Sustained invisibility through crowding and continuous flash suppression: a comparative review

The study of non-conscious vision benefits from several alternative methods that allow the suppression of an image from awareness. Here, we present and compare two of them that are particularly well-suited for creating sustained periods of invisibility, namely visual crowding and continuous flash suppression (CFS). In visual crowding, a peripheral image surrounded by similar flankers becomes impossible to discriminate. In CFS, an image presented to one eye becomes impossible to detect when rapidly changing patterns are presented to the other eye. After discussing the experimental specificities of each method, we give a comparative overview of the main empirical results derived from them, from the mere analysis of low-level features to the extraction of semantic contents. We conclude by proposing practical guidelines and future directions to obtain more quantitative and systematic measures of non-conscious processes under prolonged stimulation

Etude expérimentale et numérique du contrôle actif de jets dans des chambres de combustion

Les instabilités de combustion résultent d’un couplage entre le dégagement de chaleur d’une flamme et l’acoustique de la chambre de combustion. Ce phénomène peut engendrer de fortes vibrations, une pollution sonore importante, voire la destruction complète du brûleur. Aussi, de nombreuses études portent actuellement sur le contrôle de ces instabilités. La solution adoptée pour la présente étude consiste à créer un dispositif de contrôle actif (ou actionneur) capable d’avoir un effet fort sur le mélange entre les jets de réactifs et le fluide ambiant. La configuration modèle étudiée ici consiste en un jet d’air (situation non réactive) contrôlé par quatre petits jets auxiliaires tangentiels. Différentes campagnes expérimentales ont conduit à l’optimisation de la géométrie des actionneurs et la configuration qui a été identifiée comme la plus efficace, en termes d’amélioration du mélange en sortie de jet, a fait l’objet de simulations numériques des grandes échelles (LES). L’objectif de la partie numérique de ce travail est double. D’une part, les différentes simulations réalisées autorisent une meilleure compréhension des phénomènes complexes impliqués dans le contrôle. D’autre part, nous montrerons en quoi la LES est un bon outil de prédiction des effets du contrôle sur un écoulement. ABSTRACT : Combustion instabilities occur when the flame heat release couples with the acoustic waves propagating in the combustion chamber. This phenomenon can lead to strong vibrations and noise but also, sometimes, to the complete combustion device failure. That is the reason why so many studies focus on the control of those instabilities. The method chosen in this study consists in an active control device (or set of actuators) having a strong effect on the mixing of the burner exhaust flow with the ambient fluid. The model configuration studied consists in a non reactive jet of air controlled by four small tangential secondary jets. Experiments have been carried out to optimize the control device geometry. The configuration identified as the most efficient, in terms of mixing enhancement, has been simulated through Large Eddy Simulations (LES). The objective of the numerical part of the present work is double. First, the numerical simulations provide a better understanding of the phenomena occurring when the control is on. Then, it is shown that LES can be considered as a tool to predict the effects of a control device on a flow

Molecular organization of the human serotonin transporter at the air/water interface

AbstractThe serotonin transporter (SERT) is the target of several important antidepressant and psychostimulant drugs. It has been shown that under defined conditions, the transporter spread at the air/water interface was able to bind its specific ligands. In this paper, the interfacial organization of the protein has been assessed from dynamic surface pressure and ellipsometric measurements. For areas comprising between 10 400 and 7100 Å2/molecule, ellipsometric measurements reveal an important change in the thickness of the SERT film. This change was attributed to the reorientation of the transporter molecules from a horizontal to their natural predictive transmembrane orientation. The thickness of the SERT film at 7100 Å2/molecule was found to be approximately equal to 84 Å and coincided well with the theoretical value estimated from the calculations based on the dimensions of α-helices containing membrane proteins. These data suggest that the three-dimensional arrangement of the SERT may be represented as a box with lengths dz=83–85 Å and dy or dx=41–47 Å

Effective potential and vacuum stability

By following previous work on this subject, we investigate the issue of the instability of the electroweak vacuum against the top loop corrections by performing an accurate analysis of a Higgs-Yukawa model. We find that, when the physical cutoff is properly implemented in the theory, the potential does not exhibit any instability. Moreover, contrary to recent claims, we show that this instability cannot be understood in terms of the very insightful work of Wu and Weinberg on the non-convexity of the one-loop effective potential of a scalar theory. Some of the theoretical and phenomenological consequences of our results are briefly discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Chitosan hydrogel micro-bio-devices with complex capillary patterns via reactive-diffusive self-assembly

