Investigating the complex X-ray spectrum of a broad-line 2MASS red quasar: XMM-Newton observation of FTM 0830+3759

We report results from a 50 ks XMM-Newton observation of the dust-reddened broad-line quasar FTM 0830+3759 (z=0.413) selected from the FIRST/2MASS Red Quasar survey. For this AGN, a very short 9 ks Chandra exposure had suggested a feature-rich X-ray spectrum and HST images revealed a very disturbed host galaxy morphology. Contrary to classical, optically-selected quasars, the X-ray properties of red (i.e. with J-Ks> 1.7 and R-Ks> 4) broad line quasars are still quite unexplored, although there is a growing consensus that, due to moderate obscuration, these objects can offer a unique view of spectral components typically swamped by the AGN light in normal, blue quasars. The XMM-Newton observation discussed here has definitely confirmed the complexity of the X-ray spectrum revealing the presence of a cold (or mildly-ionized) absorber with Nh ~10^{22} cm^-2 along the line of sight to the nucleus and a Compton reflection component accompanied by an intense Fe K emission line in this quasar with a Lum(2-10) ~5 x 10^{44} erg/s. A soft-excess component is also required by the data. The match between the column density derived by our spectral analysis and that expected on the basis of reddening due to the dust suggests the possibility that both absorptions occur in the same medium. FTM 0830+3759 is characterized by an extinction/absorption-corrected X-ray-to-optical flux ratio alphaox = -2.3, that is steeper than expected on the basis of its UV luminosity. These findings indicate that the X-ray properties of FTM 0830+3759 differs from those typically observed for optically-selected broad line quasars with comparable hard X-ray luminosity.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

Emotional and effortful control abilities in 42-month-old very preterm and full-term children

Background: Very preterm (VP) infants are at greater risk for cognitive difficulties that may persist during schoolage, adolescence and adulthood. Behavioral assessments report either effortful control (part of executive functions) or emotional reactivity/regulation impairments. Aims: The aim of this study is to examine whether emotional recognition, reactivity, and regulation, as well as effortful control abilities are impaired in very preterm children at 42 months of age, compared with their full-term peers, and to what extent emotional and effortful control difficulties are linked. Study design: Children born very preterm (VP; b 29 weeks gestational age, n = 41) and full-term (FT) agedmatched children (n = 47) participated in a series of specific neuropsychological tests assessing their level of emotional understanding, reactivity and regulation, as well as their attentional and effortful control abilities. Results: VP children exhibited higher scores of frustration and fear, and were less accurate in naming facial expressions of emotions than their aged-matched peers. However, VP children and FT children equally performed when asked to choose emotional facial expression in social context, and when we assessed their selective attention skills. VP performed significantly lower than full terms on two tasks of inhibition when correcting for verbal skills. Moreover, significant correlations between cognitive capacities (effortful control) and emotional abilities were evidenced. Conclusions: Compared to their FT peers, 42 month-olds who were born very preterm are at higher risk of exhibiting specific emotional and effortful control difficulties. The results suggest that these difficulties are linked. Ongoing behavioral and emotional impairments starting at an early age in preterms highlight the need for early interventions based on a better understanding of the relationship between emotional and cognitive difficulties

Protein tyrosine phosphatases in glioma biology

Gliomas are a diverse group of brain tumors of glial origin. Most are characterized by diffuse infiltrative growth in the surrounding brain. In combination with their refractive nature to chemotherapy this makes it almost impossible to cure patients using combinations of conventional therapeutic strategies. The drastically increased knowledge about the molecular underpinnings of gliomas during the last decade has elicited high expectations for a more rational and effective therapy for these tumors. Most studies on the molecular pathways involved in glioma biology thus far had a strong focus on growth factor receptor protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) and phosphatidylinositol phosphatase signaling pathways. Except for the tumor suppressor PTEN, much less attention has been paid to the PTK counterparts, the protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) superfamily, in gliomas. PTPs are instrumental in the reversible phosphorylation of tyrosine residues and have emerged as important regulators of signaling pathways that are linked to various developmental and disease-related processes. Here, we provide an overview of the current knowledge on PTP involvement in gliomagenesis. So far, the data point to the potential implication of receptor-type (RPTPδ, DEP1, RPTPμ, RPTPζ) and intracellular (PTP1B, TCPTP, SHP2, PTPN13) classical PTPs, dual-specific PTPs (MKP-1, VHP, PRL-3, KAP, PTEN) and the CDC25B and CDC25C PTPs in glioma biology. Like PTKs, these PTPs may represent promising targets for the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in the treatment of high-grade gliomas

