Hippocampal sclerosis affects fMR-adaptation of lyrics and melodies in songs

Songs constitute a natural combination of lyrics and melodies, but it is unclear whether and how these two song components are integrated during the emergence of a memory trace. Network theories of memory suggest a prominent role of the hippocampus, together with unimodal sensory areas, in the build-up of conjunctive representations. The present study tested the modulatory influence of the hippocampus on neural adaptation to songs in lateral temporal areas. Patients with unilateral hippocampal sclerosis and healthy matched controls were presented with blocks of short songs in which lyrics and/or melodies were varied or repeated in a crossed factorial design. Neural adaptation effects were taken as correlates of incidental emergent memory traces. We hypothesized that hippocampal lesions, particularly in the left hemisphere, would weaken adaptation effects, especially the integration of lyrics and melodies. Results revealed that lateral temporal lobe regions showed weaker adaptation to repeated lyrics as well as a reduced interaction of the adaptation effects for lyrics and melodies in patients with left hippocampal sclerosis. This suggests a deficient build-up of a sensory memory trace for lyrics and a reduced integration of lyrics with melodies, compared to healthy controls. Patients with right hippocampal sclerosis showed a similar profile of results although the effects did not reach significance in this population. We highlight the finding that the integrated representation of lyrics and melodies typically shown in healthy participants is likely tied to the integrity of the left medial temporal lobe. This novel finding provides the first neuroimaging evidence for the role of the hippocampus during repetitive exposure to lyrics and melodies and their integration into a song

Genetic variations in genes involved in heparan sulphate biosynthesis are associated with Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia: a familial study in Burkina Faso

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is accumulating evidence that host heparan sulphate proteoglycans play an important role in the life cycle of <it>Plasmodium </it>through their heparan sulphate chains, suggesting that genetic variations in genes involved in heparan sulphate biosynthesis may influence parasitaemia. Interestingly, <it>Hs3st3a1 </it>and <it>Hs3st3b1 </it>encoding enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of heparan sulphate are located within a chromosomal region linked to <it>Plasmodium chabaudi </it>parasitaemia in mice. This suggests that <it>HS3ST3A1 </it>and <it>HS3ST3B1 </it>may influence <it>P. falciparum </it>parasitaemia in humans.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Polymorphisms within <it>HS3ST3A1 </it>and <it>HS3ST3B1 </it>were identified in 270 individuals belonging to 44 pedigrees and living in Burkina Faso. Linkage and association between parasitaemia and the polymorphisms were assessed with MERLIN and FBAT. A genetic interaction analysis was also conducted based on the PGMDR approach.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Linkage between <it>P. falciparum </it>parasitaemia and the chromosomal region containing <it>HS3ST3A1 </it>and <it>HS3ST3B1 </it>was detected on the basis of the 20 SNPs identified. In addition, rs28470223 located within the promoter of HS3ST3A1 was associated with <it>P. falciparum </it>parasitaemia, whereas the PGMDR analysis revealed a genetic interaction between <it>HS3ST3A1 </it>and <it>HS3ST3B1</it>. Seventy-three significant multi-locus models were identified after correcting for multiple tests; 37 significant multi-locus models included rs28470223, whereas 38 multi-locus models contained at least one mis-sense mutation within HS3ST3B1.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Genetic variants of <it>HS3ST3A1 </it>and <it>HS3ST3B1 </it>are associated with <it>P. falciparum </it>parasitaemia. This suggests that those variants alter both the function of heparan sulphate proteoglycans and <it>P. falciparum </it>parasitaemia.</p

"In the minds of creative persons": social representations of producers of humanitarian and charitable communication

Charity communication campaigns, essential for humanitarian and charitable organizations to raise funds, use persuasive messages to get the general public to support them financially. However, in spite of the fundamental stakes of these campaigns, in the literature no research has been carried out on the social representations that the producers mobilize when they conceive the messages. Conducted from eighteen campaign producers for charitable and humanitarian organizations, this qualitative survey aims to better understand how persuasive messages are designed. The results show that producers create naive causal theories about the psychological effects caused by different persuasive processes. The fundamentally different social representations between experienced and less experienced producers lead them to conceive openly different messages. They concern reception and influence, the perceived receivers, their motivation, the degree of complexity of the message and the types of affects that the latter must generate. After discussing the scientific validity of social representations in the light of experimental research on persuasive communication, we give some recommendations to producers, indicate the limitations and new research perspectives

