Should I stay or should I go? Modelling year-round habitat suitability for fin whales in the California Current

Aim Understanding the spatial ecology of endangered species is crucial to predicting habitat use at scales relevant to conservation and management. Here, we aim to model the influence of biophysical conditions on habitat suitability for endangered fin whales Balaenoptera physalus, with a view to informing management in a heavily impacted ocean region. Location We satellite-tracked the movements of 67 fin whales through the California Current System (CCS), a dynamic eastern boundary upwelling ecosystem in the Northeast Pacific. Methods We use a multi-scale modelling framework to elucidate biophysical influences on habitat suitability for fin whales in the CCS. Using Generalised Additive Mixed Models, we quantify the influence of a suite of remotely-sensed variables on broad-scale patterns of occupancy, and present the first year-round, high-resolution predictions of seasonal habitat suitability. Further, we model the influence of contemporaneous biophysical conditions on individual-level residence times in high-use habitat. Results We present evidence of year-round habitat suitability in the southern California Current System, robust to inter-annual variability, establishing that North Pacific fin whales do not follow the canonical baleen whale migration model. Within the high-use habitat in the Southern California Bight (SCB), individual-level residency to localised areas (n=16 for >30 days; n=4 for >6 months) was associated with warm, shallow, nearshore waters (>18°C, <500m); with cool waters (14-15°C) occurring over complex seafloor topographies and convergent (sub-)mesoscale structures at the surface. Main Conclusions Biophysical conditions in the southern CCS generate productive foraging habitats that can support the fin whale population year-round and allow for extended periods of residency in localised areas. High-use habitats for fin whales are co-located with areas of intense human use, including international shipping routes and a major naval training range. Seasonal habitat suitability maps presented here could inform the management of anthropogenic threats to an endangered baleen whales in this globally significant biodiversity hotspot

The threshold for the McGurk effect in audio-visual noise decreases with development

Across development, vision increasingly infuences audio-visual perception. This is evidenced in illusions such as the McGurk efect, in which a seen mouth movement changes the perceived sound. The current paper assessed the efects of manipulating the clarity of the heard and seen signal upon the McGurk efect in children aged 3–6 (n=29), 7–9 (n=32) and 10–12 (n=29) years, and adults aged 20–35 years (n=32). Auditory noise increased, and visual blur decreased, the likelihood of vision changing auditory perception. Based upon a proposed developmental shift from auditory to visual dominance we predicted that younger children would be less susceptible to McGurk responses, and that adults would continue to be infuenced by vision in higher levels of visual noise and with less auditory noise. Susceptibility to the McGurk efect was higher in adults compared with 3–6-year-olds and 7–9-yearolds but not 10–12-year-olds. Younger children required more auditory noise, and less visual noise, than adults to induce McGurk responses (i.e. adults and older children were more easily infuenced by vision). Reduced susceptibility in childhood supports the theory that sensory dominance shifts across development and reaches adult-like levels by 10 years of age

Key stages in mammary gland development - Involution: apoptosis and tissue remodelling that convert the mammary gland from milk factory to a quiescent organ

Involution of the mammary gland is an essential process that removes the milk-producing epithelial cells when they become redundant at weaning. It is a two-step process that involves the death of the secretory epithelium and its replacement by adipo-cytes. During the first phase, remodelling is inhibited and apoptotic cells can be seen in the lumena of the alveoli. In the second phase, apoptosis is accompanied by remodelling of the surrounding stroma and re-differentiation of the adipocytes. Considerable effort has been directed towards understanding the molecular mechanisms of the involution process and this has resulted in the identification of the principal signalling pathways involved

Audiovisual Segregation in Cochlear Implant Users

It has traditionally been assumed that cochlear implant users de facto perform atypically in audiovisual tasks. However, a recent study that combined an auditory task with visual distractors suggests that only those cochlear implant users that are not proficient at recognizing speech sounds might show abnormal audiovisual interactions. The present study aims at reinforcing this notion by investigating the audiovisual segregation abilities of cochlear implant users in a visual task with auditory distractors. Speechreading was assessed in two groups of cochlear implant users (proficient and non-proficient at sound recognition), as well as in normal controls. A visual speech recognition task (i.e. speechreading) was administered either in silence or in combination with three types of auditory distractors: i) noise ii) reverse speech sound and iii) non-altered speech sound. Cochlear implant users proficient at speech recognition performed like normal controls in all conditions, whereas non-proficient users showed significantly different audiovisual segregation patterns in both speech conditions. These results confirm that normal-like audiovisual segregation is possible in highly skilled cochlear implant users and, consequently, that proficient and non-proficient CI users cannot be lumped into a single group. This important feature must be taken into account in further studies of audiovisual interactions in cochlear implant users

