L’implication du réseau fronto-pariétal dans le raisonnement est-elle atypique chez les autistes?

Les individus autistes présentent un profil cognitif particulier. Par exemple, contrairement aux non-autistes, ils tendent à obtenir des scores plus élevés au test des Matrices progressives de Raven (RSPM) qu’aux tests de QI de Wechsler. Ils peuvent aussi résoudre les items du RSPM plus rapidement. Les mécanismes cérébraux sous-tendant cette différence sont toutefois encore peu connus. Cette étude vise à caractériser comment l’activité du réseau fronto-pariétal de raisonnement est modulée par la complexité de la tâche chez les individus autistes (AUT) en comparaison à un groupe contrôle (Non-AUT) lors d’une tâche de raisonnement fluide. Pour ce faire, nous avons ré-analysé les données d’une étude précédente, dans laquelle 15 AUT et 18 Non-AUT ont résolu les 60 problèmes du RSPM alors qu’ils se trouvaient dans un scanner IRM. Lorsque la complexité du raisonnement augmentait, nous avons observé une augmentation de l’activité dans des aires occipitales chez le groupe AUT, et dans les régions frontales et pariétales chez le groupe Non-AUT. De plus, alors que la complexité du raisonnement augmentait, la modulation de la connectivité entre les régions impliquées dans le raisonnement était moins grande chez les AUT et ces derniers montraient une implication plus ciblée des aires occipitales lors de cette modulation que les Non-AUT. La moins grande modulation du réseau impliqué dans le raisonnement pour une performance semblable suggère que les individus autistes sont moins affectés par la complexité des tâches de raisonnement non verbal. Aussi, ils dépendent plus de processus visuospatiaux pour résoudre les matrices plus complexes que les participants non-autistes. Ces résultats nous apportent une meilleure compréhension des processus cognitifs impliqués dans l’intelligence autistique et de l’influence positive du sur-fonctionnement perceptif autistique sur celle-ci.Having a distinct cognitive profile, autistic individuals, as opposed to non-autistics, tend to obtain higher scores at the Raven’s Progressive Matrices test (RSPM), than at the Wechsler IQ tests and to resolve the items of the RSPM more quickly. Though, the cerebral processes underlying these differences are not well known. Re-analyzing data previously published (Soulières et al., 2009), this study aims to characterize the modulation of the reasoning network by task complexity in the fronto-parietal reasoning network in autistic individuals (AUT) in comparison to a control group (Non-AUT) during a fluid reasoning task. 15 AUT and 18 Non-AUT resolved the 60 RSPM problems while lying in an MRI. As reasoning complexity was increasing, an increase in the activity in the occipital areas in the AUT group, and in frontal and parietal areas for the Non-AUT group were observed. Moreover, as task complexity was increasing, the modulation of the connectivity between areas involved in reasoning was lower in AUT, and they showed a more narrowly focused implication of occipital areas in this modulation as opposed to Non-AUT. These results suggest that autistic individuals are less affected by task complexity, given a lower modulation of the reasoning network that they exhibit for a similar accuracy, and rely more on visuospatial processes to solve complex matrices. These results give us a better understanding of the cognitive processes engaged in autistic intelligence and on the positive influence that the autistic enhanced perceptual functioning has on it

Exclusions légales et sociales des travailleurs agricoles saisonniers véhiculés quotidiennement au Québec

