Un tarif de tonlieu inconnu, institué par le comte de Flandre Thierry d'Alsace (1128-1168) pour le port de <i>Littersuerua</i>, précurseur du port de Damme

onderzoeksrappor

Do functional traits improve prediction of predation rates for a disparate group of aphid predators?

Aphid predators are a systematically disparate group of arthropods united on the basis that they consume aphids as part of their diet. In Europe, this group includes Araneae, Opiliones, Heteroptera, chrysopids, Forficulina, syrphid larvae, carabids, staphylinids, cantharids and coccinellids. This functional group has no phylogenetic meaning but was created by ecologists as a way of understanding predation, particularly for conservation biological control. We investigated whether trait-based approaches could bring some cohesion and structure to this predator group. A taxonomic hierarchy-based null model was created from taxonomic distances in which a simple multiplicative relationship described the Linnaean hierarchies (species, genera, etc.) of fifty common aphid predators. Using the same fifty species, a functional groups model was developed using ten behavioural traits (e.g. polyphagy, dispersal, activity, etc.) to describe the way in which aphids were predated in the field. The interrelationships between species were then expressed as dissimilarities within each model and separately analysed using PROXSCAL, a multidimensional scaling (MDS) program. When ordinated using PROXSCAL and then statistically compared using Procrustes analysis, we found that only 17% of information was shared between the two configurations. Polyphagy across kingdoms (i.e. predatory behaviour across animal, plant and fungi kingdoms) and the ability to withstand starvation over days, weeks and months were particularly divisive within the functional groups model. Confirmatory MDS indicated poor prediction of aphid predation rates by the configurations derived from either model. The counterintuitive conclusion was that the inclusion of functional traits, pertinent to the way in which predators fed on aphids, did not lead to a large improvement in the prediction of predation rate when compared to the standard taxonomic approach

Altered Prefrontal Theta and Gamma Activity during an Emotional Face Processing Task in Parkinson Disease.

Patients with Parkinson disease (PD) often experience nonmotor symptoms including cognitive deficits, depression, and anxiety. Cognitive and affective processes are thought to be mediated by prefrontal cortico-basal ganglia circuitry. However, the topography and neurophysiology of prefrontal cortical activity during complex tasks are not well characterized. We used high-resolution electrocorticography in pFC of patients with PD and essential tremor, during implantation of deep brain stimulator leads in the awake state, to understand disease-specific changes in prefrontal activity during an emotional face processing task. We found that patients with PD had less task-related theta-alpha power and greater task-related gamma power in the dorsolateral pFC, inferior frontal cortex, and lateral OFC. These findings support a model of prefrontal neurophysiological changes in the dopamine-depleted state, in which focal areas of hyperactivity in prefrontal cortical regions may compensate for impaired long-range interactions mediated by low-frequency rhythms. These distinct neurophysiological changes suggest that nonmotor circuits undergo characteristic changes in PD

Washout of chronic therapeutic deep brain stimulation increases cortical phase-amplitude coupling.

Invasive human brain recordings have shown that acute therapeutic deep brain stimulation (DBS) reduces cortical synchronization, measured by coupling of beta phase to gamma amplitude. Here we show by noninvasive scalp electroencephalography that withdrawal of chronic DBS elevates phase-amplitude coupling, in proportion to the worsening of contralateral rigidity

A-UNIFAC modelling of binary and multicomponent phase equilibria of fatty esters+water+methanol+glycerol

The production of methyl and ethyl esters of fatty acids is of great industrial interest, considering the direct application of these esters as biodiesel. For biodiesel purification and by-products recovery processes design and optimization, the prediction of the phase behaviour of mixtures containing fatty esters, alcohols, glycerol and water is of utmost importance. In this work we show the capability of a A-UNIFAC to correlate and predict phase behaviour of these mixtures. This GE model is an extension of UNIFAC that explicitly includes association effects between groups based on the statistical Wertheim theory [1]. For the water-esters binary systems, the residual and association parameters have been previously estimated using low pressure VLE data [1]. The use of these parameters to predict liquid-liquid equilibrium results in good agreement with experimental information on binaries of water with acetic, octanoic or dodecanoic acids methyl esters. The association effect in methanol and glycerol are represented with the same hydrogen bonding hydroxyl groups (OH) with two associating sites, one group in methanol and three in glycerol. For the residual contribution, both molecules are considered as molecular groups (CH3OH and C3H8O3). The residual interaction parameters between CH3OH and C3H8O3 were obtained by fitting isothermal liquid-liquid equilibrium data on the ternary system dodecanoic acid methyl ester-methanol–glycerol [2]. The glycerol/paraffin (C3H8O3/CH2) and glycerol/ester (C3H8O3/CCOO) interaction parameters were estimated by fitting experimental data on liquid-liquid equilibrium and infinite dilution activity coefficients of the binary systems dodecanoic acid methyl ester-glycerol and hexanoic acid methyl ester-glycerol between 320-438 K [2]. A-UNIFAC with the final set of parameters is able to predict with good agreement experimental data on binary and ternary liquid-liquid equilibria of glycerol + methanol + fatty esters as well as infinite dilution activity coefficient for this system. References [1] O. Ferreira, E.A. Macedo, S.B. Bottini, Fluid Phase Equilib. 227 (2005) 165-176. [2] F.M. Korgitzsch, Study of Phase Equilibria as a Fundament for the Refinement of Vegetable and Animal Fats and Oils. Ph.D. Dissertation, TU Berlin, 1993

A multi-layered view of chemical and biochemical engineering

The contents of this article are based on the results of discussions the corresponding author has had since 2015 with the co-authors, who are members of academia and industry in Europe, on the scope and significance of chemical and biochemical engineering as a discipline. The result is a multi-layered view of chemical and biochemical engineering where the inner-layer deals with the fundamental principles and their application; the middle-layer deals with consolidation and expansion of the principles through a combination of science and engineering, leading to the development of sustainable technologies; and the outer-layer deals with integration of knowledge and collaboration with other disciplines to achieve a more sustainable society. Through this multi-layered view several important issues with respect to education, research and practice are highlighted together with current and future challenges and opportunities

Reply: Oscillatory coupling of the subthalamic nucleus in obsessive compulsive disorder

Sir, We are very pleased to be given the opportunity of commenting the letter from Wojtecki et al. (2017). They report very interesting data stemming from local field potential (LFP) recordings from anteromedial subthalamic nucleus (STN) in a patient undergoing deep brain stimulation (DBS) for an obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Their findings offer an important contribution to our understanding of cortico-subcortical circuits' organization

Proceedings of the Third Annual Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank: A Review of Emerging Issues and Technologies

The proceedings of the 3rd Annual Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank summarize the most contemporary clinical, electrophysiological, imaging, and computational work on DBS for the treatment of neurological and neuropsychiatric disease. Significant innovations of the past year are emphasized. The Think Tank\u27s contributors represent a unique multidisciplinary ensemble of expert neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists, psychiatrists, scientists, engineers, and members of industry. Presentations and discussions covered a broad range of topics, including policy and advocacy considerations for the future of DBS, connectomic approaches to DBS targeting, developments in electrophysiology and related strides toward responsive DBS systems, and recent developments in sensor and device technologies