Planck intermediate results. XXIII. Galactic plane emission components derived from Planck with ancillary data

Planck data when combined with ancillary data provide a unique opportunity to separate the diffuse emission components of the inner Galaxy. The purpose of the paper is to elucidate the morphology of the various emission components in the strong star-formation region lying inside the solar radius and to clarify the relationship between the various components. The region of the Galactic plane covered is l = 300\ub0 \u2192 0\ub0 \u2192 60\ub0 wherestar-formation is highest and the emission is strong enough to make meaningful component separation. The latitude widths in this longitude range lie between 1 and 2, which correspond to FWHM z-widths of 100-200 pc at a typical distance of 6 kpc. The four emission components studied here are synchrotron, free-free, anomalous microwave emission (AME), and thermal (vibrational) dust emission. These components are identified by constructing spectral energy distributions (SEDs) at positions along the Galactic plane using the wide frequency coverage of Planck (28.4-857GHz) in combination with low-frequency radio data at 0.408-2.3 GHz plus WMAP data at 23-94 GHz, along with far-infrared (FIR) data from COBE-DIRBE and IRAS. The free-free component is determined from radio recombination line (RRL) data. AME is found to be comparable in brightness to the free-free emission on the Galactic plane in the frequency range 20-40 GHz with a width in latitude similar to that of the thermal dust; it comprises 45 \ub1 1% of the total 28.4 GHz emission in the longitude range l = 300\ub0 \u2192 0\ub0 \u2192 60\ub0. The free-free component is the narrowest, reflecting the fact that it is produced by current star-formation as traced by the narrow distribution of OB stars. It is the dominant emission on the plane between 60 and 100 GHz. RRLs from this ionized gas are used to assess its distance, leading to a free-free z-width of FWHM 48 100 pc. The narrow synchrotron component has a low-frequency brightness spectral index \u3b2synch 48 -2.7 that is similar to the broad synchrotron component indicating that they are both populated by the cosmic ray electrons of the same spectral index. The width of this narrow synchrotron component is significantly larger than that of the other three components, suggesting that it is generated in an assembly of older supernova remnants that have expanded to sizes of order 150 pc in 3 7 105 yr; pulsars of a similar age have a similar spread in latitude. The thermal dust is identified in the SEDs with average parameters of Tdust = 20.4 \ub1 0.4 K, \u3b2FIR = 1.94 \ub1 0.03 (> 353 GHz), and \u3b2mm = 1.67 \ub1 0.02 (< 353 GHz). The latitude distributions of gamma-rays, CO, and the emission in high-frequency Planck bands have similar widths, showing that they are all indicators of the total gaseous matter on the plane in the inner Galaxy. \ua9 ESO, 2015

Planck 2015 results: XXV. Diffuse low-frequency Galactic foregrounds

We discuss the Galactic foreground emission between 20 and 100 GHz based on observations by Planck and WMAP. The total intensity in this part of the spectrum is dominated by free-free and spinning dust emission, whereas the polarized intensity is dominated by synchrotron emission. The Commander component-separation tool has been used to separate the various astrophysical processes in total intensity. Comparison with radio recombination line templates verifies the recovery of the free-free emission along the Galactic plane. Comparison of the high-latitude H\u3b1 emission with our free-free map shows residuals that correlate with dust optical depth, consistent with a fraction (\ue2\u2030 30%) of H\u3b1 having been scattered by high-latitude dust. We highlight a number of diffuse spinning dust morphological features at high latitude. There is substantial spatial variation in the spinning dust spectrum, with the emission peak (in I\u3bd) ranging from below 20 GHz to more than 50 GHz. There is a strong tendency for the spinning dust component near many prominent H ii regions to have a higher peak frequency, suggesting that this increase in peak frequency is associated with dust in the photo-dissociation regions around the nebulae. The emissivity of spinning dust in these diffuse regions is of the same order as previous detections in the literature. Over the entire sky, the Commander solution finds more anomalous microwave emission (AME) than the WMAP component maps, at the expense of synchrotron and free-free emission. This can be explained by the difficulty in separating multiple broadband components with a limited number of frequency maps. Future surveys, particularly at 5-20 GHz, will greatly improve the separation by constraining the synchrotron spectrum. We combine Planck and WMAP data to make the highest signal-to-noise ratio maps yet of the intensity of the all-sky polarized synchrotron emission at frequencies above a few GHz. Most of the high-latitude polarized emission is associated with distinct large-scale loops and spurs, and we re-discuss their structure. We argue that nearly all the emission at 40deg &gt; l &gt;-90deg is part of the Loop I structure, and show that the emission extends much further in to the southern Galactic hemisphere than previously recognised, giving Loop I an ovoid rather than circular outline. However, it does not continue as far as the "Fermi bubble/microwave haze", making it less probable that these are part of the same structure. We identify a number of new faint features in the polarized sky, including a dearth of polarized synchrotron emission directly correlated with a narrow, roughly 20deg long filament seen in H\u3b1 at high Galactic latitude. Finally, we look for evidence of polarized AME, however many AME regions are significantly contaminated by polarized synchrotron emission, and we find a 2\u3c3 upper limit of 1.6% in the Perseus region

