pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Evidence of functional connectivity between auditory cortical areas revealed by amplitude modulation sound processing.

International audienceThe human auditory cortex includes several interconnected areas. A better understanding of the mechanisms involved in auditory cortical functions requires a detailed knowledge of neuronal connectivity between functional cortical regions. In human, it is difficult to track in vivo neuronal connectivity. We investigated the interarea connection in vivo in the auditory cortex using a method of directed coherence (DCOH) applied to depth auditory evoked potentials (AEPs). This paper presents simultaneous AEPs recordings from insular gyrus (IG), primary and secondary cortices (Heschl's gyrus and planum temporale), and associative areas (Brodmann area [BA] 22) with multilead intracerebral electrodes in response to sinusoidal modulated white noises in 4 epileptic patients who underwent invasive monitoring with depth electrodes for epilepsy surgery. DCOH allowed estimation of the causality between 2 signals recorded from different cortical sites. The results showed 1) a predominant auditory stream within the primary auditory cortex from the most medial region to the most lateral one whatever the modulation frequency, 2) unidirectional functional connection from the primary to secondary auditory cortex, 3) a major auditory propagation from the posterior areas to the anterior ones, particularly at 8, 16, and 32 Hz, and 4) a particular role of Heschl's sulcus dispatching information to the different auditory areas. These findings suggest that cortical processing of auditory information is performed in serial and parallel streams. Our data showed that the auditory propagation could not be associated to a unidirectional traveling wave but to a constant interaction between these areas that could reflect the large adaptive and plastic capacities of auditory cortex. The role of the IG is discussed
Formation and characterization of hydride blisters in Zircaloy 4 cladding tubes

International audienceThis article is focused on the formation of hydride blisters in zirconium alloys an experimental and theoretical standpoint, and their characterization in terms of morphology, hydrides crystallographic phases, hardness and hydrogen concentration. An experimental setup was developed to grow hydride blisters on pre-hydrided Zircaloy-4 cladding tubes by thermo-diffusion. The thermal conditions were optimized based on thermo-diffusion calculations, that take into account the hysteresis in the hydrogen solubility limit, to obtain a high blister growth rate. Micro-X-ray Diffraction (XRD), nano-hardness and Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (ERDA) showed that the blisters contain a hydrogen gradient, with pure δδ-hydride phase close to the external surface over one third of the blister depth. Thermo-diffusion calculations showed these half thickness blisters should grow in only a few days in PWR conditions. Eventually, the Diffusion Equilibrium Threshold (DET) was defined as a criterion that limits the blister growth, and emphasizes that the hysteresis in the hydrogen solubility limit in zirconium must be taken into account to model hydrogen thermo-diffusion in zirconium alloys
A multi-level fast multipole BEM for 3-D elastodynamics in the frequency domain

To reduce computational complexity and memory requirement for 3-D elastodynamics using the boundary element method (BEM), a multi-level fast multipole BEM (FM-BEM) is proposed. The diagonal form for the expansion of the elastodynamic fundamental solution is used, with a truncation parameter adjusted to the subdivision level, a feature necessary for achieving optimal computational efficiency. Both the single-level and multi-level forms of the elastodynamic FM-BEM are considered, with emphasis on the latter. Crucial implementation issues, including the truncation of the multipole expansion, the optimal number of levels, the direct and inverse extrapolation steps are examined in detail with the backing of numerical experiments. A complexity analysis for both the single-level and multi-level versions is conducted. The correctness and computational performances of the proposed elastodynamic FMM are demonstrated on numerical examples, featuring up to $O(10^{6})$ DOFs run on a single-processor PC and including the diffraction of an incident P plane wave by a semi-spherical or semi-ellipsoidal canyon, representative of topographic site effects
Microstructure and mechanical properties of an Al–TiC metal matrix composite obtained by reactive synthesis

International audience"Microstructure and mechanical properties of an Al-TiC metal matrix composite obtained by reactive synthesis", Composites: Part A (2015), 72, 50-57." Abstract: A metal matrix composite has been obtained by a novel synthesis route, reacting Al 3 Ti and graphite at 1000°C for about 1 min after ball-milling and compaction. The resulting composite is made of an aluminium matrix reinforced by nanometer sized TiC particles (average diameter 70 nm). The average TiC/Al ratio is 34.6 wt.% (22.3 vol.%). The microstructure consists of an intimate mixture of two domains, an unreinforced domain made of the Al solid solution with a low TiC reinforcement content, and a reinforced domain. This composite exhibits uncommon mechanical properties with regard to previous micrometer sized Al-TiC composites and to its high reinforcement volume fraction, with a Young's modulus of ~110 GPa, an ultimate tensile strength of about 500 MPa and a maximum elongation of 6%
Ethical management in the constitution of a European database for leukodystrophies rare diseases.

