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International audience; When performing a joint action task, we automatically represent the action and/or task constraints of the co-actor with whom we are interacting. Current models suggest that, not only physical similarity, but also abstract, conceptual features shared between self and the interacting partner play a key role in the emergence of joint action effects. Across two experiments, we investigated the influence of the perceived humanness of a robotic agent on the extent to which we integrate the action of that agent into our own action/task representation, as indexed by the Joint Simon Effect (JSE). The presence (vs. absence) of a prior verbal interaction was used to manipulate robot’s perceived humanness. In Experiment 1, using a within-participant design, we had participants perform the joint Go/No-go Simon task with two different robots. Before performing the joint task, one robot engaged in a verbal interaction with the participant and the other robot did not. In Experiment 2, we employed a between-participants design to contrast these two robot conditions as well as a human partner condition. In both experiments, a significant Simon effect emerged during joint action and its amplitude was not modulated by the humanness of the interacting partner. Experiment 2 further showed that the JSE obtained in robot conditions did not differ from that measured in the human partner condition. These findings contradict current theories of joint action mechanisms according to which perceived self-other similarity is a crucial determinant of self-other integration in shared task settings.

International audience; The recent focus on the bidirectional heart-brain interactions in psychoneurophysiological research has led to a variety of findings suggesting vagal activity is associated with cognition and, possibly, specifically with executive functioning. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to provide a better understanding of the association between vagally-mediated heart rate variability (HRV) and executive functioning. We included 13 correlational studies. We found a small positive association between vagally-mediated HRV and executive functioning (r = .19, 95% CI .15 to .23, p < .0001) using a quantitative synthesis of existing studies with random-effect models. Conducting meta-regression analyses, we found that vagally-mediated HRV predicts cognitive inhibition and cognitive flexibility more than working memory. In addition to the specific executive function measured, this relationship is moderated by the HRV measurement used, and age. After proposing a theoretical interpretation of the results, we emphasized the need for further research in light of the methodological issues identified in the included studies, and we outline several aspects to consider in future studies.

International audience; Distinguishing among similar events is indeed crucial to memory. In a dangerous context, this ability may be less essential, whereas in a secure context it may provide an adaptative advantage notably in social situations. Vagal activity as a marker of the individual's adaptation in social engagement contexts might predict the ability to discriminate highly similar memories in an unthreatening context. The present study aims to test the relation between vagal activity and memory discrimination by manipulating the visual distinctiveness of stimuli (high vs. low) in an ecological memory discrimination task with humanoid characters. It was expected that vagal activity support adaptive self-regulatory processes which may be needed only when the memory discrimination is challenging (low distinctiveness between true memory and lure). In a study phase, multiple realistic fictional humanoid characters performed the same action on different objects. The characters could be very similar or very distinct one to each other. Then, during a test phase, the participants had to discriminate whether a displayed character on the screen was exactly matched the one performing the given action on a specific object in the study phase (target). Vagal activity was assessed in undergraduate students (n = 40) before the study phase. Higher vagal activity predicted better memory discrimination performance specifically when the distinctiveness between the lure and target was low. These data extend previous work on vagal activity and memory suggesting that heart-brain interactions represent an adaptive psychophysiological mechanism underlying memory discrimination specifically when it is challenging in an unthreatening context.

Abstract. This research addressed current controversies concerning the contribution of semantic conflict to the Stroop interference effect and its reduction by a single-letter coloring and cueing procedure. On the first issue, it provides, for the first time, unambiguous evidence for a contribution of semantic conflict to the (overall) Stroop interference effect. The reported data remained inconclusive on the second issue, despite being collected in a considerable sample and analyzed with both classical (frequentist) and Bayesian inferential approaches. Given that in all past Stroop studies, semantic conflict was possibly confounded with either response conflict (e.g., when semantic-associative items [ SKYblue] are used to induce semantic conflict) or with facilitation (when color-congruent items [ BLUEblue] are used as baseline to derive a magnitude for semantic conflict), its genuine contribution to the Stroop interference effect is the most critical result reported in the present study. Indeed, it leaves no doubt – in complete contrast to dominant single-stage response competition models (e.g., Roelofs, 2003 ) – that selection occurs at the semantic level in the Stroop task. The immediate implications for the composite (as opposed to unitary) nature of the Stroop interference effect and other still unresolved issues in the Stroop literature are outlined further.

