The space simulation facilities at IAL SPACE

The thermal vacuum facilities of IAL SPACE were tailored for testing of the ESA payloads. They were progressively upgraded for cryogenic payloads including 4 K (liquid helium temperature) experiments. A detailed review of the three vacuum chambers, ranging from 1.5 to 5 m diameter, is presented including the corresponding capabilities in the vacuum, thermal, and optical fields. The various aspects of cleanliness, product assurance, and quality control are also presented

Performance on an Everyday Life Activity in Persons Diagnosed with Alcohol Dependency Compared to Healthy Controls: Relations between a Computerized Shopping Task and Cognitive and Clinical Variables†

Aim: Persons diagnosed with alcohol dependency often suffer from cognitive impairments. Little is known, however, concerning how these cognitive deficits impact complex, everyday life activities. We set out to better characterize the nature of everyday life difficulties in patients with alcohol dependency using a computerized shopping task. Methods: A computerized real-life activity task (shopping task) required participants to shop for a list of eight grocery store items. Twenty individuals diagnosed with alcohol dependency and 20 healthy controls were administered a battery of cognitive tests, clinical scales and the shopping task. Results: Performance on the shopping task significantly differentiated patients and healthy controls for several variables and, in particular, for total time. Total time to complete the task correlated significantly with poor performance on measures of processing speed, verbal episodic memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibition. Total time was significantly correlated with poorer everyday life functioning and longer duration of illness. Conclusion: This computerized task is a good proxy measure of the level of everyday life and cognitive functioning of persons diagnosed with alcohol dependenc

Contribution of different pack members to a wolf chorus howl: Influence of sex, age, social status, and pack

Wolves live in packs with a complex social structure, for which acoustic communication plays an important role in their behaviour. Wolf packs perform group vocalisations called chorus howls. These acoustic signals have a complex structure and could be involved in functions such as strengthening of social bonds, territory advertisement or spacing packs. We analysed video recordings of 43 chorus howls emitted by wolves held in captivity, in order to investigate whether sex, age, social status, pack, or individual influence the way wolves participate in a chorus. We found that, during a chorus, wolves vocalised 71 % of the time, being howl the most performed vocalisation (39 % of the chorus duration), followed by woawoa howls (20 %), other vocalisations (9.5 %), and bark-like sounds (2.5 %). Individual and age were the principal factors affecting the wolf acoustic behaviour in a chorus. The time spent vocalising, howling and emitting woa-woa howls were the variables that better discriminated among individuals. Young wolves vocalised less, and uttered shorter acoustic signals, than adults during a chorus. Regarding types of vocalisations, adults emitted 46 % of howls, and 18.6 % of woa-woa howls, while subadults only howled a 4.7 %, and emitted woawoa howls a 2.4 % of the time. By contrast, sex, social status, and pack had few effect on wolf’s vocal behaviour in a chorus. This study is the first attempt to address how the individuals of a pack of wolves, participate in a chorus howl. Further research is needed to investigate more deeply the contribution of wolves to a chorus howl, and the information encoded in this group vocalisations.O lobo vive em alcateias com uma estrutura social complexa na qual a comunicação acústica tem um papel importante no comportamento. As alcateias emitem vocalizações de grupo chamados coros de uivos. Estes sinais acústicos têm uma estrutura complexa e podem estar envolvidos em funções como fortalecer os laços sociais, a delimitação de território ou o distanciamento entre alcateias. Nós analisámos gravações de vídeo de 43 coros de uivos emitidos por lobos em cativeiro para investigar se o sexo, a idade, o estatuto social, a alcateia ou o indivíduo influenciam o modo como os lobos participam num coro. Nós observámos que, durante um coro, os lobos vocalizaram 71 % do tempo, o uivo foi a vocalização mais executada (39 % da duração de coro), seguida por uivos de woa-woa (20 %), outras vocalizações (9.5 %) e ou ladrido (2.5 %). O indivíduo e a idade foram os principais factores que afectam o comportamento acústico dos lobos num coro. O tempo gasto emitindo vocalizações, uivando e emitindo uivos de woa-woa foram as variáveis que melhor discriminaram indivíduos. Os lobos juvenis vocalizaram menos e também emitiram sinais acústicos mais curtos durante um coro. Com respeito às categorias das vocalizações, os adultos emitiram 46 % de uivos e 18.6 % de uivos de woa-woa, enquanto que os subadultos só uivaram 4.7 % e emitiram uivos de woa-woa 2.4 % do tempo. Pelo contrário, não encontrámos diferenças entre o sexo, o estatuto social e a alcateia. Este estudo é a primeira tentativa de analisar como os indivíduos de uma alcateia participam num coro de uivos. Torna-se também crucial continuar a desenvolver linhas de investigação para o entendimento da contribuição dos lobos num coro de uivos e a informação codificada neste tipo de vocalizações grupais

