WNT8 and BMP2B co-regulate non-axial mesoderm patterning during zebrafish gastrulation

AbstractDuring vertebrate mesoderm formation, fates are established according to position in the dorsoventral (D/V) axis of the embryo. Initially, maternal signaling divides nascent mesoderm into axial (dorsal) and non-axial (ventral) domains. Although the subsequent subdivision of non-axial mesoderm into multiple D/V fate domains is known to involve zygotic Wnt8 and BMP signaling as well as the Vent/Vox/Ved family of transcriptional repressors, how levels of signaling activity are translated into differential regulation of fates is not well understood. To address this question, we have analyzed zebrafish embryos lacking Wnt8 and BMP2b. Zebrafish wnt8; swr (bmp2b) double mutants display a progressive loss of non-axial mesoderm and a concomitant expansion of axial mesoderm during gastrulation. Mesoderm induction and specification of the axial domain occur normally in wnt8; swr mutants, but dorsal mesoderm genes eventually come to be expressed throughout the mesoderm, suggesting that the establishment of non-axial mesoderm identity requires continual repression of dorsal mesoderm factors, including repressors of ventral genes. Loss-of-function for Vent, Vox, and Ved phenocopies the wnt8; swr mutant phenotype, consistent with Wnt8 and BMP2b maintaining non-axial mesoderm identity during gastrulation through the regulation of these three transcriptional repressors. We postulate that timely differentiation of the mesoderm requires the maintenance of non-axial mesoderm identity by Wnt8 and BMP2b at the onset of gastrulation followed by subdivision of the non-axial mesoderm into different functional domains during gastrulation

Attention and Emotion Influence the Relationship Between Extraversion and Neural Response

Extraversion has been shown to positively correlate with activation within the ventral striatum, amygdala and other dopaminergically innervated, reward-sensitive regions. These regions are implicated in emotional responding, in a manner sensitive to attentional focus. However, no study has investigated the interaction among extraversion, emotion and attention. We used fMRI and dynamic, evocative film clips to elicit amusement and sadness in a sample of 28 women. Participants were instructed either to respond naturally (n = 14) or to attend to and continuously rate their emotions (n = 14) while watching the films. Contrary to expectations, striatal response was negatively associated with extraversion during amusement, regardless of attention. A negative association was also observed during sad films, but only when attending to emotion. These findings suggest that attentional focus does not influence the relationship between extraversion and neural response to positive (amusing) stimuli but does impact the response to negative (sad) stimuli

Topology Learning and Place Recognition using Bayesian Programming for Mobile Robot Navigation

This paper proposes an approach allowing topology learning and recognition in indoor environments by using a probabilistic approach called Bayesian Programming. The main goal of this approach is to cope with the uncertainty, imprecision and incompleteness of handled information. The Bayesian Program for topology recognition and door detection is presented. The method has been successfully tested in indoor environments with the BIBA robot, a fully autonomous robot. The experiments address both the topology learning and topology recognition capabilities of the approach

The sarcopenia and physical frailty in older people : multi-component treatment strategies (SPRINTT) project: description and feasibility of a nutrition intervention in community-dwelling older Europeans

Background The "Sarcopenia and Physical Frailty in Older People: Multicomponent Treatment Strategies" (SPRINTT) project sponsored a multi-center randomized controlled trial (RCT) with the objective to determine the effect of physical activity and nutrition intervention for prevention of mobility disability in community-dwelling frail older Europeans. We describe here the design and feasibility of the SPRINTT nutrition intervention, including techniques used by nutrition interventionists to identify those at risk of malnutrition and to carry out the nutrition intervention. Methods SPRINTT RCT recruited older adults (>= 70 years) from 11 European countries. Eligible participants (n = 1517) had functional limitations measured with Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB score 3-9) and low muscle mass as determined by DXA scans, but were able to walk 400 m without assistance within 15 min. Participants were followed up for up to 3 years. The nutrition intervention was carried out mainly by individual nutrition counseling. Nutrition goals included achieving a daily protein intake of 1.0-1.2 g/kg body weight, energy intake of 25-30 kcal/kg of body weight/day, and serum vitamin D concentration >= 75 mmol/L. Survey on the method strategies and feasibility of the nutrition intervention was sent to all nutrition interventionists of the 16 SPRINTT study sites. Results Nutrition interventionists from all study sites responded to the survey. All responders found that the SPRINTT nutrition intervention was feasible for the target population, and it was well received by the majority. The identification of participants at nutritional risk was accomplished by combining information from interviews, questionnaires, clinical and laboratory data. Although the nutrition intervention was mainly carried out using individual nutritional counselling, other assisting methods were used as appropriate. Conclusion The SPRINTT nutrition intervention was feasible and able to adapt flexibly to varying needs of this heterogeneous population. The procedures adopted to identify older adults at risk of malnutrition and to design the appropriate intervention may serve as a model to deliver nutrition intervention for community-dwelling older people with mobility limitations. Aim To describe the methods and feasibility of the nutritional intervention carried out within the SPRINTT Randomized cotrolled trial. We also illustrate how nutrition interventionists identified participants at risk of malnutrition and the lessons learnt from the nutrition intervention. Findings SPRINTT nutrition intervention was well-received by the majority of the participants. It was mainly carried out using tailored nutrition counselling, but also other means of delivering the intervention were successfully used. Compared with a standard nutrition prescription, an individualized protocol to diagnose malnutrition and follow-up by tailored nutrition counselling helped achieve nutritional targets more effectively in spite of diversity of population in nutritional habits and in some cases reluctance to accept changes. Message The SPRINTT nutrition intervention was feasible and allowed flexibility to the varying needs and cultural differences of this heterogeneous population of frail, older Europeans. It may serve as a model to educate and improve nutrition among community-dwelling older people at risk of mobility limitations.Peer reviewe

