Why are we not flooded by involuntary autobiographical memories? Few cues are more effective than many

Recent research on involuntary autobiographical memories (IAMs) has shown that these memories can be elicited and studied in the laboratory under controlled conditions. Employing a modified version of a vigilance task developed by Schlagman and Kvavilashvili (Mem Cogn 36:920–932, 2008) to elicit IAMs, we investigated the effects of varying the frequency of external cues on the number of IAMs reported. During the vigilance task, participants had to detect an occasional target stimulus (vertical lines) in a constant stream of non-target stimuli (horizontal lines). Participants had to interrupt the task whenever they became aware of any task-unrelated mental contents and to report them. In addition to line patterns, participants were exposed to verbal cues and their frequency was experimentally manipulated in three conditions (frequent cues vs. infrequent cues vs. infrequent cues plus arithmetic operations). We found that, compared to infrequent cues, both conditions with frequent cues and infrequent cues plus arithmetic operations decreased the number of IAMs reported. The comparison between the three experimental conditions suggests that this reduction was due to the greater cognitive load in conditions of frequent cues and infrequent cue plus arithmetic operations. Possible mechanisms involved in this effect and their implications for research on IAMs are discussed

Spatial organization of seismicity and fracture pattern in NE Italy and W Slovenia

Abstract The study focuses on the spatial organization of seismicity and the relation between fracture pattern and earthquakes in the Friuli (north-eastern Italy) and western Slovenia seismic regions. The structural setting is characterized by a complex structure resulting from the superposition of several tectonic phases that generated NWSE trending Dinaric faults and about E-W trending Alpine faults. The upper crust is characterized by lithological and mechanical heterogeneities. The fractal analysis shows that, in general, the seismicity only partially fills a plane. Only in a few cases, the earthquakes distribute on planar structures. The orientation of planes that fit through the hypocentres shows a different disposition at the two depth intervals analysed. The shallower interval (0\u201310 km) is characterized by planes with highly variable orientations. The spatial seismicity is investigated in the context of a general damage model, represented by the crack density distribution. The results evidence that the seismicity appears mostly located along sharp transition areas from low crack density to higher crack density, i.e., from zones of low damage to zones of intermediate damage. These zones are characterized by high heterogeneity due to the superposition of different tectonic phases and by the maximum interference between Dinaric and Alpine domains. The orientation of the planes fitting the seismicity at 10\u201320-km depth appears less dispersed, coinciding with the trend of Dinaric subvertical faults in the northern and eastern parts of the study area, and with Alpine low-angle faults in the western and southern parts

Seismic modeling to monitor CO2 geological storage: The Atzbach-Schwanenstadt gas field

We develop a petro-elastical numerical methodology to compute realistic synthetic seismograms and analyze the sensitivity of the seismic response when injecting carbon dioxide (CO2) in a depleted gas reservoir. The petro-elastical model describes the seismic properties of the reservoir rock saturated with CO2, methane and brine, and allows us to estimate the distribution and saturation of CO2 during the injection process. The gas properties, as a function of the in-situ pressure and temperature conditions, are computed with the Peng-Robinson equation of state, taking into account the absorption of gas by brine. Wave attenuation and velocity dispersion are based on the mesoscopic loss mechanism, which is simulated by an upscaling procedure to obtain an equivalent viscoelastic medium corresponding to partial saturation at the mesoscopic scale. Having the equivalent complex and frequency-dependent bulk (dilatational) modulus, we include shear attenuation and perform numerical simulations of wave propagation at the macroscale by solving the viscoelastic differential equations using the memory-variable approach. The pseudo-spectral modeling method allows general material variability and provides a complete and accurate characterization of the reservoir. The methodology is used to assess the sensitivity of the seismic method for monitoring the CO2 geological storage at the Atzbach-Schwanestadt depleted gas-field in Austria. The objective of monitoring is the detection of the CO2 plume in the reservoir and possible leakages of CO2. The leakages are located at different depths, where the CO2 is present as gaseous, liquid and supercritical phases. Even though the differences can be very subtle, this work shows that seismic monitoring of CO2 from the surface is possible. While the identification of shallow leakages is feasible, the detection of the plume and deep leakages, located in the caprock just above the injection formation, is more difficult, but possible by using repeatability metrics, such as the normalized RMS (NRMS) images. Considering real-data conditions, affected by random noise, a reference detection threshold for deep leakages and the CO 2 plume in the reservoir corresponds to a signal-to-noise ratio of about 10 dB.Fil: Picotti, Stefano. Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale; ItaliaFil: Carcione, José M.. Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale; ItaliaFil: Gei, Davide. Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale; ItaliaFil: Rossi, Giuliana. Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale; ItaliaFil: Santos, Juan Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto del Gas y del Petróleo; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; Argentina. Purdue University; Estados Unido