Expression of yeast lipid phosphatase Sac1p is regulated by phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Phosphoinositides play a central role in regulating processes at intracellular membranes. In yeast, a large number of phospholipid biosynthetic enzymes use a common mechanism for transcriptional regulation. Yet, how the expression of genes encoding lipid kinases and phosphatases is regulated remains unknown.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we show that the expression of lipid phosphatase Sac1p in the yeast <it>Saccharomyces cerevisiae </it>is regulated in response to changes in phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate (PI(4)P) concentrations. Unlike genes encoding enzymes involved in phospholipid biosynthesis, expression of the <it>SAC1 </it>gene is independent of inositol levels. We identified a novel 9-bp motif within the 5' untranslated region (5'-UTR) of <it>SAC1 </it>that is responsible for PI(4)P-mediated regulation. Upregulation of <it>SAC1 </it>promoter activity correlates with elevated levels of Sac1 protein levels.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Regulation of Sac1p expression via the concentration of its major substrate PI(4)P ensures proper maintenance of compartment-specific pools of PI(4)P.</p

Bayesian Cue Integration as a Developmental Outcome of Reward Mediated Learning

Average human behavior in cue combination tasks is well predicted by Bayesian inference models. As this capability is acquired over developmental timescales, the question arises, how it is learned. Here we investigated whether reward dependent learning, that is well established at the computational, behavioral, and neuronal levels, could contribute to this development. It is shown that a model free reinforcement learning algorithm can indeed learn to do cue integration, i.e. weight uncertain cues according to their respective reliabilities and even do so if reliabilities are changing. We also consider the case of causal inference where multimodal signals can originate from one or multiple separate objects and should not always be integrated. In this case, the learner is shown to develop a behavior that is closest to Bayesian model averaging. We conclude that reward mediated learning could be a driving force for the development of cue integration and causal inference

Mammary Involution and Breast Cancer Risk: Transgenic Models and Clinical Studies

Postlactational involution is the process following weaning during which the mammary gland undergoes massive cell death and tissue remodeling as it returns to the pre-pregnant state. Lobular involution is the process by which the breast epithelial tissue is gradually lost with aging of the mammary gland. While postlactational involution and lobular involution are distinct processes, recent studies have indicated that both are related to breast cancer development. Experiments using a variety of rodent models, as well as observations in human populations, suggest that deregulation of postlactational involution may act to facilitate tumor formation. By contrast, new human studies show that completion of lobular involution protects against subsequent breast cancer incidence

Language development after cochlear implantation: an epigenetic model

Growing evidence supports the notion that dynamic gene expression, subject to epigenetic control, organizes multiple influences to enable a child to learn to listen and to talk. Here, we review neurobiological and genetic influences on spoken language development in the context of results of a longitudinal trial of cochlear implantation of young children with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss in the Childhood Development after Cochlear Implantation study. We specifically examine the results of cochlear implantation in participants who were congenitally deaf (N = 116). Prior to intervention, these participants were subject to naturally imposed constraints in sensory (acoustic–phonologic) inputs during critical phases of development when spoken language skills are typically achieved rapidly. Their candidacy for a cochlear implant was prompted by delays (n = 20) or an essential absence of spoken language acquisition (n = 96). Observations thus present an opportunity to evaluate the impact of factors that influence the emergence of spoken language, particularly in the context of hearing restoration in sensitive periods for language acquisition. Outcomes demonstrate considerable variation in spoken language learning, although significant advantages exist for the congenitally deaf children implanted prior to 18 months of age. While age at implantation carries high predictive value in forecasting performance on measures of spoken language, several factors show significant association, particularly those related to parent–child interactions. Importantly, the significance of environmental variables in their predictive value for language development varies with age at implantation. These observations are considered in the context of an epigenetic model in which dynamic genomic expression can modulate aspects of auditory learning, offering insights into factors that can influence a child’s acquisition of spoken language after cochlear implantation. Increased understanding of these interactions could lead to targeted interventions that interact with the epigenome to influence language outcomes with intervention, particularly in periods in which development is subject to time-sensitive experience