Seeing properties of an invisible object: Feature inheritance and shine-through

We characterize a class of spatio-temporal illusions with two complementary properties. Firstly, if a vernier stimulus is flashed for a short time on a monitor and is followed immediately by a grating, the latter can express features of the vernier, such as its offset, its orientation, or its motion (feature inheritance). Yet the vernier stimulus itself remains perceptually invisible. Secondly, the vernier can be rendered visible by presenting gratings with a larger number of elements (shine-through). Under these conditions, subjects perceive two independent " objects " each carrying their own features. Transition between these two domains can be effected by subtle changes in the spatio-temporal layout of the grating. This should allow psychophysicists and electrophysiologists to investigate feature binding in a precise and quantitative manner

Das Methodenpaket IeMAX mit dem Fuzzy-Simulationsmodell FLUCS - Entwicklung und Anwendung eines Entscheidungsunterstützungssystems für die integrative Raumplanung

Ausgehend von der Tatsache, dass bei unterschiedlichen Nutzungsansprüchen an einen Raum Konfliktsituationen auftreten können, entwickelt die vorliegende Untersuchung zur Unterstützung von Entscheidungsfindungen das Methodenpaket IeMAX (Integrated environmental Modelling and Assessment with a Fuzzy Logic Expert System) mit dem Fuzzy-Simulations-modell FLUCS (Fuzzy Logic based agricultural land use change Simulation System) als Entscheidungsunterstützungssystem mit den Komponenten Systemanalyse, Modellierung und Bewertung. Grundlage für die Erprobung des Systems anhand der für Schleswig-Holstein typischerweise konfligierenden Raumansprüche der Land- und Wasserwirtschaft sowie der Siedlungs- und Verkehrsentwicklung sind die als Systemkomponente ‚Wissensmanagement' zusammengefassten einschlägigen Erkenntnisse der Ökosystemforschung und Umweltökonomie sowie des Umweltrechts. Die Modellentwicklung folgt den Prinzipien der Szenariobildung und stützt sich vor allem auf die Methoden der Fuzzy Logic und der Expertensystemtechnik. Das regelbasierte Fuzzy-Simulationsmodell FLUCS besteht aus drei Teilmodellen mit 15 linguistischen Variablen, 53 diese beschreibenden Termen und 136 ‚Wenn-Dann-Regeln'. Das Modell berechnet als entscheidungsrelevantes Gesamtergebnis Art und Ausmaß der zur Konfliktlösung notwendigen Flächenumwidmungen und Nutzungsänderungen

Spatial aspects of object formation revealed by a new illusion, shine-through

When a vernier stimulus is presented for a short time and followed by a grating comprising five straight lines, the vernier remains invisible but may bequeath its offset to the grating (feature inheritance). For more than seven grating elements, the vernier is rendered visible as a shine-through element. However, shine-through depends strongly on the spatio-temporal layout of the grating. Here, we show that spatially inhomogeneous gratings diminish shine-through and vernier discrimination. Even subtle deviations, in the range of a few minutes of arc, matter. However, longer presentation times of the vernier regenerate shine-through. Feature inheritance and shine-through may become a useful tool in investigating such different topics as time course of information processing, feature binding, attention, and masking

Shine-through: temporal aspects

If a vernier stimulus precedes a grating for a very short time, the vernier either remains invisible, but may bequeath some of its properties to the grating (feature inheritance), or might shine through keeping its features — depending on the number of grating elements [Herzog, M. H. & Koch, C., 2001. Seeing properities of an invisible element: feature inheritance and shine-through. Proceedings of the Natlional Academy of Science USA 98, 4271–4275]. Feature inheritance and shine-through represent two different states of feature binding [Herzog, M. H., Koch, C., & Fahle, M., Switching binding states. Visual Cognition (in press)], whereas shine-through depends in subtle ways on the spatial layout of the grating [Herzog, M. H., Fahle, M., & Koch, C., (2001). Spatial aspects of object formation revealed by a new illusion, shine-through. Vision Research]. Here, we show that also temporal parameters of the grating influence shine-through. For example, a delayed presentation of certain grating elements can deteriorate performance dramatically

Differential effects of habitat isolation and landscape composition on wasps, bees, and their enemies

