Search

It is well-known that visual search for a mirror target (i.e., a horizontally flipped item) is more difficult than search for other-oriented items (e.g., vertically flipped items). Previous studies have typically attributed costs of mirror search to early, attention-guiding processes but could not rule out contributions from later processes. In the present study we used eye tracking to distinguish between early, attention-guiding processes and later target identification processes. The results of four experiments revealed a marked human weakness in identifying mirror targets: Observers appear to frequently fail to classify a mirror target as a target on first fixation and to continue with search even after having directly looked at the target. Awareness measures corroborated that the location of a mirror target could not be reported above chance level after it had been fixated once. This mirror blindness effect explained a large proportion (45–87%) of the overall costs of mirror search, suggesting that part of the difficulties with mirror search are rooted in later, object identification processes (not attentional guidance). Mirror blindness was significantly reduced but not completely eliminated when both the target and non-targets were held constant, which shows that perfect top-down knowledge can reduce mirror blindness, without completely eliminating it. The finding that nontarget certainty reduced mirror blindness suggests that object identification is not solely achieved by comparing a selected item to a target template. These results demonstrate that templates that guide search toward targets are not identical to the templates used to conclusively identify those targets.

Cerebellar output has been shown to enhance movement precision by scaling the decelerative phase of reaching movements in mice. We hypothesized that during reach, initial kinematics cue late-phase adjustments through cerebellar associative learning. We identify a population-level response in mouse PCs that scales inversely with reach velocity, suggesting a candidate mechanism for anticipatory control to target limb endpoint. We next interrogate how such a response is generated by combining high-density neural recordings with closed-loop optogenetic stimulation of cerebellar mossy fiber afferents originating in the pontine nuclei during reach, using perturbation schedules reminiscent of classic adaptation paradigms. We found that reach kinematics and PC electrophysiology adapt to position-locked mossy fiber perturbations and exhibit aftereffects when stimulation is removed. Surprisingly, we observed partial adaptation to position-randomized stimulation schedules but no opposing aftereffect. A model that recapitulated these findings provided novel insight into how the cerebellum deciphers cause-and-effect relationships to adapt.

Objective The aim of this study was to compare and characterize the structural and ultrastructural organization of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) between two large animal models for use in the development of tissue engineering strategies. Materials and methods Whole TMJs from sheep and pigs were evaluated with micro-computed tomography (μCT) for morphology and quantitative analyses of bone parameters. Histological examination was performed on the TMJ disc and its attachments to investigate regional distribution of collagen, elastin, and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). Results μCT analyses demonstrate higher bone mineral density (BMD) in the temporal fossa compared to the mandibular condyle in both species, with this variable being significantly higher in sheep than pig. Quantitative morphometry of the trabecular condyle reveals no statistical differences between the species. Histology demonstrates similar structural organization of collagen and elastin between species. Elastin staining was nearly twofold greater in sheep than in the pig disc. Finally, Safranin-O staining for GAGs in the TMJ disc was localized to the intermediate zone in the sheep but was absent from the porcine disc. Conclusions Our findings show some important differences in the pig and sheep TMJ μCT variables and histology and composition of the disc and discal attachment. These disparities likely reflect differences in masticatory and TMJ functional loading patterns between the two species and provide insights into large animal models towards human applications. Clinical relevance As with the established pig model, the sheep is a suitable large animal model for TMJ research such as regenerative strategies, with specific considerations for design parameters appropriate for human-analog applications.

Brain electroencephalography (EEG), the complex, weak, multivariate, nonlinear, and nonstationary time series, has been recently widely applied in neurocognitive disorder diagnoses and brain-machine interface developments. With its specific features, unlabeled EEG is not well addressed by conventional unsupervised time-series learning methods. In this article, we handle the problem of unlabeled EEG time-series clustering and propose a novel EEG clustering algorithm, that we call mwcEEGc. The idea is to map the EEG clustering to the maximum-weight clique (MWC) searching in an improved Fréchet similarity-weighted EEG graph. The mwcEEGc considers the weights of both vertices and edges in the constructed EEG graph and clusters EEG based on their similarity weights instead of calculating the cluster centroids. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first attempt to cluster unlabeled EEG trials using MWC searching. The mwcEEGc achieves high-quality clusters with respect to intracluster compactness as well as intercluster scatter. We demonstrate the superiority of mwcEEGc over ten state-of-the-art unsupervised learning/clustering approaches by conducting detailed experimentations with the standard clustering validity criteria on 14 real-world brain EEG datasets. We also present that mwcEEGc satisfies the theoretical properties of clustering, such as richness, consistency, and order independence.

In the current EEG study, we used a dot-probe task in conjunction with backward masking to examine the neural activity underlying awareness and spatial processing of fearful faces and the neural processes for subsequent cued spatial targets. We presented face images under different viewing conditions (subliminal and supraliminal) and manipulated the relation between a fearful face in the pair and a subsequent target. Our mass univariate analysis showed that fearful faces elicit the N2-posterior-contralateral, indexing spatial attention capture, only when they are presented supraliminally. Consistent with this, the multivariate pattern analysis revealed a successful decoding of the location of the fearful face only in the supraliminal viewing condition. Additionally, the spatial attention capture by fearful faces modulated the processing of subsequent lateralised targets that were spatially congruent with the fearful face, in both al and electrophysiological data. There was no evidence for nonconscious processing of the fearful faces in the current paradigm. We conclude that spatial attentional capture by fearful faces requires visual awareness and it is modulated by top-down task demands.