International audienceWe present chitosan hydrogel microfluidic devices with self-assembled complex microcapillary patterns, conveniently formed by a diffusion-reaction process. These patterns in chitosan hydrogels are formed by a single-step procedure involving diffusion of a gelation agent into the polymer solution inside a microfluidic channel. By changing the channel geometry, it is demonstrated how to control capillary length, trajectory and branching. Diffusion of nanoparticles (NPs) in the capillary network is used as a model to effectively mimic the transport of nano-objects in vascularized tissues. Gold NPs diffusion is measured locally in the hydrogel chips, and during their two-step transport through the capillaries to the gel matrix and eventually to embedded cell clusters in the gel. In addition, the quantitative analyses reported in this study provide novel opportunities for theoretical investigation of capillary formation and propagation during diffusive gelation of biopolymers.Statement of SignificanceHydrogel micropatterning is a challenging task, which is of interest in several biomedical applications. Creating the patterns through self assembly is highly beneficial, because of the accessible and practical preparation procedure. In this study, we introduced complex self-assembled capillary patterns in chitosan hydrogels using a microfluidic approach. To demonstrate the potential application of these capillary patterns, a vascularized hydrogel with microwells occupied by cells was produced, and the diffusion of gold nanoparticles travelling in the capillaries and diffusing in the gel were evaluated. This model mimics a simplified biological tissue, where nanomedicine has to travel through the vasculature, extravasate into and diffuse through the extracellular matrix and eventually reach targeted cells

Towards a Swiss health study with human biomonitoring: Learnings from the pilot phase about participation and design.

BACKGROUND A large-scale national cohort aiming at investigating the health status and determinants in the general population is essential for high-quality public health research and regulatory decision-making. We present the protocol and first results of the pilot phase to a Swiss national cohort aiming at establishing the study procedures, evaluating feasibility, and assessing participation and willingness to participate. METHODS The pilot phase 2020/21 included 3 components recruited via different channels: a population-based cross-sectional study targeting the adult population (20-69 years) of the Vaud and Bern cantons via personal invitation, a sub-study on selenium in a convenience sample of vegans and vegetarians via non-personal invitation in vegan/vegetarian networks, and a self-selected sample via news promotion (restricted protocol). Along with a participatory approach and participation, we tested the study procedures including online questionnaires, onsite health examination, food intake, physical activity assessments and biosample collection following high-quality standards. RESULTS The population-based study and the selenium sub-study had 638 (participation rate: 14%) and 109 participants, respectively, both with an over-representation of women. Of altogether 1349 recruited participants over 90% expressed interest in participating to a national health study, over 75% to contribute to medicine progress and help improving others' health, whereas about one third expressed concerns over data protection and data misuse. CONCLUSIONS Publicly accessible high-quality public health data and human biomonitoring samples were collected. There is high interest of the general population in taking part in a national cohort on health. Challenges reside in achieving a higher participation rate and external validity. For project management clear governance is key

Approche de la diversité des comportements alimentaires chez les Néandertaliens à l’aide des isotopes du calcium

Les études du comportement alimentaire humain utilisant l’analyse isotopique sont devenues routinières en archéologie. L’étude de la composition isotopique en calcium est maintenant l’une d’entre elles. Nous présentons ici les résultats de l’analyse isotopique du calcium osseux conduite sur 8 individus néandertaliens, ainsi que de la faune associée provenant de 4 sites français du Paléolithique moyen (La grotte du Bison, Les Pradelles, Regourdou, Tourville-la-Rivière). Il était jusqu’alors a..

Loss-of-function variants in CUL3 cause a syndromic neurodevelopmental disorder

Purpose De novovariants inCUL3(Cullin-3 ubiquitin ligase) have been strongly associated with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), but no large case series have been reported so far. Here we aimed to collect sporadic cases carrying rare variants inCUL3,describe the genotype-phenotype correlation, and investigate the underlying pathogenic mechanism.MethodsGenetic data and detailed clinical records were collected via multi-center collaboration. Dysmorphic facial features were analyzed using GestaltMatcher. Variant effects on CUL3 protein stability were assessed using patient-derived T-cells.ResultsWe assembled a cohort of 35 individuals with heterozygousCUL3variants presenting a syndromic NDD characterized by intellectual disability with or without autistic features. Of these, 33 have loss-of-function (LoF) and two have missense variants.CUL3LoF variants in patients may affect protein stability leading to perturbations in protein homeostasis, as evidenced by decreased ubiquitin-protein conjugatesin vitro. Specifically, we show that cyclin E1 (CCNE1) and 4E-BP1 (EIF4EBP1), two prominent substrates of CUL3, fail to be targeted for proteasomal degradation in patient-derived cells.ConclusionOur study further refines the clinical and mutational spectrum ofCUL3-associated NDDs, expands the spectrum of cullin RING E3 ligase-associated neuropsychiatric disorders, and suggests haploinsufficiency via LoF variants is the predominant pathogenic mechanism