Correlations between self-rating and observer-rating of psychopathology in at-risk mental state and first-episode psychosis patients: influence of disease stage and gender

Research findings on the correlations between self-rating and observer-rating of schizophrenic psychopathology are inconsistent and have rarely considered first-episode psychosis (FEP) and at-risk mental state (ARMS) for psychosis patients. This study investigates these correlations in ARMS and FEP patients and how they are moderated by disease stage and gender.; In the Basel Früherkennung von Psychosen (FePsy) study, positive and negative psychotic and affective symptoms were rated in 126 ARMS and 94 FEP patients using two observer- and three self-rating scales. The agreement between self-rating and observer-rating and the moderating influence of disease stage and gender was quantified using Pearson correlation and multiple regression models.; Correlations between self- and observer-rated subscales covering the same symptom dimension were low and mostly non-significant except for one correlation of positive and one of negative symptoms. There was no moderating influence of disease stage and gender on the correlations between self-rating and observer-rating except for one higher association in positive symptoms in FEP compared to ARMS and in women compared to men. However, these significant interaction effects did not withstand correction for multiple testing.; This study suggests that the agreement between self-rating and observer-rating in FEP and ARMS patients is rather low, similar across symptom dimensions, and only partially dependent on disease stage and gender. However, low correlations between self-rating and observer-rating do not necessarily indicate that these patients have difficulties reporting their symptoms. They could also have occurred because the scales did not exactly cover the same symptom dimensions

Acoustic interaction between a pair of owls and a wolf

During summer 2019, we recorded an apparent vocal interaction, lasting just under 4 min, between a pair of Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus) and a gray wolf (Canis lupus) in Yellowstone National Park. To our knowledge, this is the first report of such an acoustic interaction in the scientific literature. The increased use of passive acoustic recorders, which record spontaneous vocalizations emitted by animals over long periods, will allow us to better document and study the importance of such interspecific interactions.Durante el verano de 2019, grabamos una aparente interacción vocal entre una pareja de búhos americanos (Bubo virginianus) y un lobo gris (Canis lupus) que duró alrededor de 4 minutos en el Parque Nacional de Yellowstone. Según la información que disponemos, esta es la primera vez que se describe una interacción acústica entre estas dos especies en la literatura científica. Creemos que en el futuro, gracias al aumento del uso de sensores acústicos pasivos, que registran vocalizaciones espontáneas emitidas por animales durante períodos de tiempo muy largos, podremos documentar y estudiar mejor la relevancia de este tipo de interacciones interespecíficas