International audienceBACKGROUND: The EU LeukoTreat program aims to connect, enlarge and improve existing national databases for leukodystrophies (LDs) and other genetic diseases affecting the white matter of the brain. Ethical issues have been placed high on the agenda by pairing the participating LD expert research teams with experts in medical ethics and LD patient families and associations. The overarching goal is to apply core ethics principles to specific project needs and ensure patient rights and protection in research addressing the context of these rare diseases. AIM: This paper looks at how ethical issues were identified and handled at project management level when setting up an ethics committee. METHODS: Through a work performed as a co-construction between health professionals, ethics experts, and patient representatives, we expose the major ethical issues identified. RESULTS: The committee acts as the forum for tackling specific issues tied to data sharing and patient participation: the thin line between care and research, the need for a charter establishing the commitments binding health professionals and the information items to be delivered. Ongoing feedback on the database, including delivering global results in a broad-audience format, emerged as a key recommendation. Information should be available to all patients in the partner countries developing the database and should be scaled to different patient profiles. CONCLUSION: This work led to a number of recommendations for ensuring transparency and optimizing the partnership between scientists and patients
Ultimate sensitivity of precision measurements with Gaussian quantum light : a multi-modal approach

International audienceMultimode Gaussian quantum light, which includes multimode squeezed and multipartite quadrature entangled light, is a very general and powerful quantum resource with promising applications in quantum information processing and metrology. In this paper, we determine the ultimate sensitivity in the estimation of any parameter when the information about this parameter is encoded in such light, irrespective of the information extraction protocol used in the estimation and of the measured observable. In addition we show that an appropriate homodyne detection scheme allows us to reach this ultimate sensitivity. We show that, for a given set of available quantum resources, the most economical way to maximize the sensitivity is to put the most squeezed state available in a well-de ned light mode. This implies that it is not possible to take advantage of the existence of squeezed fluctuations in other modes, nor of quantum correlations and entanglement between diff erent modes
Multiscale Modeling and Simulation of Organic Solar Cells

In this article, we continue our mathematical study of organic solar cells
(OSCs) and propose a two-scale (micro- and macro-scale) model of heterojunction
OSCs with interface geometries characterized by an arbitrarily complex
morphology. The microscale model consists of a system of partial and ordinary
differential equations in an heterogeneous domain, that provides a full
description of excitation/transport phenomena occurring in the bulk regions and
dissociation/recombination processes occurring in a thin material slab across
the interface. The macroscale model is obtained by a micro-to-macro scale
transition that consists of averaging the mass balance equations in the normal
direction across the interface thickness, giving rise to nonlinear transmission
conditions that are parametrized by the interfacial width. These conditions
account in a lumped manner for the volumetric dissociation/recombination
phenomena occurring in the thin slab and depend locally on the electric field
magnitude and orientation. Using the macroscale model in two spatial
dimensions, device structures with complex interface morphologies, for which
existing data are available, are numerically investigated showing that, if the
electric field orientation relative to the interface is taken into due account,
the device performance is determined not only by the total interface length but
also by its shape
Measuring the tensor to scalar ratio from CMB B-modes in presence of foregrounds

18 p.International audienceAbreg: We investigate the impact of polarized foreground emission on the performances of future CMB experiments in measuring the tensor-to-scalar ratio r. We design a component separation pipeline, based on the Smica method, aimed at estimating r and the foreground contamination from the data with no prior assumption on the frequency dependence or spatial distribution of the foregrounds. We derive error bars accounting for the uncertainty on foreground contribution. We use the current knowledge of galactic and extra-galactic foregrounds as implemented in the Planck Sky Model (PSM), to build simulations of the sky emission for various experimental setups. Our method, permits us to detect r = 0.1 at more than 3 sigma from B-modes only with Planck data, and r = 0.001 at 6 sigma for the most ambitious designs of the future EPIC probe. We find that all-sky experiments permit a proper measurement of the reionization bump despite the large scale foreground emission and are nearly insensitive to contamination from point sources and lensing if their statistical contribution can be modelled accurately. Investigating the observation of a small but clean part of the sky, we show that diffuse foregrounds remain a concern for a sensitive ground-based experiment with a limited frequency coverage when measuring r < 0.1, but are dealt with efficiently by a deep field space mission which is in return quite sensitive to lensing. Our results do not significantly depend on the overall level and frequency dependence of the diffused foreground model
Morphological and adhesive properties of polypyrrole films synthesized by sonoelectrochemical technique.

