Interactive effects of mycorrhizae and a root hemiparasite on plant community productivity and diversity

Plant communities can be affected both by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and hemiparasitic plants. However, little is known about the interactive effects of these two biotic factors on the productivity and diversity of plant communities. To address this question, we set up a greenhouse study in which different AMF inocula and a hemiparasitic plant (Rhinanthus minor) were added to experimental grassland communities in a fully factorial design. In addition, single plants of each species in the grassland community were grown with the same treatments to distinguish direct AMF effects from indirect effects via plant competition. We found that AMF changed plant community structure by influencing the plant species differently. At the community level, AMF decreased the productivity by 15-24%, depending on the particular AMF treatment, mainly because two dominant species, Holcus lanatus and Plantago lanceolata, showed a negative mycorrhizal dependency. Concomitantly, plant diversity increased due to AMF inoculation and was highest in the treatment with a combination of two commercial AM strains. AMF had a positive effect on growth of the hemiparasite, and thereby induced a negative impact of the hemiparasite on host plant biomass which was not found in non-inoculated communities. However, the hemiparasite did not increase plant diversity. Our results highlight the importance of interactions with soil microbes for plant community structure and that these indirect effects can vary among AMF treatments. We conclude that mutualistic interactions with AMF, but not antagonistic interactions with a root hemiparasite, promote plant diversity in this grassland community.

Professional musicians listen differently to music

INTRODUCTION: Experience-based adaptation of emotional responses is an important faculty for cognitive and emotional functioning. Professional musicians represent an ideal model in which to elicit experience-driven changes in the emotional processing domain. The changes of the central representation of emotional arousal due to musical expertise are still largely unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the electroencephalogram (EEG) correlates of experience-driven changes in the domain of emotional arousal. Therefore, the differences in perceived (subjective arousal via ratings) and physiologically measured (EEG) arousal between amateur and professional musicians were examined. PROCEDURE: A total of 15 professional and 19 amateur musicians listened to the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's 5th symphony (duration=∼7.4min), during which a continuous 76-channel EEG was recorded. In a second session, the participants evaluated their emotional arousal during listening. In a tonic analysis, we examined the average EEG data over the time course of the music piece. For a phasic analysis, a fast Fourier transform was performed and covariance maps of spectral power were computed in association with the subjective arousal ratings. RESULTS: The subjective arousal ratings of the professional musicians were more consistent than those of the amateur musicians. In the tonic EEG analysis, a mid-frontal theta activity was observed in the professionals. In the phasic EEG, the professionals exhibited an increase of posterior alpha, central delta, and beta rhythm during high arousal. DISCUSSION: Professionals exhibited different and/or more intense patterns of emotional activation when they listened to the music. The results of the present study underscore the impact of music experience on emotional reactions.

The emotional power of music: How music enhances the feeling of affective pictures

Music is an intriguing stimulus widely used in movies to increase the emotional experience. However, no brain imaging study has to date examined this enhancement effect using emotional pictures (the modality mostly used in emotion research) and musical excerpts. Therefore, we designed this functional magnetic resonance imaging study to explore how musical stimuli enhance the feeling of affective pictures. In a classical block design carefully controlling for habituation and order effects, we presented fearful and sad pictures (mostly taken from the IAPS) either alone or combined with congruent emotional musical excerpts (classical pieces). Subjective ratings clearly indicated that the emotional experience was markedly increased in the combined relative to the picture condition. Furthermore, using a second-level analysis and regions of interest approach, we observed a clear functional and structural dissociation between the combined and the picture condition. Besides increased activation in brain areas known to be involved in auditory as well as in neutral and emotional visual-auditory integration processes, the combined condition showed increased activation in many structures known to be involved in emotion processing (including for example amygdala, hippocampus, parahippocampus, insula, striatum, medial ventral frontal cortex, cerebellum, fusiform gyrus). In contrast, the picture condition only showed an activation increase in the cognitive part of the prefrontal cortex, mainly in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Based on these findings, we suggest that emotional pictures evoke a more cognitive mode of emotion perception, whereas congruent presentations of emotional visual and musical stimuli rather automatically evoke strong emotional feelings and experiences.

