Black Circles Research Articles

An Ensemble Machine Learning Approach to Predict Cognitive Impairment and Amyloid Deposition through Metabolic and Vascular Deficits in ADNI Cohorts

Metabolic and vascular changes in the brain have been shown to pre-date the development of cognitive impairment and amyloid-β deposition in Alzheimer's disease by several decades. However, these changes are not well characterized and currently lack clinical applications. Thus, the aim of this study was to elucidate that metabolic and vascular deficits that are indicative of Alzheimer's disease progression through an ensemble machine learning approach. Multimodal neuroimaging data (MRI and PET) from 193 patients ranging from normal cognition (n = 63) to mild cognitive impairment (n = 101) to Alzheimer's disease (n = 29) were obtained from ADNI, and analyzed for glucose uptake, cerebral blood flow, and florbetapir concentration (amyloid-β indicator). A meta-analysis was then performed to determine brain regions that typically exhibit changes in longitudinal Alzheimer's studies. These regions of interest, along with neuropsychological examinations, genetics, and demographic information were used to engineer features for a prediction framework that implemented nearest-neighbor algorithm, k-means clustering, and a multilayer perceptron neural network. The framework achieved 71.0% accuracy in identifying mild cognitive impairment patients with a receiver operating characteristic of 0.722, and achieved 92.3% accuracy in predicting conversion from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease within three years, with a receiver operating characteristic of 0.959. This approach not only significantly outperformed existing methods, but can be used for cohort selection in future clinical drug trials. Linear correlation plots of FDG and CBF (A.), FDG and Florbetapir (B.), and CBF and Florbetapir (C.). FDG: Fluorodeoxyglucose (18F); CBF: Cerebral blood flow; AV 45: Florbetapir, SUV: standardized uptake value; Aβ: Amyloid-beta. Color-coded linear regression plots of CBF against FDG for male CN (A.), MCI (B.), and AD (C.) and female CN (D.), MCI (E.), and AD (F.) patients. Red circles indicate left inferior parietal, orange circles are right inferior parietal, black circles are posterior cingulate, green circles are left inferior temporal, and blue circles correspond to right inferior temporal. P-values are significant in male MCI, female MCI, and female AD. The predictor space (A.) shows the relationship between gender, left angular glucose uptake, and right angular glucose uptake. A four-layer MLP achieved 71.0% accuracy in identifying MCI patients, with receiver operating characteristics of 0.722 (B.). Normalized importance of each feature was then calculated and plotted (C.), with the highest five features originating in neuroimaging. An ensemble approach that implemented k-means clustering and a multilayer perceptron neural network achieved 92.3% accuracy with a receiver operating characteristic of 0.959 (A.). Normalized importance of each feature was then calculated and plotted (B.). This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

Dermoscopy of Cutaneous Mastocytoma.