Cet article traite des exclusions légales et sociales qui affectent la main-d’œuvre agricole saisonnière véhiculée quotidiennement au Québec, dont la grande majorité sont des immigrants résidant à Montréal. Une recherche sociale sur le terrain a révélé, sur certaines fermes, un haut roulement de main-d’œuvre et des conditions de travail en deçà du seuil légalement et humainement admissible : non-respect des personnes, du temps de travail, des normes de santé et sécurité, discrimination. À partir des résultats de cette étude, de recherches sur les modifications de l'agriculture québécoise au XXe siècle ainsi que de l'analyse de contenu de mémoires de l'Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA), les auteures mettent en lumière le rôle de l'UPA dans les exclusions légales successives des salariés agricoles et remettent en question son discours sur la pénurie de main-d’œuvre, contredite par la recherche.This article examines the situation of seasonal farm workers in Quebec, the majority of whom are immigrants living in Montreal. These workers are employed on a casual and on-call basis and are transported to their work on a dally basis. Drawing on the results of a recent fieldwork study, on historical studies of the changes in Quebec agriculture in the 20th century and on a content analysis of several briefs by the Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA - the Quebec Farmers' Union), the authors attempt to determine the legal and social exclusions affecting this particular labour force.The paper first describes how, during the last twenty years, the expansion of the agricultural sector in the context of a decrease in the number of family workers and increase in hired farm help, has affected the profile of agricultural manpower in Quebec. In certain sectors requiring training (e.g., dairy, pork), hired labour has remained infrequent, whereas in the horticultural sector, which hires unskilled workers for harvesting, there has been a large increase in the number of hired workers. These changes explain why agricultural producers in the horticultural sector now hire immigrant farm workers who are residents of Montreal. The study indicates that seasonal agricultural workers transported on a dally basis make up a significant part of the hired farm labour force in Quebec and that these workers are employed on farms that employ tens, and even hundreds of workers during harvest time.The results of the fieldwork study are then presented, with a focus on the contrast between the principal labour standards and occupational health and safety legislation that applies to farm workers, and the actual working conditions revealed in the study. The research revealed high labour turnover and particularly difficult working conditions, although these vary greatly between farms. These include low wages, fallure to observe regulations concerning working time, unhealthy conditions, little concern for worker safety, humiliating attitudes and language, and discrimination. The study thus reveals that labour shortage problems, which have been decried by the UPA, in fact conceal poor working conditions. Finally, the authors challenge the UPA's backward-looking discourse, which has not changed despite the socio-economic transformations discussed in the article. The UPA bases its arguments on two interrelated postulates: (1) that agriculture is a specialsector due to its distinctive nature as compared with other economic sectors; and (2) that the model of relations is familial,since it is based on the producer's family. The organization has relied on these arguments to demand, and in large part to obtain, the exclusion of agricultural workers from the scope of the Act respecting Labour Standards,claiming that farmers already respect the Act's provisions. The Commission des droits de la personne(Quebec Human Rights Commission), which opposed the exclusion during consultations on the draft legislation (in 1979, and again in 1990 when the law was amended), has maintained that such an exclusion results in adverse-effect discrimination based on social condition and ethnie origin. However, the legislative provision excluding agricultural workers has not yet given rise to a legal challenge based on the Quebec Charter of Rights and Human Freedoms. In the authors' view, the legal route holds out little promise for improving the employaient situation of these workers, given the precarious nature of this poor and vulnerable labour force, which is generally made up of recent immigrants. However, the authors propose some other possible solutions: first of all, amendments to both federal and Quebec labour law, which traditionally exclude agricultural workers; and secondly, changes of a political nature that would allow these workers to join together and to create an independent monitoring organization. These steps are a necessary precondition to achieving the more profound change that is needed at the humanitarian level to put a stop to the attacks on the human dignity of these seasonal agricultural workers who are transported to their work on a dally basis.Este articulo trata de las exclusiones légales y sociales que afectan a la mano de obra de temporada vehiculada diariamente en Québec, de los que la gran mayoria son inmigrantes résidentes de Montréal. Un estudio social en el terreno revelo, en ciertos campos, un alto nivel de circulaciòn de la mano de obra y de las condiciones de trabajo que se encuentran por debajo de los nivelés legalmente y humanitariamente admisibles : falta de respeto por las personas, por el tiempo de trabajo asignado, por las normas de la salud y la seguridad en el trabajo y por la discriminaciòn. A partir de los resultados de este estudio, un anàlisis sobre las modificaciones de la agricultura en Québec en el siglo 20 y sobre el contenido de los anàlisis realizados por la Union de Productores Agricolas (UPA), demuestra el papel de la UPA en las exclusiones légales sucesivas de los salarios agricolas y pone en duda el discurso de la UPA sobre la falta de mano de obra en la industria, claramente contradicho por el estudio realizado

