Cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation of the extrastriate visual cortex modulates implicit anti-fat bias in male, but not female, participants.

Explicit negative attitudes towards obese individuals are well documented and seem to modulate the activity of perceptual areas, such as the Extrastriate Body Area (EBA) in the lateral occipito-temporal cortex, which is critical for body-shape perception. Nevertheless, it is still unclear whether EBA serves a role in implicit weight-stereotypical bias, thus reflecting stereotypical trait attribution on the basis of perceptual cues. Here, we used an Implicit Association Test (IAT) to investigate whether applying transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over bilateral extrastriate visual cortex reduces pre-existing implicit weight stereotypical associations (i.e. "Bad" with Fat and "Good" with Slim, valence-IAT). Furthermore, an aesthetic-IAT, which focused on body-concepts related to aesthetic dimensions (i.e. "Ugly" and "Beauty"), was developed as a control condition. Anodal, cathodal, or sham tDCS (2 mA, 10min) over the right and left lateral occipito-temporal (extrastriate visual) cortex was administered to 13 female and 12 male participants, before performing the IATs. Results showed that cathodal stimulation over the left extrastriate visual cortex reduced weight-bias for the evaluative dimensions (Bad vs. Good) as compared to sham stimulation over the same hemisphere. Furthermore, the effect was specific for the polarity and hemisphere of stimulation. Importantly, tDCS affected the responses only in male participants, who presented a reliable weight-bias during sham condition, but not in female participants, who did not show reliable weight-bias at sham condition. The present results suggest that negative attitudes towards obese individuals may reflect neural signals from the extrastriate visual cortex

Use of Equivalent Hermitian Hamiltonian for PTPT-Symmetric Sinusoidal Optical Lattices

We show how the band structure and beam dynamics of non-Hermitian $PT$-symmetric sinusoidal optical lattices can be approached from the point of view of the equivalent Hermitian problem, obtained by an analytic continuation in the transverse spatial variable $x$. In this latter problem the eigenvalue equation reduces to the Mathieu equation, whose eigenfunctions and properties have been well studied. That being the case, the beam propagation, which parallels the time-development of the wave-function in quantum mechanics, can be calculated using the equivalent of the method of stationary states. We also discuss a model potential that interpolates between a sinusoidal and periodic square well potential, showing that some of the striking properties of the sinusoidal potential, in particular birefringence, become much less prominent as one goes away from the sinusoidal case.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure

Underwater Sound Characteristics of a Ship with Controllable Pitch Propeller

The time-dependent spectral characteristics of underwater sound radiated by an oceanic vessel have complex dependencies on ship machinery, propeller dynamics, and the hydrodynamics of the ship exhaust and motion, as well as onboard activities. Here, the underwater sound radiated by a ship equipped with a controllable pitch propeller (CPP) is analyzed and quantified via its (i) power spectral density for signal energetics, (ii) temporal coherence for machinery tonal sound, and (iii) spectral coherence for propeller amplitude-modulated cavitation noise. Frequency-modulated (FM) tonal signals are also characterized in terms of their frequency variations. These characteristics are compared for different propeller pitch ratios, ranging from 20% to 82% at a fixed number of propeller revolutions per minute (RPM). The efficacy and robustness of ship parameter estimation at different pitches are discussed. Finally, an analysis of one special measurement is provided: propeller pitch and RPM over the duration of the measurement when the ship changes speed. The 50% pitch was found to be a crucial point for this ship, around which the tonal characteristics of its underwater radiated sound attain their peak values while broadband sound and associated spectral coherences are at a minimum. The findings here elucidate the effects of pitch variation on underwater sound radiated by ships with controllable pitch propellers and has applications in ship design and underwater noise mitigation

Asymptotic Accuracy of Geoacoustic Inversions

Criteria necessary to accurately estimate a set of unknown geoacoustic parameters from remote acoustic measurements are developed in order to aid the design of geoacoustic experiments. The approach is to have estimation error fall within a specified design threshold by adjusting controllable quantities such as experimental sample size or signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). This is done by computing conditions on sample size and SNR necessary for any estimate to have a variance that (1) asymptotically attains the Cramer–Rao lower bound (CRLB) and (2) has a CRLB that falls within the specified design error threshold. Applications to narrow band deterministic signals received with additive noise by vertical and horizontal arrays in typical continental shelf waveguides are explored. For typical low-frequency scenarios, necessary SNRs and samples sizes can often approach prohibitively large values when a few or more important geoacoustic parameters are unknown, making it difficult to attain practical design thresholds for allowable estimation error

Neutrophil recruitment and activation are differentially dependent on MyD88/TRIF and MAVS signaling during RSV infection

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of severe lower respiratory tract infections, especially in infants. Lung neutrophilia is a hallmark of RSV disease but the mechanism by which neutrophils are recruited and activated is unclear. Here, we investigate the innate immune signaling pathways underlying neutrophil recruitment and activation in RSV-infected mice. We show that MyD88/TRIF signaling is essential for lung neutrophil recruitment while MAVS signaling, leading to type I IFN production, is necessary for neutrophil activation. Consistent with that notion, administration of type I IFNs to the lungs of RSV-infected Mavs−/− mice partially activates lung neutrophils recruited via the MyD88/TRIF pathway. Conversely, lack of neutrophil recruitment to the lungs of RSV-infected Myd88/Trif−/− mice can be corrected by administration of chemoattractants and those neutrophils become fully activated. Interestingly, Myd88/Trif−/− mice did not have increased lung viral loads during RSV infection, suggesting that neutrophils are dispensable for viral control. Thus, two distinct pathogen sensing pathways collaborate for neutrophil recruitment and full activation during RSV infection

