Facial trustworthiness judgments in children with ASD are modulated by happy and angry emotional cues

Appearance-based trustworthiness inferences may reflect the misinterpretation of emotional expression cues. Children and adults typically perceive faces that look happy to be relatively trustworthy and those that look angry to be relatively untrustworthy. Given reports of atypical expression perception in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), the current study aimed to determine whether the modulation of trustworthiness judgments by emotional expression cues in children with ASD is also atypical. Cognitively-able children with and without ASD, aged 6–12 years, rated the trustworthiness of faces showing happy, angry and neutral expressions. Trust judgments in children with ASD were significantly modulated by overt happy and angry expressions, like those of typically-developing children. Furthermore, subtle emotion cues in neutral faces also influenced trust ratings of the children in both groups. These findings support a powerful influence of emotion cues on perceived trustworthiness, which even extends to children with social cognitive impairments

Short-period volcanic gas precursors to phreatic eruptions: Insights from Poás Volcano, Costa Rica

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Insights on Hydrothermal‐Magmatic Interactions and Eruptive Processes at Poás Volcano (Costa Rica) From High‐Frequency Gas Monitoring and Drone Measurements

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Hydrogeology of Stromboli volcano, Aeolian Islands (Italy) from the interpretation of resistivity tomograms, self-potential, soil temperature and soil CO2 concentration measurements

International audienceTo gain a better insight of the hydrogeology and the location of the main tectonic faults of Stromboli volcano in Italy, we collected electrical resistivity measurements, soil CO2 concentrations, temperature and self-potential measurements along two profiles. These two profiles started at the village of Ginostra in the southwest part of the island. The first profile (4.8 km in length) ended up at the village of Scari in the north east part of the volcano and the second one (3.5 km in length) at Forgia Vecchia beach, in the eastern part of the island. These data were used to provide insights regarding the position of shallow aquifers and the extension of the hydrothermal system. This large-scale study is complemented by two high-resolution studies, one at the Pizzo area (near the active vents) and one at Rina Grande where flank collapse areas can be observed. The Pizzo corresponds to one of the main degassing structure of the hydrothermal system. The main degassing area is localized along a higher permeability area corresponding to the head of the gliding plane of the Rina Grande sector collapse. We found that the self-potential data reveal the position of an aquifer above the villages of Scari and San Vincenzo. We provide an estimate of the depth of this aquifer from these data. The lateral extension of the hydrothermal system (resistivity ∼15-60 ohm m) is broader than anticipated extending in the direction of the villages of Scari and San Vincenzo (in agreement with temperature data recorded in shallow wells). The lateral extension of the hydrothermal system reaches the lower third of the Rina Grande sector collapse area in the eastern part of the island. The hydrothermal body in this area is blocked by an old collapse boundary. This position of the hydrothermal body is consistent with low values of the magnetization (<2.5 A m−1) from previously published work. The presence of the hydrothermal body below Rina Grande raises questions about the mechanical stability of this flank of the edifice

Adventive hydrothermal circulation on Stromboli volcano (Aeolian Islands, Italy) revealed by geophysical and geochemical approaches: Implications for general fluid flow models on volcanoes

International audienceOn March 15th 2007 a paroxysmal explosion occurred at the Stromboli volcano. This event generated a large amount of products, mostly lithic blocks, some of which impacted the ground as far as down to 200 m a.s.l., about 1.5 km far away from the active vents. Two days after the explosion, a new vapour emission was discovered on the north-eastern flank of the volcanic edifice, at 560 m a.s.l., just above the area called "Nel Cannestrà". This new vapour emission was due to a block impact. In order to investigate the block impact area to understand the appearance of the vapour emission, we conducted on May 2008 a multidisciplinary study involving Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), Self-Potential (SP), CO2 soil diffuse degassing and soil temperature surveys. This complementary data set revealed the presence of an anomalous conductive body, probably related to a shallow hydrothermal level, at about 10-15 m depth, more or less parallel to the topography. It is the first time that such a hydrothermal fluid flow, with a temperature close to the water boiling point (76 °C) has been evidenced at Stromboli at this low elevation on the flank of the edifice. The ERT results suggest a possible link between (1) the main central hydrothermal system of Stromboli, located just above the plumbing system feeding the active vents, with a maximum of subsurface soil temperature close to 90 °C and limited by the NeoStromboli summit crater boundary and (2) the investigated area of Nel Cannestrà, at ~ 500 m a.s.l., a buried eruptive fissure active 9 ka ago. In parallel, SP and CO2 soil diffuse degassing measurements suggest in this sector at slightly lower elevation from the block impact crater a magmatic and hydrothermal fluid rising system along the N41° regional fault. A complementary ERT profile, on May 2009, carried out from the NeoStromboli crater boundary down to the block impact crater displayed a flank fluid flow apparently connected to a deeper system. The concept of shallow hydrothermal level have been compared to similar ERT results recently obtained on Mount Etna and La Fossa cone of Vulcano. This information needs to be taken into account in general fluid flow models on volcanoes. In particular, peripheral thermal waters (as those bordering the north-eastern coast of Stromboli) could be contaminated by hydrothermal and magmatic fluids coming from regional faults but also from the summit

