The lexical boost effect is not diagnostic of lexically-specific syntactic representations

Structural priming implies that speakers/listeners unknowingly re-use syntactic structure over subsequent utterances. Previous research found that structural priming is reliably enhanced when lexical content is repeated (lexical boost effect). A widely held assumption is that structure-licensing heads enjoy a privileged role in lexically boosting structural priming. The present comprehension-to-production priming experiments investigated whether head-constituents (verbs) versus non-head constituents (argument nouns) contribute differently to boosting ditransitive structure priming in English. Experiment 1 showed that lexical boosts from repeated agent or recipient nouns (and to a lesser extent, repeated theme nouns) were comparable to those from repeated verbs. Experiments 2 and 3 found that increasing numbers of content words shared between primes and targets led to increasing magnitudes of structural priming (again, with no ‘special’ contribution of verb-repetition). We conclude that lexical boost effects are not diagnostic of lexically-specific syntactic representations, even though such representations are supported by other types of evidence

The role of spatial and temporal radiation deposition in inertial fusion chambers: the case of HiPER¿

The first wall armour for the reactor chamber of HiPER will have to face short energy pulses of 5 to 20 MJ mostly in the form of x-rays and charged particles at a repetition rate of 5–10 Hz. Armour material and chamber dimensions have to be chosen to avoid/minimize damage to the chamber, ensuring the proper functioning of the facility during its planned lifetime. The maximum energy fluence that the armour can withstand without risk of failure, is determined by temporal and spatial deposition of the radiation energy inside the material. In this paper, simulations on the thermal effect of the radiation–armour interaction are carried out with an increasing definition of the temporal and spatial deposition of energy to prove their influence on the final results. These calculations will lead us to present the first values of the thermo-mechanical behaviour of the tungsten armour designed for the HiPER project under a shock ignition target of 48 MJ. The results will show that only the crossing of the plasticity limit in the first few micrometres might be a threat after thousands of shots for the survivability of the armour

Spatio-temporal variability of fish assemblages in the Gambia estuary (West Africa) observed by two vertical hydroacoustic methods : moored and mobile sampling

indexedccInternational audienceThe Gambia Estuary is one of the last estuaries in West Africa not to have been affected by strong environmental changes and adverse human disturbances. In order to describe the spatio-temporal change in fish biomass in this estuary, and the seasonal changes in fish size classes, five research surveys have been conducted at characteristic periods in the river's water regime and meteorological seasons. The fish assemblages were sampled by two vertical echosounding protocols: mobile surveys (zigzag transects) in the estuary and moored stations. The two sampling methods produced a similar image of the fish assemblages in terms of the distribution of total biomass and target strength distributions. Large fish aggregations were detected in the most marine area at the end of the wet season, and fish biomass increased through the dry season in the upstream zone. Fish were smaller at the beginning of the wet season and they were always larger in downstream areas

Etude du procédé de fumage du machoiron (Arius heudelotii) au Sénégal et propositions de voies de réingénierie

Le kong est un poisson fumé traditionnel du Sénégal. Il est obtenu par fumage à chaud du machoiron éviscéré sur des fours à foyers directs et ouverts de type chorkor. Ce poisson fumé à la couleur et à la flaveur très typées rentre dans la préparation de plats en sauce très appréciés au Sénégal, dans lesquels il est d'un apport protéique significatif. On retrouve dans toute l'Afrique de l'Ouest côtière des poissons fumés dont le procédé d'élaboration est apparenté à celui du kong. Ce procédé de fumage artisanal fourni des produits finis qui peine à répondre aux exigences de qualité et d'innocuité des produits alimentaires. L'analyse du procédé et l'amélioration de la qualité du kong entre dans le cadre du projet européen intitulé " African Food Tradition rEvisited by Research (AFTER) ". Méthodologie. Une enquête préalable effectuée dans le cadre d'AFTER a permis d'identifier des besoins d'amélioration de la qualité sanitaire (statut microbiologique et résidus d'hydrocarbures aromatiques polycycliques – HAP.) et du potentiel de conservation des produits. Le présent travail a porté sur l'identification de points critiques au niveau d'ateliers " modernes " et " traditionnels " de Dakar, et sur la proposition d'actions d'amélioration de la qualité par la modification des pratiques actuelles et la proposition d'introduction d'opérations unitaires nouvelles dans le procédé. Résultats. Les tests d'itinéraires techniques nouveaux réalisés, en découplant les opérations de cuisson et dépôt de fumée ou en rajoutant des phases de salage ou de macération ont permis de valider les gains qualitatifs attendus et l'impact sur le potentiel de conservation. Il s'agit d'une part, du lavage à l'eau javellisée après l'éviscération ; l'exécution des bonnes pratiques d'hygiène; l'introduction d'une phase de trempage en eau saline et dans des extraits d'ail et de graine de Moringa oleifera. D'autre part, la séparation des phases de déshydratation et de fumage et la réduction de leur durée diminuent de façon significative l'accumulation des HAPs, et la teneur en eau. Les résultats de ces travaux ouvrent des perspectives de développement de nouveaux marchés ou pistes de distribution au niveau local mais aussi à l'export. Ces résultats obtenus contribuent à la satisfaction des attentes des consommateurs en matière de plaisir et de sécurité de l'alimentation. Ainsi, la diffusion des résultats de cette étude pourrait contribuer à la mise en place de pratiques durables pour la filière du kong et plus généralement pour les filières de fumage du poisson en Afrique. (Résumé d'auteur