Analyse des orientations pour la caractérisation d'images de documents de la renaissance

Cet article présente une nouvelle méthode de caractérisation d'images de documents imprimés datant de la Renaissance. Notre approche se base sur une extraction des différentes orientations présentes sur la totalité de la surface de la page et qui sont caractéristiques de la présence de différentes entités textuelles, ou graphiques (incluant les enluminures, les ornements et bandeaux, les lettrines, ainsi que diverses illustrations). Cette caractérisation s'appuie sur le calcul et l'exploitation de la fonction d'autocorrélation qui a la particularité, lorsqu'elle est estimée sur une zone de texte ou de dessin, de générer une signature unique facilement identifiable. Ce choix nous permet de séparer le texte des dessins, tout en minimisant la quantité d'a priori relatif aux images traitées

Integrating ecosystem services within spatial biodiversity conservation prioritization in the Alps

As anthropogenic degradation of biodiversity and ecosystems increases, so does the potential threat to the supply of ecosystem services, a key contribution of nature to people. Biodiversity has often been used in spatial conservation planning and has been regarded as one among multiple services delivered by ecosystems. Hence, biodiversity conservation planning should be integrated in a framework of prioritizing services in order to inform decision-making. Here, we propose a prioritization approach based on scenarios maximising both the provision of ecosystem services and the conservation of biodiversity hotspots. Different weighting scenarios for the α-diversity in four taxonomic groups and 10 mapped ecosystem services were used to simulate varying priorities of policymakers in a mountain region. Our results illustrate how increasing priorities to ecosystem services can be disadvantageous to biodiversity. Moreover, the analysis to identify priority areas that best compromise the conservation of α-diversity and ecosystem services are predominantly not located within the current protected area network. Our analyses stress the need for an appropriate weighting of biodiversity within decision making that seek to integrate multiple ecosystem services. Our study paves the way toward further integration of multiple biodiversity groups and components, ecosystem services and various socio-economic scenarios, ultimately fuelling the development of more informed, evidence-based spatial planning decisions for conservation

Voice Enabled Interface for Interactive Tour Guide Robots

This paper considers design methodologies in order to develop voice-enabled interfaces for tour-guide robots to be deployed at the Robotics Exposition of the Swiss National Exhibition (Expo.02). Human-robot voice communication presents new challenges for design of fully autonomous mobile robots, in that interactivity must be robot-initiated in conversation and within a dynamic adverse environment. We approached these general problems for a voice enabled interface, tailored to limited computational resources of one on-board processor, when integrating smart speech signal acquisition, automatic speech recognition and synthesis, as well as dialogue system into the multi-modal, multi-sensor interface for the expo tour-guide robot. We also focus on particular issues that need to be addressed in voice-based interaction when planning specific tasks and research experiments for Expo.02 where tour-guide robots will interact with hundred of thousands of visitors during six months, seven days a week, ten hours per day

Borderline personality traits, rumination and self-injurious behavior: An empirical test of the emotional cascades model in adult male offenders

The aim of the study was to examine whether the emotional cascade model, which suggests that the relationship between emotional and behavioural dysregulation in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is mediated by rumination, applies to a sample of adult male offenders. The study focused on individuals with “BPD traits” and two dysregulated behaviors that are particularly relevant to the prison population: non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidality. Participants were 179 adult male offenders detained in a medium-secure prison, all of whom completed a battery of measures and self-reported their actual prison behaviour. The results support the application of the emotional cascade model to adult male offenders, suggesting that emotional cascades may play an important role in NSSI and suicidality in this population, although this relationship needs further exploration. These findings highlight the benefits of targeting rumination to manage risk of NSSI and suicidality within custodial settings

Visitor Flow Management using Human-Robot Interaction at Expo.02

In this paper we will regard the task of operating a public mass exposition with several autonomous robots at a time. This implies questions regarding human-robot interaction, multi-robot control and interaction management. To enable human-robot interaction while guiding a tour we outline the SOUL environment. Multi-robot and interaction management are regarded with respect to visitor density and visitor flow. Concluding we will present and discuss results from the Swiss national exhibition Expo.02 in the time from 15.05.02 to 17.07.02, corresponding to 5293 hours of total robot operation time up to date and in interaction with 283319 visitors

Multi-Robot Human-Interation and Visitor Flow Management

In this paper we address the task of human-robot interaction in public mass exposition with several autonomous robots at a time. This implies questions regarding multi-robot control and interaction management with respect to social and commercial aspects of such an exposition. Multi-robot and interaction management is addressed with respect to visitor density and visitor flow. Human-robot interaction is modeled using the SOUL environment. Concluding we will present and discuss results from the Swiss national exhibition Expo.02 in the time from 15.05.02 to 20.10.02, with over 10000 hours of total robot operation time and more than 600000 visitors