L'apprentissage implicite d'une grammaire artificielle chez l'enfant avec et sans retard mental : rôle des propriétés du matériel et influence des instructions

This thesis investigates artificial grammar implicit learning in mentally retarded and typically developing children through the role of the surface features (adjacent or non-adjacent repetitions) of the material and the influence of test instructions (implicit or explicit generation tests). One of the aims is to differentiate between four of the main implicit learning models by examining the sensitivity to the perceptually salient features of the material presented to children of different ages. The robustness of implicit learning capacities in the face of development and intellectual level is equally tested according to the permeability of the test instructions to explicit influences. Finally, these experiments study the apprehension of the training stimuli and the progressive behavioural adaptation as a function of the age of the participants and the perceptual and statistical characteristics of the material. The results reveal sensitivity to the specific surface features of the training sequences rather than to the grammatical structure from which they were built. On the one hand, Experiments 1 and 3 show that implicit learning is invariant with age and intellectual level when the test instructions limit the explicit contaminations. On the other hand, despite the same training phase used in Experiments 1 and 3, Experiments 2 and 4 indicate age effects and a performance impairment in children with mental retardation, when the test instructions elicit intentional information retrieval processes. Experiment 5 shows that different types of saliencies (perceptual, positional and statistical) guide the apprehension of the material during the training phase operating concurrently, before leading to the progressive formation of more complex units. This thesis brings elements in favour of a stimuli-specific learning, based on the attentional processing of their surface features and the involvement of basic associative mechanisms. It also confirms the postulates of robustness of implicit processes and states the methodological precautions that are necessary to the study of implicit learning capacities, such as the neutrality of the procedures to explicit influences or the use of a control group.Cette thèse investigue l'apprentissage implicite d'une grammaire artificielle chez l'enfant avec et sans retard mental à travers le rôle des propriétés de surface du matériel (répétitions adjacentes ou non-adjacentes) et l'influence des instructions en phase test (tests de génération implicite ou explicite). Un des objectifs est de départager quatre des principaux modèles de l'apprentissage implicite en examinant la sensibilité aux propriétés de surface saillantes du matériel présenté à des enfants d'âges différents. La robustesse des capacités d'apprentissage implicite face au développement et au niveau intellectuel est également testée en rapport avec la perméabilité des instructions en phase test aux influences explicites. Enfin, ces travaux étudient l'appréhension des stimuli d'entraînement et l'adaptation comportementale progressive en fonction de l'âge des sujets et des caractéristiques perceptives et statistiques du matériel. Les résultats révèlent une sensibilité aux propriétés de surface spécifiques aux séquences d'entraînement plutôt qu'à la structure grammaticale à partir de laquelle elles ont été construites. Les Expériences 1 et 3 montrent que l'apprentissage est invariant face à l'âge et au niveau intellectuel lorsque les consignes limitent les contaminations explicites. En revanche, malgré une phase d'apprentissage identique aux Expériences 1 et 3, les Expériences 2 et 4 indiquent l'émergence d'effets d'âge et une altération des performances chez les enfants présentant un retard mental, lorsque les instructions délivrées en test sollicitent des processus intentionnels de récupération de l'information. L'Expérience 5 montre que différents types de saillances (perceptive, positionnelle et statistique) guident l'appréhension du matériel lors de la phase d'étude et ce, de manière concurrentielle, avant de conduire à la formation progressive d'unités plus complexes. Cette thèse apporte des éléments en faveur d'un apprentissage spécifique des stimuli, basé sur le traitement attentionnel de leurs propriétés de surface et la mise en œuvre de mécanismes associatifs de base. Elle confirme également les postulats de robustesse propres aux processus implicites et précise les précautions méthodologiques nécessaires à l'étude des capacités d'apprentissage implicite, telles que la neutralité des procédures aux influences explicites ou l'emploi d'un groupe contrôle