International audienceThis paper presents electrochemical synthesis of polypyrrole films under high frequency sonication. The films are characterized in terms of adhesion and surface morphology. Comparison to classical electrosynthesized polypyrrole films is made. In particular, the use of high frequency sonication (500 kHz) during electrodeposition of polypyrrole on Si was reported for the first time. Chronocoulometry was used for polymer films electrosynthesis on Si substrates. Influence of polymer thickness on the rugosity, morphology and adhesion force properties was studied. Scanning Electron Microscopy and mechanical probe profiling showed that sonication led to less rough and more homogeneous surface structure. Adhesion force properties of polypyrrole films were also studied by means of force-distance curves obtained by atomic force microscopy. For polymer films obtained in the absence of sonication, adhesion forces decreases with increase in polymer thickness. On the contrary, for polymer films obtained under sonication, the adhesion of the films decreased when the polymer thickness decreased
Behaviour of lithium and its isotopes during weathering in the Mackenzie Basin, Canada

International audienceWe report Li isotopic compositions, for river waters and suspended sediments, of about 40 rivers sampled within the Mackenzie River Basin in northwestern Canada. The aim of this study is to characterize the behaviour of Li and its isotopes during weathering at the scale of a large mixed lithology basin. The Mackenzie River waters display systematically heavier Li isotopic compositions relative to source rocks and suspended sediments. The range in delta Li-7 is larger in dissolved load (from +9.3 parts per thousand to +29.0 parts per thousand) compared to suspended sediments (from 1.7 parts per thousand to +3.2 parts per thousand), which are not significantly different from delta Li-7 values in bedrocks. Our study shows that dissolved Li is essentially derived from the weathering of silicates and that its isotopic composition in the dissolved load is inversely correlated with its relative mobility when compared to Na. The highest enrichment of Li-7 in the dissolved load is reported when Li is not or poorly incorporated in secondary phases after its release into solution by mineral dissolution. This counterintuitive observation is interpreted by the mixing of water types derived from two different weathering regimes producing different Li isotopic compositions within the Mackenzie River Basin. The incipient weathering regime characterizing the Rocky Mountains and the Shield areas produces Li-7 enrichment in the fluid phase that is most simply explained by the precipitation of oxyhydroxide phases fractionating Li isotopes. The second weathering regime is found in the lowland area and produces the lower delta Li-7 waters (but still enriched in Li-7 compared to bedrocks) and the most Li-depleted waters (compared to Na). Fractionation factors suggest that the incorporation of Li in clay minerals is the mechanism that explains the isotopic composition of the lowland rivers. The correlation of boron and lithium concentrations found in the dissolved load of the Mackenzie Rivers suggests that precipitation of clay minerals is favoured by the relatively high residence time of water in groundwater. In the Shield and Rocky Mountains, Li isotopes suggest that clay minerals are not forming and that secondary minerals with stronger affinity for Li-7 appear. Although the weathering mechanisms operating in the Mackenzie Basin need to be characterized more precisely, the Li isotope data reported here clearly show the control of Li isotopes by the weathering intensity. The spatial diversity of weathering regimes, resulting from a complex combination of factors such as topography, geology, climate and hydrology explains, in fine, the spatial distribution of Li isotopic ratios in the large drainage basin of the Mackenzie River. There is no simple relationship between Li isotopic composition and chemical denudation fluxes in the Mackenzie River Basi
Defining invasiveness and invasibility in ecological networks

The success of a biological invasion is context dependent, and yet two key concepts—the invasiveness of species and the invasibility of recipient ecosystems—are often defined and considered separately. We propose a framework that can elucidate the complex relationship between invasibility and invasiveness. It is based on trait-mediated interactions between species and depicts the response of an ecological network to the intrusion of an alien species, drawing on the concept of community saturation. Here, invasiveness of an introduced species with a particular trait is measured by its per capita population growth rate when the initial propagule pressure of the introduced species is very low. The invasibility of the recipient habitat or ecosystem is dependent on the structure of the resident ecological network and is defined as the total width of an opportunity niche in the trait space susceptible to invasion. Invasibility is thus a measure of network instability. We also correlate invasibility with the asymptotic stability of resident ecological network, measured by the leading eigenvalue of the interaction matrix that depicts trait-based interaction intensity multiplied by encounter rate (a pairwise product of propagule pressure of all members in a community). We further examine the relationship between invasibility and network architecture, including network connectance, nestedness and modularity. We exemplify this framework with a trait-based assembly model under perturbations in ways to emulate fluctuating resources and random trait composition in ecological networks. The maximum invasiveness of a potential invader (greatest intrinsic population growth rate) was found to be positively correlated with invasibility of the recipient ecological network. Additionally, ecosystems with high network modularity and high ecological stability tend to exhibit high invasibility. Where quantitative data are lacking we propose using a qualitative interaction matrix of the ecological network perceived by a potential invader so that the structural network stability and invasibility can be estimated from the literature or from expert opinion. This approach links network structure, invasiveness and invasibility in the context of trait-mediated interactions, such as the invasion of insects into mutualistic and antagonistic networks
Maximally entangled mixed states of two qubits

