Order-Invariant First-Order Logic over Hollow Trees

We show that the expressive power of order-invariant first-order logic collapses to first-order logic over hollow trees. A hollow tree is an unranked ordered tree where every non leaf node has at most four adjacent nodes: two siblings (left and right) and its first and last children. In particular there is no predicate for the linear order among siblings nor for the descendant relation. Moreover only the first and last nodes of a siblinghood are linked to their parent node, and the parent-child relation cannot be completely reconstructed in first-order

Order-Invariance in the Two-Variable Fragment of First-Order Logic

We study the expressive power of the two-variable fragment of order-invariant first-order logic. This logic departs from first-order logic in two ways: first, formulas are only allowed to quantify over two variables. Second, formulas can use an additional binary relation, which is interpreted in the structures under scrutiny as a linear order, provided that the truth value of a sentence over a finite structure never depends on which linear order is chosen on its domain. We prove that on classes of structures of bounded degree, any property expressible in this logic is definable in first-order logic. We then show that the situation remains the same when we add counting quantifiers to this logic

First order synthesis for data words revisited

We carry on the study of the synthesis problem on data words for fragments of first order logic, and delineate precisely the border between decidability and undecidability

Céline d'un siècle l'autre : le trouble à l'oeuvre : éléments pour une approche multidimensionnelle des oeuvres littéraires

The novels of L-F Céline in many respects express, in a paroxysmic manner, the troubled experience that the contemporary individual makes of his world and its humanity: « Man is naked, stripped of everything, even of his faith in himself. That is what my book is about », the author summarised on the occasion of the publication of Journey to the End of the Night. « Bankruptcy of traditional recourses », « widespread uncertainty », « a novel about the pain of living» : Céline’s work is in many ways emblematic of the century’s changes and the various disturbances that they seem to have brought about in their wake. The present thesis questions the ability of any study of works of art to offer, as Roger Bastide in typical fashion called it, « a technique of analysing the social », societies, cultures and their transformations. Such a perspective necessarily views the work as a process, and it was therefore a matter here of articulating an approach which focuses on the institution (a study of the inaugural reception of Journey to the End of the Night), on the production of the work itself (a sociological biography of the author), and by means of a study of current readings of L-F Céline (a survey conducted via interviews with approximately forty present-day readers). It is this methodological approach which has allowed me to envisage « the object and its century from one end to the other », and to assess what is expressed and what emerges through the mediation of that work of art, to resituate its persistence to « create a sensation », its sense and value, in the dynamic context of the transformations which have shaped French society from the 1930s through to the present day. Moreover, the tools of clinical sociology have made possible the objectification of turmoil in a work of art : allowing one to identify and situate the expression of the turmoil that this work projects, and placing it in the context of identity-related tensions and conflicts : in social and cultural ‘entre-deux’ situations, which have become more widespread from the beginning of one century to another, and which this work highlights, within a blind spot, the importance in a cultural perspective.Les romans de L.-F. Céline expriment de manière paroxystique et à bien des égards l’expérience troublée que l’individu contemporain fait du monde et de son humanité : « L’homme est nu, dépouillé de tout, même de sa foi en lui. C’est ça mon livre. », résumait l’auteur à la publication de Voyage au bout de la nuit. « Faillite des recours traditionnels », « incertitude généralisée », « roman de la peine de vivre » : l’œuvre célinienne est par bien des aspects emblématique des transformations du siècle et des divers troubles qu’elles semblent avoir entraînés dans leur sillage. Le présent travail interroge la propension de l’étude des œuvres à se faire, comme Roger Bastide l’appelait de ses vœux, une « technique d’analyse du social », des sociétés, des cultures et de leurs transformations. Une telle perspective envisage nécessairement l’œuvre comme un processus, et il s’est donc agi d’articuler une approche par l’institution (étude de la réception inaugurale de Voyage au bout de la nuit), une approche par la production (biographie sociologique de l’auteur), et une étude des lectures actuelles de L.-F. Céline (enquête par entretiens avec une quarantaine de lecteurs d’aujourd’hui). C’est ce dispositif méthodologique qui m’a autorisé à envisager comme « d’un bout à l’autre de l’objet et du siècle » ce qui s’exprime et se met au travail par la médiation de cette œuvre-là, permis de resituer sa persistance à « faire sensation », sens et valeur, dans les dynamiques des transformations qui affectent la société française des années 30 à nos jours. Les outils de la sociologie clinique ont par ailleurs rendu possible l’objectivation des troubles à l’œuvre : permis d’identifier et de replacer les troubles dont cette œuvre médiatise l’expression et la mise au travail dans des tensions et conflits identitaires : dans des situations d’entre-deux, sociaux et culturels, qui se sont généralisées d’un début de siècle l’autre et dont cette œuvre nous indique, en angle mort, l’importance du point de vue de la culture

Depolarization-induced translocation of the RNA-binding protein Sam68 to the dendrites of hippocampal neurons.