Нові підходи в керуванні процесами електронно-променевого зварювання

The Gambia Estuary, a “normal” estuary with a decreasing salinity gradient from the mouth towards the head, is moderately exploited by small-scale fisheries and does not receive any severe pollution from either agriculture or industrial activities. Neither the Gambia River nor its estuary are artificially impounded. As the last large West African estuary free of major human disturbance, it is of considerable interest for comparative studies on the effect of major environmental perturbations in West African estuarine ecosystems. The aquatic environment and fish communities of the Gambia Estuary (about 250 km long) were studied by purse seine sampling at different periods in the river cycle, covering all hydro-climatic seasons that are characteristic of West African estuaries. Emphasis was placed on the diversity, composition, structure and distribution of fish assemblages in relation to fluctuations in physico-chemical factors such as water temperature, salinity and turbidity. Results on the aquatic environment, mainly the salinity range (from freshwater to 39) and dissolved oxygen (never a limiting factor for fish in the estuary) and on the main characteristics of the fish fauna (high diversity of life cycles, all the ecological categories represented) indicated that the Gambia Estuary was free of major climatic perturbation and reinforced the choice of this system as a reference for the study of the effects of major perturbations on estuarine tropical fish communities

Apoptosis as a mechanism in tri-n-butyltin mediated thymocyte cytotoxicity

Tri-n-butyltin (TBT), an important environmental pollutant, is immunotoxic when administered to experimental animals. Thymic atrophy due to the depletion of cortical thymocytes has been shown to be central to this effect although the mechanism involved is currently undefined. The mode of cell death known as apoptosis has a key role in a number of physiological processes, including the regulation of the developing thymic T lymphocyte repertoire, but can also be triggered in pathological states including toxic injury. This study investigated the effects of bis(tri-n-butyltin) oxide (TBTO) on rat thymocytes and compared these findings to observations with other lymphotoxic model compounds. Exposure of thymocytes in vitro to low concentrations of TBTO resulted in delayed cell killing which bore many of the morphological and biochemical characteristics of apoptosis. Stereotypical internucleosomal DNA cleavage preceded viability loss and both these processes were inhibited by intracellular Ca2+ chelators, zinc, and agents expected to interfere with protein-DNA interactions. At tributyltin treatment levels less than an order of magnitude higher, cytolethahty by necrosis supervened. In contrast to thymocyte apoptosis caused by most other stimuli including glucocorticoids, that mediated by TBTO apparently did not require de novo protein synthesis. Thymocytes exposed to TBTO remained able to instigate apoptotic death although their ATP levels were severely depressed, indicating that the process was not dependent on fully conserved cellular energetics function. In common with the microtubule assembly inhibitor nocodazole, tributyltin was very effective in disrupting the cellular microtubule cytoskeleton. Though there was evidence that this effect may have been causal to nocodazole-mediated thymocyte apoptosis, a similar relationship was not apparent for TBTO. Apoptosis caused by TBTO was associated with nuclear hypodiploidy, but no overt disturbance of thymocyte cell cycle parameters occurred. In vivo studies indicated that thymocyte apoptosis contributed significantly to the cortical thymocyte deletion underlying the thymic involution provoked by administration of TBTO to immature rats

Potential common radiation problems for components and diagnostics in future magnetic and inertial confinement fusion devices

This work aims at identifying common potential problems that future fusion devices will encounter for both magnetic (MC) and inertial (IC) confinement approaches in order to promote joint efforts and to avoid duplication of research

In situ observation of microstructure evolution in 4H–SiC under 3.5 keV He+ irradiation

4H-SiC was irradiated with 3.5 keV He+ ions using the MIAMI facility at University of Huddersfield. The evolution of microstructure and gas bubbles during the irradiation at 700°C, 800°C and 900°C was observed by in situ transmission electron microscopy. Under irradiation, isolated bubbles and bubble discs formed in the SiC matrix. Bubble discs lying on {0001} and {10-10} crystal planes were beginning to form at ion fluence above 2.3×1020 He+ /m2 at 700°C. The density of bubble discs increased with increasing irradiation fluence. However, growth rates were different at different of the implantation periods and temperature holding periods. The nucleation and growth of the bubble discs were attributed to be coalescence of the adjacent He vacancies and combination of loop punching and trap mutation, respectively