Le chant des amusiques : prédictions d'une dissociation entre les habiletés perceptives et vocales

L’objectif de cette étude était d’évaluer l’influence des habiletés perceptives sur les capacités de production vocale dans l’amusie congénitale. Treize amusiques et douze contrôles appariés ont réalisé quatre tâches : deux tâches de discrimination perceptive et deux tâches de production vocale. Les stimuli utilisés pour les tâches étaient des enregistrements vocaux provenant des participants, rendant les tâches plus écologiques et enlevant le besoin pour les participants de modifier le timbre des stimuli lorsqu’ils chantent. Les résultats ont démontré que, malgré le fait que les contrôles aient surpassé la performance des amusiques dans toutes les tâches, il y avait beaucoup plus de variabilité dans les performances des amusiques que prévu. La moitié des amusiques avaient des performances égales à celles des contrôles sur les deux tâches perceptives. D’autres amusiques montraient des performances égales ou semblables à celles des contrôles sur au moins une des tâches d’imitation vocale. Ces résultats mènent à croire qu’il serait possible que ces deux types d’habiletés musicales soient dissociables.Our goal was to examine to what extent vocal and perceptual pitch-matching abilities were related in congenital amusia. To do this, we asked 13 amusics and 12 matched controls to perform four tasks, including two pitch perception tasks and two vocal imitation tasks. We controlled for any timbral translation by recording the participants singing and using it as stimuli across most tasks. Results showed great variability in both perceptual and vocal imitation tasks in amusics, while controls had good performances on all tasks. We illustrated how some amusics could retain good perceptual pitch-matching abilities while being unable to perform well in the vocal tasks, and how some amusics could perform well in the vocal imitation tasks. These results help illustrate the potential for these abilities to be independent. However, further studies are required to fully understand their relation

Pitch perception and production in congenital amusia: evidence from Cantonese speakers

This study investigated pitch perception and production in speech and music in individuals with congenital amusia (a disorder of musical pitch processing) who are native speakers of Cantonese, a tone language with a highly complex tonal system. Sixteen Cantonese-speaking congenital amusics and 16 controls performed a set of lexical tone perception, production, singing, and psychophysical pitch threshold tasks. Their tone production accuracy and singing proficiency were subsequently judged by independent listeners, and subjected to acoustic analyses. Relative to controls, amusics showed impaired discrimination of lexical tones in both speech and non-speech conditions. They also received lower ratings for singing proficiency, producing larger pitch interval deviations and making more pitch interval errors compared to controls. Demonstrating higher pitch direction identification thresholds than controls for both speech syllables and piano tones, amusics nevertheless produced native lexical tones with comparable pitch heights/contours and intelligibility as controls. Significant correlations were found between pitch threshold and lexical tone perception, music perception and production, but not between lexical tone perception and production for amusics. These findings provide further evidence that congenital amusia is domain-general language-independent pitch-processing deficit that is associated with severely impaired music perception and production, mildly impaired speech perception, and largely intact speech production

Action des rayonnements ionisants sur les solutions aqueuses de benzoquinone et d'hydroquinone

Les radicaux hydroxyles formés par radiolyse de l'eau sont responsables des réactions de dégradation observées par irradiation χ ou γ de solutions aqueuses de benzoquinone et d'hydroquinone. Les produits formés ne sont pas stables et sont susceptibles, dans le cas de la benzoquinone, d'induire des réactions d'oxydation en chaîne. Les rendements élevés obtenus à forte concentration en benzoquinone ne permettent pas de conclure à la capture éventuelle par la benzoquinone d'électrons d'énergies inférieures au potentiel d'ionisation de l'eau

Le peuple des tribunes

International audienc

Insular atrophy at the prodromal stage of dementia with Lewy bodies: a VBM DARTEL study

Abstract Diffuse atrophy including the insula was previously demonstrated in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) patients but little is known about the prodromal stage of DLB (pro-DLB). In this prospective study, we used SPM8-DARTEL to measure gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) atrophy in pro-DLB patients (n = 54), prodromal Alzheimer’s disease (pro-AD) patients (n = 16), DLB patients at the stage of dementia (mild-DLB) (n = 15), and Alzheimer’s disease patients at the stage of dementia (mild-AD) (n = 28), and compared them with healthy elderly controls (HC, n = 22). Diminished GM volumes were found in bilateral insula in pro-DLB patients, a trend to significance in right hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus in pro-AD patients, in left insula in mild-DLB patients, and in medial temporal lobes and insula in mild-AD patients. The comparison between prodromal groups did not showed any differences. The comparison between groups with dementia revealed atrophy around the left middle temporal gyrus in mild-AD patients. Reduced WM volume was observed in mild-DLB in the pons. The insula seems to be a key region in DLB as early as the prodromal stage. MRI studies looking at perfusion, and functional and anatomical connectivity are now needed to better understand the role of this region in DLB

Expected Performances of the Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer (CIMR) for an All-Weather and High Spatial Resolution Estimation of Ocean and Sea Ice Parameters