Artificial grammar implicit learning in children with and without mental retardation : role of the material's properties and influence of the instructions

Cette thèse investigue l'apprentissage implicite d'une grammaire artificielle chez l'enfant avec et sans retard mental à travers le rôle des propriétés de surface du matériel (répétitions adjacentes ou non-adjacentes) et l'influence des instructions en phase test (tests de génération implicite ou explicite). Un des objectifs est de départager quatre des principaux modèles de l'apprentissage implicite en examinant la sensibilité aux propriétés de surface saillantes du matériel présenté à des enfants d'âges différents. La robustesse des capacités d'apprentissage implicite face au développement et au niveau intellectuel est également testée en rapport avec la perméabilité des instructions en phase test aux influences explicites. Enfin, ces travaux étudient l'appréhension des stimuli d'entraînement et l'adaptation comportementale progressive en fonction de l'âge des sujets et des caractéristiques perceptives et statistiques du matériel. Les résultats révèlent une sensibilité aux propriétés de surface spécifiques aux séquences d'entraînement plutôt qu'à la structure grammaticale à partir de laquelle elles ont été construites. Les Expériences 1 et 3 montrent que l'apprentissage est invariant face à l'âge et au niveau intellectuel lorsque les consignes limitent les contaminations explicites. En revanche, malgré une phase d'apprentissage identique aux Expériences 1 et 3, les Expériences 2 et 4 indiquent l'émergence d'effets d'âge et une altération des performances chez les enfants présentant un retard mental, lorsque les instructions délivrées en test sollicitent des processus intentionnels de récupération de l'information. L'Expérience 5 montre que différents types de saillances (perceptive, positionnelle et statistique) guident l'appréhension du matériel lors de la phase d'étude et ce, de manière concurrentielle, avant de conduire à la formation progressive d'unités plus complexes. Cette thèse apporte des éléments en faveur d'un apprentissage spécifique des stimuli, basé sur le traitement attentionnel de leurs propriétés de surface et la mise en œuvre de mécanismes associatifs de base. Elle confirme également les postulats de robustesse propres aux processus implicites et précise les précautions méthodologiques nécessaires à l'étude des capacités d'apprentissage implicite, telles que la neutralité des procédures aux influences explicites ou l'emploi d'un groupe contrôle.This thesis investigates artificial grammar implicit learning in mentally retarded and typically developing children through the role of the surface features (adjacent or non-adjacent repetitions) of the material and the influence of test instructions (implicit or explicit generation tests). One of the aims is to differentiate between four of the main implicit learning models by examining the sensitivity to the perceptually salient features of the material presented to children of different ages. The robustness of implicit learning capacities in the face of development and intellectual level is equally tested according to the permeability of the test instructions to explicit influences. Finally, these experiments study the apprehension of the training stimuli and the progressive behavioural adaptation as a function of the age of the participants and the perceptual and statistical characteristics of the material. The results reveal sensitivity to the specific surface features of the training sequences rather than to the grammatical structure from which they were built. On the one hand, Experiments 1 and 3 show that implicit learning is invariant with age and intellectual level when the test instructions limit the explicit contaminations. On the other hand, despite the same training phase used in Experiments 1 and 3, Experiments 2 and 4 indicate age effects and a performance impairment in children with mental retardation, when the test instructions elicit intentional information retrieval processes. Experiment 5 shows that different types of saliencies (perceptual, positional and statistical) guide the apprehension of the material during the training phase operating concurrently, before leading to the progressive formation of more complex units. This thesis brings elements in favour of a stimuli-specific learning, based on the attentional processing of their surface features and the involvement of basic associative mechanisms. It also confirms the postulates of robustness of implicit processes and states the methodological precautions that are necessary to the study of implicit learning capacities, such as the neutrality of the procedures to explicit influences or the use of a control group

L'apprentissage implicite d'une grammaire artificielle chez l'enfant avec et sans retard mental (rôle des propriétés du matériel et influence des instructions)

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