Touchscreen-based cognitive tasks reveal age-related impairment in a primate aging model, the grey mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus)

Mouse lemurs are suggested to represent promising novel non-human primate models for aging research. However, standardized and cross-taxa cognitive testing methods are still lacking. Touchscreen-based testing procedures have proven high stimulus control and reliability in humans and rodents. The aim of this study was to adapt these procedures to mouse lemurs, thereby exploring the effect of age. We measured appetitive learning and cognitive flexibility of two age groups by applying pairwise visual discrimination (PD) and reversal learning (PDR) tasks. On average, mouse lemurs needed 24 days of training before starting with the PD task. Individual performances in PD and PDR tasks correlate significantly, suggesting that individual learning performance is unrelated to the respective task. Compared to the young, aged mouse lemurs showed impairments in both PD and PDR tasks. They needed significantly more trials to reach the task criteria. A much higher inter-individual variation in old than in young adults was revealed. Furthermore, in the PDR task, we found a significantly higher perseverance in aged compared to young adults, indicating an age-related deficit in cognitive flexibility. This study presents the first touchscreen-based data on the cognitive skills and age-related dysfunction in mouse lemurs and provides a unique basis to study mechanisms of inter-individual variation. It furthermore opens exciting perspectives for comparative approaches in aging, personality, and evolutionary research

Maritime Flows

http://www.espon.eu/export/sites/default/Documents/Projects/AppliedResearch/TIGER/DFR/TIGER_DFR_wp15_maritimeflows.pdfThe main objective of the report is to underline the position of Europe and its hub/gateway ports in worldwide air and maritime flows. Three levels of analysis are considered: global, regional, and local, as well as relations between those scales. The global level focuses on the weight and position of Europe in global port traffic and maritime connections over time, notably looking at their changing geographic distribution and identifying which dominant port gateways have ensured Europe's maritime relations with the rest of the world. On a world level, the position of Europe will be analysed on various degrees of aggregation: as one single entity, as groups of port gateways (maritime ranges), and as individual cities (multiple or single terminals). The regional level looks at how such traffic and connections are distributed within the European territory, taking into account the previous level (world) while proposing a multi-scalar view on port gateways. We also wish understanding the mutual influence between global level and regional level since port gateways are embedded within local, regional, national, and trans-national economies and spatial systems. The local level will focus on one gateway-corridor through a case study highlighting concrete issues of regional planning and socio-economic development in relation with port and transport activities

<i>MaqFACS</i> (Macaque Facial Action Coding System) can be used to document facial movements in Barbary macaques (<i>Macaca sylvanus</i>)

Human and non-human primates exhibit facial movements or displays to communicate with one another. The evolution of form and function of those displays could be better understood through multispecies comparisons. Anatomically based coding systems (Facial Action Coding Systems: FACS) are developed to enable such comparisons because they are standardized and systematic and aid identification of homologous expressions underpinned by similar muscle contractions. To date, FACS has been developed for humans, and subsequently modified for chimpanzees, rhesus macaques, orangutans, hylobatids, dogs, and cats. Here, we wanted to test whether the MaqFACS system developed in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) could be used to code facial movements in Barbary macaques (M. sylvanus), a species phylogenetically close to the rhesus macaques. The findings show that the facial movement capacity of Barbary macaques can be reliably coded using the MaqFACS. We found differences in use and form of some movements, most likely due to specializations in the communicative repertoire of each species, rather than morphological differences

Predicting glucocorticoid resistance in multiple sclerosis relapse via a whole blood transcriptomic analysis.

AIMS Treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) relapses consists of short-term administration of high-dose glucocorticoids (GCs). However, over 40% of patients show an insufficient response to GC treatment. We aimed to develop a predictive model for such GC resistance. METHODS We performed a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis following the transcriptomic assay of whole blood samples from stable, relapsing GC-sensitive and relapsing GC-resistant patients with MS in two different European centers. RESULTS We identified 12 genes being regulated during a relapse and differentially expressed between GC-sensitive and GC-resistant patients with MS. Using these genes, we defined a statistical model to predict GC resistance with an area under the curve (AUC) of the ROC analysis of 0.913. Furthermore, we observed that relapsing GC-resistant patients with MS have decreased GR, DUSP1, and TSC22D3 mRNA levels compared with relapsing GC-sensitive patients with MS. Finally, we showed that the transcriptome of relapsing GC-resistant patients with MS resembles those of stable patients with MS. CONCLUSION Predicting GC resistance would allow patients to benefit from prompt initiation of an alternative relapse treatment leading to increased treatment efficacy. Thus, we think our model could contribute to reducing disability development in people with MS

