Paradoxical Evidence Integration in Rapid Decision Processes

Decisions about noisy stimuli require evidence integration over time. Traditionally, evidence integration and decision making are described as a one-stage process: a decision is made when evidence for the presence of a stimulus crosses a threshold. Here, we show that one-stage models cannot explain psychophysical experiments on feature fusion, where two visual stimuli are presented in rapid succession. Paradoxically, the second stimulus biases decisions more strongly than the first one, contrary to predictions of one-stage models and intuition. We present a two-stage model where sensory information is integrated and buffered before it is fed into a drift diffusion process. The model is tested in a series of psychophysical experiments and explains both accuracy and reaction time distributions

Collaborative International Research in Clinical and Longitudinal Experience Study in NMOSD.

Objective: To develop a resource of systematically collected, longitudinal clinical data and biospecimens for assisting in the investigation into neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) epidemiology, pathogenesis, and treatment. Methods: To illustrate its research-enabling purpose, epidemiologic patterns and disease phenotypes were assessed among enrolled subjects, including age at disease onset, annualized relapse rate (ARR), and time between the first and second attacks. Results: As of December 2017, the Collaborative International Research in Clinical and Longitudinal Experience Study (CIRCLES) had enrolled more than 1,000 participants, of whom 77.5% of the NMOSD cases and 71.7% of the controls continue in active follow-up. Consanguineous relatives of patients with NMOSD represented 43.6% of the control cohort. Of the 599 active cases with complete data, 84% were female, and 76% were anti-AQP4 seropositive. The majority were white/Caucasian (52.6%), whereas blacks/African Americans accounted for 23.5%, Hispanics/Latinos 12.4%, and Asians accounted for 9.0%. The median age at disease onset was 38.4 years, with a median ARR of 0.5. Seropositive cases were older at disease onset, more likely to be black/African American or Hispanic/Latino, and more likely to be female. Conclusions: Collectively, the CIRCLES experience to date demonstrates this study to be a useful and readily accessible resource to facilitate accelerating solutions for patients with NMOSD

Jules Horowitz Reactor: preparation of the commissioning phase and normal operation

International audienceThe Jules Horowitz Reactor (JHR) is a new modern Material Testing Reactor (MTR) currently under construction at CEA Cadarache research centre in the south of France. It will be a major research facility in support to the development and the qualification of material and fuel under irradiation with sizes and environment conditions relevant for nuclear power plants in order to optimise and demonstrate safe operations of existing power reactors as well as to support future reactors design. It will represent also an important research infrastructure for scientific studies dealing with material and fuel behaviour under irradiation. The JHR will as well contribute to secure the production of radioisotope for medical application. This is a key public health stake. The construction of JHR is going-on. Once in operation beginning of next decade, the reactor will provide modern experimental capacity in support to RandD programs for the nuclear energy for the next 50 years

Jules Horowitz reactor project: preparation of the commissioning phase and normal operation

International audienceThe construction of JHR is ongoing and the reactor would be operational at the beginning of the next decade.In parallel to the facility construction, it's necessary to prepare the commissioning tests which are essential to ensure that the layout of systems and subcomponents fulfill the design requirements, the specification performances and the safety criteria, but also to transfer the knowledge on the systems to the operating team.This paper gives an overview of the JHR commissioning tests organization with the progressive implication of future operator, beginning by performing the safety procedures, up to the facility operation

Distribution of Genes Encoding the Trypsin-Dependent Lantibiotic Ruminococcin A among Bacteria Isolated from Human Fecal Microbiota

Fourteen bacterial strains capable of producing a trypsin-dependent antimicrobial substance active against Clostridium perfringens were isolated from human fecal samples of various origins (from healthy adults and children, as well as from adults with chronic pouchitis). Identification of these strains showed that they belonged to Ruminococcus gnavus, Clostridium nexile, and Ruminococcus hansenii species or to new operational taxonomic units, all from the Clostridium coccoides phylogenetic group. In hybridization experiments with a probe specific for the structural gene encoding the trypsin-dependent lantibiotic ruminococcin A (RumA) produced by R. gnavus, seven strains gave a positive response. All of them harbored three highly conserved copies of rumA-like genes. The deduced peptide sequence was identical to or showed one amino acid difference from the hypothetical precursor of RumA. Our results indicate that the rumA-like genes have been disseminated among R. gnavus and phylogenetically related strains that can make up a significant part of the human fecal microbiota

Status reports to the Paper Properties and Uses Project Advisory Committee

"October 18, 1989."On-line measurement of paper: project 3332 / M.S. Hall, K.W. Lorenz ; On-line measurement of paper mechanical properties: project 3332/3613 ; Process, Product, Properties: project 3467 / M. Hall, M. Lorenz ; Strength Improvement and failure mechanisms: project 3469 / J. Waterhouse ; Internal strength enhancement: project 3526 / R. Stratton ; Board properties and performance: project 3571 ; Fundamentals of paper surface wettability: project 3646 / F. Etzler ; Utilization of recycled fiber

Blade root load variations on two scaled industrial tidal turbines

This experimental study investigates blade root load fluctuations for a single turbine immersed in a regular current flow with different ambient turbulence conditions. Two scaled models of industrial prototypes were tested: a 1:28 scale model of the three-bladed horizontal axis turbine of Magallanes Renovables and a 1:20 scale model of the five-bladed horizontal axis turbine of Sabella. The rotor loads were directly measured on the rotation axis with a thrust and torque sensor. The blade roots were equipped with a load-cell measuring two forces and three moments. The variations of the rotor loads (thrust and torque) and the blade root loads (edgewise bending moments and streamwise forces) are compared and the impact of the blade angular position is investigated. A comparison of both scaled models results with those of the IFREMER generic turbine is also presented. The results are anonymised in order to ensure confidentiality