Spatially Invariant Coding of Numerical Information in Functionally Defined Subregions of Human Parietal Cortex

Macaque electrophysiology has revealed neurons responsive to number in lateral (LIP) and ventral (VIP) intraparietal areas. Recently, fMRI pattern recognition revealed information discriminative of individual numbers in human parietal cortex but without precisely localizing the relevant sites or testing for subregions with different response profiles. Here, we defined the human functional equivalents of LIP (feLIP) and VIP (feVIP) using neurophysiologically motivated localizers. We applied multivariate pattern recognition to investigate whether both regions represent numerical information and whether number codes are position specific or invariant. In a delayed number comparison paradigm with laterally presented numerosities, parietal cortex discriminated between numerosities better than early visual cortex, and discrimination generalized across hemifields in parietal, but not early visual cortex. Activation patterns in the 2 parietal regions of interest did not differ in the coding of position-specific or position-independent number information, but in the expression of a numerical distance effect which was more pronounced in feLIP. Thus, the representation of number in parietal cortex is at least partially position invariant. Both feLIP and feVIP contain information about individual numerosities in humans, but feLIP hosts a coarser representation of numerosity than feVIP, compatible with either broader tuning or a summation cod

The ideal gas as an urn model: derivation of the entropy formula

The approach of an ideal gas to equilibrium is simulated through a generalization of the Ehrenfest ball-and-box model. In the present model, the interior of each box is discretized, {\it i.e.}, balls/particles live in cells whose occupation can be either multiple or single. Moreover, particles occasionally undergo random, but elastic, collisions between each other and against the container walls. I show, both analitically and numerically, that the number and energy of particles in a given box eventually evolve to an equilibrium distribution $W$ which, depending on cell occupations, is binomial or hypergeometric in the particle number and beta-like in the energy. Furthermore, the long-run probability density of particle velocities is Maxwellian, whereas the Boltzmann entropy $\ln W$ exactly reproduces the ideal-gas entropy. Besides its own interest, this exercise is also relevant for pedagogical purposes since it provides, although in a simple case, an explicit probabilistic foundation for the ergodic hypothesis and for the maximum-entropy principle of thermodynamics. For this reason, its discussion can profitably be included in a graduate course on statistical mechanics.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figure

Definição da folha a ser amostrada para monitoramento de Mosca Branca (Bemisia tuberculata) na cultura da mandioca (Manihot esculenta Crantz).

A mandioca (Manihot esculenta Crantz) é uma cultura com crescente importância no mundo tropical, sendo a terceira fonte de calorias, atrás apenas do arroz e do milho, sendo utilizada na alimentação de cerca de 600 milhões de pessoas. No Brasil, aproximadamente 90% da produção da mandioca é obtida em propriedades de base familiar, sendo o país o terceiro produtor mundial, depois da Nigéria e da Tailândia, com uma produção de 26,52 milhões de toneladas de raízes, obtidas em uma área de cerca de 1,89 milhão de ha, o que corresponde a 12,37% da produção mundial e 10,20% da área, respectivamente (FAOSTAT, 2009). Essa é provavelmente a espécie vegetal mais disseminada pelo país, numa demonstração da profunda identificação entre essa cultura e o povo brasileiro. A cultura se caracteriza pela baixa necessidade de uso de insumos e agroquímicos, tem alta tolerância a períodos de seca, além de poder permanecer no solo até seu consumo, desempenhando papel importante na alimentação da população brasileira (CAMARGO, 2009). No entanto, por apresentar um longo ciclo vegetativo, está sujeita a uma grande diversidade de artrópodes que dela se alimentam (BELLOTTI et al., 1999). Dentro do complexo de insetos praga que atacam a cultura atualmente no Brasil, relata-se o crescimento da importância das espécies de mosca branca. Os gêneros mais importantes descritos atacando a cultura da mandioca no Brasil são Aleurothrixus aepim, Bemisia tuberculata, Trialeurodes variabilis e Bemisia tabaci biótipo B (OLIVEIRA & LIMA, 2006). No Centro-Sul do Brasil a espécie predominante é B. tuberculata, enquanto que no Nordeste destaca-se a espécie A. aepim (OLIVEIRA & LIMA, 2006). As moscas brancas causam danos diretos e indiretos, resultantes da sucção da seiva e transmissão de viroses, respectivamente (OLIVEIRA & LIMA, 2006). Para a supressão das populações desses insetos, apesar da existência de diversos inimigos naturais (BELLOTTI et al., 1999), tem-se predominado a utilização de inseticidas químicos, ainda que sem registros para essa cultura (AGROFIT, 2013) e ineficientes no controle do complexo de moscas brancas (MOREIRA et al., 2006). A utilização de variedades resistentes é outra estratégia de controle dessa praga, pois a mandioca é uma das poucas culturas onde se têm identificado níveis de resistência ao complexo de moscas brancas (CARABALI et al, 2010; OMONGO et al, 2012). Esta estratégia apresenta baixo custo e longa manutenção da população da praga abaixo do nível de dano econômico, além de reduzir perdas no rendimento, sendo uma importante ferramenta para ser incluída em um programa de manejo integrado de pragas (BELLOTTI et al., 1999). Para o estabelecimento de um eficiente programa de manejo integrado de pragas, além de utilizar várias estratégias de controle, é de suma importância um bom monitoramento da população da praga, visando à adoção de medidas de controle no momento ideal. Para a cultura da mandioca não se tem estabelecido um método de monitoramento preciso, eficiente e de baixo custo, principalmente para mosca branca. Observa-se que na cultura da mandioca os adultos de moscas brancas são encontrados principalmente nos ponteiros das plantas, onde se observa que o número de adultos presentes nas três primeiras folhas abertas, onde estes se alimentam e depositam seus ovos, é maior. Já as ninfas e 'pupas' são encontradas no terço apical e médio. Visando estabelecer um método de amostragem, que efetivamente seja representativo da população de mosca branca na cultura da mandioca, e considerando as características de localização dos adultos, se realizou este trabalho, cujo objetivo foi definir qual folha de mandioca deve ser amostrada durante o monitoramento de mosca branca em cultivos comerciais de mandioca, que expressem o nível populacional desta praga no cultivo

