Anterior cingulate conflict monitoring and adjustments in control

Conflict monitoring by the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) has been posited to signal a need for greater cognitive control, producing neural and behavioral adjustments. However, the very occurrence of behavioral adjustments after conflict has been questioned, along with suggestions that there is no direct evidence of ACC conflict-related activity predicting subsequent neural or behavioral adjustments in control. Using the Stroop color-naming task and controlling for repetition effects, we demonstrate that ACC conflict-related activity predicts both greater prefrontal cortex activity and adjustments in behavior, supporting a role of ACC conflict monitoring in the engagement of cognitive control.     

Osmotic swelling of phospholipid vesicles causes them to fuse with a planar phospholipid bilayer membrane

Fusion of phospholipid vesicles with planar bilayer membranes occurs if the vesicles that contact the planar membrane swell osmotically after the replacement in their medium of an impermeant solute by a permeant one. This finding directly demonstrates that osmotic swelling is a driving force for vesicle-planar membrane fusion. The method used to induce vesicle swelling and fusion may have relevance for biological systems.     

AIDS meeting. South African leader declines to join the chorus on HIV and AIDS

When South African President Thabo Mbeki rose to address the opening ceremony for the XIII International AIDS Conference here last Sunday, the thousands of researchers packed into Kingsmead Stadium hoped he would say three simple words: HIV causes AIDS. He didn't. Mbeki's failure to acknowledge directly that HIV causes AIDS has angered the country's AIDS researchers; many visiting scientists also expressed their dismay.