Neither extended sequential nor simultaneous feature positive training result in modulation of evaluative flavor-flavor conditioning in humans

Transgenic animals are new and important models for the study of candidate genes in hypertension research as well as in other fields of medicine. For detailed genetic characterization of the transgenic animals, and to account for the symptoms arising from the insertion of transgenes in the genome, it is essential to identify these insertion sites. In this study, the insertion sites of the transgenes of candidate genes for hypertension were identified by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) after G-banding of the chromosomes in transgenic rats and mice. This technique combines high resolution G-banding and fluorescence in situ hybridization for the mapping of four different candidate genes in six different transgenic rats as well as three different mouse transgenic lines. The presented results will help to draw conclusions about the influence of the respective integration site on transgene expression.     

A novel pathogenic taxon of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, Canetti: characterization of an exceptional isolate from Africa

In an attempt to characterize an unusual mycobacterial strain isolated from a 2-year-old Somali patient with lymphadenitis, we applied various molecular methods not previously used for the taxonomic classification of mycobacteria. This isolate, designated So93, did not differ from Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the biochemical tests and in its 16S rRNA sequence, but produced smooth and glossy colonies, which is highly exceptional for this species. This smooth phenotype was unstable and switched nonreversibly to a rough colony morphology with a low frequency. The two colony types were equally virulent for the guinea pig, exhibiting characteristic tuberculous disease. Both morphotypes had shorter generation times than the M. tuberculosis reference laboratory strain H37Rv and clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis. Furthermore, the So93 isolate differed from all M. tuberculosis complex strains described thus far by having only a single copy of insertion sequence IS1081, an unusual composition of the direct repeat cluster, and a characteristic phenolic glycolipid and lipooligosaccharide. This glycolipid had previously been observed only in a smooth isolate of M. tuberculosis obtained in 1969 by Canetti in France. Analysis of the Canetti strain showed that it shared virtually all genetic properties characteristic of So93, distinguishing these two strains from the known M. tuberculosis complex taxa, M. tuberculosis, Mycobacterium africanum, M. bovis, and Mycobacterium microti. The natural reservoir, host range, and mode of transmission of the group of bacteria described in this paper are presently unknown. This study, partly based on not previously used molecular criteria, supports the idea that the established members within the M. tuberculosis complex and the newly described Canetti grouping should be regarded as a single species, which likely will be designated "M. tuberculosis".     

Reassessing the proper place of man and machine in translation: a pre-translation scenario

Traditionally, human–machine interaction to reach an improved machine translation (MT) output takes place ex-post and consists of correcting this output. In this work, we investigate other modes of intervention in the MT process. We propose a Pre-Edition protocol that involves: (a) the detection of MT translation difficulties; (b) the resolution of those difficulties by a human translator, who provides their translations (pre-translation); and (c) the integration of the obtained information prior to the automatic translation. This approach can meet individual interaction preferences of certain translators and can be particularly useful for production environments, where more control over output quality is needed. Early resolution of translation difficulties can prevent downstream errors, thus improving the final translation quality “for free”. We show that translation difficulty can be reliably predicted for English for various source units. We demonstrate that the pre-translation information can be successfully exploited by an MT system and that the indirect effects are genuine, accounting for around 16% of the total improvement. We also provide a study of the human effort involved in the resolution process.     

Random Pattern and Frequency Generation Using a Photonic Reservoir Computer with Output Feedback

Reservoir computing is a bio-inspired computing paradigm for processing time dependent signals. The performance of its analogue implementations matches other digital algorithms on a series of benchmark tasks. Their potential can be further increased by feeding the output signal back into the reservoir, which would allow to apply the algorithm to time series generation. This requires, in principle, implementing a sufficiently fast readout layer for real-time output computation. Here we achieve this with a digital output layer driven by a FPGA chip. We demonstrate the first opto-electronic reservoir computer with output feedback and test it on two examples of time series generation tasks: frequency and random pattern generation. We obtain very good results on the first task, similar to idealised numerical simulations. The performance on the second one, however, suffers from the experimental noise. We illustrate this point with a detailed investigation of the consequences of noise on the performance of a physical reservoir computer with output feedback. Our work thus opens new possible applications for analogue reservoir computing and brings new insights on the impact of noise on the output feedback.     