Visual perception can be modulated by the physiological potential for action. For instance, it was famously shown that a geographical slant appears steeper when wearing a heavy backpack than not wearing any. However, those results are not always replicated. In the present exploratory study, we test the hypothesis that the backpack weight’s effect on perception relies on the ability of the cognitive system to integrate the physiological constraint’s change rather than the change itself. Young adults ( n = 54) wore an electrocardiogram monitor and completed a computerised task in which photographs of real geographical slants were displayed on a screen while wearing a heavy versus light backpack. The activity of the vagus nerve, as an index of physiological adaptability, was recorded as a proxy of the physiological state during the task. The participants also completed an interoception task assessing one’s ability to detect his or her own heartbeat as the index of integration ability of the cognitive system. While Bayesian analyses revealed no difference in angle estimation between carrying a heavy versus light backpack, the results indicated that interoception predicted less accurate angle estimation only when wearing a heavy backpack. In contrast, there was anecdotal evidence that vagal activity changes predicted visual perception. Interoception might thus play a crucial role in the interplay between the physiological potential for action and action-related visual perception.

International audience; An emerging research trend associating social robotics and social-cognitive psychology offers preliminary evidence that the mere presence of humanoid robots may have the same effects as human presence on human performance, provided the robots are anthropomorphized to some extent (attribution to mental states to the robot being present). However, whether these effects also depend on the evaluation potential of the robot remains unclear. Here, we investigated this critical issue in the context of the Stroop task allowing the estimation of robotic presence effects on participants' reaction times (RTs) to simple and complex stimuli. Participants performed the Stroop task twice while being randomly assigned to one of three conditions: alone then in the presence of a robot presented as competent versus incompetent on the task at hand ("evaluative" vs. "nonevaluative" robot condition), or systematically alone (control condition). Whereas the presence of the incompetent robot did not change RTs (compared to the control condition), the presence of the competent robot caused longer RTs on both types of Stroop stimuli. The robot being exactly the same in both conditions, to the notable exception of its evaluation potential, these findings indicate that the presence of humanoid robots with such a potential may divert attention away from the central task in humans.

Displacement Talbot Lithography (DTL) is a simple patterning technique for creating periodic sub-micron features on wafer areas up to 200 mm diameter for applications in, for example, plasmonic, photonic crystals, and metamaterials. It exploits the diffraction and interference generally avoided in classical lithography. The Talbot effect, on which DTL is based, is the periodic spatial repetition of a periodic mask illuminated by coherent light. The modelling of this phenomenon is essential to fully understand and predict the interference pattern obtained; for mask periods greater than twice the wavelength, new spatial periodicities are generally introduced that are smaller than the Talbot length. This study reports simulations of multiple 1D masks to explain the influence of these smaller spatial periodicities on the Talbot effect. By changing the mask configuration, one can tailor the spatial periodicity contributions and thus, control the feature size, uniformity, and contrast for Talbot-effect-based lithography.

Previous studies (Augustinova et al., Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 25(2), 767-774, 2018; Li & Bosman, Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 3(4), 272-284, 1996) have shown that the larger Stroop effects reported in older adults is specifically due to age-related differences in the magnitude of response - and not semantic - conflict, both of which are thought to contribute to overall Stroop interference. However, the most recent contribution to the issue of the unitary versus composite nature of the Stroop effect argues that semantic conflict has not been clearly dissociated from response conflict in these or any other past Stroop studies, meaning that the very existence of semantic conflict is at present uncertain. To distinguish clearly between the two types of conflict, the present study employed the two-to-one Stroop paradigm with a color-neutral word baseline. This addition made it possible to isolate a contribution of semantic conflict that was independent of both response conflict and Stroop facilitation. Therefore, this study provides the first unambiguous empirical demonstration of the composite nature of Stroop interference - as originally claimed by multi-stage models of Stroop interference. This permitted the further observation of significantly higher levels of semantic conflict in older adults, whereas the level of response conflict in the present study remained unaffected by healthy aging - a finding that directly contrasts with previous studies employing alternative measures of response and semantic conflict. Two qualitatively different explanations of this apparent divergence across studies are discussed.