An 8-year-old boy presented with an episodically pruritic, dome-shaped, yellowish to skin-colored papule measuring approximately 6 mm × 5 mm on the right upper chest from the past 6 months [Figure 1]. Stroking the lesion with a blunt object produced a faint perilesional erythema without whealing. The lesion was completely excised, and hematoxylin-eosin analysis revealed diffuse dermal mononuclear cell infiltrate extending into and widening the dermal papillae [Figure 2a]. The cells stained positively with toluidine blue with metachromatic intracellular granules [Figure 2b]. The clinical and histological features were consistent with solitary cutaneous mastocytoma. Dermoscopy under polarized mode revealed a central whitish structureless area with a few reddish spots surrounded by reticulate brownish pigmentary networks on a yellowish background. The periphery of the lesion was formed by a reticulate hyperpigmented rim [Figure 3].Figure 1: A 6 mm × 5 mm yellowish smooth dome shaped papule on the right upper chestFigure 2: Photomicrograph showing diffuse mononuclear cell infiltrate involving the dermis extending into and expanding the dermal papillae [a, H and E, Original magnification x40]. The cells stained positively with toluidine blue with metachromatic (pink) intracellular granules [b, Toluidine blue, Original magnification x40]Figure 3: Non-contact dermoscopy under polarized mode using DermLite™ DL3 demonstrated a central white structureless area with a few red dots surrounded by reticulate brownish pigmentary network on a yellowish background (black circles), and a marginal reticulate hyperpigmented rim (yellow arrows pointing). [Original magnification x10]Cutaneous mastocytoma usually occurs as a solitary lesion commonly involving the trunk, neck, and extremities of children. The onset is generally within the first few months of birth but late onset lesions are not infrequent. Typical lesions are yellowish-brown, smooth dome-shaped papules or nodules which may urticate on stroking (Darier's sign). Although a pathognomonic feature, the Darier's sign is seen only in half of the cases.[1] Vano-Galvan et al. delineated four predominant dermoscopic features in cutaneous lesions of mastocytosis which included light brown blot, pigment network (attributable to dermal mast cell infiltrate and basal layer hypermelanization), and yellow-orange blot (attributed to dense papillary and reticular dermal mast cell infiltrate). Among these, the yellow-orange blot was consistently associated with mastocytoma.[2] In our case, the brown reticulate network on a background of yellowish hue was seen indicative of dense dermal mast cell infiltrate with increased melanization of the overlying basal layer of the epidermis, as evident in Figure 2a. The central pale yellow to whitish structureless area is caused by the accumulation of serosanguineous fluid produced due to excoriation of the epidermis in the centre of the lesion [Figure 1] because of scratching. The linear vessels and red spots in the centre correspond to dilated vessels seen prominently due to excoriation of the epidermis. Differential diagnoses for such lesions in children include juvenile xanthogranuloma and papular or tuberous xanthomata. Juvenile xanthogranuloma is a close clinical differential diagnosis for mastocytoma. Dermoscopically as well, it exhibits yellow-orange blots, however, the color contrasts typically give a “setting sun” appearance. Additional features include fine interrupted brownish lines and peripheral vascular patterns.[3] Hence, dermoscopy is a useful investigative tool not only to support the clinical findings of cutaneous mastocytoma but also to differentiate from closer differentials such as juvenile xanthogranuloma. Declaration of patient consent The authors certify that they have obtained all appropriate patient consent forms. In the form the patient(s) has/have given his/her/their consent for his/her/their images and other clinical information to be reported in the journal. The patients understand that their names and initials will not be published and due efforts will be made to conceal their identity, but anonymity cannot be guaranteed. Financial support and sponsorship Nil. Conflicts of interest There are no conflicts of interest.

The sea urchin Diadema africanum uses low resolution vision to find shelter and deter enemies.

Many sea urchins can detect light on their body surface and some species are reported to possess image-resolving vision. Here, we measure the spatial resolution of vision in the long-spined sea urchin Diadema africanum, using two different visual responses: a taxis towards dark objects and an alarm response of spine-pointing towards looming stimuli. For the taxis response we used visual stimuli, which were isoluminant to the background, to discriminate spatial vision from phototaxis. Individual animals were placed in the centre of a cylindrical arena under bright down-welling light, with stimuli of varying angular width placed on the arena wall at alternating directions from the centre. We tracked the direction of movement of individual animals in relation to the stimuli to determine whether the animals oriented towards the stimulus. We found that D. africanum responds by taxis towards isoluminant stimuli with a spatial resolution in the range of 29-69 deg. This corresponds to a theoretical acceptance angle of 38-89 deg, assuming a contrast threshold of 10%. The visual acuity of the alarm response of D. africanum was tested by exposing animals to different sized dark looming and appearing stimuli on a monitor. We found that D. africanum displays a spine-pointing response to appearing black circles of 13-25 deg angular width, corresponding to an acceptance angle of 60-116 deg, assuming the same contrast threshold as above.

Fabrication and Characterization of PZN-4.5PT Inorganic Perovskites Nanoparticles Thin Films Deposited on P-Type Silicon Substrate

This work involves an investigation of nanostructures, microelectronic properties and domain engineering of nanoparticles thin layers of Pb(Zn1/ 3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 (PZN-PT) ferroelectric single crystals deposited on nanostructured silicon substrate. In this study, devices made from PZN-4.5PT nanoparticles thin films successfully deposited on silicon substrate have been studied and discussed. SEM images show the formation of local black circles and hexagonal shapes probably due to the nucleation of a new Si-gel component or phase induced by annealing. Micro Xray Fluorescence mapping shows that the high values of Si and B atoms (≅7 and 4 normalized unit respectively) can be explained by the fact that the substrate is p-type silicon. The most interesting result of optical measurements is the very good absorption for all the thin films in UV, Visible and NIR regions with values from 70% to 90% in UV, from 75% to 93% in Visible and NIR. Tauc plots present particularities (rarely encountered behavior) with different segments or absorption changes showing the presence of multiple band gaps coming from the heterogeneity of the thin films (nanowires, gel and nanoparticles). Their values are 1.9 and 2.8 eV for DKRN-Gel, 2.1 and 3.1 eV for DKRN-UD and 2.1 and 3.2 eV for DKRN-D) corresponding respectively to the band gap of nanowires and that of the gel while the last ones correspond to the undoped and doped nanoparticles (3.1 and 3.2 eV respectively).