Laser polishing and 2PP structuring of inside microfluidic channels in fused silica

This study presents the development of post-processing steps for microfluidics fabricated with selective laser etching (SLE) in fused silica. In a first step, the SLE surface—even inner walls of microfluidic channels—can be smoothed by laser polishing. In addition, two-photon polymerization (2PP) can be used to manufacture polymer microstructures and microcomponents inside the microfluidic channels. The reduction in the surface roughness by laser polishing is a remelting process. While heating the glass surface above softening temperature, laser radiation relocates material thanks to the surface tension. With laser polishing, the RMS roughness of SLE surfaces can be reduced from 12 µm down to 3 nm for spatial wavelength λ < 400 µm. Thanks to the laser polishing, fluidic processes as well as particles in microchannels can be observed with microscopy. A manufactured microfluidic demonstrates that SLE and laser polishing can be combined successfully. By developing two-photon polymerization (2PP) processing in microchannels we aim to enable new applications with sophisticated 3D structures inside the microchannel. With 2PP, lenses with a diameter of 50 µm are processed with a form accuracy rms of 70 nm. In addition, this study demonstrates that 3D structures can be fabricated inside the microchannels manufactured with SLE. Thanks to the combination of SLE, laser polishing and 2PP, research is pioneering new applications for microfluidics made of fused silica.     

The influence of the oncogenes NRAS and MYC on the radiation sensitivity of cells of a human melanoma cell line

Activation of certain oncogenes may alter the sensitivity of cells to ionizing radiation. We studied the effect of oncogene activation on the radiation sensitivity of cells of a human melanoma cell line. The cell line IGR39D was transfected with the MYC oncogene, the proto-oncogene NRAS, NRAS activated by a point mutation (61-arginine) or a combination of mutated NRAS and MYC. Single-dose experiments showed a decreased survival after transfection with MYC, wild-type NRAS or mutated NRAS. Co-transfection with MYC and mutated NRAS decreased survival up to 4 Gy, whereas at higher doses no shift in radiosensitivity was seen. Flow cytometry data indicated that differences in radiosensitivity could be explained at least in part by a difference in the distribution of cells in the phases of the cell cycle. After transfection of cells with either NRAS or MYC, the number of cells in G1 phase decreased with a concomitant increase of cells in the G2/M phase. When the cell line transfected with activated NRAS was manipulated so that the distribution of the cells in the phases of the cell cycle resembled th at of the parental line at the time of irradiation, the survival of the cells was improved. Similar experiments with the cell line containing MYC did not result in an alteration of the distribution of the cells in the cycle, or the survival after single-dose fractions, suggesting the presence of a distinct mechanism for influencing radiation sensitivity. Both NRAS and MYC transfection decrease the radiation sensitivity of human melanoma cells, but the underlying mechanisms seem different. In conclusion, transfection with NRAS or MYC alone increases radiation sensitivity while transfection of cells containing NRAS with MYC restores resistance at higher doses.     

The role of the rotational state in intermolecular interactions of H2O with H2 and CH3Cl

Rotational-state resolved measurements of H₂O−H₂ and H₂O−CH₃Cl intermolecular interactions were performed. Using light-induced drift as a tool, we measured changes in transport collision ratev upon rovibrational (J, r)-excitation of H₂O. We studied P- and R-branch excitation withJ ranging from O through 9 for H₂O excited in the fundamental asymmetric stretch mode. Combination of P and R data yields the dependencies ofv upon rotational (J) and vibrational (r) quantum numbers separately. For H₂O−CH₃Cl it is found thatv decreases by 25% asJ increases from 0 to 9. For H₂O−H₂ the decrease is only 1.0%. These data seem to exemplify a fundamental aspect of dipole-dipole interaction: the familiar 1r ³ interaction term is highlyJ-dependent. This is attributed to the increasing averaging-out of the dipolar potential as the rotational quantum number increases. Paper dedicated to Professor Edward A. Mason.