Visual working memory (VWM) allows for the brief retention of approximately three to four items. Interestingly, when these items are similar to each other in a feature domain, memory recall performance is elevated compared to when they are dissimilar. This similarity benefit is currently not accounted for by models of VWM. Previous research has suggested that this similarity benefit may arise from selective attentional prioritisation in the maintenance phase. However, the similarity effect has not been contrasted under circumstances where dissimilar item types can adequately compete for memory resources. In Experiment 1, similarity benefits were seen for all-similar over all-dissimilar displays. This was also seen in mixed displays, change detection performance was higher when one of the two similar items changed, compared to when the dissimilar item changed. Surprisingly, the similarity effect was stronger in these mixed displays then when comparing the all-similar and all-dissimilar. Experiment 2 investigated this further by examining how attention was allocated in the memory encoding phase via eye movements. Results revealed that attention prioritised similar over dissimilar items in the mixed displays. Similar items were more likely to receive the first fixation and were fixated more often than dissimilar items. Furthermore, dwell times were elongated for dissimilar items, suggesting that encoding was less efficient. These results suggest that there is an attentional strategy towards prioritising similar items over dissimilar items, and that this strategy’s influence can be observed in the memory encoding phase.

Voxel-wise meta-analyses of task-evoked regional activity were conducted for healthy individuals during the unconscious processing of emotional and neutral faces with an aim to examine whether and how different experimental paradigms influenced brain activation patterns. Studies were categorized into sensory and attentional unawareness paradigms. Thirty-four fMRI studies including 883 healthy participants were identified. Across experimental paradigms, unaware emotional faces elicited stronger activation of the limbic system, striatum, inferior frontal gyrus, insula and the temporal lobe, compared to unaware neutral faces. Crucially, in attentional unawareness paradigms, unattended emotional faces elicited a right-lateralized increased activation (i.e., right amygdala, right temporal pole), suggesting a right hemisphere dominance for processing emotional faces during inattention. By contrast, in sensory unawareness paradigms, unseen emotional faces elicited increased activation of the left striatum, the left amygdala and the right middle temporal gyrus. Additionally, across paradigms, unconsciously processed positive emotions were found associated with more activation in temporal and parietal cortices whereas unconsciously processed negative emotions elicited stronger activation in subcortical regions, compared to neutral faces.

The paper deals with the investigation of magneto-sensitive elastomers (MSE) and their application in technical actuator systems. MSE consist of an elastic matrix containing suspended magnetically soft and/or hard particles. Additionally, they can also contain silicone oil, graphite particles, thermoplastic components, etc., in various concentrations in order to tune specific properties such as viscosity, conductivity and thermoelasticity, respectively. The focuses of investigations are the beneficial properties of MSE in prototypes for locomotion and manipulation purposes that possess an integrated sensor function. The research follows the principle of a model-based design, i.e. the working steps are ideation, mathematical modelling, material characterization as well as building first functional models (prototypes). The developed apedal (without legs) and non-wheeled locomotion systems use the interplay between material deformations and the mechanical motion in connection with the issues of control and stability. Non-linear friction phenomena lead to a monotonous forward motion of the systems. The aim of this study is the design of such mechanical structures, which reduce the control costs. The investigations deal with the movement and control of ‘intelligent’ mechanisms, for which the magnetically field-controlled particle-matrix interactions provide an appropriate approach. The presented grippers enclose partially gripped objects, which is an advantage for handling sensitive objects. Form-fit grippers with adaptable contour at the contact area enable a uniform pressure distribution on the surface of gripped objects. Furthermore, with the possibility of active shape adaptation, objects with significantly differing geometries can be gripped. To realise the desired active shape adaptation, the effect of field-induced plasticity of MSE is used. The first developed prototypes mainly confirm the functional principles as such without direct application. For this, besides the ability of locomotion and manipulation itself, further technological possibilities have to be added to the systems. The first steps are therefore being taken towards integrated MSE based adaptive sensor systems.

Magnetoactive elastomers (MAEs) are a special type of smart materials consisting of an elastic matrix with embedded microsized particles that are made of ferromagnetic materials with high or low coercivity. Due to their composition, such elastomers possess unique magnetic field-dependent material properties. The present paper compiles the results of investigations on MAEs towards an approach of their potential application as vibrating sensor elements with adaptable sensitivity. Starting with the model-based and experimental studies of the free vibrational behavior displayed by cantilevers made of MAEs, it is shown that the first bending eigenfrequency of the cantilevers depends strongly on the strength of an applied uniform magnetic field. The investigations of the forced vibration response of MAE beams subjected to in-plane kinematic excitation confirm the possibility of active magnetic control of the amplitude-frequency characteristics. With change of the uniform field strength, the MAE beam reveals different steady-state responses for the same excitation, and the resonance may occur at various ranges of the excitation frequency. Nonlinear dependencies of the amplification ratio on the excitation frequency are obtained for different magnitudes of the applied field. Furthermore, it is shown that the steady-state vibrations of MAE beams can be detected based on the magnetic field distortion. The field difference, which is measured simultaneously on the sides of a vibrating MAE beam, provides a signal with the same frequency as the excitation and an amplitude proportional to the amplitude of resulting vibrations. The presented prototype of the MAE-based vibrating unit with the field-controlled “configuration” can be implemented for realization of acceleration sensor systems with adaptable sensitivity. The ongoing research on MAEs is oriented to the use of other geometrical forms along with beams, e.g. two-dimensional structures such as membranes.

