Etude Clinique des niveaux de perturbation de la metacognition, de la cognition sociale et du contrôle exécutif dans la pathologie frontale

Recent and convergent studies in neuropsychology have suggested the importance of frontal regions to the integrity of a number of functions such as metamemory capacities, executive functions, and social skills (Theory of Mind : ToM). In this original work, following Stuss et Anderson (2004), we assume a link between disturbances of these functions. We proposed to 16 frontal patients and 20 matched healthy subjects a protocol designed to test metamemory, ToM and executive functions in order to analyze the relations between disturbances of self-awareness (metamemory) and awareness of others (ToM), and cognitive control (executive functions). Our results confirm the importance of frontal lobes on these capacities. No correlation was found between measures of metamemory, measures of ToM and executive scores. The observation of individual profiles emphasizes the existence of dissociations between self awareness and consciousness of the others, and between these two forms of metacognitive control and the executive functioning. These results confirm the importance to engage more studies combining aspects of ToM, metacognition and executive control, to better understand the organization and architecture of the functions supported by frontal lobe

Bilingualism and adult differences in inhibitory mechanisms: Evidence from a bilingual stroop task

The present investigation examined the functioning of inhibitory mechanisms in younger and older bilinguals using a bilingual version of the Stroop test. The study predicted different patterns of age related decline in inhibitory mechanisms (inter- and intralingual interference) in bilinguals depending on their level of proficiency. Consistent with expectations, older bilinguals were slower when they responded in their non-dominant language. Furthermore, older unbalanced bilinguals showed greater interlingual interference when they responded with their second language to visual stimuli written in their dominant language. Balanced bilinguals showed equivalent interference effects between all conditions. These findings suggest that manipulating two languages may enhance the efficiency of inhibitory mechanisms

Tag relatedness in image folksonomies

Folksonomies - networks of users, resources, and tags allow users to easily retrieve, organize and browse web contents. However, their advantages are still limited mainly due to the noisiness of user provided tags. To overcome this issue, we propose an approach for characterizing related tags in folksonomies: we use tag co-occurrence statistics and Laplacian score based feature selection in order to create empirical co-occurrence probability distribution for each tag; then we identify related tags on the basis of the dissimilarity between their distributions. For this purpose, we introduce variant of the Jensen-Shannon Divergence, which is more robust to statistical noise. We experimentally evaluate our approach using WordNet and compare it to a common tag-relatedness approach based on the cosine similarity. The results show the effectiveness of our approach and its advantage over the competing method

Electrospinning polypropylene with an amino acid as a strategy to bind the antimicrobial peptide Cys-LC-LL-37

Hospital isolation gowns are increasingly competitive, with brands and manufacturers contesting consumer preferences. The textile materials in contact with the skin can acquire secretions and multiresistant microorganisms, causing discomfort and health risks, respectively. A new nanofibrous substrate---polypropylene grafted with l-Cys---was developed with an increased crystallinity, providing its surface with --SH hooks necessary to efficiently cross-link the antimicrobial peptide Cys-LC-LL-37 in order to protect against nosocomial pathogens and their spread to community. Furthermore, this application does not require environmental control of humidity, and it is not susceptible to enzyme and microorganism degradation.The authors acknowledge the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) for the PhD Grant SFRH/ BD/91444/2012 and Programa Operacional Capital Humano (POCH) and European Union for co-funding the work.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Métodos y progreso de la conservación de los recursos genéticos de los olmos en Europa

The progress made in the conservation of European elm genetic resources since the 1st International Elm Conference is reviewed, and the complementarity of in situ and ex situ methods is discussed. The financial support of the European Union to RESGEN project CT96-78 has permitted to co-ordinate and rationalize the ex situ conservation of elms. The project, which involved 17 partner institutes in nine west European countries, aimed at a better evaluation, conservation and utilisation of the existing collections of native elm clones. Main achievements are: establishing a common database of about 2,000 clones; characterizing over 500 clones through RAPDs and chloroplast DNA PCR-RFLPs molecular markers; completing and rationalizing the existing collections; establishing a long-term core collection of 850 clones; cryo-preserving a subset of 444 clones; and identifying clones of interest for breeding and prudent use in the reconstruction of countryside hedges. The «Noble Hardwoods» network of the pan-European programme EUFORGEN groups members representative of 31 countries, and promotes the dynamic conservation of the genetic resources of several genera of broadleaf forest trees, including Ulmus spp. Strategies for the conservation of the adaptive potential of elm resources were defined and will be disseminated among foresters and conservationists through «Guidelines» leaflets. Some countries have already started implementing conservation measures for U. laevis, associating in situ preservation and the establishment of seed orchards. Others are undertaking inventories, or acquiring genetic knowledge on target populations.Se discute el progreso realizado en la conservación de los olmos europeos desde la primera conferencia Internacional del Olmo y los métodos complementarios de conservación in situ y ex situ. El apoyo financiero de la Unión Europea al proyecto RESGEN CT96-78 ha permitido coordinar y racionalizar la conservación ex situ de los olmos. El proyecto, en el cual están involucrados 17 instituciones participantes en nueve países de Europa Occidental, tiene por objetivo una mejor evaluación, conservación y utilización de las colecciones actualmente existentes de clones nativos de olmo. Los principales logros son: el establecimiento de una base de datos común de aproximadamente 2.000 clones; la caracterización de más de 500 clones usando RAPD y marcadores moleculares PCR-RFLP de ADN cloroplástico; la finalización y racionalización de las colecciones existentes; el establecimiento a largo plazo de una colección central con 850 clones; la criopreservación de un conjunto de 444 clones; y la identificación de clones de interés para la mejora y para su uso en la restauración de setos en campo. La red «Noble Hardwoods» del programa pan-europeo EUFORGEN agrupa a miembros representantes de 31 países, y promueve la conservación dinámica de los recursos genéticos de varios géneros de árboles planifolios, incluido Ulmus spp.. Las estrategias para la conservación del potencial adaptativo de los recursos de los olmos se definieron y se dieron a conocer entre forestales y conservacionistas a través de folletos guía. Algunos países han comenzado ya a implementar medidas de conservación para U. laevis mediante el uso de la preservación in situ y el establecimiento de huertos semilleros. Otros están elaborando inventarios, o adquiriendo información genética de poblaciones de interés