Ultra-thin (less than 100 nm thick) photovoltaics are proposed as an enabling technology for space power applications due to their intrinsic radiation tolerance. Outside of the Earth's atmosphere, spacecraft are bombarded with energetic electrons and protons which can cause dislocations in the lattice structure of their solar cell materials thus limiting mission lifetimes. Certain orbits that could be advantageous for imaging, security and network coverage of the Earth are currently inaccessible due to high levels of radiation making them inhospitable to space craft. Ultra-thin cells have superior radiation tolerance but lower optical absorption which necessitates the integration of a nanophotonic light-trapping structure. The first iteration of ultra-thin 80 nm absorber layer devices patterned by Displacement Talbot Lithography has shown promising electrical and optical performance.

Background and objectives We tested the effect of a new Attentional Bias Modification (ABM) task - the Detection Engagement and Savoring Positivity (DESP) task - on attentional biases. The DESP is innovative in that it involves a procedure of savoring the positivity of various pictures. Methods Participants were randomly assigned to the DESP or to a placebo control condition (experiment 1; n = 38) or a condition controlling for savoring (experiment 2; n = 54) in a pre-post/training experimental design. During one week, the participants completed the DESP or the control task once a day between three and six times. We assessed the effects of the DESP task on various attentional biases (i.e. positive, negative and threat) by computing dwell time from an eye-tracking technology before and after the training, and also one week after the post-training session in experiment 2. Results In both experiments, the attentional bias toward positive stimuli between the pre- and the post-training increased significantly more in the DESP task condition than in the control conditions. Negative and threat attentional biases were not significantly affected by the experimental manipulations. Experiment 2 revealed that the DESP task – including the savoring instruction – increased significantly more the positive attentional bias than a task excluding this step and that this effect remained significant one week after the post-training session. Limitations Our samples were mainly composed of women participants. This prevents generalization of the findings. Conclusions The DESP task offers promising perspectives for sustainably improving attention to positive information.

International audience; The Western diet, rich in lipids and in n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), favors gut dysbiosis observed in Crohn's disease (CD). The aim of this study was to assess the effects of rebalancing the n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio in CEABAC10 transgenic mice that mimic CD. Mice in individual cages with running wheels were randomized in three diet groups for 12 weeks: high-fat diet (HFD), HFD + linseed oil (HFD-LS-O) and HFD + extruded linseed (HFD-LS-E). Then, they were orally challenged once with the Adherent-Invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) LF82 pathobiont. After 12 weeks of diet, total energy intake, body composition, and intestinal permeability were not different between groups. After the AIEC-induced intestinal inflammation, fecal lipocalin-2 concentration was lower at day 6 in n-3 PUFAs supplementation groups (HFD-LS-O and HFD-LS-E) compared to HFD. Analysis of the mucosa-associated microbiota showed that the abundance of Prevotella, Paraprevotella, Ruminococcus, and Clostridiales was higher in the HFD-LS-E group. Butyrate levels were higher in the HFD-LS-E group and correlated with the Firmicutes/Proteobacteria ratio. This study demonstrates that extruded linseed supplementation had a beneficial health effect in a physically active mouse model of CD susceptibility. Additional studies are required to better decipher the matrix influence in the linseed supplementation effect.