A pendulum with an attached permanent magnet swinging in the vicinity of a conductor is a typical experiment for the demonstration of electromagnetic braking and Lenz’ law of induction. When the conductor itself moves, it can transfer energy to the pendulum. An exact analytical model of such an electromagnetic interaction is possible for a flat conducting plate. The eddy currents induced in the plate by a moving magnetic dipole and the resulting force and torque are known analytically in the quasistatic limit, i.e., when the magnetic diffusivity is sufficiently high to ensure an equilibrium of magnetic field advection and diffusion. This allows us to study a simple pendulum with a magnetic dipole moment in the presence of a horizontal plate oscillating in vertical direction. Equilibrium of the pendulum in the vertical position can be realized in three cases considered, i.e., when the magnetic moment is parallel to the rotation axis, or otherwise, its projection onto the plane of motion is either horizontal or vertical. The stability problem is described by a differential equation of Mathieu type with a damping term. Instability is only possible when the vibration amplitude and the distance between plate and magnet satisfy certain constraints related to the simultaneous excitation and damping effects of the plate. The nonlinear motion is studied numerically for the case when the magnetic moment and rotation axis are parallel. Chaotic behavior is found when the eigenfrequency is sufficiently small compared to the excitation frequency. The plate oscillation typically has a stabilizing effect on the inverted pendulum.

A highly debated question in attention research is to what extent attention is biased by bottom-up factors such as saliency versus top-down factors as governed by the task. Visual search experiments in which participants are briefly familiarized with the task and then see a novel stimulus unannounced and for the first time support yet another factor, showing that novel and surprising features attract attention. In the present study, we tested whether gaze behavior as an indicator for attentional prioritization can be predicted accurately within displays containing both salient and novel stimuli by means of a priority map that assumes novelty as an additional source of activation. To that aim, we conducted a visual search experiment where a color singleton was presented for the first time in the surprise trial and manipulated the color-novelty of the remaining non-singletons between participants. In one group, the singleton was the only novel stimulus ("one-new"), whereas in another group, the non-singleton stimuli were likewise novel ("all-new"). The surprise trial was always target absent and designed such that top-down prioritization of any color was unlikely. The results show that the singleton in the all-new group captured the gaze less strongly, with more early fixations being directed to the novel non-singletons. Overall, the fixation pattern can accurately be explained by noisy priority maps where saliency and novelty compete for gaze control. Crown Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Context. Long-period variable stars (LPVs) are pulsating red giants, primarily in the asymptotic giant branch phase, and they include both Miras and semi-regular variables (SRVs). Their period-age and period-luminosity relations enable us to trace different stellar populations, as they are intrinsically very bright and cover a wide range in distances and ages. Aims. The purpose of this study is to establish a census of LPV stars in a region close to the Galactic center, using the six-year database of the Vista Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) ESO Public Survey, as well as to describe the methodology that was employed to search for and characterize LPVs using VVV data. Near-IR surveys such as VVV provide a unique opportunity to probe the high-extinction innermost regions of the Milky Way. The detection and analysis of the intrinsically bright Miras in this region could provide us with an excellent probe of the properties of the Milky Way far behind its bulge. Methods. We used point-spread function photometry for all available Ks-band images in ten VVV tiles, covering 16.4 deg2 in total, overlapping fields observed in the course of the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE)-III survey. We designed a method to select LPV candidates, and we used the known variables from OGLE-III and other known variables from the literature to test our approach. The reduced χ2 statistic, along with the flux-independent index K(fi), were used in our analysis. The Lomb-Scargle period search method, Fourier analysis, template fitting, and visual inspection were then performed to refine our sample and characterize the properties of the stars included in our catalog. Results. A final sample of 130 Mira candidates, of which 129 are new discoveries, was thus obtained, with periods in the range between about 80 and 1400 days. Moreover, a sample of 1013 LPV candidates is also presented, whose periods are however not sufficiently constrained by the available data. A fraction of the latter may eventually turn out to be SRVs. Ages are measured for these stars based on a reassessment of the period-age relations available in the literature. The Miras in our catalog include 18 stars satisfying the requirements to serve as reliable distance indicators and which are not saturated in the VVV Ks-band images. Their distances are accordingly derived and discussed. A number of objects that are seemingly placed far behind the Milky Way’s bulge was detected.

It is well known that attention can be automatically attracted to salient items. However, recent studies show that it is possible to avoid distraction by a salient item (with a known feature), leading to facilitated search. This article tests a proposed mechanism for distractor inhibition: that a mental representation of the distractor feature held in visual working memory (VWM) allows attention to be guided away from the distractor. We tested this explanation by examining color-based inhibition in visual search for a shape target with and without VWM load. In Experiment 1 the presence of a distractor facilitated visual search under low and high VWM loads, as reflected in faster response times when the distractor was present (compared to absent), and in fewer eye movements to the salient distractor than the non-target items. However, the eye movement inhibition effect was noticeably weakened in the load conditions. Experiment 2 explored further, to distinguish between inhibition of the distractor color and activation of the (irrelevant) target color. Intermittently presenting single-color search trials that contained only either a target, distractor or a neutral-colored singleton revealed that the distractor color attracted attention less than the neutral color with and without VWM load. The target color, however, only attracted attention more than neutral colors under no load, whereas a VWM load completely eliminated this effect. This suggests that although VWM plays a role in guiding attention to the (irrelevant) target color, distractor-feature inhibition can operate independently.