Corrigendum.

Corrigendum.

Corrigendum to ″Schmidingerothrix salinarum nov. spec. isthe Molecular Sister of the Large Oxytrichid Clade (Ciliophora, Hypotricha) by Foissner et al. 2014″.

Journal of Eukaryotic MicrobiologyVolume 65, Issue 2 p. 290-290 CorrigendumFree Access Corrigendum to ″Schmidingerothrix salinarum nov. spec. is the Molecular Sister of the Large Oxytrichid Clade (Ciliophora, Hypotricha) by Foissner et al. 2014″ This article corrects the following: Schmidingerothrix salinarum nov. spec. is the Molecular Sister of the Large Oxytrichid Clade (Ciliophora, Hypotricha) Wilhelm Foissner, Sabine Filker, Thorsten Stoeck, Volume 61Issue 1Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology pages: 61-74 First Published online: December 10, 2013 First published: 20 November 2017 https://doi.org/10.1111/jeu.12481AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat In the article: Foissner, W., Filker, S., and Stoeck T. 2014. Schmidingerothrix salinarum nov. spec. is the Molecular Sister of the Large Oxytrichid Clade (Ciliophora, Hypotricha). J. Eukaryot. Microbiol., 61(1): 61–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeu.12087, the ZooBank registration number was omitted. Foissner et al. (2014) described the morphology, ontogeny, and phylogeny of a new Schmidingerothrix species in this electronic-only journal. Since the electronic article does not contain ZooBank registration, it is not published (available) with respect to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN 1999, 2012, Articles 8.5, 9.11). However, such work likely remains available as source for further purposes, similar to a suppressed work (ICZN 1999, Article 8.7.1). To become available, Schmidingerothrix salinarum must be registered in ZooBank (ICZN 2012). ZooBank registration http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:33751519-8DAB-42CD-814E-C72926D5E39F Schmidingerothrix salinarum nov. spec. (Table 2 and Fig. 1A–L, 2A–M, 3A–D, 4A–H, 5, 6A–F, 7A–I, 8A–D in Foissner et al. 2014) Diagnosis (from Foissner et al. 2014, p. 73). Size in vivo about 95 × 17 μm. Body slender (~5.5:1), usually widest in mid-portion, with short but distinct tail. Four macronuclear nodules, forming a series near right margin of cell; zero to two micronuclei. Cortical granules in loose rows, colorless, about 1 μm across. Three frontal cirri and three frontoventral cirral rows. Frontal cirrus 1 subapical close to ventral part of adoral zone of membranelles. Frontoventral row 1 composed of an average of four cirri; row 2 of 18 cirri; row 3 of five cirri. Right marginal row composed of an average of 23 cirri, left of 17. Adoral zone about 32% of body length, composed of an average of three frontal and 21 ventral membranelles. Endoral membrane 12 μm long on average. Type locality. Solar saltern in the Ria Formosa National Park near to the town of Faro, Portugal, W7°57′41.0684″, N37°00′29.4851″. Type material. The holotype slide and two paratype slides with protargol-impregnated specimens and two paratype slides with hematoxylin-stained cells have been deposited in the Biologiezentrum of the Oberösterreichische Landesmuseum in Linz (LI), Austria, reg. no. 2013/33–37. Relevant specimens have been marked by black ink circles on the coverslip. Etymology. See same section in Foissner et al. (2014, p. 74). Morphology of Schmidingerothrix salinarum nov. spec. See same section in Foissner et al. (2014, p. 63, Table 2, and Fig. 1A–L, 2A–M, 3A–D, 4A–H). Molecular phylogeny. See same section in Foissner et al. (2014). GenBank accession number. KC991098 (SSU rDNA; length 1,769 bp; GC content 45.11%). Ontogenesis of Schmidingerothrix salinarum nov. spec. See same section in Foissner et al. (2014, p. 67 and Fig. 6A–F, 7A–H, 8A–D). Discussion. For comparison of Schmidingerothrix salinarum Foissner et al., 2017 with S. extraordinaria Foissner, 2012, type of the genus, see same section in Foissner et al. (2014, p. 72). Remarks: In future, this species has to be cited as “Schmidingerothrix salinarum Foissner, Filker & Stoeck, 2017” (for justification, see introduction). Literature Cited Foissner, W. 2012. Schmidingerothrix extraordinaria nov. gen., nov. spec., a secondarily oligomerized hypotrich (Ciliophora, Hypotricha, Schmidingerotrichidae nov. fam.) from hypersaline soils of Africa. Eur. J. Protistol., 48: 237– 251. Foissner, W., Filker, S. & Stoeck, T. 2014. Schmidingerothrix salinarum nov. spec. is the molecular sister of the large oxytrichid clade (Ciliophora, Hypotricha). J. Eukaryot. Microbiol., 61: 61– 74. ICZN (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature) 1999. International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, London, 306 p. ICZN (International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature) 2012. Amendment of Articles 8, 9, 10, 21 and 78 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature to expand and refine methods of publication. Bull. Zool. Nom., 69: 161– 169. Volume65, Issue2March/April 2018Pages 290-290 ReferencesRelatedInformation