Climate change resulting in ocean warming, sea level rise, and sea ice melting has consequences for the global economy, navigation, and security. The Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer (CIMR) mission is a high priority candidate mission within the European Copernicus Expansion program. CIMR is designed to observe the ocean and sea ice and more particularly the Arctic environment. Sea surface temperature (SST), ocean wind speed, sea surface salinity (SSS), and sea ice concentration (SIC) are fundamental variables for understanding, monitoring, and predicting the state of the ocean and sea ice. CIMR is a conically scanning microwave radiometer imager that includes channels at 1.4, 6.9, 10.65, 18.7, and 36.5 GHz, in a Sun-synchronous polar orbit, to provide SST, ocean wind speed, SSS, and SIC with an increased accuracy and/or spatial resolution. Here we analyze the performances of the CIMR mission in terms of theoretical retrieval precision and spatial resolution on the SST, SSS, and SIC products. A careful information content analysis is conducted. The CIMR performances are compared with the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 and the Soil Moisture Active Passive current missions. Maps of the retrieval precision based on realistic conditions are computed. CIMR will provide SST, SSS, and SIC with a spatial resolution of 15, 55, and 5 km and a precision of 0.2 K, 0.3 psu, and 5%, respectively. The SST and SIC will be retrieved at better than 30 km from the coast. CIMR is currently in preparatory phase, and if selected, it is for a launch in the 2025+ time frame. Plain Language Summary Climate change resulting in ocean warming, sea level rise, and sea ice melting has consequences for the global economy, navigation, and security. The Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer mission is a high priority candidate satellite mission within the European Copernicus Expansion program. It is designed to observe the ocean and sea ice and more particularly the Arctic environment. Sea surface temperature, ocean wind speed, sea surface salinity, and sea ice concentration are fundamental variables for understanding, monitoring, and predicting the state of the ocean and sea ice. Here we analyze the performances of this new satellite mission in terms of precision and spatial resolution on the sea surface temperature, sea surface salinity, and sea ice concentration and compare it with current missions. The Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer will provide sea surface temperature, sea surface salinity, and sea ice concentration with a spatial resolution of 15, 55, and 5 km and a precision of 0.2 K, 0.3 psu, and 5%, respectively. This satellite mission is currently in preparatory phase, and if selected, it is for a launch in the 2025 time frame

A list of nanomaterials currently used in the semiconductor sector to be considered within NanoStreeM

Nanoelectronics relies on multiple semiconductor processes resulting in pattering of macroscopic objects (silicon wafers) at nanoscale level. The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors of semiconductor industry pursues increasing resolution of lithographic features and density of the circuit elements. The rapid pace of progress in the semiconductor manufacturing dictated by the Moore’s economic law also introduces a variety of novel nano-structured materials having poorly understood hazardous properties. In order the address this concern the NanoStreeM project partners have assembled lists of nanomaterials, which are (i) currently used by the semiconductor manufacturers or that are suspected to be produced in different processing steps (ii). In order to facilitate risk assessment, we have looked into a number of parameters, which are requested by the ISO Technical Standard 12901 “Occupational risk management applied to engineered nanomaterials -- Parts 1 and 2”. Eight partners submitted information on nanomaterials used or generated within their facilities: CEA, L Foundry, NXP IMEC, Intel, Soitec, STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments. A total of 47 examples of purchased nanomaterials were submitted and 16 scenarios were identified and submitted where there was a suspicion that nanomaterials may be generated. In terms of the purchased nanomaterials, nearly all materials submitted fell into the category of slurries used for Chemical Mechanical Polish with the exception of one other nanomaterial, a coloured photoresist, used in the photolithography process. The partners submitted also 16 different scenarios for which nanomaterial generation is suspected. These included opening of process chambers or exhaust lines of manufacturing equipment during maintenance activities and abrasive operations, such as wafer grinding and splitting operations. The deliverable will be further used in the workpackage dedicating to identifying risk management tools for the semiconductor industry

Generation of llama single-domain antibodies against methotrexate, a prototypical hapten.

Single-domain antibodies specific to methotrexate (MTX) were obtained after immunization of one llama (Llama glama). Specific VHH domains (V-D-J-REGION) were selected by panning from an immune-llama library using phage display technology. The antibody fragments specific to MTX were purified from Escherichia coli (C41 strain) periplasm by immobilized metal affinity chromatography with an expression level of around 10mg/L. A single band around 16,000Da corresponding to VHH fragments was found after analysis by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting, while competition ELISA demonstrated selective binding to soluble MTX. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) analysis showed that anti-MTX VHH domains had affinities in the nanomolar range (29-515nM) to MTX-serum albumin conjugates. The genes encoding anti-MTX VHH were found by IMGT/V-QUEST to be similar to the previously reported llama and human IGHV germline genes. The V-D and D-J junction rearrangements in the seven anti-MTX CDR3 sequences indicate that they were originated from three distinct progenitor B cells. Our results demonstrate that camelid single-domain antibodies are capable of high affinity binding to low molecular weight hydrosoluble haptens. Furthermore, these anti-MTX VHH give new insights on how the antigen binding repertoire of llama single-domain antibody can provide combining sites to haptens in the absence of a VL. This type of single-domain antibodies offers advantages compared to murine recombinant antibodies in terms of production rate and sequence similarity to the human IGHV3 subgroup genes