Taking inspiration from natural language embeddings, we present ASTROMER, a transformer-based model to create representations of light curves. ASTROMER was pre-trained in a self-supervised manner, requiring no human-labeled data. We used millions of R-band light sequences to adjust the ASTROMER weights. The learned representation can be easily adapted to other surveys by re-training ASTROMER on new sources. The power of ASTROMER consists of using the representation to extract light curve embeddings that can enhance the training of other models, such as classifiers or regressors. As an example, we used ASTROMER embeddings to train two neural-based classifiers that use labeled variable stars from MACHO, OGLE-III, and ATLAS. In all experiments, ASTROMER-based classifiers outperformed a baseline recurrent neural network trained on light curves directly when limited labeled data was available. Furthermore, using ASTROMER embeddings decreases computational resources needed while achieving state-of-the-art results. Finally, we provide a Python library that includes all the functionalities employed in this work. The library, main code, and pre-trained weights are available at https://github.com/astromer-science

The present document represents the position of Swiss health-care associations, clinical and research centers, research-supporting foundations, and the association Alzheimer Switzerland regarding the care of persons with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. We claim that dementia is not part of normal aging but a disease developing more frequently in old age; early diagnosis and treatment of dementia is paramount; all patients with dementia have the right to receive state-of-the-art treatments; more intense information, education, and counseling on dementia are necessary; media should provide balanced and fair reporting of scientific discoveries on Alzheimer’s and dementia; all patients with dementia have the right to be treated; anti-dementia drugs should be used and accompanied by listening, compassion, and understanding.

Attention allows selection of sought-after objects by tuning attention in a top-down manner to task-relevant features. Among other possible search modes, attention can be tuned to the exact feature values of a target (e.g., red, large), or to the relative target feature (e.g., reddest, largest item), in which case selection is context dependent. The present study tested whether we can tune attention simultaneously to a specific feature value (e.g., specific size) and a relative target feature (e.g., relative color) of a conjunction target, using a variant of the spatial cueing paradigm. Tuning to the specific feature of the target was encouraged by randomly presenting the conjunction target in a varying context of nontarget items, and feature-specific versus relational tuning was assessed by briefly presenting conjunction cues that either matched or mismatched the relative versus physical features of the target. The results showed that attention could be biased to the specific size and the relative color of the conjunction target or vice versa. These results suggest the existence of local and relatively low-level attentional control mechanisms that operate independently of each other in separate feature dimensions (color, size) to choose the best search strategy in line with current top-down goals.

Overrepresentation of English language learners (ELLs) in special education is a current problem. Urban school professionals indicated that inappropriate placement is linked to a multiplicity of factors. Scarce data exist regarding the relationship between school professional efficacy beliefs, the availability of bilingual programs and personnel for ELLs, and successful academic outcomes. School employees are still confused about the proper placement of English language learners (ELLs). What is enough time to acquire a second language and learn with success? Without other substantial program choices, children are referred to special education. Furthermore, many students in need of special education may be overlooked and remain in ESL programs for their entire school career. The aim of this study was to identify the role staff member’s efficacy plays in the proper determination of an ELL with a language difference or disability. Child study team (CST) members (n=14) working with a large Hispanic ELL population participated in semistructured interviews to determine the role their efficacy beliefs exert during assessment of linguistically diverse students. Overwhelmingly, staff members noted that they did not feel competent when making decisions regarding ELLs. Therefore, staff members placed the children into special education each time. The practice implications come from the prominent themes that include significant in-district professional development on second language acquisition, facilitation of second language through use of first language through bilingual staff, and committed bilingual programs to meet ELL needs. Additionally, universities must provide coursework that furthers second language acquisition theories and strategies for all teacher candidate programs.

Particular design features intended to improve usability – including graphically displayed observations and integrated colour-based scoring-systems – have been shown to increase the speed and accuracy with which users of hospital observation charts detect abnormal patient observations. We used eye-tracking to evaluate two potential cognitive mechanisms underlying these effects. Novice chart-users completed a series of experimental trials in which they viewed patient data presented on one of three observation chart designs (varied within-subjects), and indicated which observation was abnormal (or that none were). A chart that incorporated both graphically displayed observations and an integrated colour-based scoring-system yielded faster, more accurate responses and fewer, shorter fixations than a graphical chart without a colour-based scoring-system. The latter, in turn, yielded the same advantages over a tabular chart (which incorporated neither design feature). These results suggest that both colour-based scoring-systems and graphically displayed observations improve search efficiency and reduce the cognitive resources required to process vital sign data.

This work presents an approach to the macroscopic field-controlled mechanics of magnetoactive elastomers of mixed content, which are a special type of smart materials made of an elastic composite and a combination of two essentially different ferromagnetic fillers. High-coercive particles of NdFeB-alloy powder for the magnetically hard (MH) filler and carbonyl iron powder particles with nearly zero coercivity for the magnetically soft (MS) filler are usually used. The MH particles are tens-of-micron in size and impart to the elastomer a remanent magnetisation, whereas due to the MS particles of several microns in size, the elastomer acquires a high magnetic susceptibility. Since large MH particles once magnetised in a strong field possess their own fields to which the MS particles are susceptible, the overall elastomer magnetisation as well as its mechanical response greatly depends on the relative concentration of both fillers. This work particularly studies the bending deformation of horizontally fixed magnetoactive cantilevers with the permanent magnetisation along the length axis under the action of gravity and a vertically applied uniform magnetic field. The cantilevers of the same geometry and fixed NdFeB content but different carbonyl iron concentration are considered. The magnetomechanical model is developed based on the finite-strain theory assuming the plane-stress approximation of the two-dimensional cantilever of infinite width. The magnetic energy comprises two magnetic terms, one of which is qualitatively linear and the other one is quadratic in the applied field strength. The numerically calculated field-programmed equilibrium bending shapes of the cantilevers are compared with the experimentally observed shapes. The model provides good agreement with the experiment up to moderate concentrations of the MS filler, when the coefficients of customary interpolation formulas for the concentration dependencies of elastic modulus and magnetic susceptibility are properly adjusted.

