Different aspects of emotional processes in apathy: Application of the French translated dimensional apathy scale

Apathy is a behavioural symptom that occurs in neuropsychiatric, neurological and neurodegenerative disease. It is defined as a lack of motivation and/or a quantitative reduction of goal-directed behaviour. Levy and Dubois Cerebral Cortex, 16(7), 916–928 (2006) proposed a triadic substructure of apathy and similar subtypes can be assessed using the Dimensional Apathy Scale (DAS), via the Executive, Emotional and Initiation subscales. The aim of this study was to translate the DAS in to French (f-DAS), examine its psychometric properties and the substructure of apathy using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The results showed an acceptable internal consistency reliability of the f-DAS and a similar relationship to depression as in the original DAS development study. The CFA supported a triadic dimensional substructure of the f-DAS, similar to the original DAS but suggested a more complex substructure, specifically, two further processes of the Emotional apathy dimension relating to “Social Emotional” and “Individual Emotional” aspects of demotivation. To conclude, the f-DAS is a robust and reliable tool for assessing multidimensional apathy. Further research should explore the utility of the f-DAS in patients with neuropsychiatric diseases in view of social emotional aspects in apathy

Finished genome of the fungal wheat pathogen Mycosphaerella graminicola Reveals dispensome structure, chromosome plasticity, and stealth pathogenesis.

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Stress and sexual reproduction affect the dynamics of the wheat pathogen effector AvrStb6 and strobilurin resistance

Host resistance and fungicide treatments are cornerstones of plant-disease control. Here, we show that these treatments allow sex and modulate parenthood in the fungal wheat pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici. We demonstrate that the Z. tritici–wheat interaction complies with the gene-for-gene model by identifying the effector AvrStb6, which is recognized by the wheat resistance protein Stb6. Recognition triggers host resistance, thus implying removal of avirulent strains from pathogen populations. However, Z. tritici crosses on wheat show that sex occurs even with an avirulent parent, and avirulence alleles are thereby retained in subsequent populations. Crossing fungicide-sensitive and fungicide-resistant isolates under fungicide pressure results in a rapid increase in resistance-allele frequency. Isolates under selection always act as male donors, and thus disease control modulates parenthood. Modeling these observations for agricultural and natural environments reveals extended durability of host resistance and rapid emergence of fungicide resistance. Therefore, fungal sex has major implications for disease control

Recent sedimentation rates in Garaet El Ichkeul Lake, NW Tunisia, as affected by the construction of dams and a regulatory sluice

Purpose Ichkeul National Park, NW Tunisia, is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Garaet El Ichkeul Lake is known for its seasonal variability in water level and salinity. In recent decades, the waterbody has been affected by the construction of new hydraulic structures. To reduce the impacts of dams and to maintain the sustainability of the ecosystem, a sluice was built at the outlet of the lake, and it operated for the first time in 1996. This paper describes an investigation of recent sedimentation dynamics in Ichkeul Lake, determined by radiometric dating of sediment cores. Materials and methods A sediment core was collected with a UWITEC gravity corer at the deepest, central part of the lake in August 2009. Specific activities of unsupported lead-210 (210Pb) and caesium-137 (137Cs) were measured in the core, enabling calculation of recent sediment accumulation rates (SAR). Published radiometric data from nearby sediment cores, collected in 1997 and 1982, provide a comparison. Results and discussion The measured excess 210Pb inventory was 5300 ± 500 Bq m−2, leading to an estimation of constant flux of 165 ± 16 Bq m−2 yr−1, a value higher than the best estimate for local atmospheric fluxes (123 ± 12 Bq m−2 yr−1) and the flux estimated from the core collected in 1982 (48 Bq m−2 yr−1). The 137Cs inventory was 3550 ± 120 Bq m−2, two times higher than the historical 137Cs atmospheric deposition in the area. The 137Cs profile displayed a distinct peak, but the 137Cs depth-distribution did not follow the pattern expected from atmospheric deposition. Application of the constant rate of supply (CRS) model, with the reference point method, produced a chronology and SAR values comparable to those found in previous work. The whole 137Cs profile was quantitatively reconstructed from the historical records of atmospheric deposition, using the system-time-averaged (STA) model. Conclusions The CRS and STA models provide consistent sediment accumulation results for the whole data set, considering the time resolution of the chronology (~6 years) and analytical uncertainties. Results from cores sampled in 1982, 1997 and 2009 reveal an increasing SAR trend, from ~0.25 g cm−2 yr−1 in the early 1940s to ~0.67 g cm−2 yr−1 at present. In the 13 years since installation of sluice gates at Tinja, SAR in the central Ichkeul Lake has not declined. Thus, if siltation continues at the present rate, shallowing of the lake will seriously affect the hydromorphology and ecology of this important lake.International Atomic Energy Agency Research Project RAF7/00

Corporate governance and firm characteristics as explanatory factors of shareholder activism: Validation through the French context

This study deals with the major determinants of company shareholder activism investigated with according to a set of SBF 120 listed firms. Based on a sample of 77 companies, observed over the period 2008-2012, we are led to conclude that some firm governance characteristics do appear to affect shareholding activism. In addition, it has been revealed that the presence of institutional investors, ownership concentration, leaders' presence in the capital, control structure, leadership change, firm growth as well as leverage level appear to have a significant influence on the probability of activism to take place