Machine Learning Enabled Turbulence Prediction Using Flight Data for Safety Analysis

Presented at the 32nd ICAS Congress, Shanghai, China (2022).The hazards posed by turbulence remain an important issue in commercial aviation safety analysis. Turbulence is among the leading cause of in-flight injury to passengers and flight attendants. Current methods of turbulence detection may suffer from sparse or inaccurate forecast data sets, low spatial and temporal resolution , and lack of in-situ reports. The increased availability of flight data records offers an opportunity to improve the state-of-the-art in turbulence detection. The Eddy Dissipation Rate (EDR) is consistently recognized as a reliable measure of turbulence and is widely used in the aviation industry. In this paper, both classification and regression supervised machine learning models are used in conjunction with flight operations quality assurance (FOQA) data collected from 6,000 routine flights to estimate the EDR (and thereby turbulence severity) in future time horizons. Data from routine airline operations that encountered different levels of turbulence is collected and analyzed for this purpose. Results indicate that the models are able to perform reasonably well in predicting the EDR and turbulence severity around 10 seconds prior to encountering a turbulence event. Continuous deployment of the model enables obtaining a near-continuous prediction of possible future turbulence events and builds the capability towards an early warning system for pilots and flight attendants

Overview of resource and turbine modelling in the Tidal Stream Industry Energiser Project: TIGER

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from EWTEC via the DOI in this recordTidal energy projects require numerical modelling for the assessment of tidal site conditions and turbine/array performance. The Interreg TIGER project has offered a unique opportunity to implement a wide range of numerical models. This paper provides an overview and comparison of the different numerical models developed by academic partners in the TIGER project. The models cover a variety of spatial and temporal scales. The largest scale models provide long-term climatic studies covering the entire English Channel region, at relatively low resolution, whilst the highest-resolution models provide detailed information about short-term and small-scale turbulent flow and its interaction with tidal turbines. The models are used for various purposes. At one end of the scale, the models have been used to inform the large-scale techno-economic assessment of tidal energy and its impact on the energy mix in the UK and France. At the other end of the scale, the numerical models provide information that feeds into detailed engineering design of tidal turbines at particular sites, and assessment of the energy yield. The models showcase the range of computational tools available to aid the development of the tidal energy industry. This paper will be useful for investors, technology developers and project stakeholders to help identify suitable numerical models to support and develop ongoing and future tidal stream projects.European Regional Development Fund (ERDF

Novel lines of Pax6-/- embryonic stem cells exhibit reduced neurogenic capacity without loss of viability

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Embryonic stem (ES) cells can differentiate into all cell types and have been used extensively to study factors affecting neuronal differentiation. ES cells containing mutations in known genes have the potential to provide useful in vitro models for the study of gene function during neuronal differentiation. Recently, mouse ES cell lines lacking the neurogenic transcription factor Pax6 were reported; neurons derived from these <it>Pax6</it>^-/-ES cells died rapidly after neuronal differentiation in vitro.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we report the derivation of new lines of <it>Pax6</it>^-/-ES cells and the assessment of their ability to survive and differentiate both in vitro and in vivo. Neurons derived from our new <it>Pax6</it>^-/-lines were viable and continued to elaborate processes in culture under conditions that resulted in the death of neurons derived from previously reported <it>Pax6</it>^-/-ES cell lines. The new lines of <it>Pax6</it>^-/-ES cells showed reduced neurogenic potential, mimicking the effects of loss of Pax6 in vivo. We used our new lines to generate <it>Pax6</it>^-/-↔ <it>Pax6</it>^+/+chimeras in which the mutant cells survived and displayed the same phenotypes as <it>Pax6</it>^-/-cells in <it>Pax6</it>^-/-↔ <it>Pax6</it>^+/+chimeras made by embryo aggregation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We suggest that loss of Pax6 from ES cells reduces their neurogenic capacity but does not necessarily result in the death of derived neurons. We offer these new lines as additional tools for those interested in the generation of chimeras and the analysis of in vitro ES cell models of Pax6 function during neuronal differentiation, embryonic and postnatal development.</p