In October 2019, a Swiss panel of experts met for the Dementia Summit in Brunnen, Switzerland, to discuss the latest scientific findings on basic and clinical research, as well as practical and political approaches to the challenges of dementia disorders in Switzerland. Here, we present the conference summary. To study pathophysiological changes, as well as the underlying mechanism of fluid biomarker changes, excellent experimental approaches, including transgenic mouse models, are available. Current knowledge about presymptomatic disease progression is largely derived from the longitudinal study of individuals with autosomal dominant mutations (Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network). Importantly, more than one third of identified dementia risk factors can be modified. For example, sleep disturbances are not only associated with dementia and neurodegeneration in specific brain regions, but also precede cognitive decline and contribute to the development of brain pathology. Regarding the neuropsychological examination of dementia disorders, standardised tests of social cognition, one of the six cognitive domains that must be assessed according to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, are missing, but now under development. The most important new therapeutic approach in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease is the current attempt to prevent β-amyloid accumulation. While until now clinical studies have failed because of side effects or insufficient clinical effectiveness, Biogen recently announced positive results of high doses of aducanumab, a monoclonal antibody against β-amyloid. Other approaches also show promise. In China, sodium oligomannate has been approved to treat Alzheimer's disease. The substance suppresses gut bacterial amino acids-shaped neuroinflammation to inhibit Alzheimer’s disease progression. Assistive technologies for dementia patients can help identify relevant information for care and nursing, as well as measurements for clinical interventions. Dementia patients have a high risk of developing delirium, even in the home environment. Therefore, it is necessary to use and further develop multi-disciplinary and systematic detection and prevention strategies. Homecare models for dementia patients with multidisciplinary teams have been established and evaluated and should be expanded. Dementia is the third-leading cause of death in Switzerland. In palliative care for severe dementia, the improvement of quality of life is of primary importance. The goals of the National Dementia Strategy, to increase the quality of life in those affected and to reduce taboos surrounding the disease, are still unrealised. The need for further national and regional engagement in order to implement the different findings of the strategy has largely been acknowledged, and these implementations have become the core tasks of a national dementia platform.

Reaching movements, as a basic yet complex motor behavior, are a foundational model system in neuroscience. In particular, there has been a significant recent expansion of investigation into the neural circuit mechanisms of reach behavior in mice. Nevertheless, quantification of mouse reach kinematics remains lacking, limiting comparison to the primate literature. In this study, we quantitatively demonstrate the homology of mouse reach kinematics to primate reach and also discover novel late-phase correlational structure that implies online control. Overall, our results highlight the decelerative phase of reach as important in driving successful outcome. Specifically, we develop and implement a novel statistical machine-learning algorithm to identify kinematic features associated with successful reaches and find that late-phase kinematics are most predictive of outcome, signifying online reach control as opposed to preplanning. Moreover, we identify and characterize late-phase kinematic adjustments that are yoked to midflight position and velocity of the limb, allowing for dynamic correction of initial variability, with head-fixed reaches being less dependent on position in comparison to freely behaving reaches. Furthermore, consecutive reaches exhibit positional error correction but not hot-handedness, implying opponent regulation of motor variability. Overall, our results establish foundational mouse reach kinematics in the context of neuroscientific investigation, characterizing mouse reach production as an active process that relies on dynamic online control mechanisms. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Mice use reaching movements to grasp and manipulate objects in their environment, similar to primates. To better establish mouse reach as a model for motor control, we implement several analytical frameworks, from basic kinematic relationships to statistical machine learning, to quantify mouse reach, finding many canonical features of primate reaches are conserved in mice, as well as evidence for midflight course corrections, expanding the utility of mouse reach paradigms for motor control studies.

Areas in frontoparietal cortex have been shown to be active in a range of cognitive tasks and have been proposed to play a key role in goal-driven activities (Dosenbach, N. U. F., Fair, D. A., Miezin, F. M., Cohen, A. L., Wenger, K. K., Dosenbach, R. A. T., et al. Distinct brain networks for adaptive and stable task control in humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A., 104, 11073–11078, 2007; Duncan, J. The multiple-demand (MD) system of the primate brain: Mental programs for intelligent behavior. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 14, 172–179, 2010). Here, we examine the role this frontoparietal system plays in visual search. Visual search, like many complex tasks, consists of a sequence of operations: target selection, stimulus–response (SR) mapping, and response execution. We independently manipulated the difficulty of target selection and SR mapping in a novel visual search task that involved identical stimulus displays. Enhanced activity was observed in areas of frontal and parietal cortex during both difficult target selection and SR mapping. In addition, anterior insula and ACC showed preferential representation of SR-stage information, whereas the medial frontal gyrus, precuneus, and inferior parietal sulcus showed preferential representation of target selection-stage information. A connectivity analysis revealed dissociable neural circuits underlying visual search. We hypothesize that these circuits regulate distinct mental operations associated with the allocation of spatial attention, stimulus decisions, shifts of task set from selection to SR mapping, and SR mapping. Taken together, the results show frontoparietal involvement in all stages of visual search and a specialization with respect to cognitive operations.