Habitat loss and fragmentation are major threats to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Effects of these usually intercorrelated processes on biodiversity have rarely been separated at a landscape scale. We studied the independent effects of amount of woody habitat in the landscape and three levels of isolation from the next woody habitat (patch isolation) on trap nesting bees, wasps, and their enemies at 30 farmland sites in the Swiss plateau. Species richness of wasps was negatively affected by patch isolation and positively affected by the amount of woody habitat in the landscape. In contrast, species richness of bees was neither influenced by patch isolation nor by landscape composition. Isolation from woody habitats reduced species richness and abundance of natural enemies more strongly than of their hosts, so that parasitism rate was lowered by half in isolated sites compared to forest edges. Thus, population regulation of the hosts may be weakened by habitat fragmentation. We conclude that habitat amount at the landscape scale and local patch connectivity are simultaneously important for biodiversity conservatio

Fusion of competing features is not serial

How features of an object are bound into a unique percept is one of the puzzling problems in the cognitive and neuro-sciences. In order to investigate the spatio-temporal mechanisms of feature binding, we serially present two verniers with opposite offset directions for very short durations. Only one vernier is perceived with its offset dominated by the vernier presented second. This dominance reverses if the two verniers are followed by masking gratings, i.e. the first presented vernier dominates performance. Therefore, feature fusion can neither be explained completely by spatially local mechanisms nor by the temporal order of appearance of elements

Design and performance of the multiplexing spectrometer CAMEA

The cold neutron multiplexing secondary spectrometer CAMEA (Continuous Angle Multiple Energy Analysis) was commissioned at the Swiss spallation neutron source SINQ at the Paul Scherrer Institut at the end of 2018. The spectrometer is optimised for an efficient data collection in the horizontal scattering plane, allowing for detailed and rapid mapping of excitations under extreme conditions. The novel design consists of consecutive, upward scattering analyzer arcs underneath an array of position sensitive detectors mounted inside a low permeability stainless-steel vacuum vessel. The construction of the world's first continuous angle multiple energy analysis instrument required novel solutions to many technical challenges, including analyzer mounting, vacuum connectors, and instrument movement. These were solved by extensive prototype experiments and in-house developments. Here we present a technical overview of the spectrometer describing in detail the engineering solutions and present our first experimental data taken during the commissioning. Our results demonstrate the tremendous gains in data collection rate for this novel type of spectrometer design

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase II study to assess the efficacy/safety of farletuzumab in combination with carboplatin plus paclitaxel or carboplatin plus pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) in women with low CA-125 platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer

Objectives: The primary objective of this study (MORAb-003-011/ENGOT-ov27) was to determine if farletuzumab (FAR) had superior efficacy compared with placebo (PLB) in improving progression-free survival (PFS) when added to carboplatin (carbo)/paclitaxel (pacli) or carbo/PLD, in subjects with platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer in first relapse (platinum-free interval: 6-36 months) with low cancer antigen 125 (CA-125). CA-125 inhibits target cell killing via antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, thereby reducing the efficacy of immunotherapeutic antibodies. Subgroup analysis in a prior randomized Phase III study±FAR suggested that subjects with CA-125 levels ≤3 x upper limit of normal (ULN), showed superior PFS (hazard risk [HR] = 0.49) and overall survival (OS, HR = 0.44) compared with PLB. Methods: Eligibility included age ≥18 years old, CA-125 ≤3 x ULN (105 U/mL), high-grade serous epithelial ovarian cancer, and previous treatment with debulking surgery and first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. Subjects received 6 cycles with either carbo/pacli every 3 weeks or carbo/PLD in combination with either FAR [5 mg/kg weekly] or PLB in a 2:1 ratio. Maintenance treatment with FAR (5 mg/kg weekly) or PLB was given until disease progression. Tumor assessments were every 6 weeks during the Combination Treatment Phase and every 9 weeks during the Maintenance Treatment Phase. The study was designed to detect a PFS HR of 0.667 (33.3% risk reduction) with FAR compared with PLB with approximately 85% power and a 1-sided type I error rate of 0.10. The comparison of PFS between treatment groups was based on the log-rank test. The HR was estimated based on Cox\u27s proportional-hazards model. Results: A total of 214 subjects were randomized and enrolled, 142 with FAR+chemotherapy (FAR-CT) and 72 with placebo+chemotherapy (PLB-CT). The median PFS in the Intent-to-Treat [ITT] Population was not significantly different between treatment groups; 11.7 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 10.2, 13.6) versus 10.8 months (95% CI: 9.5, 13.2) for FAR-CT and PLB-CT, respectively (HR = 0.89; 80% CI: 0.71, 1.11). An interim analysis of OS showed no significant difference between treatment groups. The overall response rate (ORR) was 69.6% in 96 subjects treated with FAR-CT versus 73.5% in 50 subjects treated with PLB-CT (p=0.53). No significant differences between treatment groups were observed for any other efficacy parameters. The safety profile of the 2 treatment groups was similar except for an increase in interstitial lung disease among the FAR cohort. Interstitial lung disease occurred in 7 of 141 (5.0%) subjects treated with FAR-CT (1 with Grade 1, 4 with Grade 2, and 2 with Grade 3) and none in subjects treated with PLB-CT. Conclusions: The combination of FAR-CT did not show signals of superior efficacy compared with PLB-CT in improving PFS or other efficacy parameters in subjects with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer in first relapse who had low CA-125 levels. No new safety concerns were identified with the combination of FAR-CT. Since FAR binds to the folate receptor alpha, a novel antibody-drug conjugate has been developed and clinical studies are ongoing to assess the safety/efficacy of this modification. Clinical Trial Registry: NCT02289950