Automated universal chip platform for fluorescence based cellular assays

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.The advantage of cell based assays used as biosensors is the direct access to hardly obtainable parameters like toxicity, mutagenicity and pharmacological effectiveness. Within the last few years we established a micro fluidic platform including a peristaltic micro pump as well as several valves, manifolds and micro channels [1]. For optical online monitoring the micro fluidic system is bonded to a glass slide. Furthermore the biochip is fixed on an electrically heated support. The pneumatically actuated peristaltic pump as well as the temperature control is performed by a control device. For the fluorescence based online monitoring a robotic guided fluorescence measurement module was developed, which supports the detection of fluorescence in microtiter plates and microfluidic systems. This measurement module allows the fluorescence detection of two different excitation / detection wavelengths (480 / 530 nm and 570 / 620 nm) and was successfully characterised using EGFP and Rhodamine 6G. Additionally three cell based assays with bacterial, yeast and human cells were characterized

XMM-Newton observation of the persistent Be/NS X-ray binary pulsar RX J1037.5-5647 in a low luminosity state

The spectra of several X-ray binary pulsars display a clear soft excess, which in most cases can be described with a blackbody model, above the main power-law component. While in the high-luminosity sources it is usually characterized by low temperature (kT 100 km), in the two persistent and low-luminosity pulsars 4U 0352+309 and RX J0146.9+6121 this component has a high temperature (kT > 1 keV) and a smaller radius (R < 0.5 km), consistent with the estimated size of the neutron-star polar cap. Here we report on the timing and spectral analysis of RX J1037.5-5647, another low-luminosity persistent Be binary pulsar, based on the first XMM-Newton observation of this source. We have found a best-fit period P = 853.4(+/-0.2) s, that implies an average pulsar spin-up dP/dt ~ -2E-8 s/s in the latest decade. The estimated source luminosity is Lx ~ 10^34 erg/s, a value comparable to that of the other persistent Be binary pulsars and about one order of magnitude lower than in most of the previous measurements. The source spectrum can be described with a power law plus blackbody model, with kTbb = 1.26(+0.16/-0.09) keV and Rbb = 128(+13/-21) m, suggesting a polar-cap origin of this component. These results strengthen the hypothesis that, in addition to low luminosities and long periods, this class of sources is characterized also by common spectral propertiesComment: 9 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication by Astronomy and Astrophysic

The XMM-Newton survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud: XMMUJ005011.2-730026 = SXP214, a Be/X-ray binary pulsar

In the course of the XMM-Newton survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), a region to the east of the emission nebula N19 was observed in November 2009. To search for new candidates for high mass X-ray binaries the EPIC PN and MOS data of the detected point sources were investigated and their spectral and temporal characteristics identified. A new transient (XMMUJ005011.2-730026= SXP214) with a pulse period of 214.05 s was discovered; the source had a hard X-ray spectrum with power-law index of ~0.65. The accurate X-ray source location permits the identification of the X-ray source with a ~15th magnitude Be star, thereby confirming this system as a new Be/X-ray binary.Comment: 8 pages 11 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Highly absorbed X-ray binaries in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Many of the high mass X-ray binaries (HMXRBs) discovered in recent years in our Galaxy are characterized by a high absorption, most likely intrinsic to the system, which hampers their detection at the softest X-ray energies. We have undertaken a search for highly-absorbed X-ray sources in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) with a systematic analysis of 62 XMM-Newton SMC observations. We obtained a sample of 30 sources showing evidence for an equivalent hydrogen column density larger than 3x10^23 cm^-2. Five of these sources are clearly identified as HMXRBs: four were already known (including three X-ray pulsars) and one, XMM J005605.8-720012, reported here for the first time. For the latter, we present optical spectroscopy confirming the association with a Be star in the SMC. The other sources in our sample have optical counterparts fainter than magnitude ~16 in the V band, and many of them have possible NIR counterparts consistent with highly reddened early type stars in the SMC. While their number is broadly consistent with the expected population of background highly-absorbed active galactic nuclei, a few of them could be HMXRBs in which an early type companion is severely reddened by local material.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication by Astronomy & Astrophysic

Measuring surface-area-to-volume ratios in soft porous materials using laser-polarized xenon interphase exchange NMR

We demonstrate a minimally invasive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique that enables determination of the surface-area-to-volume ratio (S/V) of soft porous materials from measurements of the diffusive exchange of laser-polarized 129Xe between gas in the pore space and 129Xe dissolved in the solid phase. We apply this NMR technique to porous polymer samples and find approximate agreement with destructive stereological measurements of S/V obtained with optical confocal microscopy. Potential applications of laser-polarized xenon interphase exchange NMR include measurements of in vivo lung function in humans and characterization of gas chromatography columns.Comment: 14 pages of text, 4 figure