Application of two-color LIF thermometry to nucleate boiling

International audienceThe laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) thermometry is applied to measure the temperature field surrounding a single vapor bubble growing at an artificial nucleation site. In order to correct measurement errors due to the non-uniformity of the incident laser intensity, the two-color LIF thermometry technique is used in this nucleate boiling experiment. This technique is based on the use of two fluorescent dyes: the temperature sensitive dye Rhodamine B and the temperature insensitive dye Sulforhodamine-101. The concentration of the dyes is optimized by analyzing the behavior of fluorescence intensities. The mapping between the two images is determined through a geometrical calibration procedure. This technique presents a success in correcting the non uniformities due to the reflection of the light at the bubble surface and to the temperature gradient. The obtained temperature fields show that the two-color LIF is a promising technique in the investigation of nucleate boiling

Tumor Location of the Lower-Inner Quadrant Is Associated with an Impaired Survival for Women With Early-Stage Breast Cancer

Background: There is growing evidence that tumors of the inner quadrants (especially the lower-inner quadrant) metastasize more often to the internal mammary chain (IMC). As these metastases are not investigated, patients with lower-inner quadrant tumors have an increased risk of being under-staged and under-treated and may therefore have a higher risk of death from breast cancer. Methods: We identified all 1522 women operated for stage I breast cancer between 1984 and 2002 recorded at the population-based Geneva Cancer Registry. We compared breast cancer mortality risk by tumor location with multivariate Cox regression analysis that accounted for all factors linked to tumor location and survival. Results: Ten-year disease-specific survival was 93% (95%CI: 91-94%). Patients with breast cancer of the lower-inner quadrant (n=118; 7.8%) had an importantly increased risk of dying of breast cancer compared to women with breast cancer of the upper-outer quadrant (multiadjusted Hazard Ratio: 2.3, 95%CI: 1.1-4.5, P=0.0206). The over-mortality associated with this quadrant was particularly evident for tumors >10 mm (multiadjusted HR: 3.6, 95%CI: 1.6-7.9, P=0.0016). There was no increased breast cancer mortality risk for tumors located in other quadrants. Conclusions: Tumor location in the lower-inner quadrant is an independent and important prognostic factor of stage I breast cancer. Further research is needed to evaluate if the over-mortality of patients with stage I cancer of the lower-inner quadrant is indeed a result of under-treatment due to undetected IMC metastases. If so, patients with stage I breast cancer of the lower-inner quadrant are good candidates for systematic IMC investigatio

Combined anti-ages and antioxidant activities of different solvent extracts of Solanum elaeagnifolium Cav (Solanacea) fruits during ripening and related to their phytochemical compositions

Oxidative stress and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are known as key factors for the development of diabetic complications such as retinopathy, cataract as well as atherosclerosis and neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s diseases. In this context, natural products have been previously identified as promising sources for antioxidant and anti-glycation compounds. The current study focuses on the evaluation of antioxidant and glycation inhibitory activities of different solvent extracts of Solanum elaeagnifolium Cav (Solanaceae) fruits at different ripening stages. The results showed that antioxidant and anti-AGEs activities were significantly influenced by solvents polarities and ripening stages of S. elaeagnifolium Cav. With one exception, methanolic extract of overripe S. elaeagnifolium Cav fruit showed important protective effects against cellular oxidative stress. The aqueous extract showed the highest ABTS+ scavenging ability. Principal component analysis showed that total phenolic and flavonoid contents correlated well with observed antioxidants and anti-glycation activities. These results bring attention to the possible use of S. elaeagnifolium Cav as a valuable source of bioactive compounds exhibiting antioxidant effects and potentially alleviating diabetic complications

