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Young oceanic plateaus are important for fluid exchange between the lithosphere and the ocean. Increased heat fluxes can lead to a large-scale upwelling of fluids that play a role in global elemental cycles. In addition, variations in fluid chemistries can potentially influence the biomass and species compositions of microbial and benthic communities in sediments exposed to subsurface fluid flow. Yet, the present understanding of these young oceanic plateaus in terms of their fluid dynamics and their biogeochemical local and global impacts is limited. The goal of RV Meteor Expedition M186 in December 2022 was to investigate how subsurface fluids on the young Azores Plateau, Central North Atlantic, vary with respect to their flow rates, chemical compositions, and the prevalent on microbial and benthic communities at and below the seafloor. First data from the São Jorge Channel (Azores Plateau) show that fluid dynamics here are diffuse rather than focused, and that fluid chemical compositions nonetheless show strong local variations, over a small spatial scale of 65 km2, that could be related to differences in fluid origins and fluid flow paths. However, the connection of fluid conduits, heat flow data and biogeochemical data as well as their relation to faults visible in seismic data are rather complex. Our first results thus indicate that diffuse fluid flow on young oceanic plateaus is highly heterogeneous despite occurring over large sediment-covered areas. Thus, the role of fluids at young oceanic plateaus as an important intermediate between the lithosphere and the ocean cannot be generalized over large spatial and possibly temporal scales.

Choosing an action in response to visual cues relies on cognitive processes, such as perception, evaluation, and prediction, which can modulate visual representations even at early processing stages. In the mouse, it is challenging to isolate cognitive modulations of sensory signals because concurrent overt behavior patterns, such as locomotion, can also have brainwide influences. To address this challenge, we designed a task, in which head-fixed mice had to evaluate one of two visual cues. While their global shape signaled the opportunity to earn reward, the cues provided equivalent local stimulation to receptive fields of neurons in primary visual (V1) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). We found that mice evaluated these cues within few hundred milliseconds. During this period, ∼30% of V1 neurons became cue-selective, with preferences for either cue being balanced across the recorded population. This selectivity emerged in response to the behavioral demands because the same neurons could not discriminate the cues in sensory control measurements. In ACC, cue evaluation affected a similar fraction of neurons; emerging selectivity, however, was stronger than in V1, and preferences in the recorded population were biased toward the cue promising reward. Such a biased selectivity regime might allow the mouse to infer the promise of reward simply by the overall level of activity. Together, these experiments isolate the impact of task demands on neural responses in mouse cerebral cortex, and document distinct neural signatures of cue evaluation in V1 and ACC.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTPerforming a cognitive task, such as evaluating visual cues, not only recruits frontal and parietal brain regions, but also modulates sensory processing stages. We trained mice to evaluate two visual cues, and show that, during this task, ∼30% of neurons recorded in V1 became selective for either cue, although they provided equivalent visual stimulation. We also show that, during cue evaluation, mice frequently move their eyes, even under head fixation, and that ignoring systematic differences in eye position can substantially obscure the modulations seen in V1 neurons. Finally, we document that modulations are stronger in ACC, and biased toward the reward-predicting cue, suggesting a transition in the neural representation of task-relevant information across processing stages in mouse cerebral cortex.

International audience; In this contribution, we recall and test a new methodology designed to identify the favorable reaction pathway between two reactants. Applied to the formation of the DNA guanine (G) –cytosine (C) pair, we successfully predict the best orientation between the base pairs held together by hydrogen bonds and leading to the formation of the typical Watson Crick structure of the GC pair. Beyond the global minimum, some local stationary points of the targeted pair are also clearly identified.

International audience; Based on the quantum chemical topology of the modified electron localization function ELFx, an efficient and robust mechanistic methodology designed to identify the favorable reaction pathway between two reactants is proposed. We first recall and reshape how the supermolecular interaction energy can be evaluated from only three distinct terms, namely the intermolecular coulomb energy, the intermolecular exchange‐correlation energy and the intramolecular energies of reactants. Thereafter, we show that the reactivity between the reactants is driven by the first‐order variation in the coulomb intermolecular energy defined in terms of the response to changes in the number of electrons. Illustrative examples with the formation of the dative bond B‐N involved in the BH3NH3 molecule and the typical formation of the hydrogen bond in the canonical water dimer are presented. For these selected systems, our approach unveils a noticeable mimicking of Edual onto the DFT intermolecular interaction energy surface calculated between the both reactants. An automated reaction‐path algorithm aimed to determine the most favorable relative orientations when the two molecules approach each other is also outlined.

International audience; Prompted by the antineoplastic properties of cisplatin, a plethora of platinum(II)-based complexes have been synthesized in the past decades. At present, their rational design is based on a number of structure–activity relationships involving the nature of the ligands initially coordinated to platinum(II): either non-labile (acting as a carrier) or labile (undergoing substitution). The coordinate bond strength of the labile ligand plays a key role in the first step of the drug mechanism of action, i.e., the hydrolysis process, which is associated to the retention time of the medicine in the body. Therefore, an accurate determination of the metal–ligand bond strength becomes highly relevant as it will help the rational design of novel chemotherapeutic agents. Herein, we challenge the recently developed intrinsic bond strength index (IBSI) as a rapid and practical tool to assess the ligand lability in Pt(II) complexes. In a first stage, given the importance of the trans-effect in synthetic strategies of cisplatin-based drugs, the effect of eleven trans-directing ligands T is quantified in two sets of complexes [Pt(NH3)2(H2O)T]n+ and [PtCl2(NH3)T]m+ where T = H2O, F−, NH3, Cl−, Br−, I−, SO32−, CH3−, CN−, CO, and H−. An essential outcome of this work is a novel index IBSItrans = IBSIσ + IBSIπ able to rank the directing ligands by their trans-effect according to their σ-donation and π-backbonding electronic contributions. In a second stage, we apply the IBSI score to a panel of eleven case studies, comprising mostly antineoplastic agents, such as cisplatin, carboplatin, lobaplatin etc., in order to quantify the coordinate bond strength of the ligands, providing insights about the hydrolysis process. The obtained results, in good agreement with experimental data and reported theoretical studies, demonstrate that the IBSI score is able to deliver a rapid and reliable picture of the coordinate bond strength, representing a chemically intuitive tool helpful for the development of novel anticancer agents prior to synthetic efforts.

At the end of their operational life offshore wind farms need to be decommissioned. Up to date only few offshore wind farms were decommissioned, so there is a lack of experience and knowledge and decommissioning processes are largely unknown. Also, relevant stakeholders that might interfere with the decommissioning project are poorly investigated. As source of renewable energy, offshore wind farm decommissioning should be sustainable. This paper outlines a practical concept of integrating the three approaches for a sustainable decommissioning of offshore wind farms. It comprises a stakeholder approach, where relevant stakeholders are identified and analysed, a sustainability approach, in which objectives for sustainable offshore wind farm decommissioning are defined, and a process approach, including the selection, documentation and parametrization of decommissioning processes. The theoretical concept of the integration of the three approaches is outlined first. Thereafter the concept is applied on a case study of offshore wind farm decommissioning.

International audience; The covalent chemical bond is intimately linked to electron sharing between atoms. The recent independent gradient model (IGM) and its δg descriptor provide a way to quantify locally this electron density interpenetration from wavefunction calculations. Each bond has its own IGM-δgpair signature. The present work establishes for the first time a strong link between this bond signature and the physically grounded bond force constant concept. Analyzing a large set of compounds and bonds, the intrinsic bond strength index (IBSI) emerges from the IGM formulation. Our study shows that the IBSI does not belong to the class of conventional bond orders (like Mulliken, Wiberg, Mayer, delocalization index, or electron localization function—ELF), but is rather a new complementary index, related to the bond strength. A fundamental outcome of this research is a novel index allowing to range all two-center chemical bonds by their intrinsic strength in molecular situation. We believe that the IBSI is a powerful and robust tool for interpretation accessible to a wide community of chemists (organic, inorganic chemistry, including transition-metal complexes and reaction mechanisms).

Systemische Familienrekonstruktion wird in Ausbildungs- und ambulanten Kontexten, aber bislang kaum in der stationaren psychosomatischen Behandlung eingesetzt. Die vorliegende Studie untersuchte langfristige Wirkungen einer Familienrekonstruktionsgruppe im stationaren Setting (teil- und vollstationar). Dabei wurde auf Aspekte des Konzepts der „personlichen Autoritat im Familiensystem“ fokussiert. Erganzend wurden Veranderungen allgemeine r psychopathologische r Merkmale erfasst. Es wurden 147 stationar behandelte Patienten (87 Gruppenteilnehmer und 60 Patienten einer Vergleichsgruppe) nach 4,5 Jahren (Mittel) nachuntersucht. Hierzu kamen der Fragebogen „Personliche Autoritat im Familiensystem“ (PAFS-Q) und ein selbst entwickelter Fragebogen zur Wahrnehmung der Familie zum Einsatz, auserdem die Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R®), das Beck-Depressionsinventar (BDI) und das Inventar zur Erfassung Interpersonaler Probleme (IIP) zur Evaluation der allgemeinen psychopathologischen Merkmale. Der PASF-Q wurde ausschlieslich von Teilnehmern ausgefullt. Gruppenteilnehmer setzten sich im Vergleich mit Nichtteilnehmern intensiver mit ihren Eltern auseinander und nahmen ihre Position in der Herkunftsfamilie positiver wahr. Im Langsschnitt zeigten Gruppenteilnehmer im PAFS-Q hohere Werte fur Intimitat und niedrigere fur Beeinflussung. Bezuglich allgemeiner psychopathologischer Merkmale fanden sich stabile Verbesserungen uber 4 Jahre, jedoch ohne Gruppenunterschiede. Gruppenteilnehmer setzten sich psychotherapeutisch intensiver mit ihrer Herkunftsfamilie auseinander als Nichtteilnehmer und zeigten im PAFS-Q positive Veranderungen. Wesentliche Limitierung der Studie ist das retrospektive Design, sodass die Ergebnisse durch prospektive Untersuchungen bestatigt werden mussen.

This paper provides (a) a survey of the basic tubule transport mechanisms of sodium and potassium ions along the nephron, (b) a comparison of the overall renal effects of two diuretic agents (torasemide and furosemide), as assessed by renal clearance techniques, (c) an analysis of the tubule sites of action of torasemide evaluated by free-flow micropuncture and microperfusion techniques, and (d) a brief evaluation of some extrarenal transport effects of loop diuretics.