Modelo de cabalgamiento profundo para el Alto Atlas (Marruecos). Implicaciones sísmicas en la zona de colisión entre Eurasia y Africa

Previous crustal models of the High Atlas suppose the existence of a mid-crustal detachment where all the surface thrusts merged and below which the lower crust was continuous. However, both seismic refraction data and gravity modeling detected a jump in crustal thickness between the High Atlas and the northern plains. Here we show that this rapid and vertical jump in the depth of Moho discontinuity suggests that a thrust fault may penetrate the lower crust and offset the Moho (deep-rooted “thick skinned” model). The distribution of Neogene and Quaternary volcanisms along and at the northern part of the High Atlas lineament can be related to the beginning of a partial continental subduction of the West African plate to the north underneath Moroccan microplate. Allowing from the complex problem of the plate boundary in the western zone of the Mediterranean, we propose to interpret the South-Atlasic fault zone as the actual northwestern boundary of the stable part of the African plate rather than the Azores-Gibraltar fault currently used.Los modelos geodinámicos existentes sobre la estructura profunda del alto Atlas suponen la existencia de un despegue medio-cortical donde convergen los cabalgamientos superficiales y bajo el cual la corteza inferior es continua. Los datos de sísmica de refracción y gravimetría, sin embargo, indican la existencia de una discontinuidad en el grosor de la corteza (profundidad del Moho) bajo el Alto Atlas. En este artículo ponemos de manifiesto que este salto rápido en la profundidad del Moho puede ser causado por un cabalgamiento que penetra la corteza inferior, desplazando la base de la misma (“deeprooted thick skinned model”). La distribución del volcanismo Neógeno y Cuaternario a lo largo de y al norte de la alineación del Alto Atlas pueden estar relacionados con el comienzo de una subducción continental parcial de la placa Africana occidental hacia el norte, bajo la microplaca marroquí. La expresión en superficie de este cabalgamiento, la zona de falla sud-atlásica, refleja la influencia de una sutura continental heredada de orogenias anteriores (panafricana, hercínica y rifting Jurásico). Por tanto, proponemos que este frente heredado representa el límite meridional de la zona de colisión mediterránea y el margen noroccidental de la porción estable de la placa africana

Effets de scenarios de changements climatiques sur la cacaoculture en Cote d’Ivoire

L’influence des scenarios de changements climatiques a été analysée pour les régions Centre et Sud de production cacaoyère en Côte d’Ivoire. A partir des modèles RCP 4.5 et 8.5 de concentration des Gaz à Effets de Serre (GES), les paramètres température et pluviométrie ont été projetés sur les horizons 2021-2050 et 2041-2070 en comparaison à la période de référence 1980-2010. Les résultats ont montré qu’en dehors du nombre élevé de jours chauds qui pourrait provoquer la disparition de la cacaoculture dans les zones marginales de la région Centre, les indices climatiques se situent dans des conditions normales de production du cacaoyer dans les deux régions. Les risques liés aux maladies et ravageurs pourraient être similaires ou potentiellement réduits. En région Sud, les variations climatiques n’auraient aucun impact sur la cacaoculture. Comme stratégies de résilience, les programmes de sélection variétale devront mettre à la disposition des producteurs un matériel végétal tolérant à la sécheresse et aux maladies accompagnée de formations sur les bonnes pratiques agricoles dont l’agroforesterie. Toutefois, l’accès des producteurs à l’information météorologique devra être renforcé.  English title: Climate change effects in cocoa cultivation Abstract The influence of climate change scenarios was analyzed for the Center and South regions of cocoa farming in Côte d’Ivoire. From greenhouse gas (GHG) concentration models RCP 4.5 and 8.5, the parameters of temperature and rainfall were projected over the time in years 2021-2050 and 2041- 2070 compared to year 1980-2010 as reference period. The results showed that apart from the high number of hot days which could cause the disappearance of cocoa farming in marginal areas of the Center region, the climatic indices are normal within cocoa production conditions in both regions. Risks on cocoa pests and disease could be similar or potentially reduced. In the South region, climatic variations would have no impact on cocoa farming. As resilience adaptation strategies, tolerant germplasm to drought and pest and disease should be provided to farmers by cocoa research program with training package on good agricultural practices (GAP) including agroforestry. Therefore, theaccess to meteorological information has to be strengthened for smallholders cocoa farmers. Key words: Climate change scenarios, impact, cocoa farming, Côte d’Ivoire

