How Evidential is the Epistemic Conditional?

This paper aims to reassess how —and if— the epistemic conditional in French relates to evidentiality, focusing on its use in reportative and non-reportative declarative sentences as well as in conjectural polar questions. It is proposed that the epistemic conditional developed from the modal hypothetical use, which accounts for its ability to establish an epistemic frame. The epistemic conditional is defined as a construction that conveys an assumption whatever the source of information. It is claimed that the epistemic conditional does not primarily encode information source. Although the epistemic nature of the epistemic conditional makes it prone to draw on reportative evidence, it is not primarily an evidential marker. Nonetheless, the epistemic conditional is claimed to have indirect evidential and mirative extensions. Rather than the type of information source, the conditional encodes the speaker’s lack of control over information, which affects her level of commitment. Such an approach allows handling the different uses of the epistemic conditional in declarative sentences as well as in conjectural questions in a unified way

Donald Trump’s use of Twitter during his campaign ahead of the US presidential election of 2016 – why Trump’s tweets are emotionally effective

This paper shows how Donald Trump uses Twitter to spread emotions, more specifi cally fear and anger. Noteworthy is the fact that Trump’s discourse is not primarily emotional. Although anger may sound legitimate, fear is viewed as an emotion one should be ashamed of. Rather than verbalising these emotions, discrediting his opponents – i.e. other candidates and journalists – and legitimising his own discourse for the sake of moral values are the hallmarks of Trump’s rhetoric. By presenting the future as precarious and uncertain, he stands as the only one able to make America powerful and infl uential (again). He adopts the stance of a victim, which is amplifi ed by the impact that social networks have on communities in terms of affi liation

Interface Dipole : Effects on Threshold Voltage and Mobility for both Amorphous and Poly-crystalline Organic Field Effect Transistors

We report a detailed comparison on the role of a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of dipolar molecules on the threshold voltage and charge carrier mobility of organic field-effect transistor (OFET) made of both amorphous and polycrystalline organic semiconductors. We show that the same relationship between the threshold voltage and the dipole-induced charges in the SAM holds when both types of devices are fabricated on strictly identical base substrates. Charge carrier mobilities, almost constant for amorphous OFET, are not affected by the dipole in the SAMs, while for polycrystalline OFET (pentacene) the large variation of charge carrier mobilities is related to change in the organic film structure (mostly grain size).Comment: Full paper and supporting informatio

Twenty years of groundwater evolution in the Triassic sandstone aquifer of Lorraine: Impacts on baseline water quality

International audienceThe Lorraine Triassic Sandstone Aquifer (LTSA), which has already been the subject of a chemical and radioisotopic study (1979), is used to investigate the impacts of 20 a of large scale pumping on baseline water quality. In parallel, new sampling of the aquifer (2001) provides new inorganic geochemical data (including trace elements) that allow improving the knowledge of baseline conditions and hydrochemical functioning of a major sandstone aquifer. The good correlation between 14 C activities, temperature and depth along the main flow line indicate regular downgradient trends and possible water stratification. Unreactive tracers, mainly stable isotope ratios 18 O and 2 H, as well as C isotopes are used to define a timescale for the aquifer, showing two groups of groundwater, namely of modern and Holocene age, and late Pleistocene age, with a mixing zone. Baseline quality is then represented by a wide range of concentrations , mainly the result of time-dependent water-rock interaction, as already observed elsewhere in Tri-assic sandstone aquifers. Some trace elements such as Li, Rb, Cs, which are not limited by solubility constraints, show linear trends. During saturated flow downgradient, the chemistry is also specifically characterised by a regular increase in Na and Cl (and locally SO 4) as a result of evaporite dissolution related to overlying or basement limits. The aquifer is mostly oxidising with a redox boundary marked by U decrease, some 40 km from outcrop. Groundwater abstraction since the 1970s has created a strong lowering (10-150 m) of the water table, especially from 1970 to 1980. Based on nine boreholes, previously sampled in 1979, a decreasing evolution in radiocarbon content of the TDIC, together with significant evolution of 18 O content, indicate that old groundwater has moved upgradient. The major difference in terms of baseline evolution is observed using Cl and Na concentration and, locally, SO 4 , indicating an increasing influence of water circulation involving overlying or basement formations, or of mixing with Permian waters. From the point of view of aquifer management, the perceptible NO 3 increase could provide information on the progress of any contamination under the aerobic conditions. In addition, the few key elements, indicators of disequilib-rium, related to overlying or deep waters, should be included in regular monitoring programmes