Only one previous developmental study of Stroop task performance (Schiller, 1966) has controlled for differences in processing speed that exist both within and between age-groups. Therefore, the question of whether the early developmental change in the magnitude of Stroop interference actually persists after controlling for processing speed needs further investigation; work that is further motivated by the possibility that any remaining differences would be caused by process(es) other than processing speed. Analysis of data from two experiments revealed that, even after controlling for processing speed using z-transformed reaction times, early developmental change persists such that the magnitude of overall Stroop interference is larger in 3rd - and 5th - graders as compared to 1st -graders. This pattern indicates that the magnitude of overall Stroop interference peaks after two or three years of reading practice (Schadler & Thissen, 1981). Furthermore, this peak is shown to be due to distinct components of Stroop interference (resulting from specific conflicts) progressively falling into place. Experiment 2 revealed that the change in the magnitude of Stroop interference specifically results from joint contributions of task, semantic and response conflicts in 3rd - and 5th -graders as compared to a sole contribution of task conflict in 1st -graders. The specific developmental trajectories of different conflicts presented in the present work provide unique evidence for multiple loci of Stroop interference in the processing stream (respectively task, semantic and response conflict) as opposed to a single (i.e., response) locus predicted by historically-favored response competition accounts. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Nano-engineering III-nitride semiconductors offers a route to further control the optoelectronic properties, enabling novel functionalities and applications. Although a variety of lithography techniques are currently employed to nano-engineer these materials, the scalability and cost of the fabrication process can be an obstacle for large-scale manufacturing. In this paper, we report on the use of a fast, robust and flexible emerging patterning technique called Displacement Talbot lithography (DTL), to successfully nano-engineer III-nitride materials. DTL, along with its novel and unique combination with a lateral planar displacement (D2TL), allow the fabrication of a variety of periodic nanopatterns with a broad range of filling factors such as nanoholes, nanodots, nanorings and nanolines; all these features being achievable from one single mask. To illustrate the enormous possibilities opened by DTL/D2TL, dielectric and metal masks with a number of nanopatterns have been generated, allowing for the selective area growth of InGaN/GaN core-shell nanorods, the top-down plasma etching of III-nitride nanostructures, the top-down sublimation of GaN nanostructures, the hybrid top-down/bottom-up growth of AlN nanorods and GaN nanotubes, and the fabrication of nanopatterned sapphire substrates for AlN growth. Compared with their planar counterparts, these 3D nanostructures enable the reduction or filtering of structural defects and/or the enhancement of the light extraction, therefore improving the efficiency of the final device. These results, achieved on a wafer scale via DTL and upscalable to larger surfaces, have the potential to unlock the manufacturing of nano-engineered III-nitride materials., Nanolithography: III-nitride semiconductors Displacement Talbot lithography enables the low-cost fabrication of a range of nanostructures from III-nitride materials. III-nitride semiconductors provide interesting and useful optical properties when formed into nanostructures, with numerous device applications. However, several key performance parameters are sometimes limited due to crystal defects, or for devices larger than the nanoscale. Now, an international group led by Philip Shields from University of Bath, UK, apply Displacement Talbot lithography, and a lateral planar displacement variation, to generate low-cost 3D nanostructures. Fabricated devices include AlN nanorods, GaN nanotubes and InGaN/GaN core-shell nanorods. This technology might enable the large-scale, low-cost fabrication of nanostructures for optoelectronic applications with enhanced light extraction, such as for light emitting diodes, and is also appropriate for other semiconductor materials.

Contexte La sedentarite prolongee est associee a un risque accru de maladies chroniques. La population active est de plus en plus sedentaire au travail. Evaluer et mieux comprendre pour reduire la sedentarite au travail est un nouvel enjeu. De nombreuses methodes subjectives (questionnaires) et objectives (surveillance a l’aide de dispositifs portables) d’evaluation existent. Par consequent, notre objectif etait de fournir une comprehension globale des methodes actuellement disponibles pour evaluer la sedentarite au travail. Methodes Une revue systematisee des methodes de mesure de la sedentarite au travail a ete realisee. Les articles en langue anglaise publies entre le 1er janvier 2000 et le 17 mars 2019 dans Pubmed, Cochrane, Embase et Web of Science ont ete examines par des pairs. Resultats Cent cinquante-quatre articles ont ete inclus : 89 etaient des etudes transversales et 65 des etudes longitudinales, pour une population totale de 474 091 salaries. La sedentarite au travail a ete evaluee a l’aide de questionnaires auto-administres dans 91 etudes, a l’aide de dispositifs portables dans 91 etudes egalement, et simultanement a l’aide d’un questionnaire et de dispositifs portables dans 30 etudes. Parmi les 91 etudes utilisant des dispositifs portables, 73 utilisaient un seul dispositif, 15 utilisaient plusieurs dispositifs et trois utilisaient des systemes physiologiques complexes. Les etudes explorant la sedentarite au travail sur un large echantillon utilisaient le plus souvent les questionnaires et/ou un seul dispositif portable. Conclusions Les questionnaires disponibles constituent la methode la plus accessible pour les etudes portant sur une large population et a budget limite. Pour les groupes plus restreints, la sedentarite au travail peut etre mesuree objectivement avec des dispositifs portables (accelerometres, moniteurs de frequence cardiaque, manometres, goniometres, electromyographes, compteurs de gaz) et les resultats peuvent etre associes et compares a une mesure subjective (questionnaire). Le nombre d’appareils utilises peut augmenter la precision mais rendre l’analyse plus complexe et plus longue.