From emotion perception to emotion experience: Emotions evoked by pictures and classical music.

Most previous neurophysiological studies evoked emotions by presenting visual stimuli. Models of the emotion circuits in the brain have for the most part ignored emotions arising from musical stimuli. To our knowledge, this is the first emotion brain study which examined the influence of visual and musical stimuli on brain processing. Highly arousing pictures of the International Affective Picture System and classical musical excerpts were chosen to evoke the three basic emotions of happiness, sadness and fear. The emotional stimuli modalities were presented for 70 s either alone or combined (congruent) in a counterbalanced and random order. Electroencephalogram (EEG) Alpha-Power-Density, which is inversely related to neural electrical activity, in 30 scalp electrodes from 24 right-handed healthy female subjects, was recorded. In addition, heart rate (HR), skin conductance responses (SCR), respiration, temperature and psychometrical ratings were collected. Results showed that the experienced quality of the presented emotions was most accurate in the combined conditions, intermediate in the picture conditions and lowest in the sound conditions. Furthermore, both the psychometrical ratings and the physiological involvement measurements (SCR, HR, Respiration) were significantly increased in the combined and sound conditions compared to the picture conditions. Finally, repeated measures ANOVA revealed the largest Alpha-Power-Density for the sound conditions, intermediate for the picture conditions, and lowest for the combined conditions, indicating the strongest activation in the combined conditions in a distributed emotion and arousal network comprising frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital neural structures. Summing up, these findings demonstrate that music can markedly enhance the emotional experience evoked by affective pictures.

Modulation of corticospinal activity by strong emotions evoked by pictures and classical music: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study.

Using transcranial magnetic stimulation and skin conductance responses, we sought to clarify if, and to what extent, emotional experiences of different valences and intensity activate the hand-motor system and the associated corticospinal tract. For that purpose, we applied a newly developed method to evoke strong emotional experiences by the simultaneous presentation of musical and pictorial stimuli of congruent emotional valence. We uncovered enhanced motor-evoked potentials, irrespective of valence, during the simultaneous presentation of emotional music and picture stimuli (Combined conditions) compared with the single presentation of the two modalities (Picture/Music conditions). In contrast, vegetative arousal was enhanced during both the Combined and Music conditions, compared with the Picture conditions, again irrespective of emotional valence. These findings strongly indicate that arousal is a necessary, but not sufficient, prerequisite for triggering the motor system of the brain. We offer a potential explanation for this discrepant, but intriguing, finding in the paper.

Combining Bottom-up and Top-down Generation of Interactive Knowledge Maps for Enterprise Search

Our research project develops an intranet search engine with concept- browsing functionality, where the user is able to navigate the conceptual level in an interactive, automatically generated knowledge map. This knowledge map visualizes tacit, implicit knowledge, extracted from the intranet, as a network of semantic concepts. Inductive and deductive methods are combined; a text ana- lytics engine extracts knowledge structures from data inductively, and the en- terprise ontology provides a backbone structure to the process deductively. In addition to performing conventional keyword search, the user can browse the semantic network of concepts and associations to find documents and data rec- ords. Also, the user can expand and edit the knowledge network directly. As a vision, we propose a knowledge-management system that provides concept- browsing, based on a knowledge warehouse layer on top of a heterogeneous knowledge base with various systems interfaces. Such a concept browser will empower knowledge workers to interact with knowledge structures.

Interactive Segmentation of MR Images from Brain Tumor Patients

Medical doctors often do not trust the result of fully automatic segmentations because they have no possibility to make corrections if necessary. On the other hand, manual corrections can introduce a user bias. In this work, we propose to integrate the possibility for quick manual corrections into a fully automatic segmentation method for brain tumor images. This allows for necessary corrections while maintaining a high objectiveness. The underlying idea is similar to the well-known Grab-Cut algorithm, but here we combine decision forest classification with conditional random field regularization for interactive segmentation of 3D medical images. The approach has been evaluated by two different users on the BraTS2012 dataset. Accuracy and robustness improved compared to a fully automatic method and our interactive approach was ranked among the top performing methods. Time for computation including manual interaction was less than 10 minutes per patient, which makes it attractive for clinical use.