Testing the IONORT-ISP system: A comparison between synthesized and measured oblique ionograms

The three-dimensional (3-D) electron density representation of the ionosphere computed by the assimilative IRI-SIRMUP-P (ISP) model was tested using IONORT (IONOspheric Ray-Tracing), a software application for calculating a 3-D ray-tracing for high frequency (HF) waves in the ionospheric medium. A radio link was established between Rome (41.8°N, 12.5°E) in Italy, and Chania (35.7°N, 24.0°E) in Greece, within the ISP validity area, and for which oblique soundings are conducted. The ionospheric reference stations, from which the autoscaled foF2 and M(3000)F2 data and real-time vertical electron density profiles were assimilated by the ISP model, were Rome (41.8°N, 12.5°E) and Gibilmanna (37.9°N, 14.0°E) in Italy, and Athens (38.0°N, 23.5°E) in Greece. IONORT was used, in conjunction with the ISP and the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) 3-D electron density grids, to synthesize oblique ionograms. The comparison between synthesized and measured oblique ionograms, both in terms of the ionogram shape and the maximum usable frequency characterizing the radio path, demonstrates both that the ISP model can more accurately represent real conditions in the ionosphere than the IRI, and that the ray-tracing results computed by IONORT are reasonably reliable

An investigation of the mechanica behaviour of carbon epoxy cross ply cruciform specimens under biaxial loading

Abstract: In the present study carbon epoxy cruciform type specimens with a cross ply lay up, were biaxially and uniaxially loaded in their plane using four independent servo-hydraulic actuators. Four different biaxial loading ratios were investigated while the applied load was quasistatic. A comparison between experimental observations for the strain evolution of the biaxially loaded central section of the specimen coming from digital image correlation measurements (DIC) and a three dimensional finite element damage model (FEDM) will be shown. Furthermore the failure loads coming from the load shells of the machine were straightforward compared with the output of the FEDM

Regulatory T Cells Prevent Th2 Immune Responses and Pulmonary Eosinophilia during Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in Mice

During viral infection, inflammation and recovery are tightly controlled by competing proinflammatory and regulatory immune pathways. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading global cause of infantile bronchiolitis, which is associated with recurrent wheeze and asthma diagnosis in later life. Th2-driven disease has been well described under some conditions for RSV-infected mice. In the present studies, we used the Foxp3(DTR) mice (which allow specific conditional depletion of Foxp3(+) T cells) to investigate the functional effects of regulatory T cells (Tregs) during A2-strain RSV infection. Infected Treg-depleted mice lost significantly more weight than wild-type mice, indicating enhanced disease. This enhancement was characterized by increased cellularity in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and notable lung eosinophilia not seen in control mice. This was accompanied by abundant CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells exhibiting an activated phenotype and induction of interleukin 13 (IL-13)- and GATA3-expressing Th2-type CD4(+) T cells that remained present in the airways even 14 days after infection. Therefore, Treg cells perform vital anti-inflammatory functions during RSV infection, suppressing pathogenic T cell responses and inhibiting lung eosinophilia. These findings provide additional evidence that dysregulation of normal immune responses to viral infection may contribute to severe RSV disease

Milling of aerospace alloys using supercritical CO2 assisted machining

Novel “sub-zero” cooling methods are an emerging technology employed in machining of aerospace alloys that has been the focus of substantial ongoing research. A series of different cooling media have been used in an effort to decrease the friction and the amount of heat generated in the cutting zone. This study focused on the use of supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) as a coolant in the face milling of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V. Traditional flood emulsion coolant was compared with through tool scCO2 as well as scCO2 with minimum quantity lubrication (MQL)

High-sensitivity troponin T and C-reactive protein have different prognostic values in hemo- and peritoneal dialysis populations : a cohort study

Background--Dialysis patients have an exceedingly high mortality rate. Biomarkers may be useful tools in risk stratification of this population. We evaluated the prognostic value of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) and CRP (C-reactive protein) in predicting adverse outcomes in stable hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. Variability in hs-cTnT was also examined. Methods and Results--A retrospective cohort study included 574 dialysis patients (hemodialysis 347, PD 227). Outcomes examined included mortality and major adverse cardiovascular events, with median follow-up of 3.5 years. hs-cTnT was an independent predictor of both outcomes in hemodialysis and PD patients. Increased risk only became significant when hs-cTnT reached quintile 3 ( > 49 ng/L). Area under the receiver operating curve analysis showed that the addition of hs-cTnT to clinical parameters significantly improved its prognostic performance for mortality in PD patients (P=0.002). CRP was an independent predictor of both outcomes in PD patients only. Only CRP in the highest quintile ( > 16.8 mg/L) was associated with increased risk. hs-cTnT remained relatively stable for the whole follow-up period for hemodialysis patients, whereas for PD patients, hs-cTnT increased by 23.63% in year 2 and 29.13% in year 3 compared with baseline (P < 0.001). Conclusions--hs-cTnT and CRP are useful tools in predicting mortality and major adverse cardiovascular events in hemodialysis and PD patients. Given that hs-cTnT levels increase over time in PD patients, interval monitoring may be valuable for risk assessment. In contrast, hs-cTnT in hemodialysis patients has little interval change and progress monitoring is not indicated