Method for Storing and Retrieving Sequential Information

A method and design is provided for distributing and storing sets of temporally ordered information in a systematic and sequential fashion. This method is based on a model of how the brain functions in the distribution and storage of temporally ordered memories, but it can also be applied to the design of new biological, electronic or optical devices. These devices may be used in the testing and development of new therapeutic drugs, in the detection of toxic agents or impaired performance, or in the development of new industrial and consumer devices in which the orderly storage of sequential information is important

Neural Network Model for Instruments That Store and Retrieve Sequential Information

A method and design is provided for distributing and storing sets of temporally ordered information in a systematic and sequential fashion. This method is based on a model of how the brain functions in the distribution and storage of temporally ordered memories, but it can also be applied to the design of new biological, electronic or optical devices. These devices may be used in the testing and development of new therapeutic drugs, in the detection of toxic agents or impaired performance, or in the development of new industrial and consumer devices in which the orderly storage of sequential information is important

Integron Involvement in Environmental Spread of Antibiotic Resistance

The spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a growing problem and a public health issue. In recent decades, various genetic mechanisms involved in the spread of resistance genes among bacteria have been identified. Integrons – genetic elements that acquire, exchange, and express genes embedded within gene cassettes (GC) – are one of these mechanisms. Integrons are widely distributed, especially in Gram-negative bacteria; they are carried by mobile genetic elements, plasmids, and transposons, which promote their spread within bacterial communities. Initially studied mainly in the clinical setting for their involvement in antibiotic resistance, their role in the environment is now an increasing focus of attention. The aim of this review is to provide an in-depth analysis of recent studies of antibiotic-resistance integrons in the environment, highlighting their potential involvement in antibiotic-resistance outside the clinical context. We will focus particularly on the impact of human activities (agriculture, industries, wastewater treatment, etc.)

Iron-catalyzed hydrosilylation of CO2: CO2 conversion to formamides and methylamines

International audienceno abstrac

Comparing paedophile activity in different P2P systems

Peer-to-peer (P2P) systems are widely used to exchange content over the Internet. Knowledge on paedophile activity in such networks remains limited while it has important social consequences. Moreover, though there are different P2P systems in use, previous academic works on this topic focused on one system at a time and their results are not directly comparable. We design a methodology for comparing \kad and \edonkey, two P2P systems among the most prominent ones and with different anonymity levels. We monitor two \edonkey servers and the \kad network during several days and record hundreds of thousands of keyword-based queries. We detect paedophile-related queries with a previously validated tool and we propose, for the first time, a large-scale comparison of paedophile activity in two different P2P systems. We conclude that there are significantly fewer paedophile queries in \kad than in \edonkey (approximately 0.09% \vs 0.25%).Comment: Submitte

Hematopoietic Chimerism and Transplantation Tolerance: A Role for Regulatory T Cells

The immunosuppressive regimens currently used in transplantation to prevent allograft destruction by the host’s immune system have deleterious side effects and fail to control chronic rejection processes. Induction of donor-specific non-responsiveness (i.e., immunological tolerance) to transplants would solve these problems and would substantially ameliorate patients’ quality of life. It has been proposed that bone marrow or hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, and resulting (mixed) hematopoietic chimerism, lead to immunological tolerance to organs of the same donor. However, a careful analysis of the literature, performed here, clearly establishes that whereas hematopoietic chimerism substantially prolongs allograft survival, it does not systematically prevent chronic rejection. Moreover, the cytotoxic conditioning regimens used to achieve long-term persistence of chimerism are associated with severe side effects that appear incompatible with a routine use in the clinic. Several laboratories recently embarked on different studies to develop alternative strategies to overcome these issues. We discuss here recent advances obtained by combining regulatory T cell infusion with bone-marrow transplantation. In experimental settings, this attractive approach allows development of genuine immunological tolerance to donor tissues using clinically relevant conditioning regimens

Catalytic hydrosilylation of oxalic acid: chemoselective formation of functionalizedC2-products

International audienceOxalic acid is an attractive entry to functionalized C2-products because it can be formed by C–C coupling of two CO2 molecules under electrocatalytic reduction. Herein, we describe the first attempts to reduce oxalic acid by catalytic hydrosilylation. Using B(C6F5)3 as a Lewis acidic catalyst, oxalic acid can be converted to reduced C2-molecules, with high chemoselectivity, under mild reaction conditions

One Man, One Vote Part 2: Measurement of Malapportionment and Disproportionality and the Lorenz Curve

The main objective of this paper is to explore and estimate the departure from the “One Man, One Vote” principle in the context of political representation and its consequences for distributive politics. To proceed to the measurement of the inequalities in the representation of territories (geographical under/over representation) or opinions/parties (ideological under/over representation), we import (with some important qualifications and adjustments) the Lorenz curve which is an important tool in the economics of income distribution. We consider subsequently some malapportionment and disproportionality indices. It is applied to the 2010 Electoral College and the French parliamentary and local elections with a special attention to the electoral reform of 2015. In these applications, the Lorenz curve ordering is almost conclusive and consequently the Gini and DK indices are aligned and complement the almost complete ranking derived from Lorenz

Expansion of the calcium hypothesis of brain aging and Alzheimer's disease: minding the store

Evidence accumulated over more than two decades has implicated Ca2+ dysregulation in brain aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD), giving rise to the Ca2+ hypothesis of brain aging and dementia. Electrophysiological, imaging, and behavioral studies in hippocampal or cortical neurons of rodents and rabbits have revealed aging-related increases in the slow afterhyperpolarization, Ca2+ spikes and currents, Ca2+ transients, and L-type voltage-gated Ca2+ channel (L-VGCC) activity. Several of these changes have been associated with age-related deficits in learning or memory. Consequently, one version of the Ca2+ hypothesis has been that increased L-VGCC activity drives many of the other Ca2+-related biomarkers of hippocampal aging. In addition, other studies have reported aging- or AD model-related alterations in Ca2+ release from ryanodine receptors (RyR) on intracellular stores. The Ca2+-sensitive RyR channels amplify plasmalemmal Ca2+ influx by the mechanism of Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release (CICR). Considerable evidence indicates that a preferred functional link is present between L-VGCCs and RyRs which operate in series in heart and some brain cells. Here, we review studies implicating RyRs in altered Ca2+ regulation in cell toxicity, aging, and AD. A recent study from our laboratory showed that increased CICR plays a necessary role in the emergence of Ca2+-related biomarkers of aging. Consequently, we propose an expanded L-VGCC/Ca2+ hypothesis, in which aging/pathological changes occur in both L-type Ca2+ channels and RyRs, and interact to abnormally amplify Ca2+ transients. In turn, the increased transients result in dysregulation of multiple Ca2+-dependent processes and, through somewhat different pathways, in accelerated functional decline during aging and AD