Thirty years on … the social representation of AIDS among French teenagers

Teenagers, who are particularly concerned by the HIV virus, are targeted by plans of HIV prevention, as they are just beginning their sex lives. Since certain recent studies reveal that teenagers are not using HIV prevention methods, we analyse social representations of HIV/AIDS among a group of 100 French high school pupils, thirty years after it appeared and after the first studies of the social representation of AIDS. The results of a free associations test show that both girls and boys have the same social representation of AIDS. The results of a complementary questionnaire tend to show that this disease has become less frightening and less stigmatizing and that girls have a more preventive state of mind

Distributed Nested Rollout Policy for Same Game

Nested Rollout Policy Adaptation (NRPA) is a Monte Carlo search heuristic for puzzles and other optimization problems. It achieves state-of-the-art performance on several games including SameGame. In this paper, we design several parallel and distributed NRPA-based search techniques, and we provide a number of experimental insights about their execution. Finally, we use our best implementation to discover 15 better scores for 20 standard SameGame boards

On fractional Choquard equations

We investigate a class of nonlinear Schrodinger equations with a generalized Choquard nonlinearity and fractional diffusion. We obtain regularity, existence, nonexistence, symmetry as well as decays properties.Comment: revised version, 22 page

On convergence towards a self-similar solution for a nonlinear wave equation - a case study

We consider the problem of asymptotic stability of a self-similar attractor for a simple semilinear radial wave equation which arises in the study of the Yang-Mills equations in 5+1 dimensions. Our analysis consists of two steps. In the first step we determine the spectrum of linearized perturbations about the attractor using a method of continued fractions. In the second step we demonstrate numerically that the resulting eigensystem provides an accurate description of the dynamics of convergence towards the attractor.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Hybrid robotic and electrical stimulation assistance can enhance performance and reduce mental demand

Combining functional electrical stimulation (FES) and robotics may enhance recovery after stroke, by providing neural feedback with the former while improv- ing quality of motion and minimizing muscular fatigue with the latter. Here, we explored whether and how FES, robot assistance and their combination, affect users’ per- formance, effort, fatigue and user experience. 15 healthy participants performed a wrist flexion/extension tracking task with FES and/or robotic assistance. Tracking per- formance improved during the hybrid FES-robot and the robot-only assistance conditions in comparison to no assistance, but no improvement is observed when only FES is used. Fatigue, muscular and voluntary effort are estimated from electromyographic recording. Total muscle contraction and volitional activity are lowest with robotic assistance, whereas fatigue level do not change between the conditions. The NASA-Task Load Index answers indi- cate that participants found the task less mentally demand- ing during the hybrid and robot conditions than the FES condition. The addition of robotic assistance to FES train- ing might thus facilitate an increased user engagement compared to robot training and allow longer motor training session than with FES assistance

Solitary wave dynamics in time-dependent potentials

We rigorously study the long time dynamics of solitary wave solutions of the nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation in {\it time-dependent} external potentials. To set the stage, we first establish the well-posedness of the Cauchy problem for a generalized nonautonomous nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation. We then show that in the {\it space-adiabatic} regime where the external potential varies slowly in space compared to the size of the soliton, the dynamics of the center of the soliton is described by Hamilton's equations, plus terms due to radiation damping. We finally remark on two physical applications of our analysis. The first is adiabatic transportation of solitons, and the second is Mathieu instability of trapped solitons due to time-periodic perturbations.Comment: 38 pages, some typos corrected, one reference added, one remark adde

Gene induction during differentiation of human monocytes into dendritic cells: an integrated study at the RNA and protein levels

Changes in gene expression occurring during differentiation of human monocytes into dendritic cells were studied at the RNA and protein levels. These studies showed the induction of several gene classes corresponding to various biological functions. These functions encompass antigen processing and presentation, cytoskeleton, cell signalling and signal transduction, but also an increase in mitochondrial function and in the protein synthesis machinery, including some, but not all, chaperones. These changes put in perspective the events occurring during this differentiation process. On a more technical point, it appears that the studies carried out at the RNA and protein levels are highly complementary.Comment: website publisher: http://www.springerlink.com/content/ha0d2c351qhjhjdm

Clusters of cytokines determine malaria severity in Plasmodium falciparum - Infected patients from endemic areas of central India

We investigated the role of interferon (IFN)- gamma , interleukin (IL)-1 beta , IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)- alpha , and transforming growth factor (TGF)- beta in clinically well-defined groups of Plasmodium falciparum-infected patients manifesting mild malaria (MM), severe noncerebral malaria (SM), or cerebral malaria (CM) and in control subjects from Gondia, a malaria-endemic site in India, as well as in healthy subjects from non-malaria-endemic areas. Two-way coupled cluster analysis revealed 2 clusters of cytokines relevant to clinical subgroups of disease. The first cluster was composed of IFN- gamma , IL-2, IL-5, IL-6, and IL-12, the levels of which were significantly increased during infection but were predominant in patients with MM and allowed us to distinguish them from patients with SM or CM. The second cluster was composed of TGF- beta , TNF- alpha , IL-10, and IL-1 beta , the levels of which were highly correlated with each other in the different clinical groups of patients and significantly increased with disease severity, particularly in CM. Discriminant analyses allowed us to propose a minimal model. Levels of cytokines such as IL-5, IL-1 beta , IL-10, and IL-2 increase with infection. Levels of IL-12, IL-5, and IL-6 discriminate severe forms of malaria from MM. Finally, levels of IL-1 beta , IL-12, and IFN- gamma are relevant for the discrimination of CM from SM: high IL-1 beta levels are associated with CM, and high IL-12 and IFN- gamma levels are associated with S

Higher order Schrodinger and Hartree-Fock equations

The domain of validity of the higher-order Schrodinger equations is analyzed for harmonic-oscillator and Coulomb potentials as typical examples. Then the Cauchy theory for higher-order Hartree-Fock equations with bounded and Coulomb potentials is developed. Finally, the existence of associated ground states for the odd-order equations is proved. This renders these quantum equations relevant for physics.Comment: 19 pages, to appear in J. Math. Phy

Nonlinear Schroedinger equation with two symmetric point interactions in one dimension

We consider a time-dependent one-dimensional nonlinear Schroedinger equation with a symmetric potential double well represented by two delta interactions. Among our results we give an explicit formula for the integral kernel of the unitary semigroup associated with the linear part of the Hamiltonian. Then we establish the corresponding Strichartz-type estimate and we prove local existence and uniqueness of the solution to the original nonlinear problem