We consider mixed states of two qubits and show under which global unitary operations their entanglement is maximized. This leads to a class of states that is a generalization of the Bell states. Three measures of entanglement are considered: entanglement of formation, negativity, and relative entropy of entanglement. Surprisingly all states that maximize one measure also maximize the; others. We give a complete characterization of these generalized Bell states and prove that these states for fixed eigenvalues are all equivalent under local unitary transformations. Furthermore we characterize all nearly entangled states closest to the maximally mixed state and derive a lower bound on the volume of separable mixed states
One single dose of etomidate negatively influences adrenocortical performance for at least 24 h in children with meningococcal sepsis

Objective: To investigate the effect of one single bolus of etomidate used for intubation on adrenal function in children with meningococcal sepsis. Design: Retrospective study conducted between 1997 and 2004. Setting: University-affiliated paediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Patients and participants: Sixty children admitted to the PICU with meningococcal sepsis, not treated with steroids. Interventions: Adrenal hormone concentrations were determined as soon as possible after PICU admission, and after 12h and 24h. To assess disease severity, PRISM score and selected laboratory parameters were determined. Measurements and main results: On admission, before blood was drawn, 23 children had been intubated with etomidate, 8 without etomidate and 29 were not intubated. Children who were intubated had significantly higher disease severity parameters than those not intubated, whereas none of these parameters significantly differed between children intubated with or without etomidate. Children who received etomidate had significantly lower cortisol, higher ACTH and higher 11-deoxycortisol levels than those who did not receive etomidate. Arterial glucose levels were significantly lower in children who were intubated with etomidate than in non-intubated children. When children were intubated with etomidate, cortisol levels were 3.2 times lower for comparable 11-deoxycortisol levels. Eight children died, seven of whom had received etomidate. Within 24h cortisol/ACTH and cortisol/11-deoxycortisol ratios increased significantly in children who received etomidate, but not in children who did not, resulting in comparable cortisol/ACTH ratios with still significantly lowered cortisol/11-deoxycortisol ratios 24h after admission. Conclusions: Our data imply that even one single bolus of etomidate negatively influences adrenal function for at least 24h. It might therefore increase risk of death
Using spatial data mining to analyze area-diversity patterns among soil, vegetation, and climate: A case study from Almería, Spain

ABSTRACT:  Area-pedodiversity, area?vegetation diversity, area-bioclimatic belts, diversity and pedodiversity-vegetation diversity-bioclimatic diversity relationships were analyzed for the most arid region ofWestern Europe (SE Spain). The study is novel in that it analyzed these relationships using as operational geographic units (OGUs) the set of polygons belonging to the same character state (i.e., typology) that defines a zone in a given thematic map. We considered three thematic maps: 1) the map of soil associations (SMU) with 303 different soil associations (i.e., 303 areas or zones); 2) the map of potential vegetation (PNV)with 40 vegetation series or zones and 3) the map of bioclimatic belts (BB) with 7 bioclimatic zones. Using GIS tools, we analyzed the contents (richness) of soil mapping units (polygons) with regard to vegetation series and bioclimatic belts as well as the contents of vegetation series and bioclimatic belts with regard to SMU. The results indicate that the relationships between the area and the richness of zones follow a power law, the ?fingerprint of fractal geometry?, irrespective of the way the area has been defined and their relative magnitude (the areas defined by SMU are the smallest, while the areas defined by bioclimatic belts are the largest). The results also indicate a significant correlation between the ? diversities of the zones and between their ? diversities. We conclude that the methods used to measure such correlations, based on ? and ? diversities are useful to investigate and quantify the relationships between the pedosphere, vegetation and climate
Mutation of Solute Carrier SLC16A12 Associates with a Syndrome Combining Juvenile Cataract with Microcornea and Renal Glucosuria

Unobstructed vision requires a particular refractive index of the lens, a measure based on the organization of the structural proteins within the differentiated lens cells. To ensure an intact lens structure, homeostasis within the lens cells is indispensable. Alterations of the lens structure result in opacity and lead to cataract. Renal glucosuria is defined by elevated glucose level in the urine without hyperglycemia and without evidence of morphological renal anomalies. In a Swiss family with autosomal dominant juvenile cataract, microcornea, and renal glucosuria, we have identified a nonsense mutation in a member of the carboxylic acid transporter family SLC16. The underlying gene defect in SLC16A12 resides within a 3 cM region on chromosome 10q23.13 defined by linkage mapping of this phenotype. We found tissue-specific variability of SLC16A12 transcript levels in control samples, with high expression in the eye and kidney, the two organs affected by this syndrome. This report demonstrates biological relevance of this solute carrier. We hypothesize that SLC16A12 is important for lens and kidney homeostasis and discuss its potential role in age-related cataract