Higher gait variability is associated with decreased parietal gray matter volume among healthy older adults

The objectives of this study were to examine the association of stride time variability (STV) with gray and white matter volumes in healthy older adults, and to determine the specific location of any parenchymal loss associated with higher STV. A total of 71 participants (mean age 69.0 +/- 0.8 years; 59.7 % female) were included in this study. All participants had a 1.0 Tesla 3D T1-weighted MRI of the brain to measure gray and white matter volumes. STV was measured at steady-state self-selected walking speed using an electronic footswitch system. We found an association between higher STV and lower gray matter volume in the right parietal lobe (e.g., angular gyrus, Brodmann area 39, cluster corrected pFWE = 0.035). There were no significant associations between STV and higher gray matter volume or change in white matter volume. To the best of our knowledge this study is the first to identify a significant association of higher STV with lower right parietal gray matter volume in healthy older adults

Air Masses Origin and Isotopic Tracers: A Study Case of the Oceanic and Mediterranean Rainfall Southwest of France

Aquifers recharge mainly by local rainfall, which depend on the air mass humidity and orographic lifting, causing rain. The stable isotopes of the water molecule, i.e., oxygen-18 and deuterium, are useful tracers to determine the water source origin. Moreover, the calculation of the deuterium excess enables one to differentiate between the air masses from the Atlantic Ocean or the Mediterranean Sea. A transect from one coast to the other one and going through the city of Toulouse have been made to sample the groundwater and determine their isotopic characteristic. A monthly rainfall sampling has also been done over one year, close to the city Toulouse, to see how the d-excess values range over the season. The discussion replaces these results in available isotopic data

In Vitro Stability of Low-Concentration Ziconotide Alone or in Admixtures in Intrathecal Pumps

ObjectivesZiconotide is often administered in combination with other analgesics via an intrathecal pump. Studies have established that ziconotide is stable when delivered alone in high concentrations. No stability data are available, however, for ziconotide given in low concentrations and/or with other analgesics as usually occurs in clinical oncology practice. The objective of this study was to assess the in vitro stability of ziconotide alone and combined with other analgesics in intrathecal pumps at 37°C, as well as in syringes at 5°C, to evaluate conditions for storing and transporting preparations. Materials and Methods Various ziconotide concentrations (0.1, 0.25, 0.5, and 0.75 μg/mL) were combined with an admixture of ropivacaine (7.5 mg/mL), morphine (7.5 mg/mL), and clonidine (15 μg/mL) in 20-mL intrathecal pumps at 37°C and in syringes at 5°C. Solutions of ziconotide alone in concentrations of 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1 μg/mL were introduced into pumps at 37°C and syringes at 5°C. Assays were performed using ultra high pressure liquid chromatography. Results In admixtures, mean ziconotide concentrations decreased linearly to 53.4% (±3.33%) of baseline after 35 days. When ziconotide was introduced alone in pumps at 37°C, the residual concentration on day 31 was 35.54% (±0.04%) with 0.25 μg/mL, 39.37% (±0.15%) with 0.5 μg/mL, and 44.49% (±0.18%) with 1 μg/mL. Ziconotide alone or combined with the other analgesics was stable in syringes stored at 5°C. The preparations complied with the prescriptions, with a mean error of less than 10%, except with the lowest ziconotide concentration (0.1 μg/mL). Conclusions At the low ziconotide concentrations studied, the degradation of ziconotide admixed with other drugs was linear and only weakly influenced by the baseline concentration. Linear regression with intrapolation to 30 days showed that the degradation of ziconotide admixed with other drugs was consistent with previously published data