Fixation Patterns During Recognition of Personally Familiar and Unfamiliar Faces

Previous studies recording eye gaze during face perception have rendered somewhat inconclusive findings with respect to fixation differences between familiar and unfamiliar faces. This can be attributed to a number of factors that differ across studies: the type and extent of familiarity with the faces presented, the definition of areas of interest subject to analyses, as well as a lack of consideration for the time course of scan patterns. Here we sought to address these issues by recording fixations in a recognition task with personally familiar and unfamiliar faces. After a first common fixation on a central superior location of the face in between features, suggesting initial holistic encoding, and a subsequent left eye bias, local features were focused and explored more for familiar than unfamiliar faces. Although the number of fixations did not differ for un-/familiar faces, the locations of fixations began to differ before familiarity decisions were provided. This suggests that in the context of familiarity decisions without time constraints, differences in processing familiar and unfamiliar faces arise relatively early – immediately upon initiation of the first fixation to identity-specific information – and that the local features of familiar faces are processed more than those of unfamiliar faces

Space degradation of triple junction solar cells at low temperatures: II-electron irradiation

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Silencing mutated β-catenin inhibits cell proliferation and stimulates apoptosis in the adrenocortical cancer cell line H295R

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare and highly aggressive endocrine neoplasm, with limited therapeutic options. Activating β-catenin somatic mutations are found in ACC and have been associated with a poor clinical outcome. In fact, activation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway seems to play a major role in ACC aggressiveness, and might, thus, represent a promising therapeutic target. Similar to patient tumor specimen the H295 cell line derived from an ACC harbors a natural activating β-catenin mutation. We herein assess the in vitro and in vivo effect of β-catenin inactivation using a doxycyclin (dox) inducible shRNA plasmid in H295R adrenocortical cancer cells line (clone named shβ). Following dox treatment a profound reduction in β-catenin expression was detectable in shβ clones in comparison to control clones (Ctr). Accordingly, we observed a decrease in Wnt/βcatenin-dependent luciferase reporter activity as well as a decreased expression of AXIN2 representing an endogenous β-catenin target gene. Concomitantly, β-catenin silencing resulted in a decreased cell proliferation, cell cycle alterations with cell accumulation in the G1 phase and increased apoptosis in vitro. In vivo, on established tumor xenografts in athymic nude mice, 9 days of β-catenin silencing resulted in a significant reduction of CTNNB1 and AXIN2 expression. Moreover, continous β-catenin silencing, starting 3 days after tumor cell inoculation, was associated with a complete absence of tumor growth in the shβ group while tumors were present in all animals of the control group. In summary, these experiments provide evidences that Wnt/β-catenin pathway inhibition in ACC is a promising therapeutic target

Native spider silk as a biological optical fiber.

International audienceIn this study, we demonstrate the use of eco-friendly native spider silk as an efficient optical fiber in air, highly bent fibers, and physiological liquid. We also integrated the silk filament in a photonic chip made of polymer microstructures fabricated by UV lithography. The molding process is non-destructive for silk and leads to an efficient micro-optical coupling between silk and synthetic optical structures. These optical performances combined with the unique biocompatibility, bioresorbability, flexibility, and tensile strength of silk filaments pave the way for new applications in biological media and for original biophotonic purposes

Quality of life after transcatheter or surgical aortic valve replacement using the Toronto Aortic Stenosis Quality of Life Questionnaire

