Disruption of information processing in schizophrenia: The time perspective

AbstractWe review studies suggesting time disorders on both automatic and subjective levels in patients with schizophrenia. Patients have difficulty explicitly discriminating between simultaneous and asynchronous events, and ordering events in time. We discuss the relationship between these difficulties and impairments on a more elementary level. We showed that for undetectable stimulus onset asynchronies below 20ms, neither patients nor controls merge events in time, as previously believed. On the contrary, subjects implicitly distinguish between events even when evaluating them to be simultaneous. Furthermore, controls privilege the last stimulus, whereas patients seem to stay stuck on the first stimulus when asynchronies are sub-threshold. Combining previous results shows this to be true for patients even for asynchronies as short as 8ms. Moreover, this peculiarity predicts difficulties with detecting asynchronies longer than 50ms, suggesting an impact on the conscious ability to time events. Difficulties on the subjective level are also correlated with clinical disorganization. The results are interpreted within the framework of predictive coding which can account for an implicit ability to update events. These results complement a range of other results, by suggesting a difficulty with binding information in time as well as space, and by showing that information processing lacks continuity and stability in patients. The time perspective may help bridge the gap between cognitive impairments and clinical symptoms, by showing how the innermost structure of thought and experience is disrupted

Molecular and phenotypic profiling from base to the crown in maritime pine wood-forming tissue

Research• Environmental, developmental and genetic factors affect variation in wood properties at the chemical, anatomical and physical levels. Here, the phenotypic variation observed along the tree stem was explored and the hypothesis tested that this variation could be the result of the differential expression of genes/proteins during wood formation. • Differentiating xylem samples of maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) were collected from the top (crown wood, CW) to the bottom (base wood, BW) of adult trees. These samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and analytical pyrolysis. Two main groups of samples, corresponding to CW and BW, could be distinguished from cell wall chemical composition. • A genomic approach, combining large-scale production of expressed sequence tags (ESTs), gene expression profiling and quantitative proteomics analysis, allowed identification of 262 unigenes (out of 3512) and 231 proteins (out of 1372 spots) that were differentially expressed along the stem. • A good relationship was found between functional categories from transcriptomic and proteomic data. A good fit between the molecular mechanisms involved in CW–BW formation and these two types of wood phenotypic differences was also observed. This work provides a list of candidate genes for wood properties that will be tested in forward genetic

Protein Extraction from Woody Plants

In this chapter we present a protocol for total protein extraction optimized for woodforming tissue (differentiating secondary xylem). The protocol is then used for a series of other organs (root, leaf, pollen, bud, flower, cambium, and phloem) in broadleaf (oak and poplar) and conifer (pine) species. Proteins are first extracted from tissue powdered in liquid nitrogen using the TCA-acetone method and then solubilized in an optimized buffer. The resulting 2D gels can be viewed at http://cbi.labri.fr/outils/protic/index.php

Etude des optiques diffractives en imagerie infrarouge

Dans cette thèse, nous avons étudié une famille d éléments diffractifs innovants, composés de structures binaire sub-longueur d onde, c est-à-dire de taille légèrement inférieure à la longueur d onde et qui permettent d avoir une bonne efficacité de diffraction sur une large bande spectrale, ce qui est très utile en imagerie. Afin d étudier l efficacité des composants diffractifs utilisés en imagerie, nous avons développé un outil de modélisation, dit hybride car il combine une analyse scalaire des grandes zones de Fresnel composant l élément diffractif, à un traitement vectoriel des microstructures qui les consistent. L outil permet de prédire et d optimiser le comportement d une structure diffractive conçue pour l imagerie et composée de tous types de géométrie locale. Nous avons conçu et fabriqué un réseau blazé sub-longueur d onde gravé dans un substrat d Arséniure de Gallium. Le modèle hybride a permis d établir une structure diffractive parfaite lors de l étape de conception, mais aussi grâce à sa souplesse d utilisation, d introduire les effets de la fabrication dans le calcul de l efficacité de diffraction. Pour évaluer les performances du composant fabriqué, nous avons mesuré son efficacité de diffraction transmise autour de l ordre de blaze pour une incidence oblique à 10,6 m et en incidence normale sur la bande spectral 2-17 m. Cette étude expérimentale montre que la fabrication de tels composants aux propriétés uniques, est compatible avec des moyens technologiques bas-coût issus de l industrie des semi-conducteurs, tels que la lithographie optique et la gravure ICP.This work deals with a new familiy of diffractive optical elements composed of one-leved binary sub-wavelength structures, i.e with local features that are slightly smaller than the wavelength, providing high efficiency over a large spectral band, which is very useful in imagery. In order to demonstrate the broadband behaviour of these components for use in imaging systems, we have developed a new model called hybrid model addressing components, to design and analyse them. It combines a scalar analysis of the large Fresnel zones (which are useful in imaging applications) with a vectorial treatment of the small features. The model is available for any type of diffractive structures with slowly varying phase. A blazed sub-wavelength grating etched in a Gallium Arsenide substrate has been designed and fabricated by photolithography and ICP etching. In order to evaluate the grating performances, we measured its diffraction efficiency transmitted around the blaze order for an oblique incidence at a wavelength of 10,6 m. It has also been measured in normal incidence for wavelengths between 2 and 17 m.. The hybrid model was used to conceive an ideal diffractive structure at first, and then to take fabrication effects into account. We validated a fabrication process and showed the quality of a two dimensional sub-wavelengh grating which period is large compared to the wavelength thanks to its diffraction efficiency higher than 80% from 8 m to 14 m. This experimental study shows that the fabrication of components with very interesting propeties is compatible with low-cost processes currently used in the semiconductors industry.ORSAY-PARIS 11-BU Sciences (914712101) / SudocSudocFranceF

Entendez-vous l’éco - France Culture

Emission de radi

Using the Simon Effect in Simultaneity/Asynchrony Discrimination Tasks: Interest, Methods, and Limits

International audienc

L'économie des villes (4/4) : La guerre des métropoles: Entendez-vous l’éco - France Culture

Emission de radi

Heat induced changes in protein expression profiles of Norway spruce (Picea abies) ecotypes from different elevations

Although tree species typically exhibit low genetic differentiation between populations, ecotypes adapted to different environmental conditions can vary in their capacity to withstand and recover from environmental stresses like heat stress. Two month old seedlings of a Picea abies ecotype adapted to high elevation showed lower level of thermotolerance and higher level of tolerance to oxidative stress relative to a low elevation ecotype. Protein expression patterns following exposure to severe heat stress of the two ecotypes were compared by means of 2-DE. Several proteins exhibiting ecotype and tissue specific expression were identified by MS/MS. Among them, small heat shock proteins of the HSP 20 family and proteins involved in protection from oxidative stress displayed qualitative and quantitative differences in expression between the ecotypes correlated with the observed phenotypic differences. On the basis of these results, it can be speculated that the observed interpopulation polymorphism of protein regulation in response to heat stress could underlie their different capacities to withstand and recover from heat stress. These local adaptations are potentially relevant for the species adaptation to the conditions predicted by the current models for climate change

Annotation of oak leaf metabolome for genetic and ecological studies

International audienc