Temperature measurement of sub-micrometric ICs by scanning thermal microscopy

Surface temperature measurements were performed with a Scanning Thermal Microscope mounted with a thermoresistive wire probe of micrometrSurface temperature measurements were performed with a Scanning Thermal Microscope mounted with a thermoresistive wire probe of micrometric size. A CMOS device was designed with arrays of resistive lines 0.35µm in width. The array periods are 0.8 µm and 10µm to study the spatial resolution of the SThM. Integrated Circuits with passivation layers of micrometric and nanometric thicknesses were tested. To enhance signal-to-noise ratio, the resistive lines were heated with an AC current. The passivation layer of nanometric thickness allows us to distinguish the lines when the array period is 10μm. The results raise the difficulties of the SThM measurement due to the design and the topography of ICs on one hand and the size of the thermal probe on the other hand.ic size. A CMOS device was designed with arrays of resistive lines 0.35µm in width. The array periods are 0.8 µm and 10µm to study the spatial resolution of the SThM. Integrated Circuits with passivation layers of micrometric and nanometric thicknesses were tested. To enhance signal-to-noise ratio, the resistive lines were heated with an AC current. The passivation layer of nanometric thickness allows us to distinguish the lines when the array period is 10μm. The results raise the difficulties of the SThM measurement due to the design and the topography of ICs on one hand and the size of the thermal probe on the other hand

Kinetic study of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural synthesis from fructose in high pressure CO2–Water two-phase system

In this work, synthesis of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) from lignocellulosic biomass derived hexoses, fructose in our case, was developed in two-phase supercritical CO2–water systems. Conditions of reactions were above 10 MPa and 120 °C, i.e., the two-phase reacting mixture can be regarded as a subcritical water–supercritical CO2 system. From kinetic experiments and their modeling, it was possible to assess the effect of CO2 as a potential reversible acid catalyst. The kinetic model developed in this study considers also the catalytic contribution of acid byproducts, as proton providers, for the reaction of dehydration of fructose into 5-HMF. Selectivity toward 5-HMF was improved with increasing pressure to reach a maximum of 80 mol % after 3 h of reaction at 150 °C and under 25 MPa of CO2, as only 60% was achieved without the use of pressurized CO2

Multistress effects on goldfish (Carassius auratus) behavior and metabolism

Crossed effects between climate change and chemical pollutions were identified on community structure and ecosystem functioning. Temperature rising affects the toxic properties of pollutants and the sensitiveness of organisms to chemicals stress. Inversely, chemical exposure may decrease the capacity of organisms to respond to environmental changes. The aim of our study was to assess the individual and crossed effects of temperature rising and pesticide contamination on fish. Goldfish, Carassius auratus, were exposed during 96 h at two temperatures (22 and 32 °C) to a mixture of common pesticides (S-metolachlor, isoproturon, linuron, atrazine- desethyl, aclonifen, pendimethalin, and tebuconazol) at two environmentally relevant concentrations (total concentrations MIX1=8.4 μg L−1 and MIX2=42 μg L−1). We investigated the sediment reworking behavior, which has a major ecological functional role. We also focused on three physiological traits from the cellular up to the whole individual level showing metabolic status of fish (protein concentration in liver and muscle, hepatosomatic index, and Fulton’s condition factor). Individual thermal stress and low concentrations of pesticides decreased the sediment reworking activity of fish and entrained metabolic compensation with global depletion in energy stores. We found that combined chemical and thermal stresses impaired the capacity of fish to set up an efficient adaptive response. Our results strongly suggest that temperature will make fish more sensitive to water contamination by pesticides, raising concerns about wild fish conservation submitted to global changes

Mechanical and thermal segregation of milli-beads during contact heating in a rotary drum. DEM modeling and simulation

[EN] The flow mechanics and heat transfer phenomena within a bed of milli-metric size spherical beads rotated and heated by contact in a horizontal drum were simulated by means of commercial discrete element software EDEM. Mono-dispersed and bi-dispersed beds (two particle sizes or two particle densities) were considered. The mechanical segregation index (standard deviation of local bed compositions) and the thermal segregation index (standard deviation of beads temperatures) were calculated for the different types of bed and same operating conditions. The thermal segregation was found to be enhanced by mechanical segregation and was much stronger for bi-dispersed beds than for monodispersed one.Mesnier, A.; Rouabah, M.; Cogné, C.; Peczalski, R.; Vessot-Crastes, S.; Vacus, P.; Andrieu, J. (2018). Mechanical and thermal segregation of milli-beads during contact heating in a rotary drum. DEM modeling and simulation. En IDS 2018. 21st International Drying Symposium Proceedings. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 107-114. https://doi.org/10.4995/IDS2018.2018.7423OCS10711