Mice use reaching movements to grasp and manipulate objects in their environment, similar to primates. Thus, many recent studies use mouse reach to uncover neural control mechanisms, but quantification of mouse reach kinematics remains lacking, limiting understanding. Here we implement several analytical frameworks, from basic kinematic relationships to statistical machine learning, to quantify mouse reach kinematics across freely-behaving and head-fixed conditions. Overall, we find that many canonical features of primate reaches are conserved in mice, with some notable differences. Our results highlight the decelerative phase of reach as important in driving successful outcome. Late-phase kinematic adjustments are yoked to mid-flight position and velocity of the limb, allowing dynamic correction of initial variability, with head-fixed reaches being less dependent on position. Furthermore, consecutive reaches exhibit positional error-correction but not hot-handedness, implying opponent regulation of motor variability. Overall, our results establish foundational mouse reach kinematics in the context of neuroscientific investigation.

The development of actuator and sensor systems with complex adaptive behavior and operating sensitivity is one of the actual scientific challenges. Smart materials like magneto-sensitive elastomers (MSEs) offer great potential for designing such intelligent devices, because they possess unique magnetic-field-dependent properties. The present paper deals with investigations of the free and forced vibrational behavior displayed by cantilever beams of MSEs containing magnetically soft particles in a uniform magnetic field. It is shown experimentally as well as theoretically that the first bending eigenfrequency of MSE beams depends strongly on the strength of an applied magnetic field. The proposed magneto-mechanical model is based on the vibrational dynamics of thin rods and predicts reliably the amplitude–frequency characteristics depending on the geometric configuration of the MSE and its material parameters. It is found that the vibration response of an MSE beam under kinematic excitation of its base can be modified indirectly by a magnetic field control due to the change of the vibration characteristics. As a result, the resonance can occur in different ranges of the excitation frequency. The dependencies of the amplification ratio on the excitation frequency are obtained experimentally and compared with the result provided by the theoretical model. Moreover, investigations on the potential use of the field-induced plasticity effect of MSEs in form-fit gripper applications are presented. This effect can be used to realize shape adaptable system parts. It is found that the mechanical properties of each component and its concentration within the mixture have an impact on the mechanical behavior of the whole MSE compound. Such parameters as the strength of magnetic field and geometry of the MSE sample have influence on the quality of shape adaptation. The evidence presented provides a good basis for the realization of MSE-based actuator and sensor systems with adaptable sensitivity.

Studies of immunity in bat species are rare. However, it is important to determine immunological variations to identify factors influencing the health status of these endangered mammals from an evolutionary, ecological, conservation, and public health point of view. Immunity is highly variable and can be influenced by both internal (e.g. hormone levels, energy demand) and external factors (e.g. pathogens, climate). As bats have some peculiar ecological, energetic, and putative immunological characteristics, they are outstanding study organisms for ecoimmunological studies. We tested if (i) female bats have a higher immunity than males similar to most other mammalian species and (ii) individuals differ according to their energy demand (e.g. reproductive status). To study these questions, we sampled female and male Myotis daubentonii with different reproductive states and estimated their bacterial killing activity, hemolysis/hemagglutination titer, immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration, and total and differential white blood cell counts. These methods characterize the cellular and humoral branches of both the adaptive and the innate immune responses of these individuals. Reproductively active males had lower cellular immunity compared to non-reproductive individuals. Pregnant females had increased IgG concentrations while hemolysis was enhanced during lactation. No clear trade-off between immunity and reproduction was found; instead immunity of males and female bats seems to be modulated differently due to varying hormonal and energetic states. Our data suggest that both adaptive and innate immunity as well as individual differences (i.e. sex and reproductive state) need to be considered to get a comprehensive overall picture of immunity in wild mammals.

The introduction of rabies virus (RABV) to barrier islands, which are often popular tourist destinations with resource-rich habitats and connectivity and proximity to the mainland, is especially concerning because it can easily become endemic due to factors like dense rabies-vector populations (e.g., raccoons [ Procyon lotor]), high inter- and intraspecies contact rates, and anthropogenic activities such as supplemental feeding of feral cats ( Felis catus). In January 2013, a neurologic raccoon found on the Jekyll Island (JI), Georgia, US causeway tested positive for rabies. Mortality investigations of 29 raccoons have been conducted between December 2012-May 2017. The two most common diagnoses were RABV ( n=11) and canine distemper virus (CDV; n=8). Parvoviral enteritis was diagnosed in four raccoons but no coinfections were diagnosed. There was no apparent seasonality for rabies cases, but all CDV cases occurred in spring-fall. Most (64%) rabies submissions came from residential or recreational use areas located near feral cat feeding stations. Jekyll Island is a popular destination where tourists engage in numerous outdoor activities which facilitate human-wildlife interactions. Concerns regarding public and animal health highlight the importance of rabies surveillance, prevention, and control on islands. This is the first report of rabies on JI and emphasizes the importance of disease investigations because the assumption that neurologic raccoons have CDV, an endemic pathogen, can miss the establishment of novel pathogens such as RABV.

Most theories of visual search maintain that attention is selectively tuned to the attributes of the search target (e.g., orange). Conversely, according to the relational account, attention is bias...