Targeting Nfix to fix muscular dystrophies

Muscular dystrophies (MDs) are still incurable heterogeneous diseases, characterized by muscle wasting, replacement by fibrotic tissue, and increasing weakness, which in severe cases, such as Duchenne MD, lead to premature death. MDs are due to mutations encompassing different dystrophin-glycoprotein complex (DGC) genes, which code for structural proteins that anchor the cytoskeleton to the extracellular matrix, thus conferring myofiber stability. All mutations destabilizing this complex result in different MD forms, with varying levels of severity. Independently of the genetic defect, MDs share common hallmarks, characterized by continuous cycles of muscle degeneration, due to lack of structural support during contraction, followed by regeneration cycles by satellite cells (SCs), the canonical myogenic stem cells of adult muscle. However, dystrophic SCs generate new fibres which are also prone to degeneration so that, after many cycles of degeneration/regeneration, this cell population is exhausted and muscle is replaced by connective and adipose tissue. At this stage, any therapeutic intervention is likely to fail

The GATA1-HS2 Enhancer Allows Persistent and Position-Independent Expression of a β-globin Transgene

Gene therapy of genetic diseases requires persistent and position-independent expression of a therapeutic transgene. Transcriptional enhancers binding chromatin-remodeling and modifying complexes may play a role in shielding transgenes from repressive chromatin effects. We tested the activity of the HS2 enhancer of the GATA1 gene in protecting the expression of a β-globin minigene delivered by a lentiviral vector in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells. Gene expression from proviruses carrying GATA1-HS2 in both LTRs was persistent and resistant to silencing at most integration sites in the in vivo progeny of human hematopoietic progenitors and murine long-term repopulating stem cells. The GATA1-HS2-modified vector allowed correction of murine β-thalassemia at low copy number without inducing clonal selection of erythroblastic progenitors. Chromatin immunoprecipitation studies showed that GATA1 and the CBP acetyltransferase bind to GATA1-HS2, significantly increasing CBP-specific histone acetylations at the LTRs and β-globin promoter. Recruitment of CBP by the LTRs thus establishes an open chromatin domain encompassing the entire provirus, and increases the therapeutic efficacy of β-globin gene transfer by reducing expression variegation and epigenetic silencing

Progress and potential in organoid research

Tissue and organ biology are very challenging to study in mammals, and progress can be hindered, particularly in humans, by sample accessibility and ethical concerns. However, advances in stem cell culture have made it possible to derive in vitro 3D tissues called organoids, which capture some of the key multicellular, anatomical and even functional hallmarks of real organs at the micrometre to millimetre scale. Recent studies have demonstrated that organoids can be used to model organ development and disease and have a wide range of applications in basic research, drug discovery and regenerative medicine. Researchers are now beginning to take inspiration from other fields, such as bioengineering, to generate organoids that are more physiologically relevant and more amenable to real-life applications

A new generation photodetector for astroparticle physics: the VSiPMT

The VSiPMT (Vacuum Silicon PhotoMultiplier Tube) is an innovative design we proposed for a revolutionary photon detector. The main idea is to replace the classical dynode chain of a PMT with a SiPM (G-APD), the latter acting as an electron detector and amplifier. The aim is to match the large sensitive area of a photocathode with the performance of the SiPM technology. The VSiPMT has many attractive features. In particular, a low power consumption and an excellent photon counting capability. To prove the feasibility of the idea we first tested the performance of a special non-windowed SiPM by Hamamatsu (MPPC) as electron detector and current amplifier. Thanks to this result Hamamatsu realized two VSiPMT industrial prototypes. In this work, we present the results of a full characterization of the VSiPMT prototype

Effect of mechanical separation process on lipid oxidation in European aquacultured sea bass, gilthead sea bream, and rainbow trout products

Mechanical separation systems are a good option to create new fish products and open new market, however studies on the effect on quality of mechanical treatment on species of interest for European aquaculture, such as European sea bass, gilthead sea bream, and rainbow trout are scarce. Thus in this research, the effect on colour, nutritional quality, and lipid stability was considered immediately after separation process and after 90 days of frozen storage. Results revealed that mechanical separation technique significantly affected colour and lipid stability of the three studied species. Increases in L* and secondary oxidation products were observed, together with a decrease of antioxidant capacity. Nutritional value instead was unaffected by treatment. Thus, mechanical separation process could represent a new way to better exploit species of interest for European aquaculture and acquire new market niches, but oxidative processes during the treatment have to be limited and kept under control