Planck pre-launch status : The Planck mission

Peer reviewe

Multitasking capacities in persons diagnosed with schizophrenia: A preliminary examination of their neurocognitive underpinnings and ability to predict real world functioning

peer reviewedBackground: Difficulties in everyday life activities are core features of persons diagnosed with schizophrenia. Moreover, patients seem to demonstrate particular difficulties during complex and multitasking activities, such as cooking a meal (Semkovska et al., 2004). Multitasking refers to activities where the person has to: carry out and alternate between different tasks that vary in terms of priority, difficulty and duration; define the tasks’ targets; and where the person is faced with unexpected problems during the realization of these tasks (Burgess, 2000). However, at present, patients’ multitasking capacities have not been adequately examined in the literature due to an absence of suitable assessment strategies. We thus recently developed a computerized real-life activity task designed to take into account the complex and multitasking nature of certain everyday life activities where participants are required to prepare a room for a meeting – the Computerized Meeting Preparation Task (CMPT) Methods: Twenty-one individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and 20 matched healthy controls completed the CMPT. During the CMPT, participants found themselves in a virtual room that they had to prepare for a meeting while respecting a list of instructions (the placement of the guests, the needed objects, the desired drinks, etc.). Patients were also evaluated with an extensive cognitive battery (assessing executive functions, attention, processing speed and memory), measures of symptomatology and real world functioning. To examine the ecological validity of the CMPT, 14 others patients were recruited and were given the computerized version and a real version of the meeting preparation task. Results: Results demonstrated that performance on the CMPT significantly differentiated patients and healthy controls for the total time to complete task, planning efficiency, and the respect of the instructions. Moreover, these variables were significantly correlated with executive functioning (i.e. cognitive flexibility and planning), suggesting the major implication of these cognitive processes in multitasking activities. Performance on the CMPT also significantly predicted up to 50% of real world functioning. Finally, performances on the computerized version and the real version of the meeting preparation task were highly correlated, suggesting good ecological validity. Discussion: In this study, we created a novel task involving the multitasking nature of real world activities. The results demonstrated that this approach provides a good indication of the real world functioning in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Moreover, results suggest a particular implication of executive functioning in multitasking activities. These findings suggest the importance of evaluating multitasking capacities in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia in order to predict real world functioning

Automatic detection for bioacoustic research: a practical guide from and for biologists and computer scientists

Recent years have seen a dramatic rise in the use of passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) for biological and ecological applications, and a corresponding increase in the volume of data generated. However, data sets are often becoming so sizable that analysing them manually is increasingly burdensome and unrealistic. Fortunately, we have also seen a corresponding rise in computing power and the capability of machine learning algorithms, which offer the possibility of performing some of the analysis required for PAM automatically. Nonetheless, the field of automatic detection of acoustic events is still in its infancy in biology and ecology. In this review, we examine the trends in bioacoustic PAM applications, and their implications for the burgeoning amount of data that needs to be analysed. We explore the different methods of machine learning and other tools for scanning, analysing, and extracting acoustic events automatically from large volumes of recordings. We then provide a step-by-step practical guide for using automatic detection in bioacoustics. One of the biggest challenges for the greater use of automatic detection in bioacoustics is that there is often a gulf in expertise between the biological sciences and the field of machine learning and computer science. Therefore, this review first presents an overview of the requirements for automatic detection in bioacoustics, intended to familiarise those from a computer science background with the needs of the bioacoustics community, followed by an introduction to the key elements of machine learning and artificial intelligence that a biologist needs to understand to incorporate automatic detection into their research. We then provide a practical guide to building an automatic detection pipeline for bioacoustic data, and conclude with a discussion of possible future directions in this field

L’influence médiatique dans les procès pénaux : la recherche d’une conciliation entre la liberté d’expression et la présomption d’innocence

La médiatisation est un phénomène qui évolue fortement de nos jours. Les médias s'introduisent dans la justice et sont protégés par la liberté d'expression, ce qui nuit à la présomption d'innocence des personnes incriminées devant les juridictions. Dans ce mémoire, nous étudions la manière dont la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme tranche ses décisions lorsque la présomption d'innocence et la liberté d'expression sont confrontées l'une à l'autre.Master [120] en droit, Université catholique de Louvain, 2017La diffusion de ce mémoire n'est pas autorisée par l'institutio