Prominent models of overt and covert visual search focus on explaining search efficiency by visual guidance. That some searches are fast whereas others are slow is explained by the ability of the target to guide attention to the target’s position. Comparably little attention is given to other variables that might also influence search efficiency, such as dwelling on distractors, skipping distractors, and revisiting distractors. Here, we examine the relative contributions of dwelling, skipping, rescanning, and the use of visual guidance, in explaining visual search times in general, and the similarity effect in particular. The hallmark of the similarity effect is more efficient search for a target that is dissimilar to the distractors compared to a target that is similar to the distractors. In the present experiment, participants have to find an emotional face target among nine neutral face non-targets. In different blocks, the target is either more or less similar to the non-targets. Eye-tracking is used to separately measure selection latency, dwelling on distractors, and skipping and revisiting of distractors. As expected, visual search times show a large similarity effect. Similarity also has strong effects on dwelling, skipping, and revisiting, but only weak effects on visual guidance. Regression analyses show that dwelling, skipping, and revisiting determine search times on trial level. The influence of dwelling and revisiting is stronger in target absent than in target present trials, whereas the opposite is true for skipping. The similarity effect is best explained by dwelling. Additionally, including a measure of guidance does not yield substantial benefits. In sum, results indicate that guidance by the target is not the sole principle behind fast search; rather, distractors are less often skipped, more often visited, and longer dwelled on in slow search conditions.

The cerebellum is well appreciated to impart speed, smoothness, and precision to skilled movements such as reaching. How these functions are executed by the final output stage of the cerebellum, the cerebellar nuclei, remains unknown. Here, we identify a causal relationship between cerebellar output and mouse reach kinematics and show how that relationship is leveraged endogenously to enhance reach precision. Activity in the anterior interposed nucleus (IntA) was remarkably well aligned to reach endpoint, scaling with the magnitude of limb deceleration. Closed-loop optogenetic modulation of IntA activity, triggered on reach, supported a causal role for this activity in controlling reach velocity in real time. Relating endogenous neural variability to kinematic variability, we found that IntA endpoint activity is adaptively engaged relative to variations in initial reach velocity, supporting endpoint precision. Taken together, these results provide a framework for understanding the physiology and pathophysiology of the intermediate cerebellum during precise skilled movements.

Changes in motor and sensory properties occur either side of spinal cord lesion sites from lower vertebrates to humans. We have previously examined these changes in the lamprey, a model system for studying recovery after spinal cord injury. These analyses were performed 8–12 wk after complete spinal cord lesions, a time when most animals have recovered good locomotor function. However, anatomical analyses have been performed at earlier and later times than this. Because there have been no functional studies at these times, in this study we have examined changes between 2 and 24+ wk after lesioning. Functional changes developed at different times in different regions of the spinal cord. Spinal cord excitability was significantly reduced above and below the lesion site less than 6 wk after lesioning but showed variable region-specific changes at later times. Excitatory synaptic inputs to motor neurons were increased above the lesion site during the recovery phase (2–8 wk after lesioning) but only increased below the lesion site once recovery had occurred (8 wk and later). These synaptic effects were associated with lesion-induced changes in connectivity between premotor excitatory interneurons. Sensory inputs were potentiated at 8 wk and later after lesioning but were markedly reduced at earlier times. There are thus time- and region-specific changes in motor and sensory properties above and below the lesion site. Although animals typically recover good locomotor function by 8 wk, there were further changes at 24+ wk. With the assumption that these changes can help to compensate for the reduced descending input to the spinal cord, effects at later times may reflect ongoing modifications as regeneration continues. NEW & NOTEWORTHY The lamprey is a model system for studying functional recovery and regeneration after spinal cord injury. We show that changes in spinal cord excitability and sensory inputs develop at different times above and below the lesion site during recovery. These changes may occur in response to the lesion-induced removal of descending inputs and may subsequently help to compensate for the reduction of the descending drive to allow locomotor recovery. Changes also continue once animals have recovered locomotor function, potentially reflecting adaptations to further regeneration at later recovery times.

Career situation of first and presenting author Post-doctoral fellow. Introduction The pain reducing effects of certain natural springs containing the radioactive noble gas radon have been described for centuries. Today, one expects that small cumulative dose of radiation of about 0.3 mSv originating from radon progeny impacts on the immune system and bone metabolism of patients suffering from chronic painful degenerative and/or inflammatory diseases. However, osteoimmunological analyses of patients during radon spa were lacking. Objectives We initiated the observational and explorative RAD-ON01 study to analyse for the first time the impact of radon spa on the immune status in the whole blood of 100 patients. Methods Whole blood of the patients was drawn before and at weeks 6, 12 and 30 after therapy. Deep immunophenotyping was performed by multicolour flow cytometry and cytokine analyses by ELISA. Results The RAD-ON01 study confirmed a long-lasting pain reduction. While the major immune cells were only marginally affected, in particular regulatory T cells and dendritic cells were temporarily increased and activation markers on immune cells were decreased. Further, a decrease of serum markers related to bone erosion was observed. The cytokine analyses showed that temporarily increased TGFβ following radon spa correlates with reduced pain perception of the patients. To exclude placebo effects, in November 2018 the RAD-ON02 study (EUDRACT: 2016-002085-31) started. With this prospective, temporarily placebo-controlled and double- blinded trial the evidence level of radon spa application and knowledge on osteoimmunological modes of action of radon should be improved. Conclusions We conclude that patients with musculoskeletal disorders do benefit from radon spa and that osteoimmunological mechanisms are modulated by exposure of the patients to very low doses of radiation. Future randomized studies should improve the evidence level for radon as therapeutic option for chronic painful degenerative and/or inflammatory diseases. Acknowledgements This work was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (GREWIS, 02NUK017G and GREWIS-alpha, 02NUK050E), the Bayerisches Staatsbad Bad Steben GmbH, the Landesamt fur Gesundheit und Lebensmittelsicherheit Bayern, and the EU (FP7 Nuclear Fission, Safety and Radiation Protection; FP7–249689). Disclosure of Interest None declared.

