Leostar: Lessons Learnt and Perspectives

In 1996, Matra Marconi Space (now Astrium) has started the design of Leostar, a family of small platforms capable of supporting Earth observation, science and communication missions for a large range of Low Earth Orbits. This internal initiative has been triggered by the Faster/Better/Cheaper (FBC) tendency appearing among institutional customers and obvious on the export market. Hence, Astrium strategy was to provide standard qualified platforms relying upon a generic core avionics, as well as customized elements to be used for specific applications. To achieve these FBC goals, Astrium implemented innovative design and validation incremental methods, coupled with the maximum use of off-the-shelf equipment. The validation of the Leostar generic core avionics is now terminated and turned out successful w.r.t the FBC approach. Indeed, significant cost and time reduction could be observed not to the detriment of performance since the family now includes the Leostar 500-XO bus dedicated to very demanding high resolution observation missions. For a recent export program awarded end 99, Astrium is relying upon the Leostar concept to answer the needs of an Earth observation mission while coping with the challenging schedule requirement of delivery of satellite to final Customer in 30 months. Moreover, thanks to this Leostar heritage, Astrium has started to study for the French Space Agency (CNES) the new generation of agile bus which will support PLEIADES, the Spot follow-on program. This paper gives a brief overview of the Leostar family and its current and planned applications, describes the lessons learnt throughout the validation phase, and discusses how adequate aspects of the Leostar development approach have been applied to an interplanetary mission such as Mars Express

Faut-il oublier Georges Sadoul ?

L’article commence par s’interroger sur l’oubli progressif dont l’œuvre de Sadoul est victime depuis une vingtaine d’années, soit en raison de sa double appartenance à l’histoire et à la critique engagée, soit en raison de faiblesses méthodologiques, lacunes ou erreurs dans son œuvre inachevée sur l’Histoire générale du cinéma. Il soutient cependant que la démarche de Sadoul demeure exemplaire par ses partis pris de méthode qui admettent la continuelle remise à jour des données. Dans une deuxième partie l’article examine les premières années d’activités publiques du futur historien, à partir de l’exploitation du fonds Sadoul (Cinémathèque française / BiFi), et en son sein de sources jusqu’ici non exploitées. On comprend alors comment se forment sa sensibilité et son engagement dans le combat culturel, alors qu’il vit à Nancy, sa ville natale.Should We Forget Sadoul ? Georges Sadoul, His Youth in Nancy. This article begins by asking questions about the gradual oblivion to which Sadoul’s work has been subjected for two decades ; due either to his dual vocation as a historian and engaged critic, or to the methodological weaknesses, gaps and errors of his unfinished work on a « general history of cinema ». Yet, the article affirms the exemplary nature of Sadoul’s methodological choice which permits a continual updating of data. In a second part, it examines the future historian’s earliest years of public activity, drawing on sources from the Sadoul Archives (Cinémathèque française/BiFi), many of which have been hitherto unexplored. We thus gain an understanding of the development of his sensibility and cultural activism during his youth in his birthplace Nancy

Visual tests predict dementia risk in Parkinson's disease

OBJECTIVE To assess the role of visual measures and retinal volume to predict the risk of Parkinson disease (PD) dementia. METHODS In this cohort study, we collected visual, cognitive, and motor data in people with PD. Participants underwent ophthalmic examination, retinal imaging using optical coherence tomography, and visual assessment including acuity and contrast sensitivity and high-level visuoperception measures of skew tolerance and biological motion. We assessed the risk of PD dementia using a recently described algorithm that combines age at onset, sex, depression, motor scores, and baseline cognition. RESULTS One hundred forty-six people were included in the study (112 with PD and 34 age-matched controls). The mean disease duration was 4.1 (±2·5) years. None of these participants had dementia. Higher risk of dementia was associated with poorer performance in visual measures (acuity: ρ = 0.29, p = 0.0024; contrast sensitivity: ρ = −0.37, p < 0.0001; skew tolerance: ρ = −0.25, p = 0.0073; and biological motion: ρ = −0.26, p = 0.0054). In addition, higher risk of PD dementia was associated with thinner retinal structure in layers containing dopaminergic cells, measured as ganglion cell layer (GCL) and inner plexiform layer (IPL) thinning (ρ = −0.29, p = 0.0021; ρ = −0.33, p = 0.00044). These relationships were not seen for the retinal nerve fiber layer that does not contain dopaminergic cells and were not seen in unaffected controls. CONCLUSION Visual measures and retinal structure in dopaminergic layers were related to risk of PD dementia. Our findings suggest that visual measures and retinal GCL and IPL volumes may be useful to predict the risk of dementia in PD