On Hilberg's Law and Its Links with Guiraud's Law

Hilberg (1990) supposed that finite-order excess entropy of a random human text is proportional to the square root of the text length. Assuming that Hilberg's hypothesis is true, we derive Guiraud's law, which states that the number of word types in a text is greater than proportional to the square root of the text length. Our derivation is based on some mathematical conjecture in coding theory and on several experiments suggesting that words can be defined approximately as the nonterminals of the shortest context-free grammar for the text. Such operational definition of words can be applied even to texts deprived of spaces, which do not allow for Mandelbrot's ``intermittent silence'' explanation of Zipf's and Guiraud's laws. In contrast to Mandelbrot's, our model assumes some probabilistic long-memory effects in human narration and might be capable of explaining Menzerath's law.Comment: To appear in Journal of Quantitative Linguistic

Atypical audiovisual speech integration in infants at risk for autism

The language difficulties often seen in individuals with autism might stem from an inability to integrate audiovisual information, a skill important for language development. We investigated whether 9-month-old siblings of older children with autism, who are at an increased risk of developing autism, are able to integrate audiovisual speech cues. We used an eye-tracker to record where infants looked when shown a screen displaying two faces of the same model, where one face is articulating/ba/and the other/ga/, with one face congruent with the syllable sound being presented simultaneously, the other face incongruent. This method was successful in showing that infants at low risk can integrate audiovisual speech: they looked for the same amount of time at the mouths in both the fusible visual/ga/− audio/ba/and the congruent visual/ba/− audio/ba/displays, indicating that the auditory and visual streams fuse into a McGurk-type of syllabic percept in the incongruent condition. It also showed that low-risk infants could perceive a mismatch between auditory and visual cues: they looked longer at the mouth in the mismatched, non-fusible visual/ba/− audio/ga/display compared with the congruent visual/ga/− audio/ga/display, demonstrating that they perceive an uncommon, and therefore interesting, speech-like percept when looking at the incongruent mouth (repeated ANOVA: displays x fusion/mismatch conditions interaction: F(1,16) = 17.153, p = 0.001). The looking behaviour of high-risk infants did not differ according to the type of display, suggesting difficulties in matching auditory and visual information (repeated ANOVA, displays x conditions interaction: F(1,25) = 0.09, p = 0.767), in contrast to low-risk infants (repeated ANOVA: displays x conditions x low/high-risk groups interaction: F(1,41) = 4.466, p = 0.041). In some cases this reduced ability might lead to the poor communication skills characteristic of autism

Development of a spectrometer for airborne measurement of droplet sizes in clouds

The objective of this article is to present the development and the validation in flight of an airborne probe that can measure in clouds the size of droplets whose diameters are in the range [20 µm; 200 µm]

Bringing sensation to prosthetic hands—chronic assessment of implanted thin-film electrodes in humans

Direct stimulation of peripheral nerves with implantable electrodes successfully provided sensory feedback to amputees while using hand prostheses. Longevity of the electrodes is key to success, which we have improved for the polyimide-based transverse intrafascicular multichannel electrode (TIME). The TIMEs were implanted in the median and ulnar nerves of three trans-radial amputees for up to six months. We present a comprehensive assessment of the electrical properties of the thin-film metallization as well as material status post explantationem. The TIMEs stayed within the electrochemical safe limits while enabling consistent and precise amplitude modulation. This lead to a reliable performance in terms of eliciting sensation. No signs of corrosion or morphological change to the thin-film metallization of the probes was observed by means of electrochemical and optical analysis. The presented longevity demonstrates that thin-film electrodes are applicable in permanent implant systems

Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to assess cognitive function in infants in rural Africa

Cortical mapping of cognitive function during infancy is poorly understood in low-income countries due to the lack of transportable neuroimaging methods. We have successfully piloted functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as a neuroimaging tool in rural Gambia. Four-to-eight month old infants watched videos of Gambian adults perform social movements, while haemodynamic responses were recorded using fNIRS. We found distinct regions of the posterior superior temporal and inferior frontal cortex that evidenced either visual-social activation or vocally selective activation (vocal > non-vocal). The patterns of selective cortical activation in Gambian infants replicated those observed within similar aged infants in the UK. These are the first reported data on the measurement of localized functional brain activity in young infants in Africa and demonstrate the potential that fNIRS offers for field-based neuroimaging research of cognitive function in resource-poor rural communities