were audiotaped, transcribed and analysed by Nvivo using the constant comparative strategy within a thematic analysis. Results: Conducting complete consultations motivated students in their learning process as future physician. Initially, students were very much focused on medical problem solving. Completing the whole task of a consultation obligated them to transfer their theoretical medical knowledge into applicable clinical knowledge on the spot. Furthermore, diminishing the support of a supervisor triggered students to reflect on their own actions but contrasted with their increased appreciation of critical feedback. Increasing students' responsibility stimulated their active learning but made some students feel overloaded. These students were anxious to miss patient information or not being able to take the right decisions or to answer patients' questions, which sometimes resulted in evasive coping techniques, such as talking faster to prevent the patient asking questions. Conclusion: The complex task of conducting complete consultations should be implemented early within medical curricula because students need time to organize their medical knowledge into applicable clinical knowledge. An integrated consultation course should comprise a step-by-step teaching strategy with a variety of supervisors' feedback modi, adapted to students' competence. Finally, students should be guided in formulating achievable standards to prevent them from feeling overloaded in practicing complete consultations with simulated or real patients

Familial analysis of MMN in cannabis users: A case study

Abstract presented at the 23rd Australasian Society for Psychophysiology Conference, 20-22 Nov 2013, Wollongong, Australi

Bilingualism and Attention in Typically Developing Children and Children With Developmental Language Disorder

Purpose: The aim of the current study was to investigate whether dual language experience modulates the efficiency of the 3 attentional networks (alerting, orienting, and executive control) in typically developing (TD) children and in children with developmental language disorder (DLD).Method: We examined the attentional networks in monolingual and bilingual school-aged children (ages 8–12 years) with and without DLD. TD children (35 monolinguals, 23 bilinguals) and children with DLD (17 monolinguals, 9 bilinguals) completed the Attention Network Test (Fan et al., 2002; Fan, McCandliss, Fossella, Flombaum, & Posner, 2005).Results: Children with DLD exhibited poorer executive control than TD children, but executive control was not modified by bilingual experience. The bilingual group with DLD and both TD groups exhibited an orienting effect, but the monolingual group with DLD did not. No group differences were found for alerting.Conclusions: Children with DLD have weak executive control skills. These skills are minimally influenced by dual language experience, at least in this age range. A potential bilingual advantage in orienting may be present in the DLD group.</p

Staphylococcus aureus Uses the Bacilliredoxin (BrxAB)/Bacillithiol Disulfide Reductase (YpdA) Redox Pathway to Defend Against Oxidative Stress Under Infections

Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen and has to cope with reactive oxygen and chlorine species (ROS, RCS) during infections. The low molecular weight thiol bacillithiol (BSH) is an important defense mechanism of S. aureus for detoxification of ROS and HOCl stress to maintain the reduced state of the cytoplasm. Under HOCl stress, BSH forms mixed disulfides with proteins, termed as S-bacillithiolations, which are reduced by bacilliredoxins (BrxA and BrxB). The NADPH-dependent flavin disulfide reductase YpdA is phylogenetically associated with the BSH synthesis and BrxA/B enzymes and was recently suggested to function as BSSB reductase (Mikheyeva et al., 2019). Here, we investigated the role of the complete bacilliredoxin BrxAB/BSH/YpdA pathway in S. aureus COL under oxidative stress and macrophage infection conditions in vivo and in biochemical assays in vitro. Using HPLC thiol metabolomics, a strongly enhanced BSSB level and a decreased BSH/BSSB ratio were measured in the S. aureus COL ΔypdA deletion mutant under control and NaOCl stress. Monitoring the oxidation degree (OxD) of the Brx-roGFP2 biosensor revealed that YpdA is required for regeneration of the reduced BSH redox potential (EBSH) upon recovery from oxidative stress. In addition, the ΔypdA mutant was impaired in H2O2 detoxification as measured with the novel H2O2-specific Tpx-roGFP2 biosensor. Phenotype analyses further showed that BrxA and YpdA are required for survival under NaOCl and H2O2 stress in vitro and inside murine J-774A.1 macrophages in infection assays in vivo. Finally, NADPH-coupled electron transfer assays provide evidence for the function of YpdA in BSSB reduction, which depends on the conserved Cys14 residue. YpdA acts together with BrxA and BSH in de-bacillithiolation of S-bacillithiolated GapDH. In conclusion, our results point to a major role of the BrxA/BSH/YpdA pathway in BSH redox homeostasis in S. aureus during recovery from oxidative stress and under infections