Anxiety symptoms and felt stigma among young people living with perinatally or behaviourally-acquired HIV in Ukraine: A cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND: Ukraine has the second largest European HIV epidemic. This study aimed to describe stigma, demographic and social factors and their association with anxiety among perinatally and behaviourally-HIV-infected (PHIV; BHIV) young people in Kiev and Odessa. METHODS: 104 PHIV and 100 BHIV young people aged 13-25 years completed a confidential tablet-based survey. Survey tools included the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) (anxiety sub-scale scores of 8-10 indicating mild and ≥11 moderate/severe symptoms in last 7 days), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and HIV Stigma Scale (HSS) (short version, composite of disclosure, negative self-image and public attitudes sub-scales). Unadjusted Poisson regression models were fitted to explore factors associated with moderate/severe anxiety symptoms. RESULTS: PHIV and BHIV young people were of median age 15.5 [IQR 13.9-17.1] and 23.0 [21.0-24.3] years, having registered for HIV care a median 12.3 [10.3-14.4] and 0.9 [0.2-2.4] years previously; 97% (97/100) and 66% (65/99) respectively were on ART. Overall 43% (95%CI 36-50%) reported any and 13% (95%CI 9-19%) moderate/severe anxiety symptoms, with no difference by HIV acquisition mode (p = 0.405) or gender (p = 0.700). 42% (75/180) reported history of an emotional health problem for which they had not been referred/attended for care. Moderate/severe anxiety symptoms were associated with HIV-related stigma (prevalence ratio (PR) 1.24 95%CI 1.14-1.34 per HSS unit increase), lower self-esteem (PR 0.83 95%CI 0.78-0.90 per RSES point increase), CD4 ≤350 cells/mm3 (PR 2.29 95%CI 1.06-4.97), having no-one at home who knew the respondent's HIV status (PR 9.15 95%CI 3.40-24.66 vs all know) and, among BHIV, less stable living situation (PR 6.83 95%CI 1.99-23.48 for ≥2 vs no home moves in last 3 years) and history of drug use (PR 4.65 95%CI 1.83-11.85). CONCLUSIONS: Results indicated unmet need for psychosocial support. Further work is needed to explore strategies for mental health support, particularly around disclosure, self-esteem and stigma

Differential Brain Activity in Regions Linked to Visuospatial Processing During Landmark-Based Navigation in Young and Healthy Older Adults

International audienceOlder adults have difficulties in navigating unfamiliar environments and updating their wayfinding behavior when faced with blocked routes. This decline in navigational capabilities has traditionally been ascribed to memory impairments and dysexecutive function, whereas the impact of visual aging has often been overlooked. The ability to perceive visuospatial information such as salient landmarks is essential to navigating efficiently. To date, the functional and neurobiological factors underpinning landmark processing in aging remain insufficiently characterized. To address this issue, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to investigate the brain activity associated with landmark-based navigation in young and healthy older participants. The performances of 25 young adults (μ = 25.4 years, σ = 2.7; seven females) and 17 older adults (μ = 73.0 years, σ = 3.9; 10 females) were assessed in a virtual-navigation task in which they had to orient using salient landmarks. The underlying whole-brain patterns of activity as well as the functional roles of specific cerebral regions involved in landmark processing, namely the parahippocampal place area (PPA), the occipital place area (OPA), and the retrosplenial cortex (RSC), were analyzed. Older adults' navigational abilities were overall diminished compared to young adults. Also, the two age groups relied on distinct navigational strategies to solve the task. Better performances during landmark-based navigation were associated with increased neural activity in an extended neural network comprising several cortical and cerebellar regions. Direct comparisons between age groups revealed that young participants had greater anterior temporal activity. Also, only young adults showed significant activity in occipital areas corresponding to the cortical projection of the central visual field during landmark-based navigation. The region-of-interest analysis revealed an increased OPA activation in older adult participants during the landmark condition. There were no significant between-group differences in PPA and RSC activations. These preliminary results hint at the possibility that aging diminishes fine-grained information processing in occipital and temporal regions, thus hindering the capacity to use landmarks adequately for navigation. Keeping sight of its exploratory nature, this work helps towards a better comprehension of the neural dynamics subtending landmark-based navigation and it provides new insights on the impact of age-related visuospatial processing differences on navigation capabilities

An Appraisal of the Role of the Neocerebellum for Spatial Navigation in Healthy Aging

International audienceSpatial navigation is an intricate ability, requiring multisensory and motor integration, that is particularly impacted in aging. The age-related decline in navigational capabilities is known to be associated with changes in brain regions such as the frontal, temporal, and cerebellar cortices. Age-related cerebellar differences in spatial navigation have generally been ascribed to motor impairments, omitting the central role of this structure in several cognitive processes. In the present voxel-based morphometric study, we investigated gray matter volume loss in older adults across cognitive and motor subregions of the cerebellum. Specifically, we hypothesized that age-related gray matter differences would occur mainly in cerebellar regions involved in cognitive processing. Our results showed a significant age-related atrophy in the left neocerebellum of healthy older adults that includes Crus I and lobule VI. The latter are important nodes in the network that subtends cognitive abilities such as object recognition and spatial cognition. This exploratory work sets the ground for future research to investigate the extent of the neocerebellum's contribution to spatial navigation deficits in aging

Future trends in brain aging research: Visuo-cognitive functions at stake during mobility and spatial navigation

International audienceAging leads to a complex pattern of structural and functional changes, gradually affecting sensorimotor, perceptual, and cognitive processes. These multiscale changes can hinder older adults’ interaction with their environment, progressively reducing their autonomy in performing tasks relevant to everyday life. Autonomy loss can further be aggravated by the onset and progression of neurodegenerative disorders (e.g., age-related macular degeneration at the sensory input level; and Alzheimer’s disease at the cognitive level). In this context, spatial cognition offers a representative case of high-level brain function that involves multimodal sensory processing, postural control, locomotion, spatial orientation, and wayfinding capabilities. Hence, studying spatial behavior and its neural bases can help identify early markers of pathogenic age-related processes. Until now, the neural correlates of spatial cognition have mostly been studied in static conditions thereby disregarding perceptual (other than visual) and motor aspects of natural navigation. In this review, we first demonstrate how visuo-motor integration and the allocation of cognitive resources during locomotion lie at the heart of real-world spatial navigation. Second, we present how technological advances such as immersive virtual reality and mobile neuroimaging solutions can enable researchers to explore the interplay between perception and action. Finally, we argue that the future of brain aging research in spatial navigation demands a widespread shift toward the use of naturalistic, ecologically valid experimental paradigms to address the challenges of mobility and autonomy decline across the lifespan