The structure of InAlGaN layers grown by metal organic vapour phase epitaxy: effects of threading dislocations and inversion domains from the GaN template.

Defects in quaternary InAlGaN barriers and their effects on crystalline quality and surface morphology have been studied. In addition to growth conditions, the quality of the GaN template may play an important role in the formation of defects in the barrier. Therefore, this work is focused on effects caused by threading dislocations (TDs) and inversion domains (IDs) originating from the underlying GaN. The effects are observed on the crystalline quality of the barrier and characteristic surface morphologies. Each type of TDs is shown to affect the surface morphology in a different way. Depending on the size of the corresponding hillock for a given pinhole, it was possible to determine the dislocation type. It is pointed out that the smallest pinholes are not connected to TDs whereas the large ones terminate either mixed type or edge type TDs. At sufficiently large layer thickness, the IDs originating from the GaN template lead to the formation of concentric trenches at the layer surface, and this is related to the change in growth kinetics on top and at the immediate surroundings of the ID.

Schematic eye-gaze cues influence infants\u2019 object encoding dependent on their contrast polarity

We examined infants’ sensitivity to eye-gaze direction and its influence on object processing in 4-month-old infants by manipulating low-level properties of gaze cues. Infants were presented with two kinds of stimuli that either did or did not cue novel objects. The movement of a schematic image of two eyes (two black circles each moving on a white oval background) led to an enhanced processing of the cued object. A cue with reversed polarity (two white circles each moving on a black oval background) elicited distinctly weaker effects. Results highlight infants’ specific sensitivity to isolated eye gaze which furthermore facilitates object encoding. It is suggested that this sensitivity relies on the typical perceptual pattern of eyes, the black pupil on a white sclera.

SOCIAL NETWORKS AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE IN OLDER ADULTS WITH NORMAL COGNITION, MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT, AND MILD ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