Career situation of first and presenting author Student for a master or a PhD. Introduction The treatment of chronic inflammatory and/or degenerative diseases by low dose radiation therapy (LDRT) is a successful alternative treatment option, especially for patients who were refractory for treatment with drugs. Generally, LDRT aims to reduce pain of patients and to increase their mobility. Although LDRT has successfully been applied since the late 19th century, the underlying immunological mechanisms are only fragmentarily analyzed. Objectives Therefore we have aimed to analyze the impact of locally delivered LDRT on systemic immune changes. Methods For this the IMMO-LDRT01 study (NCT02653079) was initiated in 2016. The study will include 150 patients suffering from chronic inflammatory and/or degenerative diseases, such as arthritis, arthrosis or benign calcaneodynia. The patients are treated with six local irradiations (single dose per fraction of 0.5Gy) in three weeks. If necessary, the serial irradiation can be repeated after 8–12 weeks, in order to achieve a further reduction of the pain. Blood samples are taken before and after every serial irradiation, as well as during follow-up appointments of the patients. For detailed immunophenotyping of whole blood, we established a multicolor flow cytometry assay, which allows the monitoring of seven main immune cell types, 26 immune cell subtypes, and the activation status of the immune cells. Results To date 80 patients have been included in the study. First evaluations showed a significant reduction of B cells and cytotoxic T cells in the peripheral blood of patients. In particular, LDRT impacted on activation markers of immune cells. One has to stress that the immunological effects of LDRT were dependent on the particular type of disease of the patients. Currently, the data of the immunophenotyping are correlated to pain perception and quality of life of the patients. Conclusions These analyses will be helpful to optimize LDRT. A better patient stratification based on pain- and immune-related biomarkers is envisaged for the future, alongside with initiation of deliberated randomized clinical trials. Acknowledgements This study has been in part funded by the Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung (GREWIS and GREWIS-alpha, 02NUK017G and 02NUK050E). Disclosure of Interest None declared.

Research and theories on visual search often focus on visual guidance to explain differences in search. Guidance is the tuning of attention to target features and facilitates search because distractors that do not show target features can be more effectively ignored (skipping). As a general rule, the better the guidance is, the more efficient search is. Correspondingly, behavioral experiments often interpreted differences in efficiency as reflecting varying degrees of attentional guidance. But other factors such as the time spent on processing a distractor (dwelling) or multiple visits to the same stimulus in a search display (revisiting) are also involved in determining search efficiency. While there is some research showing that dwelling and revisiting modulate search times in addition to skipping, the corresponding studies used complex naturalistic and category-defined stimuli. The present study tests whether results from prior research can be generalized to more simple stimuli, where target-distractor similarity, a strong factor influencing search performance, can be manipulated in a detailed fashion. Thus, in the present study, simple stimuli with varying degrees of target-distractor similarity were used to deliver conclusive evidence for the contribution of dwelling and revisiting to search performance. The results have theoretical and methodological implications: They imply that visual search models should not treat dwelling and revisiting as constants across varying levels of search efficiency and that behavioral search experiments are equivocal with respect to the responsible processing mechanisms underlying more versus less efficient search. We also suggest that eye-tracking methods may be used to disentangle different search components such as skipping, dwelling, and revisiting.

Present day models of visual search focus on explaining search efficiency by visual guidance: The target guides attention to the target's position better in more efficient than in less efficient search. The time spent processing the distractor, however, is set to a constant in these models. In contrast to this assumption, recent studies found that dwelling on distractors is longer in more inefficient search. Previous experiments in support of this contention all presented the same distractors across all conditions, while varying the targets. While this procedure has its virtues, it confounds the manipulation of search efficiency with target type. Here we use the same targets over the entire experiment, while varying search efficiency by presenting different types of distractors. Eye fixation behavior was used to infer the amount of distractor dwelling, skipping, and revisiting. The results replicate previous results, with similarity affecting dwelling, and dwelling in turn affecting search performance. A regression analysis confirmed that variations in dwelling account for a large amount of variance in search speed, and that the similarity effect in dwelling accounts for the similarity effect in overall search performance. Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.

A number of characteristics of the visual system and of the visual stimulus are invoked to explain involuntary control of attention, including goals, novelty, and perceptual salience. The present experiment tested perceptual salience on a surprise trial, that is, on its unannounced first presentation following trials lacking any salient items, thus eliminating possible confounds by current goals. Moreover, the salient item's location was not singled out by a novel feature, thus eliminating a possible confound by novelty in directing attention. Eye tracking was used to measure involuntary attention. Results show a prioritization of the salient item. However, contrary to predictions of prominent neuro-computational and psychological salience models, prioritization was not fast-acting. Rather the observers' gaze was attracted only as the second fixation on average or later (depending on condition) and with a latency of more than 500 ms on average. These results support the general proposition that salience can control attention. However, contrary to most salience models, the present results indicate that salience changes attentional priority only in novel environments.