White-handed gibbons discriminate context-specific songs compositions

This research project has been funded by the Leverhulme Trust (Research Leadership Award F/00268/AP), the European Research Council (grant number FP7; PRILANG GA283871) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (310030_185324).White-handed gibbons produce loud and acoustically complex songs when interacting with their neighbours or when encountering predators. In both contexts, songs are assembled from a small number of units although their composition differs in context-specific ways. Here, we investigated whether wild gibbons could infer the ‘meaning’ when hearing exemplars recorded in both contexts (i.e. ‘duet songs’ vs. ‘predator songs’). We carried out a playback experiment by which we simulated the presence of a neighbouring group producing either its duet or a predator song in order to compare subjects’ vocal and locomotor responses. When hearing a recording of a duet song, subjects reliably responded with their own duet song, which sometimes elicited further duet songs in adjacent groups. When hearing a recording of a predator song, however, subjects typically remained silent, apart from one of six groups which replied with its own predator song. Moreover, in two of six trials, playbacks of predator songs elicited predator song replies in non-adjacent groups. Finally, all groups showed strong anti-predator behaviour to predator songs but never to duet songs. We concluded that white-handed gibbons discriminated between the two song types and were able to infer meaning from them. We discuss the implications of these findings in light of the current debate on the evolutionary origins of syntax.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Spectral Energy Distributions of Weak Active Galactic Nuclei Associated With Low-Ionization Nuclear Emission Regions

We present a compilation of spectral energy distributions of 35 weak AGNs in LINERs using recent data from the published literature. We make use of previously published compilations of data, after complementing and extending them with more recent data. The main improvement in the recent data is afforded by high-spatial resolution observations with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and high-spatial resolution radio observations utilizing a number of facilities. In addition, a considerable number of objects have been observed with the HST in the near-IR through near-UV bands since the earlier compilations were published. The data include upper limits resulting from either non-detections or observations at low spatial resolution that do not isolate the AGN. For the sake of completeness, we also compute and present a number of quantities from the data, such as alpha-ox, bolometric corrections, bolometric luminosities, Eddington ratios, and the average SED. We anticipate that these data will be useful for a number of applications. In a companion paper, we use a subset of these data ourselves to assess the energy budgets of LINERs.Comment: emulateapj format, 12 pages in total, to appear in ApJS, one large table and one large figure abridged (will be available in electronic journal

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome associated with COVID-19: An Emulated Target Trial Analysis.

RATIONALE: Whether COVID patients may benefit from extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) compared with conventional invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) remains unknown. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the effect of ECMO on 90-Day mortality vs IMV only Methods: Among 4,244 critically ill adult patients with COVID-19 included in a multicenter cohort study, we emulated a target trial comparing the treatment strategies of initiating ECMO vs. no ECMO within 7 days of IMV in patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (PaO2/FiO2 <80 or PaCO2 ≥60 mmHg). We controlled for confounding using a multivariable Cox model based on predefined variables. MAIN RESULTS: 1,235 patients met the full eligibility criteria for the emulated trial, among whom 164 patients initiated ECMO. The ECMO strategy had a higher survival probability at Day-7 from the onset of eligibility criteria (87% vs 83%, risk difference: 4%, 95% CI 0;9%) which decreased during follow-up (survival at Day-90: 63% vs 65%, risk difference: -2%, 95% CI -10;5%). However, ECMO was associated with higher survival when performed in high-volume ECMO centers or in regions where a specific ECMO network organization was set up to handle high demand, and when initiated within the first 4 days of MV and in profoundly hypoxemic patients. CONCLUSIONS: In an emulated trial based on a nationwide COVID-19 cohort, we found differential survival over time of an ECMO compared with a no-ECMO strategy. However, ECMO was consistently associated with better outcomes when performed in high-volume centers and in regions with ECMO capacities specifically organized to handle high demand. This article is open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Initiatives mises en place pour relever le défi de l'accès aux médicaments en Afrique

MONTPELLIER-BU Pharmacie (341722105) / SudocSudocFranceF

Socially-guided vocal flexibility in captive and forest-dwelling guenons

International audienc

Amélioration de la performance industrielle et mise en application du sujet en milieu pharmaceutiqueau travers d'une analyse de risque des contaminants physiques en fabrication et d'une optimisation des temps de maintenance sur lignes de conditionnement

L'amélioration continue de la performance est une démarche à laquelle tout industriel doit désormais s'associer afin de se démarquer de la concurrence. La dynamique d'amélioration de la performance permettra aux entreprises d'améliorer leur productivité, leur niveau de qualité ainsi que la satisfaction de leurs clients. Après avoir présenté plusieurs outils d'amélioration de la performance, deux méthodes ont été déployées sur le site de Servier Industrie : une analyse de risque des contaminants physiques en fabrication, ainsi qu'une optimisation des temps de maintenance sur lignes de conditionnement.NANTES-BU Médecine pharmacie (441092101) / SudocSudocFranceF