An emerging area of research points to an inverse association between social integration and risk for dementia. However, social integration measures in this literature are limited. The current study uses an egocentric network design wherein detailed data are collected on the specific individuals to whom subjects are connected, and on ties between them. The Social Networks in AD (SNAD) protocol was designed to examine associations between social network dynamics (size, density, composition, strength, supportiveness) and disease-associated factors. We administered SNAD to 82 cognitively normal (CN), 23 mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 16 Alzheimer's disease (AD) subjects from the Indiana Alzheimer's Disease Center. Bivariate statistics were used to identify significant associations. Network characteristics varied significantly across diagnostic groups (df=2; Table 1 and Figure 1). CN individuals reported networks that were larger (p<.05) and less densely-connected (p<.01) than those with MCI or AD, and networks that contained affectively weaker ties (p<.01) and proportionally more friends versus kin (p<.05). Moreover, correlations revealed positive associations of global cognitive performance (MoCA) with network size (r=0.31; p<.001) and with proportion of friends (r=0.23; p<.001). MoCA performance was negatively correlated with network density (r=-0.23; p<.01) and mean tie strength (r=-0.30; p<.001). We observed similar patterns in all cognitive domains except visuospatial. Verbal memory (Craft Story Delayed Recall) was associated with larger (r=0.27; p<.01), less dense (r=-0.20; p<.05), and weaker networks (r=-0.21; p<.05). Executive function (Trail Making Test B) was more impaired in those with smaller networks (r=0.24; p<.01). Finally, subjects with larger networks (r=0.20; p<.05) composed of weaker ties (r=-0.22; p<.05) performed better on an attention task (Digit Span Test). We found more homogenous, insular, and kin-centered networks in MCI and AD relative to CN. Access to social resources through networks may create conditions that are protective of cognitive decline. Alternatively, our data may support a social contraction mechanism, wherein weaker ties to non-kin decay in the context of cognitive decline. Typical core network structure, function*, and composition by clinical cognitive status. *Note: Strength of tie denoted by thickness of black circle.

Exposure of Eocanthecona furcellata (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) nymphs and adults to high temperatures induces an aestivo-hibernal egg diapause: a strategy for surviving hot summers

The predatory stink bug Eocanthecona furcellata (Wolff) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), which is widely distributed in the subtropics and tropics, is a potential biological control agent for lepidopteran, coleopteran, and hemipteran pests. We investigated development of eggs oviposited by E. furcellata females subjected to various photoperiods (i.e., 8L:16D, 12L:12D, and 16L:8D) and temperature regimes (i.e., 26:26, 30:28, 32:30, 34:32, 35:33, and 36:34 °C; temperatures at light and dark phases, respectively) at different developmental stages. Exposure of E. furcellata nymphs and adults to different photoperiods and temperature regimes affected the development of eggs they subsequently oviposited. Temperatures greater than 30 °C induced diapause in a portion of the eggs, as evidenced by the delayed appearance of the black circle and the red spot, characteristics of early and late stage of embryonic development, respectively. The proportion of diapausing eggs generally increased with increasing temperature exposure, whereas it decreased with advancing developmental stage/age at which E. furcellata was subjected to the temperature regime. Although viability of diapausing eggs was lower than that of non-diapausing eggs, diapausing eggs survived longer under high temperatures. The trade-off between survivability and viability may be a strategy to survive unpredictability of summer temperatures.

Electrophysiology of Hypokalemia and Hyperkalemia.

Electrophysiology of Hypokalemia and Hyperkalemia.

パッシブ気候図の作成とパッシブデザインへの活用

Introduction: Understanding the regional climate is an important part of architectural design. It contributes to make the concept of passive design that enables effective use of natural energy. It is especially necessary for the early stage of the design. It is essential from the viewpoint of the environmental concerns and the energy saving. Based on the expression of Victor Olgyay, this attempt to indicate characteristics of the climate in a contour line map was made by Dr. KODAMA and Dr. HOYANO in 1983. Moreover, the effectiveness of this method has been verified. However, two issues are raised when applying this method to use: 1) Libraries for drawing contour map are not opened generally. 2) At the time, available weather data were 22 points. Now, technique advances and weather data are likewise increasing. A major goal of research to make use of passive climate charts by passive design. This paper presents the passive design methods used by means of new passive climate chart in JAPAN. Methods and results of a study: 1) According to the survey, one of the similar example is ‘CLIMATE CONSULTANT’. However, it is difficult to quantitatively estimate the extent of the figure. In the passive design, the indicated ranges of data are important, too. 2) Drawing method and the validity of the weather data is confirmed and the passive climate chart is made. To use the GMT for drawing. GMT is open to the public and maintenance continues, and the interpolation processing is also excellent. EA weather data have 842 points of Japanese data, the missing value is interpolated. It was established that a weather data is suitable. 3) In order to utilize the passive climate chart for passive design, it is necessary to understand the characteristic of the regional climate. Therefore, 842 points passive climatic chart were classified by the characteristics of the climate. Fig. 8 shows types of passive climate chart. 4) In order to investigate with passive design methods, it is necessary to clarify the relations of climate element and design methods. Table. 1 shows type of passive design methods. Table. 2 shows the relationship between the passive climate chart and passive design methods. In particular, black circle and square of Table. 2 are effective items of passive design methods. Discussion: It is examined that the relationship between the passive climate chart and passive design method. Fig 9-Fig. 12 shows passive climate map of HACHIOJI and UOZU. The difference in passive design methods is confirmed by the same area of heating degree day, radiation of the heating period and annual. Conclusion: By using passive climate chart, the annual weather tendency is evaluated enough. It is clarified that the relationship between the passive climate chart and passive design method. The results of this study reveal that the passive climate chart is useful for passive design.

