Saccade onset, not fixation onset, best explains early sensory responses across the human visual cortex during naturalistic vision

Visual processing has traditionally been investigated using static viewing paradigms, where participants are presented with streams of randomized stimuli. Observations from such experiments have been generalized to naturalistic vision, which is based on active sampling via eye movements. In studies of naturalistic vision, visual processing stages are thought to be initiated at the onset of fixations, equivalent to a stimulus onset. Here we test whether findings from static visual paradigms translate to active, naturalistic vision. Utilizing head-stabilized magnetoencephalography (MEG) and eye tracking data of 5 participants who freely explored thousands of natural images, we show that saccade onset, not fixation onset, explains most variance in latency and amplitude of the early sensory component M100. Source-projected MEG topographies of image and saccade onset were anticorrelated, demonstrating neural dynamics that share similar topographies but produce oppositely oriented fields. Our findings challenge the prevailing approach for studying natural vision and highlight the role of internally generated signals in the dynamics of sensory processing

Kinematics of charge transfer: Ar^++H2

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/jcp/67/6/10.1063/1.435181.Product angular and velocity vector distributions have been measured in a crossed beam experiment for the charge transfer process Ar++H2→Ar+H2 + at relative collision energies of 0.13, 0.48, and 3.44 eV. Charge transfer was found to occur by two distinct mechanisms: (1) a simple electron‐jump mechanism which preserves the quasirectilinear trajectories of the colliding species and which selectively produces H2 + in the vibrational state most nearly resonant with the reactant ion, and (2) an intimate‐collision mechanism which results in large‐angle scattering and which produces H2 + in a broad range of vibrational states

Yardstick Competition in German Municipalities

Does increasing transparency improve fiscal policy behavior of local governments? One way this could take place is via Yardstick Competition between incumbents of neighboring municipalities. This paper contributes to the literature by introducing a simple model which employs probabilistic voting to show the effect of Yardstick Competition on the amount of political rents diverted from the tax revenue. Since additional rents lower the probability of being reelected, the incumbent will reduce equilibrium rents if voters use information on fiscal performance in similar municipalities to evaluate the incumbent's quality. I test this hypothesis on a panel dataset of municipal budget and electoral data in the german state of Northrine-Westphalia. I show evidence for Yardstick Competition in the local business and property tax rates.Kann zunehmende Transparenz im kommunalen Budgetprozess die fiskalpolitische Disziplin der politischen Entscheidungsträger verbessern? In dieser Arbeit wird ein positiver Modellrahmen entwickelt, anhand dessen die Wirkungsweise von steigen - der Transparenz auf das Entscheidungsverhalten von Kommunalpolitikern durch den Yardstick Competition Effekt dargestellt werden kann. Politiker reduzieren die Veruntreuung finanzieller Mittel, wenn ihr Verhalten von den Wählern relativ zur Leistung von Politikern in benachbarten Kommunen bewertet wird. Unter Anwendung von Methoden der räumlichen Ökonometrie auf kommunale Haushalts- und Wahldaten der Jahre 1989 bis 2004 wird gezeigt, dass die räumliche Korrelation in den Gewerbe- und Grundsteuerhebesätzen in Nordrhein-Westfalen auf die Existenz von Yardstick Competition zurückzuführen ist

An iron-based beverage, HydroFerrate fluid (MRN-100), alleviates oxidative stress in murine lymphocytes in vitro

BackgroundSeveral studies have examined the correlation between iron oxidation and H2O2 degradation. The present study was carried out to examine the protective effects of MRN-100 against stress-induced apoptosis in murine splenic cells in vitro. MRN-100, or HydroFerrate fluid, is an iron-based beverage composed of bivalent and trivalent ferrates.MethodsSplenic lymphocytes from mice were cultured in the presence or absence of MRN-100 for 2 hrs and were subsequently exposed to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) at a concentration of 25 μM for 14 hrs. Percent cell death was examined by flow cytometry and trypan blue exclusion. The effect of MRN-100 on Bcl-2 and Bax protein levels was determined by Western blot.ResultsResults show, as expected, that culture of splenic cells with H2O2 alone results in a significant increase in cell death (apoptosis) as compared to control (CM) cells. In contrast, pre-treatment of cells with MRN-100 followed by H2O2 treatment results in significantly reduced levels of apoptosis. In addition, MRN-100 partially prevents H2O2-induced down-regulation of the anti-apoptotic molecule Bcl-2 and upregulation of the pro-apoptotic molecule Bax.ConclusionOur findings suggest that MRN-100 may offer a protective effect against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis in lymphocytes

Contrary Effects of the Water Radiolysis Product H2O2 upon the Dissolution of Nuclear Fuel in Natural Ground Water and Deionized Water.

Abstract not availableJRC.E - Institute for Transuranium Elements (Karlsruhe

Microbial oxidation of Fe2+ and pyrite exposed to flux of micromolar H2O2 in acidic media

At an initial pH of 2, while abiotic oxidation of aqueous Fe2+ was enhanced by a flux of H2O2 at micromolar concentrations, bio-oxidation of aqueous Fe2+ could be impeded due to oxidative stress/damage in Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans caused by Fenton reaction-derived hydroxyl radical, particularly when the molar ratio of Fe 2+ to H2O2 was low. When pyrite cubes were intermittently exposed to fluxes of micromolar H2O2, the reduced Fe2+-Fe 3+ conversion rate in the solution (due to reduced microbial activity) weakened the Fe 3+-catalyzed oxidation of cubic pyrite and added to relative importance of H2O2-driven oxidation in the corrosion of mineral surfaces for the treatments with high H 2O2 doses. This had effects on reducing the build-up of a passivating coating layer on the mineral surfaces. Cell attachment to the mineral surfaces was only observed at the later stage of the experiment after the solutions became less favorable for the growth of planktonic bacteria

Geochemical Modelling as a Tool for Actinide Speciation during Anoxing Leaching Processes of Nuclear Fuel.

Abstract not availableJRC.E-Institute for Transuranium Elements (Karlsruhe

Effiziente Codegenerierung für mobilen Code

Bestehende Lösungen zum Transport von mobilem Code lassen sich in drei Kategorien aufteilen: virtuelle Maschinen, baumorientierte Techniken und beweisübertragende Ansätze. Wir beschreiben einen neuen, vierten Ansatz, inhärent sichere Übertragungsformate und stellen unser SafeTSA-Projekt vor, welches diesen Ansatz validiert.Abstract Existing mobile-code approaches can be classified into one of three categories: virtual machines, tree-based techniques, and proof-carrying code.We introduce a new, fourth category, inherently safe code, and give an overview of our SafeTSA project that validates this method