Interactive Diffraction from Biological Nanostructures

We describe a technique for interactive rendering of diffraction effects produced by biological nanostructures, such as snake skin surface gratings. Our approach uses imagery from atomic force microscopy that accurately captures the geometry of the nanostructures responsible for structural colouration, that is, colouration due to wave interference, in a variety of animals. We develop a rendering technique that constructs bidirectional reflection distribution functions (BRDFs) directly from the measured data and leverages pre-computation to achieve interactive performance. We demonstrate results of our approach using various shapes of the surface grating nanostructures. Finally, we evaluate the accuracy of our pre-computation-based technique and compare to a reference BRDF construction technique.

FAIR_OSCE – Feedback structure for assessment of interactive roleplay in Objective Structured Clinical Exams

Introduction Since the quality of patient portrayal of standardized patients (SPs) during an Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) has a major impact on the reliability and validity of the exam, quality control should be initiated. Literature about quality control of SPs’ performance focuses on feedback [1, 2] or completion of checklists [3, 4]. Since we did not find a published instrument meeting our needs for the assessment of patient portrayal, we developed such an instrument after being inspired by others [5] and used it in our high-stakes exam. Project description SP trainers from five medical faculties collected and prioritized quality criteria for patient portrayal. Items were revised twice, based on experiences during OSCEs. The final instrument contains 14 criteria for acting (i.e. adequate verbal and non-verbal expression) and standardization (i.e. verbatim delivery of the first sentence). All partners used the instrument during a high-stakes OSCE. SPs and trainers were introduced to the instrument. The tool was used in training (more than 100 observations) and during the exam (more than 250 observations). Outcome High quality of SPs’ patient portrayal during the exam was documented. More than 90% of SP performances were rated to be completely correct or sufficient. An increase in quality of performance between training and exam was noted. For example, the rate of completely correct reaction in medical tests increased from 88% to 95%. Together with 4% of sufficient performances these 95% add up to 99% of the reactions in medical tests meeting the standards of the exam. SP educators using the instrument reported an augmentation of SPs’ performance induced by the use of the instrument. Disadvantages mentioned were the high concentration needed to observe all criteria and the cumbersome handling of the paper-based forms. Discussion We were able to document a very high quality of SP performance in our exam. The data also indicates that our training is effective. We believe that the high concentration needed using the instrument is well invested, considering the observed enhancement of performance. The development of an iPad-based application for the form is planned to address the cumbersome handling of the paper.

PDB-Explorer: a web-based interactive map of the protein data bank in shape space

Background The RCSB Protein Data Bank (PDB) provides public access to experimentally determined 3D-structures of biological macromolecules (proteins, peptides and nucleic acids). While various tools are available to explore the PDB, options to access the global structural diversity of the entire PDB and to perceive relationships between PDB structures remain very limited. Methods A 136-dimensional atom pair 3D-fingerprint for proteins (3DP) counting categorized atom pairs at increasing through-space distances was designed to represent the molecular shape of PDB-entries. Nearest neighbor searches examples were reported exemplifying the ability of 3DP-similarity to identify closely related biomolecules from small peptides to enzyme and large multiprotein complexes such as virus particles. The principle component analysis was used to obtain the visualization of PDB in 3DP-space. Results The 3DP property space groups proteins and protein assemblies according to their 3D-shape similarity, yet shows exquisite ability to distinguish between closely related structures. An interactive website called PDB-Explorer is presented featuring a color-coded interactive map of PDB in 3DP-space. Each pixel of the map contains one or more PDB-entries which are directly visualized as ribbon diagrams when the pixel is selected. The PDB-Explorer website allows performing 3DP-nearest neighbor searches of any PDB-entry or of any structure uploaded as protein-type PDB file. All functionalities on the website are implemented in JavaScript in a platform-independent manner and draw data from a server that is updated daily with the latest PDB additions, ensuring complete and up-to-date coverage. The essentially instantaneous 3DP-similarity search with the PDB-Explorer provides results comparable to those of much slower 3D-alignment algorithms, and automatically clusters proteins from the same superfamilies in tight groups. Conclusion A chemical space classification of PDB based on molecular shape was obtained using a new atom-pair 3D-fingerprint for proteins and implemented in a web-based database exploration tool comprising an interactive color-coded map of the PDB chemical space and a nearest neighbor search tool. The PDB-Explorer website is freely available at www.​cheminfo.​org/​pdbexplorer and represents an unprecedented opportunity to interactively visualize and explore the structural diversity of the PDB.