Omission Training Results in More Resurgence than Alternative Reinforcement

Resurgence refers to the reemergence of a previously reinforced response following the extinction of a more recently reinforced response. In a published study, resurgence occurred to a lesser extent following differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) than differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) with pigeons, but this effect has not been replicated with humans. We conducted a within-subject comparison of resurgence following DRA and DRO, using a human-operant preparation. Six college students earned points by clicking a mouse button across two-component multiple schedules. During both baseline components, points were delivered for the first click to a black circle after 2 s. Responding on the black circle decreased during the second phase, using a DRA in one component and a DRO in the other component. We tested for resurgence by terminating point deliveries (extinction) during both components in the third phase. For three of the participants, more resurgence occurred in the component previously associated with DRO than the component previously associated with DRA. The other three participants showed more resurgence in the first component experienced during extinction, regardless of whether that component was associated with DRA or DRO. However, resurgence was exacerbated when the first component during extinction was DRO rather than DRA. Although sequence influenced resurgence, DRA may be preferable to DRO as an intervention when resurgence is a concern.

Die swart loongeskil van 1926 in Bloemfontein

Early in 1926, the agitation for higher minimum wages for unskilled workers once again flared up in the black community of Bloemfontein. This battle for higher wages, however, was bowed down by warring black factions that had an obvious negative effect on it. On the one hand, there were the supporters of the moderate local Native Advisory Board and on the other that of the radical national Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU). The city council and other employers were caught between these two poles. Through difficult and patient negotiations between the white and black role players, an acceptable interim minimum wage was determined, but not before the ICU withdrew from the negotiations and attempted to bring the settlement into disrepute. From the ranks of the considerably more moderate black circles, the adjustment achieved through negotiations instead of violent agitation was considered a big enough victory for the time being.

Corrigendum: Detection of Isoforms Differing by a Single Charge Unit in Individual Cells.

During the organization of the final layout, the x-axes in Figure 3 b and 1 e of this Communication were mislabeled. The authors have verified that all of the calculations and findings of the work remain valid. The corrected figure is included below, with the following corrections: scIEF with immunoprobing resolves proteoforms in individual mammalian cells. a) False-color fluorescence micrographs and traces show scIEF detection by immunoprobing of β-TUB and tGFP from individual cells. Microwells are outlined with a black circle, located at 0 mm. Arrows indicate protein peaks; plotted black outlines are the Gaussian fits for identified peaks. b) False-color fluorescence micrographs and traces show detection of denatured β-TUB isoforms in 3 of 8 cells. c) Median total tGFP probing fluorescence (area under the curve, AUC) under native (N) and denaturing (D) conditions (nD=8, nN=9, p<0.01). (d) Relative isoform fractions (nβ-TUB=3, ntGFP=8). e) False-color fluorescence micrographs and traces show detection of lamin A/C from individual cells under denaturing conditions (nD=9). pH range, 4–7; microwell position, 6.75 mm from the catholyte-side edge of the bottom gel in all separations. The authors sincerely apologize for the mislabeled axes.

Disruptions in Respectability: A Roundtable Discussion

What do the politics of representation present in the realm of knowledge production? This roundtable of scholars of gender, sexuality, Black, and Latino studies circle the discussion around this question by positioning politics of representation and respectability within the realm of popular culture, pornography studies, and other highly consumed forms of media. The discussion also points toward themes of intramural policing, and other forms of oppression performed within Black and Brown communities as ways to understand how respectability politics are martialed in the public sphere.

Crown-of-thorns starfish have true image forming vision.