The ribosomal protein RACK1 is required for microRNA function in both C. elegans and humans

Despite the importance of microRNAs (miRNAs) in gene regulation, it is unclear how the miRNA-Argonaute complex-or miRNA-induced silencing complex (miRISC)-can regulate the translation of their targets in such diverse ways. We demonstrate here a direct interaction between the miRISC and the ribosome by showing that a constituent of the eukaryotic 40S subunit, receptor for activated C-kinase (RACK1), is important for miRNA-mediated gene regulation in animals. In vivo studies demonstrate that RACK1 interacts with components of the miRISC in nematodes and mammals. In both systems, the alteration of RACK1 expression alters miRNA function and impairs the association of the miRNA complex with the translating ribosomes. Our data indicate that RACK1 can contribute to the recruitment of miRISC to the site of translation, and support a post-initiation mode of miRNA-mediated gene repression. © 2011 European Molecular Biology Organization

Dutch parallel corpus: a balanced parallel corpus for Dutch-English and Dutch-French

status: publishe

The neglect of equity and inclusion in open science policies of Europe and the Americas

National, international, and organizational Open Science (OS) policies are being formulated to improve and accelerate research through increased transparency, collaboration, and better access to scientific knowledge. Yet, there is mounting concern that OS policies—which are predicated on narrow understandings of openness, accessibility, and objectivity—do not effectively capture the ethos of OS and particularly its goal of making science more collaborative, inclusive, and socially engaged. This study explores how OS is conceptualized in emerging OS policies and to what extent notions of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and public participation are reflected in policy guidelines and recommendations. We use a qualitative document research approach to critically analyze 52 OS policy documents published between January 2020 and December 2022 in Europe and the Americas. Our results show that OS policies overwhelmingly focus on making research outputs publicly accessible, neglecting to advance the two aspects of OS that hold the key to achieving an inclusive and inclusive scientific culture—namely, EDI and public participation. While these concepts are often mentioned and even embraced in OS policy documents, concrete guidance on how they can be promoted in practice is overwhelmingly lacking. Rather than advancing the openness of scientific findings first and promoting EDI and public participation efforts second, we argue that incentives and guidelines must be provided and implemented concurrently to advance the OS movement's stated goal of making science open to all

SNP discovery and molecular evolution in Anopheles gambiae, with special emphasis on innate immune system

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Anopheles </it>innate immunity affects <it>Plasmodium </it>development and is a potential target of innovative malaria control strategies. The extent and distribution of nucleotide diversity in immunity genes might provide insights into the evolutionary forces that condition pathogen-vector interactions. The discovery of polymorphisms is an essential step towards association studies of susceptibility to infection.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We sequenced coding fragments of 72 immune related genes in natural populations of <it>Anopheles gambiae </it>and of 37 randomly chosen genes to provide a background measure of genetic diversity across the genome. Mean nucleotide diversity (π) was 0.0092 in the <it>A. gambiae </it>S form, 0.0076 in the M form and 0.0064 in <it>A. arabiensis</it>. Within each species, no statistically significant differences in mean nucleotide diversity were detected between immune related and non immune related genes. Strong purifying selection was detected in genes of both categories, presumably reflecting strong functional constraints.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggest similar patterns and rates of molecular evolution in immune and non-immune genes in <it>A. gambiae</it>. The 3,214 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) that we identified are the first large set of <it>Anopheles </it>SNPs from fresh, field-collected material and are relevant markers for future phenotype-association studies.</p