Recours spontané aux urgences

Objectif : Analyser les caractéristiques sociodémographiques et les déterminants du recours spontané aux urgences des patients et évaluer leurs ressentis d'urgence et de gravité en les comparant à l'avis du médecin. Matériels et Méthodes : Etude prospective réalisée aux urgences du CH de Saumur et du CHU d'Angers, basée sur la distribution d un questionnaire à tout patient adulte, se présentant sans avis médical préalable, et aux médecins les prenant en charge. Le recueil s est fait 24h sur 24, sur une semaine en juillet 2011 et en janvier 2012. Résultats : 22.9% des admissions ont été incluses. Cette population était souvent jeune, active, masculine, consultant pour de la traumatologie apparue dans les 24 dernières heures. 56.5% venaient pendant les horaires de gardes. 10.5% des patients inclus ont tenté de joindre leur médecin traitant, dont 56.9% se présentant aux urgences car ce dernier était injoignable. 57.3% des patients n ayant pas tenté de joindre leur médecin, se sont présentés aux urgences afin de soulager un symptôme. En proportion, il y avait plus d'inclus à Saumur qu'à Angers (27,2% vs 20,8%), ils étaient plus nombreux à évoquer la facilité de l'accès aux soins à Saumur et en été. Les sentiments d urgence et/ou de gravité sont cités par 62,1 % de la population incluse. Ce ressenti est globalement discordant avec l évaluation du médecin. Conclusion : L'évaluation de l'urgence ou de la gravité d'un problème médical est subjective tant pour le médecin que pour le patient. Souvent par méconnaissance de l'organisation de la permanence des soins, le recours spontané aux urgences est motivé par une plus grande facilité d'accès aux soins.Objective: Analyze the patients sociodemographic characteristics and their determinants of the emergency service spontaneous recourse and assess their feelings of urgency and severity, comparing them with the doctor s opinion. Materials and Methods: Prospective study carried on the emergency service of the Saumur Hospital Center and Angers University Hospital, based on the distribution of a questionnaire to any adult patient, going to the emergency service without preliminary medical advice, and to supporting doctors. The collection has been made 24 hours a day, over two weeks, one in July 2011 and another in January 2012. Results: 22.9% of the patients admitted were included. Most of them were young, active, male, consulting for a traumatology appeared in the last 24 hours. 56.5% came during the guard hours. 10.5% of the patients included tried to join their regular doctor, whose 56.9% went to the emergencies because their doctor was unreachable. 57.3% of the patients who did not join their regular doctor, came to the emergencies to relieve a symptom. Proportionally, there were more patients included in Saumur than in Angers (27.2% vs 20.8%), they were more to mention the easiness access to care in Saumur in during the summer. Feelings of urgency and / or gravity are mentioned by 62.1% of the population included. This feeling is generally discordant with the doctor s evaluation. Conclusion: The evaluation of the emergency or the severity of medical problem is subjective as for the doctor and for the patient. Often, because of the lack of knowledge of the care presence organisation, the emergency service spontaneous recourse is motivated by a better care access.ANGERS-BU Médecine-Pharmacie (490072105) / SudocSudocFranceF

Posture Does Not Matter! Paw Usage and Grasping Paw Preference in a Small-Bodied Rooting Quadrupedal Mammal

BACKGROUND: Recent results in birds, marsupials, rodents and nonhuman primates suggest that phylogeny and ecological factors such as body size, diet and postural habit of a species influence limb usage and the direction and strength of limb laterality. To examine to which extent these findings can be generalised to small-bodied rooting quadrupedal mammals, we studied trees shrews (Tupaia belangeri). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We established a behavioural test battery for examining paw usage comparable to small-bodied primates and tested 36 Tupaia belangeri. We studied paw usage in a natural foraging situation (simple food grasping task) and measured the influence of varying postural demands (triped, biped, cling, sit) on paw preferences by applying a forced-food grasping task similar to other small-bodied primates. Our findings suggest that rooting tree shrews prefer mouth over paw usage to catch food in a natural foraging situation. Moreover, we demonstrated that despite differences in postural demand, tree shrews show a strong and consistent individual paw preference for grasping across different tasks, but no paw preference at a population level. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Tree shrews showed less paw usage than small-bodied quadrupedal and arboreal primates, but the same paw preference. Our results confirm that individual paw preferences remain constant irrespective of postural demand in some small-bodied quadrupedal non primate and primate mammals which do not require fine motoric control for manipulating food items. Our findings suggest that the lack of paw/hand preference for grasping food at a population level is a universal pattern among those species and that the influence of postural demand on manual lateralisation in quadrupeds may have evolved in large-bodied species specialised in fine manipulations of food items

The Evolution of Primate Short-Term Memory.

Short-term memory is implicated in a range of cognitive abilities and is critical for understanding primate cognitive evolution. To investigate the effects of phylogeny, ecology and sociality on short-term memory, we tested the largest and most diverse primate sample to date (421 non-human primates across 41 species) in an experimental delayed-response task. Our results confirm previous findings that longer delays decrease memory performance across species and taxa. Our analyses demonstrate a considerable contribution of phylogeny over ecological and social factors on the distribution of short-term memory performance in primates; closely related species had more similar short-term memory abilities. Overall, individuals in the branch of Hominoidea performed better compared to Cercopithecoidea, who in turn performed above Platyrrhini and Strepsirrhini. Interdependencies between phylogeny and socioecology of a given species presented an obstacle to disentangling the effects of each of these factors on the evolution of short-term memory capacity. However, this study offers an important step forward in understanding the interspecies and individual variation in short-term memory ability by providing the first phylogenetic reconstruction of this trait’s evolutionary history. The dataset constitutes a unique resource for studying the evolution of primate cognition and the role of short-term memory in other cognitive abilities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio