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The sexual misperception bias is a cognitive bias in which men tend to overestimate sexual interest from women, potentially shaped by evolutionary mating strategies. Testosterone, often linked to mating behaviors, might play a role in sustaining sexual overperceptions. To explore this possibility, we conducted a placebo-controlled study with 190 heterosexual men, administering either 11 mg of testosterone or a placebo. Participants interacted with an attractive female confederate, while naïve raters assessed the confederate’s affiliative behaviors. Our findings suggest that exogenous testosterone did not broadly impact sexual overperception. However, we found that affiliative behavior from the confederate was positively correlated with perceived sexual interest among testosterone-treated, but not placebo-treated men. In addition, we found that this effect among testosterone-treated men was contingent on their self-perceived attractiveness. Specifically, the confederate’s affiliative behaviors were positively correlated with perceived sexual interest, but only for testosterone-treated men with average or above average self-perceived attractiveness. Furthermore, our data revealed that men’s tendency to project their own short-term and long-term mating interests increases as a function of self-perceived attractiveness, and this coupling is enhanced by testosterone for long-term interest. Taken together, these results suggest that testosterone may potentiate existing biases, particularly when sexual motivation is high, and bias perceptions of friendly behavior when engaging in cross-sex mindreading. This study adds to the understanding of the neuroendocrine bases of social cognition, suggesting that testosterone can affect men’s perceptions of potential mates.

IntroductionProlonged and repeated exercise performed during an ultra-endurance event can induce general and cardiac fatigue known as exercise-induced cardiac fatigue. Our objective was to find a possible correlation between the cardiac function and the autonomic cardiac function.MethodsDuring a multistage ultra-endurance event, a female well-trained cyclist underwent daily rest echocardiography and heart rate variability measurements to assess the cardiac function and the cardiac autonomic function.ResultsThe athlete completed 3,345 km at 65% of her maximum heart rate and 39% of her maximum aerobic power. A progressive improvement of the systolic function for both the left ventricle and the right ventricle was observed during the event.DiscussionAlterations were observed on the cardiac autonomic function with an imbalance between sympathetic and parasympathetic, but there was no sign of a significant correlation between the cardiac function and the autonomic cardiac function and no signs of cardiac fatigue either. Further analysis should be performed on a larger sample to confirm the obtained results.

Psychometrics and the consequences of its use as the method of quantitative empirical psychology has been continuously criticized by both psychologists and psychometrists. However, the scope of the possible solutions to these issues has been mostly focused on the establishment of methodological-statistical best practices for researchers, without any regard to the pitfalls of previous stages of measurement as well as theory development of the targeted phenomenon. Conversely, other researchers advance the idea that, since psychometrics is riddled with many issues, the best way forward is a complete rework of the discipline even if it leaves psychologists and other practitioners without any way to measure quantitatively for a long period of time. Given these tensions, we therefore advocate for an alternative path to consider while we work on making substantive change in measurement. We propose a set of research practices focusing on the inclusion and active participation of groups involved in measurement activities, such as psychometrists, researchers but most importantly practitioners and potential participants. Involving a wider community while measuring in psychology could tackle some key issues that would take us closer to a more authentic approach to our phenomenon of interest.

Research on child-adult interactions has identified that the morphology of bodily coordination seems to be sensitive to age and type of interaction. Mirror-like imitation emerges earlier in life and is more common during emotionally laden interactions, while anatomical imitation is acquired later and associated with cognitive tasks. However, it remains unclear whether these morphologies also vary with age and type of interaction during spontaneous coordination. Here we report a motion capture study comparing the spontaneous coordination patterns of thirty-five 3-year-old (20 girls; Mage = 3.15 years) and forty 6-year-old children (20 girls; Mage = 6.13 years) interacting with unacquainted adults during two storytelling sessions. The stories narrated the search of a character for her mother (Predominantly Affective Condition) or an object (Predominantly Intellectual Condition) inside a supermarket. Results show that children of both ages consistently coordinated their spontaneous movements towards adult storytellers, both in symmetric and asymmetric ways. However, symmetric coordination was more prominent in 3-year-old children and during predominantly emotional interactions, whereas asymmetric coordination prevailed in 6-year-old children and during predominantly intellectual interactions. These results add evidence from spontaneous interactions in favor of the hypothesis that symmetric coordination is associated with affective interactions and asymmetric coordination with intellectual ones.

BackgroundBOREALIN/CDCA8 mutations are associated with congenital hypothyroidism and thyroid dysgenesis. Borealin is involved in mitosis as part of the Chromosomal Passenger Complex. Although BOREALIN mutations decrease thyrocyte adhesion and migration, little is known about the specific role of Borealin in the thyroid.MethodsWe characterized thyroid development and function in Borealin-deficient (Borealin+/−) mice using histology, transcriptomic analysis, and quantitative PCR.ResultsThyroid development was impaired with a hyperplastic anlage on embryonic day E9.5 followed by thyroid hypoplasia from E11.5 onward. Adult Borealin+/− mice exhibited euthyroid goiter and defect in thyroid hormone synthesis. Borealin+/− aged mice had disorganized follicles and papillary-like structures in thyroids due to ERK pathway activation and a strong increase of Braf-like genes described by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) network of papillary thyroid carcinoma. Moreover, Borealin+/− thyroids exhibited structural and transcriptomic similarities with papillary thyroid carcinoma tissue from a human patient harboring a BOREALIN mutation, suggesting a role in thyroid tumor susceptibility.ConclusionThese findings demonstrate Borealin involvement in critical steps of thyroid structural development and function throughout life. They support a role for Borealin in thyroid dysgenesis with congenital hypothyroidism. Close monitoring for thyroid cancer seems warranted in patients carrying BOREALIN mutations.

Increasing evidence reinforces the essential function of RNA modifications in development and diseases, especially in the nervous system. RNA modifications impact various processes in the brain, including neurodevelopment, neurogenesis, neuroplasticity, learning and memory, neural regeneration, neurodegeneration, and brain tumorigenesis, leading to the emergence of a new field termed neuroepitranscriptomics. Deficiency in machineries modulating RNA modifications has been implicated in a range of brain disorders from microcephaly, intellectual disability, seizures, and psychiatric disorders to brain cancers such as glioblastoma. The inaugural NSAS Challenge Workshop on Brain Epitranscriptomics hosted in Crans-Montana, Switzerland in 2023 assembled a group of experts from the field, to discuss the current state of the field and provide novel translational perspectives. A summary of the discussions at the workshop is presented here to simulate broader engagement from the general neuroscience field.

Coherent Raman imaging has been extensively applied to live-cell imaging in the last 2 decades, allowing to probe the intracellular lipid, protein, nucleic acid, and water content with a high-acquisition rate and sensitivity. In this context, multiplex coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (MCARS) microspectroscopy using sub-nanosecond laser pulses is now recognized as a mature and straightforward technology for label-free bioimaging, offering the high spectral resolution of conventional Raman spectroscopy with reduced acquisition time. Here, we introduce the combination of the MCARS imaging technique with unsupervised data analysis based on multivariate curve resolution (MCR). The MCR process is implemented under the classical signal non-negativity constraint and, even more originally, under a new spatial constraint based on cell segmentation. We thus introduce a new methodology for hyperspectral cell imaging and segmentation, based on a simple, unsupervised workflow without any spectrum-to-spectrum phase retrieval computation. We first assess the robustness of our approach by considering cells of different types, namely, from the human HEK293 and murine C2C12 lines. To evaluate its applicability over a broader range, we then study HEK293 cells in different physiological states and experimental situations. Specifically, we compare an interphasic cell with a mitotic (prophase) one. We also present a comparison between a fixed cell and a living cell, in order to visualize the potential changes induced by the fixation protocol in cellular architecture. Next, with the aim of assessing more precisely the sensitivity of our approach, we study HEK293 living cells overexpressing tropomyosin-related kinase B (TrkB), a cancer-related membrane receptor, depending on the presence of its ligand, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Finally, the segmentation capability of the approach is evaluated in the case of a single cell and also by considering cell clusters of various sizes.

Nowadays, colon cancer prognosis still difficult to predict, especially in the early stages. Recurrences remain elevated, even in the early stages after curative surgery. Carcidiag Biotechnologies has developed an immunohistochemistry (IHC) kit called ColoSTEM Dx, based on a MIX of biotinylated plant lectins that specifically detects colon cancer stem cells (CSCs) through glycan patterns that they specifically (over)express. A retrospective clinical study was carried out on tumor tissues from 208 non-chemotherapeutic-treated and 21 chemotherapeutic-treated patients with colon cancer, which were stained by IHC with the MIX. Clinical performances of the kit were determined, and prognostic and predictive values were evaluated. With 78.3% and 70.6% of diagnostic sensitivity and specificity respectively, our kit shows great clinical performances. Moreover, patient prognosis is significantly poorer when the MIX staining is “High” compared to “Low”, especially at 5-years of overall survival and for early stages. The ColoSTEM Dx kit allows an earlier and a more precise determination of patients’ outcome. Thus, it affords an innovating clinical tool for predicting tumor aggressiveness earlier and determining prognosis value regarding therapeutic response in colon cancer patients.

BackgroundThe studies which address the impact of costs of robotic vs. laparoscopic approach on quality of life (cost-effectiveness studies) are scares in general surgery.MethodsThe Spanish national study on cost-effectiveness differences among robotic and laparoscopic surgery (ROBOCOSTES) is designed as a prospective, multicentre, national, observational study. The aim is to determine in which procedures robotic surgery is more cost-effective than laparoscopic surgery. Several surgical operations and patient populations will be evaluated (distal pancreatectomy, gastrectomy, sleeve gastrectomy, inguinal hernioplasty, rectal resection for cancer, Heller cardiomiotomy and Nissen procedure).DiscussionThe results of this study will demonstrate which treatment (laparoscopic or robotic) and in which population is more cost-effective. This study will also assess the impact of previous surgical experience on main outcomes.

BackgroundThis study explored the proportion of variance in depressive symptoms explained by processes targeted by BA (activation, behavioral avoidance, anticipatory pleasure, and brooding), and processes targeted by cognitive control training (cognitive control, attentional biases, and brooding).MethodsFive hundred and twenty adults were recruited. They completed a spatial cueing task as a measure of attentional biases and a cognitive task as a measure of cognitive control and completed self-report measures of activation, behavioral avoidance, anticipatory pleasure, brooding, and depressive symptoms. With path analysis models, we explored the relationships between these predictors and depressive symptoms.ResultsBA processes were significant predictors of depressive symptoms, and activation partially predicted anticipatory pleasure, which in turn predicted depressive symptoms. However, cognitive control and attentional biases predicted neither brooding nor depressive symptoms. A comprehensive model including all processes fit the data but did not explain more of the variance in brooding or depressive symptoms than a model including only BA processes.LimitationsThe spatial cueing task was associated with low reliability and the use of a non-clinical sample limited the generalizability of the conclusions.ConclusionActivation, behavioral avoidance, brooding, and anticipatory pleasure are relevant processes to target in order to reduce depressive symptoms, while cognitive control and attentional biases are not.

BackgroundWith the improvement of cystic fibrosis (CF) patient survival, the prevalence of long-term complications increased, among them rheumatologic disorders.MethodsThe aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the prevalence of spinal and joint pain, and their impact on disability, anxiety, depression, and quality of life in CF adult patients.ResultsForty-seven patients were analyzed, 72% of men, mean aged 28 years, with a mean body mass index of 22 kg/m2 and a mean FEV1% of 63%. Twenty-two patients (47%) described rheumatologic pain either spinal (n = 15, 32%) and/or joint pain (n = 14, 30%). Patients with spinal and/or joint pain were shorter (p = 0.023), more frequently colonized with Staphylococcus aureus (p < 0.008), had more frequent ΔF508 homozygous mutations (p = 0.014), and a trend for more impairment of the 6-min walking distance (p = 0.050). The presence of rheumatologic pain tended to be associated with disability according to the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and anxiety. Compared with patients with no pain patients with both spinal and joint pain exhibited a more pronounced impact on the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ).ConclusionRheumatologic pain is frequent in CF adult patients, and may affect daily living, anxiety and quality of life. Systematic assessment of rheumatologic pain should be included in the management of CF patients.

Background: Echocardiographic signs of exercise-induced cardiac fatigue (EICF) have been described after strenuous endurance exercise. Nevertheless, few data are available on the effects of repeated strenuous exercise, especially when associated with other constraints as sleep deprivation or mental stress which occur during military selection boot camps. Furthermore, we aimed to study the influence of experience and training level on potential EICF signs.Methods: Two groups of trained soldiers were included, elite soldiers from the French Navy Special Forces (elite; n = 20) and non-elite officer cadets from a French military academy (non-elite; n = 38). All underwent echocardiography before and immediately after exposure to several days of uninterrupted intense exercise during their selection boot camps. Changes in myocardial morphology and function of the 4 cardiac chambers were assessed.Results: Exercise-induced decrease in right and left atrial and ventricular functions were demonstrated with 2D-strain parameters in both groups. Indeed, both atrial reservoir strain, RV and LV longitudinal strain and LV global constructive work were altered. Increase in LV mechanical dispersion assessed by 2D-strain and alteration of conventional parameters of diastolic function (increase in E/e' and decrease in e') were solely observed in the non-elite group. Conventional parameters of LV and RV systolic function (LVEF, RVFAC, TAPSE, s mitral, and tricuspid waves) were not modified.Conclusions: Alterations of myocardial functions are observed in soldiers after uninterrupted prolonged intense exercise performed during selection boot camps. These alterations occur both in elite and non-elite soldiers. 2D-strain is more sensitive to detect EICF than conventional echocardiographic parameters.

Background: Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a prothrombotic life-threatening disorder caused by an adverse reaction to heparin exposure. In this context, it is imperative to stop heparin immediately and to replace it by a non-heparin anticoagulant therapy. Despite their advantages, the use of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) is only emerging for HIT treatment, and their use remains rare.Objective: To improve our knowledge on the emerging role of DOACs as treatment of HIT and give an overview of our local practices in this context.Patients/Methods: This is a multi-centric retrospective case series of HIT patients referred to our Parisian pharmacovigilance network and treated with DOACs.Results: We report the cases of seven patients from four healthcare centers, diagnosed with HIT (4T score ≥ 4, positive anti-PF4/heparin immunoassay and positive serotonin-release assay) and treated with DOACs. After a few days on substitutive parenteral treatment (n = 6) or directly at HIT diagnosis (n = 1), these patients were treated with either rivaroxaban (n = 6) or apixaban (n = 1) during acute HIT phase. Mean time to platelet count recovery after heparin discontinuation was 3.3 days (range 3–5). No patient experienced major or clinically relevant non-major bleeding or thrombosis that could be related to DOAC treatment during follow-up.Conclusions: Our cases studies are consistent with recent guidelines credit to the potential and safe use of DOAC during acute HIT in clinically stable patients.

ObjectivesTo differentiate Glioblastomas (GBM) and Brain Metastases (BM) using a radiomic features-based Machine Learning (ML) classifier trained from post-contrast three-dimensional T1-weighted (post-contrast 3DT1) MR imaging, and compare its performance in medical diagnosis versus human experts, on a testing cohort.MethodsWe enrolled 143 patients (71 GBM and 72 BM) in a retrospective bicentric study from January 2010 to May 2019 to train the classifier. Post-contrast 3DT1 MR images were performed on a 3-Tesla MR unit and 100 radiomic features were extracted. Selection and optimization of the Machine Learning (ML) classifier was performed using a nested cross-validation. Sensitivity, specificity, balanced accuracy, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were calculated as performance metrics. The model final performance was cross-validated, then evaluated on a test set of 37 patients, and compared to human blind reading using a McNemar’s test.ResultsThe ML classifier had a mean [95% confidence interval] sensitivity of 85% [77; 94], a specificity of 87% [78; 97], a balanced accuracy of 86% [80; 92], and an AUC of 92% [87; 97] with cross-validation. Sensitivity, specificity, balanced accuracy and AUC were equal to 75, 86, 80 and 85% on the test set. Sphericity 3D radiomic index highlighted the highest coefficient in the logistic regression model. There were no statistical significant differences observed between the performance of the classifier and the experts’ blinded examination.ConclusionsThe proposed diagnostic support system based on radiomic features extracted from post-contrast 3DT1 MR images helps in differentiating solitary BM from GBM with high diagnosis performance and generalizability.

Autoimmune type 1 diabetes (T1D) results from the intricate crosstalk of various immune cell types. CD8+ T cells dominate the pro-inflammatory milieu of islet infiltration (insulitis), and are considered as key effectors of beta-cell destruction, through the recognition of MHC Class I-peptide complexes. The pathways generating MHC Class I-restricted antigens in beta cells are poorly documented. Given their specialized insulin secretory function, the associated granule processing and degradation pathways, basal endoplasmic reticulum stress and susceptibility to additional stressors, alternative antigen processing and presentation (APP) pathways are likely to play a significant role in the generation of the beta-cell immunopeptidome. As direct evidence is missing, we here intersect the specificities of beta-cell function and the literature about APP in other cellular models to generate some hypotheses on APPs relevant to beta cells. We further elaborate on the potential role of these pathways in T1D pathogenesis, based on the current knowledge of antigens presented by beta cells. A better understanding of these pathways may pinpoint novel mechanisms amenable to therapeutic targeting to modulate the immunogenicity of beta cells.

ObjectiveTo elucidate the molecular cause in a well-characterized cohort of patients with Congenital Hypothyroidism (CH) and Dyshormonogenesis (DH) by using targeted next-generation sequencing (TNGS).Study designWe studied 19 well-characterized patients diagnosed with CH and DH by targeted NGS including genes involved in thyroid hormone production. The pathogenicity of novel mutations was assessed based on in silico prediction tool results, functional studies when possible, variant location in important protein domains, and a review of the recent literature.ResultsTNGS with variant prioritization and detailed assessment identified likely disease-causing mutations in 10 patients (53%). Monogenic defects most often involved TG, followed by DUOXA2, DUOX2, and NIS and were usually homozygous or compound heterozygous. Our review shows the importance of the detailed phenotypic description of patients and accurate analysis of variants to provide a molecular diagnosis.ConclusionsIn a clinically well-characterized cohort, TNGS had a diagnostic yield of 53%, in accordance with previous studies using a similar strategy. TG mutations were the most common genetic defect. TNGS identified gene mutations causing DH, thereby providing a rapid and cost-effective genetic diagnosis in patients with CH due to DH.

Gaseous hydrogen for fuel cell electric vehicles must meet quality standards such as ISO 14687:2019 which contains maximal control thresholds for several impurities which could damage the fuel cells or the infrastructure. A review of analytical techniques for impurities analysis has already been carried out by Murugan et al. in 2014. Similarly, this document intends to review the sampling of hydrogen and the available analytical methods, together with a survey of laboratories performing the analysis of hydrogen about the techniques being used. Most impurities are addressed, however some of them are challenging, especially the halogenated compounds since only some halogenated compounds are covered, not all of them. The analysis of impurities following ISO 14687:2019 remains expensive and complex, enhancing the need for further research in this area. Novel and promising analyzers have been developed which need to be validated according to ISO 21087:2019 requirements.

BackgroundHeart rate (HR) and HR variability (HRV) indices are established tools to detect abnormal recovery status in athletes. A low HR and vagally mediated HRV index change between supine and standing positions reflected a maladaptive training stress-recovery status.ObjectivesOur study was focused on a female multistage cycling event. Its overall aim was twofold: (1) quantify the correlation between (a) the change in HR and HRV indices during an active orthostatic test and (b) subjective/objective fatigue, physical load, and training level indicators; and (2) formulate a model predicting the stress-recovery status as indexed by Δ⁢R⁢R¯ and ΔLnRMSSD (defined as the difference between standing and supine mean RR intervals and LnRMSSD, respectively), based on subjective/objective fatigue indicators, physical load, and training levels.MethodsTen female cyclists traveled the route of the 2017 Tour de France, comprising 21 stages of 200 km on average. From 4 days before the beginning of the event itself, and until 1 day after its completion, every morning, each cyclist was subjected to HR and HRV measurements, first at rest in a supine position and then in a standing position. The correlation between HR and HRV indices and subjective/objective fatigue, physical load, and training level indicators was then computed. Finally, several multivariable linear models were tested to analyze the relationships between HR and HRV indices, fatigue, workload, and training level indicators.ResultsHR changes appeared as a reliable indicator of stress-recovery status. Fatigue, training level, and Δ⁢R⁢R¯ displayed a linear relationship. Among a large number of linear models tested, the best one to predict stress-recovery status was the following: Δ⁢R⁢R¯=1,249.37+12.32V̇O2max + 0.36 km⋅week–1−8.83 HRmax−5.8 RPE−28.41 perceived fatigue with an adjusted R2 = 0.322.ConclusionThe proposed model can help to directly assess the adaptation status of an athlete from RR measurements and thus to anticipate a decrease in performance due to fatigue, particularly during a multistage endurance event.

tRNA fragments (tRFs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) derived from tRNAs. tRFs are highly abundant in many cell types including stem cells and cancer cells, and are found in all domains of life. Beyond translation control, tRFs have several functions ranging from transposon silencing to cell proliferation control. However, the analysis of tRFs presents specific challenges and their biogenesis is not well understood. They are very heterogeneous and highly modified by numerous post-transcriptional modifications. Here we describe a bioinformatic pipeline (tRFs-Galaxy) to study tRFs populations and shed light onto tRNA fragments biogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster. Indeed, we used small RNAs Illumina sequencing datasets extracted from wild type and mutant ovaries affecting two different highly conserved steps of tRNA biogenesis: 5′pre-tRNA processing (RNase-P subunit Rpp30) and tRNA 2′-O-methylation (dTrm7_34 and dTrm7_32). Using our pipeline, we show how defects in tRNA biogenesis affect nuclear and mitochondrial tRFs populations and other small non-coding RNAs biogenesis, such as small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs). This tRF analysis workflow will advance the current understanding of tRFs biogenesis, which is crucial to better comprehend tRFs roles and their implication in human pathology.

Image registration and segmentation are the two most studied problems in medical image analysis. Deep learning algorithms have recently gained a lot of attention due to their success and state-of-the-art results in variety of problems and communities. In this paper, we propose a novel, efficient, and multi-task algorithm that addresses the problems of image registration and brain tumor segmentation jointly. Our method exploits the dependencies between these tasks through a natural coupling of their interdependencies during inference. In particular, the similarity constraints are relaxed within the tumor regions using an efficient and relatively simple formulation. We evaluated the performance of our formulation both quantitatively and qualitatively for registration and segmentation problems on two publicly available datasets (BraTS 2018 and OASIS 3), reporting competitive results with other recent state-of-the-art methods. Moreover, our proposed framework reports significant amelioration (p < 0.005) for the registration performance inside the tumor locations, providing a generic method that does not need any predefined conditions (e.g., absence of abnormalities) about the volumes to be registered. Our implementation is publicly available online at https://github.com/TheoEst/joint_registration_tumor_segmentation.

Actinorhizal plants are able to establish a symbiotic relationship with Frankia bacteria leading to the formation of root nodules. The symbiotic interaction starts with the exchange of symbiotic signals in the soil between the plant and the bacteria. This molecular dialog involves signaling molecules that are responsible for the specific recognition of the plant host and its endosymbiont. Here we studied two factors potentially involved in signaling between Frankia casuarinae and its actinorhizal host Casuarina glauca: (1) the Root Hair Deforming Factor (CgRHDF) detected using a test based on the characteristic deformation of C. glauca root hairs inoculated with F. casuarinae and (2) a NIN activating factor (CgNINA) which is able to activate the expression of CgNIN, a symbiotic gene expressed during preinfection stages of root hair development. We showed that CgRHDF and CgNINA corresponded to small thermoresistant molecules. Both factors were also hydrophilic and resistant to a chitinase digestion indicating structural differences from rhizobial Nod factors (NFs) or mycorrhizal Myc-LCOs. We also investigated the presence of CgNINA and CgRHDF in 16 Frankia strains representative of Frankia diversity. High levels of root hair deformation (RHD) and activation of ProCgNIN were detected for Casuarina-infective strains from clade Ic and closely related strains from clade Ia unable to nodulate C. glauca. Lower levels were present for distantly related strains belonging to clade III. No CgRHDF or CgNINA could be detected for Frankia coriariae (Clade II) or for uninfective strains from clade IV.

Vibrio species have been associated with recurrent mass mortalities of juvenile oysters Crassostrea gigas threatening oyster farming worldwide. However, knowledge of the ecology of pathogens in affected oyster farming areas remains scarce. Specifically, there are no data regarding (i) the environmental reservoirs of Vibrio populations pathogenic to oysters, (ii) the environmental factors favoring their transmission, and (iii) the influence of oyster farming on the persistence of those pathogens. This knowledge gap limits our capacity to predict and mitigate disease occurrence. To address these issues, we monitored Vibrio species potentially pathogenic to C. gigas in 2013 and 2014 in the Thau Lagoon, a major oyster farming region in the coastal French Mediterranean. Sampling stations were chosen inside and outside oyster farms. Abundance and composition of phyto-, microzoo-, and mesozooplankton communities were measured monthly. The spatial and temporal dynamics of plankton and Vibrio species were compared, and positive correlations between plankton species and vibrios were verified by qPCR on isolated specimens of plankton. Vibrio crassostreae was present in the water column over both years, whereas Vibrio tasmaniensis was mostly found in 2013 and Vibrio aestuarianus was never detected. Moreover, V. tasmaniensis and V. crassostreae were found both as free-living or plankton-attached vibrios 1 month after spring mortalities of the oyster juveniles. Overall, V. crassostreae was associated with temperature and plankton composition, whereas V. tasmaniensis correlated with plankton composition only. The abundance of Vibrio species in the water column was similar inside and outside oyster farms, suggesting important spatial dispersion of pathogens in surrounding areas. Remarkably, a major increase in V. tasmaniensis and V. crassostreae was measured in the sediment of oyster farms during cold months. Thus, a winter reservoir of pathogenic vibrios could contribute to their ecology in this Mediterranean shellfish farming ecosystem.

We have recently developed a non-thermal plasma (NTP) equipment intended to sterilize fragile medical devices and maintain the sterile state of items downstream the treatment. With traditional counts on agar plate a six log reduction of Staphylococcus aureus viability was obtained within 120 min of O2, Ar, or N2 NTP treatments. However to determine the best NTP process, we studied the different physiological states of S. aureus by flow cytometry (FC) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) focusing on the esterasic activity and membrane integrity of the bacteria. Two fluorochromes, 5-(and-6)-carboxy-2′,7′-dichlorofluorescein diacetate and propidium iodide were used in order to distinguish three sub-populations: metabolically active, permeabilized, and damaged bacteria that can be in the viable but nonculturable state. FC and CLSM highlight that O2 and Ar NTP treatments were the most attractive processes. Indeed, a 5 min of Ar NTP generated a high destruction of the structure of bacteria and a 120 min of O2 NTP treatment led to the higher decrease of the total damaged bacteria population. SEM observations showed that in presence of clusters, bacteria of upper layers are easily altered compared to bacteria in the deeper layers. In conclusion, the plate counting method is not sufficient by itself to determine the best NTP treatment. FC and CLSM represent attractive indicator techniques to select the most efficient gas NTP treatment generating the lowest proportion of viable bacteria and the most debris.

Body synchronization between interacting people involves coordinative movements in time, space and form. The introduction of newer technologies for automated video analysis and motion tracking has considerably improved the accurate measurement of coordination, particularly in temporal and spatial terms. However, the form of interpersonal coordination has been less explored. In the present study we address this gap by exploring the effect of trust on temporal and morphological patterns of interpersonal coordination. We adapted an optical motion-capture system to record spontaneous body movements in pairs of individuals engaged in natural conversations. We conducted two experiments in which we manipulated trust through a breach of expectancy (Study 1: 10 trustful and 10 distrustful participants) and friendship (Study 2: 20 dyads of friends and 20 dyads of strangers). In Study 1, results show the participants' strong, early mirror-like coordination in response to the confederates' breach of trust. In Study 2, imitative coordination tended to be more pronounced in pairs of friends than in pairs of non-friends. Overall, our results show not only that listeners move in reaction to speakers, but also that speakers react to listeners with a chain of dynamic coordination patterns affected by the immediate disposition of, and long-term relationship with, their interlocutors.

Analogous to DNA methylation and histone modifications, RNA modifications represent a novel layer of regulation of gene expression. The dynamic nature and increasing number of RNA modifications offer new possibilities to rapidly alter gene expression upon specific environmental changes. Recent lines of evidence indicate that modified RNA molecules and associated complexes regulating and “reading” RNA modifications play key roles in the nervous system of several organisms, controlling both, its development and function. Mutations in several human genes that modify transfer RNA (tRNA) have been linked to neurological disorders, in particular to intellectual disability. Loss of RNA modifications alters the stability of tRNA, resulting in reduced translation efficiency and generation of tRNA fragments, which can interfere with neuronal functions. Modifications present on messenger RNAs (mRNAs) also play important roles during brain development. They contribute to neuronal growth and regeneration as well as to the local regulation of synaptic functions. Hence, potential combinatorial effects of RNA modifications on different classes of RNA may represent a novel code to dynamically fine tune gene expression during brain function. Here we discuss the recent findings demonstrating the impact of modified RNAs on neuronal processes and disorders.

Stormwater ponds were originally constructed to control the quantity and quality of runoff on urban roads and highways before it was released to the environment. Often, stormwater ponds were designed in a technical feat of civil engineering, with no particular ecological or landscape objective in mind. Nevertheless, they are colonized spontaneously by diverse species, including amphibians. Through an initial review of the scientific literature, the objective of this study was to understand which factors determine whether a pond can be considered as an ecological trap or a valuable breeding site for amphibians. The first step was to question the role of the pond environment as a major factor in its colonization by amphibians, demonstrating that not all ponds are colonized by the same variety of species. The internal factors in the ponds that define them as ecological traps or sustainable breeding sites for amphibians was also considered. After confirming the functional and structural similarity between highway and urban stormwater ponds, 25 publications were compared, with study sites mostly located in Europe and North America, which concern the colonization of stormwater ponds by amphibians in urban or highway areas. Several factors were identified that may affect the ecological viability of these basins: (1) the factors related to the shape of the ponds (inclination of the banks, materials used, etc.,); (2) the biotic factors (aquatic vegetation, presence of predators, etc.,); (3) the abiotic factors (luminosity, water level in the ponds, etc.,); and (4) water pollutants. The low number of publications on this subject, as well as the low variety in the location of study sites, only allow cautious conclusions to be drawn. In particular, stormwater ponds located in highly anthropogenic landscapes can be both ecological traps and suitable habitats for amphibian breeding. This depends on the species that colonize each pond, many internal factors, and the environmental context in which it is embedded. Additional research is therefore needed in other parts of the world—particularly in amphibian biodiversity hotspots—as well as other impact factors such as the effects of different maintenance practices.

This study reconstructs and interprets the changing range of Atlas cedar in northern Morocco over the last 9,000 years. A synthesis of fossil pollen records indicated that Atlas cedars occupied a wider range at lower elevations during the mid-Holocene than today. The mid-Holocene geographical expansion reflected low winter temperatures and higher water availability over the whole range of the Rif Mountains relative to modern conditions. A trend of increasing aridity observed after 6,000 years BP progressively reduced the range of Atlas cedar and prompted its migration toward elevations above 1,400 masl. To assess the impact of climate change on cedar populations over the last decades, we performed a transient model simulation for the period between 1960 and 2010. Our simulation showed that the range of Atlas cedar decreased by about 75% over the last 50 years and that the eastern populations of the range in the Rif Mountains were even more threatened by the overall lack of water availability than the western ones. Today, Atlas cedar populations in the Rif Mountains are persisting in restricted and isolated areas (Jbel Kelti, Talassemtane, Jbel Tiziren, Oursane, Tidighine) that we consider to be modern microrefugia. Conservation of these isolated populations is essential for the future survival of the species, preserving polymorphisms and the potential for population recovery under different climatic conditions.

We quantified the degree to which the relationship between the geographic distribution of three major European tree species, Abies alba, Fagus sylvatica and Picea abies and January temperature (Tjan) has remained stable over the past 10,000 years.We used an extended data-set of fossil pollen records over Europe to reconstruct spatial variation in Tjan values for each 1,000-year time slice between 10,000 and 3,000 years BP (before present).We evaluated the relationships between the occurrences of the three species at each time slice and the spatially interpolated Tjan values, and compared these to their modern temperature ranges.Our results reveal that Fagus sylvatica and Picea abies experienced Tjan ranges during the Holocene that differ from those of the present, while Abies alba occurred over a Tjan range that is comparable to its modern one.Our data suggest the need for re-evaluation of the assumption of stable climate tolerances at a scale of several thousand years. The temperature range instability in our observed data independently validates similar results based exclusively on modelled Holocene temperatures. Our study complements previous studies that used modelled data by identifying variation in frequencies of occurrence of populations within the limits of suitable climate. However, substantial changes that were observed in the realized thermal niches over the Holocene tend to suggest that predicting future species distributions should not solely be based on modern realized niches, and needs to account for the past variation in the climate variables that drive species ranges.

AbstractSince the discovery of microRNAs (miRNAs), different approaches have been developed to label, amplify and quantify miRNAs. The TaqMan® technology, provided by Applied Biosystems, uses a stem-loop RT primer system to reverse transcribe the RNA and amplify the cDNA. This method is widely used to identify global differences between the expression of hundreds of miRNAs across comparative samples. This technique also allows the quantification of the expression of targeted miRNAs to validate observations determined by whole-genome screening or to analyze few specific miRNAs on a large number of samples. Here, we describe validation of a method published by Applied Biosystems on their web site allowing to reverse transcribe and pre-amplify multiple miRNAs and snoRNAs simultaneously. The validation of this protocol was performed on human muscle and plasma samples. Fast and cost efficient, this method achieves an easy and convenient way to screen a relatively large number of miRNAs in parallel.