The application of rules in morphology, syntax and number processing: a case of selective deficit of procedural or executive mechanisms?: Deficit of procedural or executive mechanisms

International audienceDeclarative memory is a long-term store for facts, concepts and words. Procedural memory subserves the learning and control of sensorimotor and cognitive skills, including the mental grammar. In this study, we report a single-case study of a mild aphasic patient who showed procedural deficits in the presence of preserved declarative memory abilities. We administered several experiments to explore rule application in morphology, syntax and number processing. Results partly support the differentiation between declarative and procedural memory. Moreover, the patient's performance varied according to the domain in which rules were to be applied, which underlines the need for more fine-grained distinctions in cognition between procedural rules

The ataxia protein sacsin is a functional co-chaperone that protects against polyglutamine-expanded ataxin-1

An extensive protein–protein interaction network has been identified between proteins implicated in inherited ataxias. The protein sacsin, which is mutated in the early-onset neurodegenerative disease autosomal recessive spastic ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay, is a node in this interactome. Here, we have established the neuronal expression of sacsin and functionally characterized domains of the 4579 amino acid protein. Sacsin is most highly expressed in large neurons, particularly within brain motor systems, including cerebellar Purkinje cells. Its subcellular localization in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells was predominantly cytoplasmic with a mitochondrial component. We identified a putative ubiquitin-like (UbL) domain at the N-terminus of sacsin and demonstrated an interaction with the proteasome. Furthermore, sacsin contains a predicted J-domain, the defining feature of DnaJ/Hsp40 proteins. Using a bacterial complementation assay, the sacsin J-domain was demonstrated to be functional. The presence of both UbL and J-domains in sacsin suggests that it may integrate the ubiquitin–proteasome system and Hsp70 function to a specific cellular role. The Hsp70 chaperone machinery is an important component of the cellular response towards aggregation prone mutant proteins that are associated with neurodegenerative diseases. We therefore investigated the effects of siRNA-mediated sacsin knockdown on polyglutamine-expanded ataxin-1. Importantly, SACS siRNA did not affect cell viability with GFP-ataxin-1[30Q], but enhanced the toxicity of GFP-ataxin-1[82Q], suggesting that sacsin is protective against mutant ataxin-1. Thus, sacsin is an ataxia protein and a regulator of the Hsp70 chaperone machinery that is implicated in the processing of other ataxia-linked proteins

Chemical kinetics in an atmospheric pressure helium plasma containing humidity

Atmospheric pressure plasmas are sources of biologically active oxygen and nitrogen species, which makes them potentially suitable for the use as biomedical devices. Here, experiments and simulations are combined to investigate the formation of the key reactive oxygen species, atomic oxygen (O) and hydroxyl radicals (OH), in a radio-frequency driven atmospheric pressure plasma jet operated in humidified helium. Vacuum ultra-violet high-resolution Fourier-transform absorption spectroscopy and ultra-violet broad-band absorption spectroscopy are used to measure absolute densities of O and OH. These densities increase with increasing H 2 O content in the feed gas, and approach saturation values at higher admixtures on the order of 3 × 10 14 cm −3 for OH and 3 × 10 13 cm −3 for O. Experimental results are used to benchmark densities obtained from zero-dimensional plasma chemical kinetics simulations, which reveal the dominant formation pathways. At low humidity content, O is formed from OH + by proton transfer to H 2 O, which also initiates the formation of large cluster ions. At higher humidity content, O is created by reactions between OH radicals, and lost by recombination with OH. OH is produced mainly from H 2 O + by proton transfer to H 2 O and by electron impact dissociation of H 2 O. It is lost by reactions with other OH molecules to form either H 2 O + O or H 2 O 2 . Formation pathways change as a function of humidity content and position in the plasma channel. The understanding of the chemical kinetics of O and OH gained in this work will help in the development of plasma tailoring strategies to optimise their densities in applications

Origins of the Urban Development of Pondicherry according to Seventeenth Century Dutch Plans

The modem plan of Pondicherry shows a large town in gridiron plan which obviously was extended to its present form through controlled urban development. Some Indian scholars consider that the town was built according to the principles of the ancient Hindu treatises of architecture, particularly the Silpa Sastra. French historians, on the other hand, feel that the plan should be considered as an achievement of «the French mind». In fact, the Dutch plans of Pondicherry dated 1693-1694, preserved at the National Archives at The Hague, show that the orthogonal street pattern of the town is a creation of the Dutch. The plans of 1693 show that, in François Martin's settlement, the streets or lanes were following an irregular pattern, without any shape or symmetry, whereas, in the plans drafted in 1694, during the Dutch occupation, one finds the design of a large new town, with a very regular geometric layout, rectangular blocks of houses, separated by straight streets, intersecting at right angles. This great urban project of the Dutch Company was adopted by the French who systematically carried out the extensive straightening out of streets into a planned grid, during the the first half of the 18th century.Le plan en damier de Pondichéry surprend les spécialistes d’histoire urbaine qui se demandent comment expliquer son origine. Certains chercheurs indiens pensent que la ville a été construite suivant les principes des anciens traités hindous d’architecture, en particulier les Silpa Sastra. Les historiens français, en revanche, estiment que ce plan d’urbanisme est “une réussite de l’esprit français”. La vérité est que le schéma géométrique a été conçu par la Compagnie des Pays-Bas: l’analyse des plans hollandais de 1693-1694 déposés aux Archives nationales de La Haye montre qu’en vérité le schéma géométrique a été conçu par les Hollandais. En effet, leurs plans de 1693 montrent que la ville de François Martin était construite suivant un plan anarchique avec des voies irrégulières, diversement orientées, reliant principalement des jardins, alors que ceux de 1694, réalisés pendant l’occupation hollandaise, présentent des surfaces divisées en rectangles égaux et des rues tirées au cordeau d’une rectitude et d’une harmonie singulières, correspondant à un grand projet de réorganisation urbaine repris et achevé par les gouverneurs français de Pondichéry dans la première moitié du xviiie siècle

General Introduction

Citadels crowning the broken hills of the Aravallis, the scarped blocks of Central India or topping the rugged and cragged ridges of the Deccan with several lines of walls built at different levels upto the summit, and also strongholds of greater extent in the large alluvial Indo-gangetic plains or on the peninsular plateau, enclosing huge cities, on flat land, around occasional outcrops, on the banks of a river or in the slopes of a broad interfluve, innumerable are the fortifications scatte..

IV. Notes sur les sites de quelques ports anciens du pays tamoul

Deloche Jean. IV. Notes sur les sites de quelques ports anciens du pays tamoul. In: Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient. Tome 74, 1985. pp. 141-166