International audienceThe traffic and expression of mRNAs in neurons are modulated by changes in neuronal activity. The regulation of neuronal RNA-binding proteins is therefore currently receiving attention. Sam68 is a ubiquitous nuclear RNA-binding protein implicated in post-transcriptional processes such as signal-dependent splice site selection. We show that Sam68 undergoes activity-responsive translocation to the soma and dendrites of hippocampal neurons in primary culture. In unstimulated neurons transiently expressing a GFP-Sam68 fusion protein, 90% of the cells accumulated the protein exclusively in the nucleus, and 4% showed extension of GFP-Sam68 to the dendrites. This nuclear expression pattern required the integrity of the Sam68 N-terminus. When present, the dendritic GFP-Sam68 formed granules, 26% of which were colocalized with ethidium bromide-stained RNA clusters. Most of the GFP-Sam68 granules were completely stationary, but a few moved in either a retrograde or anterograde direction. Following depolarization by 25 mM KCl, 50% of neurons displayed dendritic GFP-Sam68. GFP-Sam68 invaded the dendrites after 2 hours with high KCl, and returned to the nucleus within 3 hours after termination of the KCl treatment. A control GFP fusion derived from the SC-35 splicing factor remained fully nuclear during depolarization. No significant change was observed in the phosphorylation of Sam68 after depolarization. Translocation of Sam68 to the distal dendrites was microtubule dependent. Blockade of calcium channels with nimodipine abolished the translocation. Furthermore, inhibition of CRM-1-mediated nuclear export by leptomycin B partially prevented the depolarization-induced nuclear efflux of GFP-Sam68. These results support the possible involvement of Sam68 in the activity-dependent regulation of dendritic mRNAs

Successor-Invariant First-Order Logic on Classes of Bounded Degree

We study the expressive power of successor-invariant first-order logic, which is an extension of first-order logic where the usage of an additional successor relation on the structure is allowed, as long as the validity of formulas is independent on the choice of a particular successor. We show that when the degree is bounded, successor-invariant first-order logic is no more expressive than first-order logic

De novo TBR1 variants cause a neurocognitive phenotype with ID and autistic traits:report of 25 new individuals and review of the literature

TBR1, a T-box transcription factor expressed in the cerebral cortex, regulates the expression of several candidate genes for autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Although TBR1 has been reported as a high-confidence risk gene for ASD and intellectual disability (ID) in functional and clinical reports since 2011, TBR1 has only recently been recorded as a human disease gene in the OMIM database. Currently, the neurodevelopmental disorders and structural brain anomalies associated with TBR1 variants are not well characterized. Through international data sharing, we collected data from 25 unreported individuals and compared them with data from the literature. We evaluated structural brain anomalies in seven individuals by analysis of MRI images, and compared these with anomalies observed in TBR1 mutant mice. The phenotype included ID in all individuals, associated to autistic traits in 76% of them. No recognizable facial phenotype could be identified. MRI analysis revealed a reduction of the anterior commissure and suggested new features including dysplastic hippocampus and subtle neocortical dysgenesis. This report supports the role of TBR1 in ID associated with autistic traits and suggests new structural brain malformations in humans. We hope this work will help geneticists to interpret TBR1 variants and diagnose ASD probands

DMTs and Covid-19 severity in MS: a pooled analysis from Italy and France

We evaluated the effect of DMTs on Covid-19 severity in patients with MS, with a pooled-analysis of two large cohorts from Italy and France. The association of baseline characteristics and DMTs with Covid-19 severity was assessed by multivariate ordinal-logistic models and pooled by a fixed-effect meta-analysis. 1066 patients with MS from Italy and 721 from France were included. In the multivariate model, anti-CD20 therapies were significantly associated (OR = 2.05, 95%CI = 1.39–3.02, p < 0.001) with Covid-19 severity, whereas interferon indicated a decreased risk (OR = 0.42, 95%CI = 0.18–0.99, p = 0.047). This pooled-analysis confirms an increased risk of severe Covid-19 in patients on anti-CD20 therapies and supports the protective role of interferon

Socializing One Health: an innovative strategy to investigate social and behavioral risks of emerging viral threats

In an effort to strengthen global capacity to prevent, detect, and control infectious diseases in animals and people, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) PREDICT project funded development of regional, national, and local One Health capacities for early disease detection, rapid response, disease control, and risk reduction. From the outset, the EPT approach was inclusive of social science research methods designed to understand the contexts and behaviors of communities living and working at human-animal-environment interfaces considered high-risk for virus emergence. Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, PREDICT behavioral research aimed to identify and assess a range of socio-cultural behaviors that could be influential in zoonotic disease emergence, amplification, and transmission. This broad approach to behavioral risk characterization enabled us to identify and characterize human activities that could be linked to the transmission dynamics of new and emerging viruses. This paper provides a discussion of implementation of a social science approach within a zoonotic surveillance framework. We conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews and focus groups to better understand the individual- and community-level knowledge, attitudes, and practices that potentially put participants at risk for zoonotic disease transmission from the animals they live and work with, across 6 interface domains. When we asked highly-exposed individuals (ie. bushmeat hunters, wildlife or guano farmers) about the risk they perceived in their occupational activities, most did not perceive it to be risky, whether because it was normalized by years (or generations) of doing such an activity, or due to lack of information about potential risks. Integrating the social sciences allows investigations of the specific human activities that are hypothesized to drive disease emergence, amplification, and transmission, in order to better substantiate behavioral disease drivers, along with the social dimensions of infection and transmission dynamics. Understanding these dynamics is critical to achieving health security--the protection from threats to health-- which requires investments in both collective and individual health security. Involving behavioral sciences into zoonotic disease surveillance allowed us to push toward fuller community integration and engagement and toward dialogue and implementation of recommendations for disease prevention and improved health security