Malalties aòrtiques; Pròtesi de vàlvula cardíaca; Qualitat de l'assistència sanitàriaEnfermedades aórticas; Prótesis de válvula cardíaca; Calidad de la asistencia sanitariaAortic diseases; Heart valve prosthesis; Quality of healthcareBackground The Toronto Aortic Stenosis Quality of Life Questionnaire (TASQ) is a validated instrument for assessing quality of life (QoL) in patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS). In this study, we evaluated health status outcomes, based on the TASQ, in patients with severe AS undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) or surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). Methods The TASQ registry was a prospective observational registry. Patients with severe AS from nine centres in Europe and one in Canada underwent either SAVR or transfemoral TAVR. Patients completed the TASQ, Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire and Short Form-12 V.2 prior to the intervention, predischarge, and at 30-day and 3-month follow-ups. Primary end point was the TASQ score. Results In both the TAVR (n=137) and SAVR (n=137) cohorts, significant increases were observed in all three scores. The overall TASQ score improved as did all but one of the individual domains at 3 months after the intervention (p<0.001). TASQ health expectations were the only domain which worsened (p<0.001). Across TASQ subscores, significant changes were evident from the time of discharge in the TAVR and 30-day follow-up in the SAVR cohort. In a categorical analysis of the TASQ, 39.7% of the TAVR group and 35.0% of the SAVR group had a substantially improved health status at 3 months compared with baseline. Conclusions The TASQ captured changes in QoL among patients with severe AS who were treated with TAVR or SAVR. QoL improved substantially after either intervention, as indicated by changes in the TASQ overall score at 3 months.This work was supported by a research grant provided by Edwards Lifesciences (Nyon, Switzerland) to the Institute for Pharmacology and Preventive Medicine (Cloppenburg, Germany)

Trial protocol for the validation of the 'Toronto Aortic Stenosis Quality of Life (TASQ) Questionnaire' in patients undergoing surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) or transfemoral (TF) transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI): the TASQ registry

Aortic stenosis; Aortic valve replacement; Quality of lifeEstenosi aòrtica; Reemplaçament de la vàlvula aòrtica; Qualitat de vidaEstenosis aórtica; Reemplazo de la válvula aórtica; Calidad de vidaPatients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) have a reduced life expectancy and quality of life (QoL), owing to advanced age and the presence of multiple comorbidities. Currently, there is no AS-specific QoL measurement tool, which prevents an accurate assessment of how this chronic condition and its treatment affect patients. The Toronto Aortic Stenosis Quality of Life Questionnaire (TASQ) was developed in order to address this deficiency. METHODS: The present trial protocol was designed to enable validation of the TASQ, which has been produced in five languages (English, French, German, Italian and Spanish) to increase usability. Patients with severe AS who are undergoing surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) or transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) will be asked to complete the TASQ and, for comparative purposes, the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire and the general health-related QoL Short Form-12 questionnaire. The questionnaires will be completed prior to the intervention, at discharge, as well as at 30 days and 3 months follow-up. A total of 290 patients will be recruited across one Canadian and nine European centres. Overall, the protocol validation aims to include 120 patients undergoing transfemoral TAVI (TF-TAVI), 120 undergoing SAVR and up to 50 being treated medically. The primary objective of the registry is to validate the TASQ in five different languages. The secondary objective is to assess the utility of the TASQ for assessing differences in QoL outcome between patients undergoing TF-TAVI, SAVR or medical management for their AS. DISCUSSION: Validation and roll-out of the TASQ will enable clinicians to capture an accurate assessment of how AS and its management affects the QoL of patients and will help them to determine the most appropriate treatment strategy for individual patients.A research grant provided by Edwards Lifesciences (Nyon, Switzerland) to the Institute for Pharmacology and Preventive Medicine (Cloppenburg, Germany)

Longitudinal beam profile measurements at CTF3 using a streak camera

The proposed Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) is a multi-TeV electron-positron collider for particle physics based on an innovative two-beam acceleration concept. A high-intensity drive beam powers the main beam of a high-frequency (30 GHz) linac with a gradient of 150 MV/m, by means of transfer structure sections. The aim of the CLIC Test Facility (CTF3) is to make exhaustive tests of the main CLIC parameters and to prove the technical feasibility. One of the points of particular interest is the demonstration of bunch train compression and combination in the Delay Loop and in the Combiner Ring. Thus, detailed knowledge about the longitudinal beam structure is of utmost importance and puts high demands on the diagnostic equipment. Among others, measurements with a streak camera have been performed on the linac part of the CTF3 as well as on the newly installed Delay Loop. This allowed e.g. monitoring of the longitudinal structure of individual bunches, the RF combination of the beam, the behavior during phase shifts and the influence of the installed wiggler. This article first gives an overview of the CTF3 facility, then describes in detail the layout of the long optical lines required for observation of either optical transition radiation or synchrotron radiation, and finally shows first results obtained during the last machine run this year