Similarity Mapplet: Interactive Visualization of the Directory of Useful Decoys and ChEMBL in High Dimensional Chemical Spaces

An Internet portal accessible at www.gdb.unibe.ch has been set up to automatically generate color-coded similarity maps of the ChEMBL database in relation to up to two sets of active compounds taken from the enhanced Directory of Useful Decoys (eDUD), a random set of molecules, or up to two sets of user-defined reference molecules. These maps visualize the relationships between the selected compounds and ChEMBL in six different high dimensional chemical spaces, namely MQN (42-D molecular quantum numbers), SMIfp (34-D SMILES fingerprint), APfp (20-D shape fingerprint), Xfp (55-D pharmacophore fingerprint), Sfp (1024-bit substructure fingerprint), and ECfp4 (1024-bit extended connectivity fingerprint). The maps are supplied in form of Java based desktop applications called “similarity mapplets” allowing interactive content browsing and linked to a “Multifingerprint Browser for ChEMBL” (also accessible directly at www.gdb.unibe.ch) to perform nearest neighbor searches. One can obtain six similarity mapplets of ChEMBL relative to random reference compounds, 606 similarity mapplets relative to single eDUD active sets, 30 300 similarity mapplets relative to pairs of eDUD active sets, and any number of similarity mapplets relative to user-defined reference sets to help visualize the structural diversity of compound series in drug optimization projects and their relationship to other known bioactive compounds.

Music Piracy on Peer-to-Peer Networks

Content providers from the music industry argue that peer-to-peer (P2P) networks such as KaZaA, Morpheus, iMesh, or Audiogalaxy are an enormous threat to their business. They furthermore blame these networks for their recent decline in sales figures. For this reason, an empirical investigation was conducted during a period of 6 weeks on one of the most popular files-sharing systems, in order to determine the quantity and quality of pirated music songs shared. We present empirical evidence as to what extent and in which quality music songs are being shared. A number of hypotheses are outlined and were tested. We studied, among other things, the number of users online and the number of flies accessible on such networks, the free riding problem, and the duration per search request. We further tested to see if there are any differences in the accessibility of songs based on the nationality of the artist, the language of the song, and the corresponding chart position. Finally, we outline the main hurdles users may face when downloading illegal music and the probability of obtaining high quality music tracks on such peer-to-peer networks.

Comparative Study of Digital Rights Management Systems for Music and Text Files

Digital Rights Management Systems (DRMS) are seen by content providers as the appropriate tool to, on the one hand, fight piracy and, on the other hand, monetize their assets. Although these systems claim to be very powerful and include multiple protection technologies, there is a lack of understanding about how such systems are currently being implemented and used by content providers. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it provides a theoretical basis through which we present shortly the seven core protection technologies of a DRMS. Second, this paper provides empirical evidence that the seven protection technologies outlined in the first section of this paper are the most commonly used technologies. It further evaluates to what extent these technologies are being used within the music and print industry. It concludes that the three main Technologies are encryption, password, and payment systems. However, there are some industry differences: the number of protection technologies used, the requirements for a DRMS, the required investment, or the perceived success of DRMS in fighting piracy.

Italo-Swiss "Chalk and blackboard interactive 2-day workshop"-participants feedback

Ten "chalk and blackboard interactive workshops" have taken place between 2011 and 2015 in Southern Switzerland or Italy. Students, residents and expert pediatricians meet during 2 days and discuss 10-15 cases. Pediatricians promote reasoning, provide supporting information and correct statements. Emphasis is placed on history taking and examination, and on all participants being involved in a stimulating atmosphere. Thirty-seven participants were asked, ≥3 months after workshop-completion, to evaluate the workshop and a recent teaching session. Thirty answered and scored the workshop as excellent (N = 24) or above average (N = 6). The scores assigned to the workshop were higher (P < 0.001) than those assigned to the lecture-based teaching.