Safety and clinical outcomes of rituximab therapy in patients with different autoimmune diseases: experience from a national registry (GRAID)

Introduction: Evidence from a number of open-label, uncontrolled studies has suggested that rituximab may benefit patients with autoimmune diseases who are refractory to standard-of-care. The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety and clinical outcomes of rituximab in several standard-of-care-refractory autoimmune diseases (within rheumatology, nephrology, dermatology and neurology) other than rheumatoid arthritis or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in a real-life clinical setting. Methods: Patients who received rituximab having shown an inadequate response to standard-of-care had their safety and clinical outcomes data retrospectively analysed as part of the German Registry of Autoimmune Diseases. The main outcome measures were safety and clinical response, as judged at the discretion of the investigators. Results: A total of 370 patients (299 patient-years) with various autoimmune diseases (23.0% with systemic lupus erythematosus, 15.7% antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated granulomatous vasculitides, 15.1% multiple sclerosis and 10.0% pemphigus) from 42 centres received a mean dose of 2,440 mg of rituximab over a median (range) of 194 (180 to 1,407) days. The overall rate of serious infections was 5.3 per 100 patient-years during rituximab therapy. Opportunistic infections were infrequent across the whole study population, and mostly occurred in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. There were 11 deaths (3.0% of patients) after rituximab treatment (mean 11.6 months after first infusion, range 0.8 to 31.3 months), with most of the deaths caused by infections. Overall (n = 293), 13.3% of patients showed no response, 45.1% showed a partial response and 41.6% showed a complete response. Responses were also reflected by reduced use of glucocorticoids and various immunosuppressives during rituximab therapy and follow-up compared with before rituximab. Rituximab generally had a positive effect on patient well-being (physician's visual analogue scale; mean improvement from baseline of 12.1 mm). Conclusions: Data from this registry indicate that rituximab is a commonly employed, well-tolerated therapy with potential beneficial effects in standard of care-refractory autoimmune diseases, and support the results from other open-label, uncontrolled studies

Non-bee insects are important contributors to global crop pollination

Wild and managed bees are well documented as effective pollinators of global crops of economic importance. However, the contributions by pollinators other than bees have been little explored despite their potential to contribute to crop production and stability in the face of environmental change. Non-bee pollinators include flies, beetles, moths, butterflies, wasps, ants, birds, and bats, among others. Here we focus on non-bee insects and synthesize 39 field studies from five continents that directly measured the crop pollination services provided by non-bees, honey bees, and other bees to compare the relative contributions of these taxa. Non-bees performed 25–50% of the total number of flower visits. Although non-bees were less effective pollinators than bees per flower visit, they made more visits; thus these two factors compensated for each other, resulting in pollination services rendered by non-bees that were similar to those provided by bees. In the subset of studies that measured fruit set, fruit set increased with non-bee insect visits independently of bee visitation rates, indicating that non-bee insects provide a unique benefit that is not provided by bees. We also show that non-bee insects are not as reliant as bees on the presence of remnant natural or seminatural habitat in the surrounding landscape. These results strongly suggest that non-bee insect pollinators play a significant role in global crop production and respond differently than bees to landscape structure, probably making their crop pollination services more robust to changes in land use. Non-bee insects provide a valuable service and provide potential insurance against bee population declines