Mutation analysis and characterization of ATR sequence variants in breast cancer cases from high-risk French Canadian breast/ovarian cancer families

BACKGROUND: Ataxia telangiectasia-mutated and Rad3-related (ATR) is a member of the PIK-related family which plays, along with ATM, a central role in cell-cycle regulation. ATR has been shown to phosphorylate several tumor suppressors like BRCA1, CHEK1 and TP53. ATR appears as a good candidate breast cancer susceptibility gene and the current study was designed to screen for ATR germline mutations potentially involved in breast cancer predisposition. METHODS: ATR direct sequencing was performed using a fluorescent method while widely available programs were used for linkage disequilibrium (LD), haplotype analyses, and tagging SNP (tSNP) identification. Expression analyses were carried out using real-time PCR. RESULTS: The complete sequence of all exons and flanking intronic sequences were analyzed in DNA samples from 54 individuals affected with breast cancer from non-BRCA1/2 high-risk French Canadian breast/ovarian families. Although no germline mutation has been identified in the coding region, we identified 41 sequence variants, including 16 coding variants, 3 of which are not reported in public databases. SNP haplotypes were established and tSNPs were identified in 73 healthy unrelated French Canadians, providing a valuable tool for further association studies involving the ATR gene, using large cohorts. Our analyses led to the identification of two novel alternative splice transcripts. In contrast to the transcript generated by an alternative splicing site in the intron 41, the one resulting from a deletion of 121 nucleotides in exon 33 is widely expressed, at significant but relatively low levels, in both normal and tumoral cells including normal breast and ovarian tissue. CONCLUSION: Although no deleterious mutations were identified in the ATR gene, the current study provides an haplotype analysis of the ATR gene polymorphisms, which allowed the identification of a set of SNPs that could be used as tSNPs for large-scale association studies. In addition, our study led to the characterization of a novel Δ33 splice form, which could generate a putative truncated protein lacking several functional domains. Additional studies in large cohorts and other populations will be needed to further evaluate if common and/or rare ATR sequence variants can be associated with a modest or intermediate breast cancer risk

Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.]

The ECOUTER methodology for stakeholder engagement in translational research.

BACKGROUND: Because no single person or group holds knowledge about all aspects of research, mechanisms are needed to support knowledge exchange and engagement. Expertise in the research setting necessarily includes scientific and methodological expertise, but also expertise gained through the experience of participating in research and/or being a recipient of research outcomes (as a patient or member of the public). Engagement is, by its nature, reciprocal and relational: the process of engaging research participants, patients, citizens and others (the many 'publics' of engagement) brings them closer to the research but also brings the research closer to them. When translating research into practice, engaging the public and other stakeholders is explicitly intended to make the outcomes of translation relevant to its constituency of users. METHODS: In practice, engagement faces numerous challenges and is often time-consuming, expensive and 'thorny' work. We explore the epistemic and ontological considerations and implications of four common critiques of engagement methodologies that contest: representativeness, communication and articulation, impacts and outcome, and democracy. The ECOUTER (Employing COnceptUal schema for policy and Translation Engagement in Research) methodology addresses problems of representation and epistemic foundationalism using a methodology that asks, "How could it be otherwise?" ECOUTER affords the possibility of engagement where spatial and temporal constraints are present, relying on saturation as a method of 'keeping open' the possible considerations that might emerge and including reflexive use of qualitative analytic methods. RESULTS: This paper describes the ECOUTER process, focusing on one worked example and detailing lessons learned from four other pilots. ECOUTER uses mind-mapping techniques to 'open up' engagement, iteratively and organically. ECOUTER aims to balance the breadth, accessibility and user-determination of the scope of engagement. An ECOUTER exercise comprises four stages: (1) engagement and knowledge exchange; (2) analysis of mindmap contributions; (3) development of a conceptual schema (i.e. a map of concepts and their relationship); and (4) feedback, refinement and development of recommendations. CONCLUSION: ECOUTER refuses fixed truths but also refuses a fixed nature. Its promise lies in its flexibility, adaptability and openness. ECOUTER will be formed and re-formed by the needs and creativity of those who use it