BackgroundPhotoreceptors have evolved numerous times giving organisms the ability to detect light and respond to specific visual stimuli. Studies into the visual abilities of the Asteroidea (Echinodermata) have recently shown that species within this class have a more developed visual sense than previously thought and it has been demonstrated that starfish use visual information for orientation within their habitat. Whereas image forming eyes have been suggested for starfish, direct experimental proof of true spatial vision has not yet been obtained.ResultsThe behavioural response of the coral reef inhabiting crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) was tested in controlled aquarium experiments using an array of stimuli to examine their visual performance. We presented starfish with various black-and-white shapes against a mid-intensity grey background, designed such that the animals would need to possess true spatial vision to detect these shapes. Starfish responded to black-and-white rectangles, but no directional response was found to black-and-white circles, despite equal areas of black and white. Additionally, we confirmed that starfish were attracted to black circles on a white background when the visual angle is larger than 14°. When changing the grey tone of the largest circle from black to white, we found responses to contrasts of 0.5 and up. The starfish were attracted to the dark area’s of the visual stimuli and were found to be both attracted and repelled by the visual targets.ConclusionsFor crown-of-thorns starfish, visual cues are essential for close range orientation towards objects, such as coral boulders, in the wild. These visually guided behaviours can be replicated in aquarium conditions. Our observation that crown-of-thorns starfish respond to black-and-white shapes on a mid-intensity grey background is the first direct proof of true spatial vision in starfish and in the phylum Echinodermata.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12983-016-0174-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Cratering on Ceres: Implications for its crust and evolution

Thermochemical models have predicted that Ceres, is to some extent, differentiated and should have an icy crust with few or no impact craters. We present observations by the Dawn spacecraft that reveal a heavily cratered surface, a heterogeneous crater distribution, and an apparent absence of large craters. The morphology of some impact craters is consistent with ice in the subsurface, which might have favored relaxation, yet large unrelaxed craters are also present. Numerous craters exhibit polygonal shapes, terraces, flowlike features, slumping, smooth deposits, and bright spots. Crater morphology and simple-to-complex crater transition diameters indicate that the crust of Ceres is neither purely icy nor rocky. By dating a smooth region associated with the Kerwan crater, we determined absolute model ages (AMAs) of 550 million and 720 million years, depending on the applied chronology model.

Assessment of Leucorrhea diseases in female students

Leucorrhoea also spelled leucorrhoea, flow of a whitish, yellow, or greenish discharge from the vagina of the female that may be normal or that may be a sign of infection. The present study was done in female student of the different departments of IFTM University. Total number of 200 female students was taken into the study. In this study more prevalent symptoms was found that irritation and itching on genital organs which could be worse at night (95%), followed by sedentary life styles (85%) and foul-smell vaginal discharges (70%), moderately prevalent symptoms were found constipation (55%),stress (60%),frequent mood changes (50%) pain in stomach/lower back pain (40%), and less prevalent symptoms were black dark circle around the eyes (25%), anorexia (16%), period irregular (10%). Students should be recommended for treatment and provide awareness and prevention of leucorrhoea by maintain good hygiene, exercise, natural treatment especially in the genital areas to prevent any bacterial infections.

Robust representation of shape in a Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus)

A Grey parrot, Griffin (Psittacus erithacus), previously taught English labels for various colors and shapes with respect to three-dimensional (3D) stimuli, was tested on his ability to transfer to very different two-dimensional (2D) images consisting of modal and amodal completion stimuli. For modal completion (aka subjective contours), Kanizsa figures were constructed using black ‘pac-men’ to form regular polygons on colored paper. For amodal completion, portions of variously colored regular 2D polygons were occluded by black circles or other black figures. For each task, Griffin provided a vocal English shape label for five possible shapes designated by their vertices (one, two, three, four, six). His accuracy was high for both amodal completed figures, including probe stimuli (28/38 correct) and modally completed figures (29/38 correct), with chance=0.20. The modally completed case (i.e., Kanizsa subjective figures) is of particular importance as there are no shared image parts between training and testing stimuli. We draw several conclusions from these results. First, a surface level completion process is fully operative insofar as Griffin was able to correctly identify shapes that differed considerably from training images. Second, because parrots can generalize from shapes of real objects to drawings where original image contours were clearly absent, the data provide a compelling example of shape invariance, indicating that visual shapes are processed far beyond that of their image description. Third, parrots with a repertoire of multiple vocal responses can be rigorously tested for visual competencies, an option as yet to be tried in other experimental animals.