As a route to the formation of regular arrays of AlN nanorods, in contrast to other III-V materials, the use of selective area growth via metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) has so far not been successful. Therefore, in this work we report the fabrication of a highly uniform and ordered AlN nanorod scaffold using an alternative hybrid top-down etching and bottom-up regrowth approach. The nanorods are created across a full 2-inch AlN template by combining Displacement Talbot Lithography and lift-off to create a Ni nanodot mask, followed by chlorine-based dry etching. Additional KOH-based wet etching is used to tune the morphology and the diameter of the nanorods. The resulting smooth and straight morphology of the nanorods after the two-step dry-wet etching process is used as a template to recover the AlN facets of the nanorods via MOVPE regrowth. The facet recovery is performed for various growth times to investigate the growth mechanism and the change in morphology of the AlN nanorods. Structural characterization highlights, first, an efficient dislocation filtering resulting from the ~130 nm diameter nanorods achieved after the two-step dry-wet etching process, and second, a dislocation bending induced by the AlN facet regrowth. A strong AlN near band edge emission is observed from the nanorods both before and after regrowth. The achievement of a highly uniform and organized faceted AlN nanorod scaffold having smooth and straight non-polar facets and improved structural and optical quality is a major stepping stone toward the fabrication of deep UV core-shell-based AlN or AlxGa1-xN templates.

Core–shell nanostructures are predicted to highly improve the efficiency of deep-UV light emitting diodes (LEDs), owing to their low defect density, reduced quantum-confined Stark effect, high-quality non-polar growth and improved extraction efficiency. In this paper, we report on the nanofabrication of high-quality AlN nanorod arrays using a hybrid top-down/bottom-up approach for use as a scaffold for UV LED structures. We describe the use of Displacement Talbot Lithography to fabricate a metallic hard etch mask to allow AlN nanorod arrays to be dry etched from a planar AlN template. In particular, we investigate the impact of etching parameters on the nanorod etch rate, tapering profile and mask selectivity in order to achieve vertical-sided nanorod arrays with high aspect ratios. AlN facet recovery is subsequently explored by means of regrowth using Metal Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy. Low pressure and high V/III ratio promote straight and smooth sidewall faceting, which results in an improvement of the optical quality compared to the initial AlN template. The promising results open new perspectives for the fabrication of high-efficiency deep-UV-emitting core–shell LEDs.

‘Double’ Displacement Talbot Lithography (D2TL) is proposed as a new, high-throughput and rapid tool that allows the fabrication of complex periodic nano- to micron patterns over a large area (up to 100 200 mm). This method is a combination of conventional Displacement Talbot Lithography (DTL) [1] and a planar displacement to make more complex shapes. The more straight-forward DTL technique utilizes the periodic diffraction pattern on all space axes that results when a periodic mask is illuminated by a planar wave (Talbot effect); by displacing the wafer along the axis of illumination over integer spatial periods, called the Talbot length, the low depth of field is overcome. In D2TL, by additionally moving the wafer perpendicular to the axis of illumination, the range and complexity of features possible across whole wafers is dramatically extended. Furthermore, a single periodic mask can be used to create a large number of different patterns by using different lateral displacements. In order to demonstrate the capability of this technique, a number of proof-of-principle experiments have been performed using a hexagonal mask with a 1.5 micron pitch with a positive i-line resist on silicon wafers. Firstly, dual exposures before and after sub-micron, nm-precision, translations show the transition between coincident, merged and isolated features. Secondly, circular displacements of differing amplitudes were applied during single exposures, which led to a large variety of shapes being obtained: positive or negative honeycomb, large dot or large holes, rings and periodic cancelation of dot site with a change of pitch. These results compare well with simulations created using MATLAB that calculate the integrated intensity distribution for each lateral position in the photoresist. Importantly, the simulations take into account weaker, secondary features in the intensity map that result from unwanted constructive interference. The modelling allows greater insights into these secondary patterns, helping to diminish their impact through tuning the filling factor and pitch of the hexagonal mask. The complexity of patterns that can be produced using this technique depends on the minimum feature size for a given periodicity and the relative intensity of any unwanted secondary features. Simulations of the intensity maps coupled with the development model of high-contrast, i-line resists show a strong influence on whether an amplitude or phase mask is used, with a strong non-linear dependence on pitch and filling factor of the mask. Specific optimum masks can be identified that offer the greatest opportunity for exploiting this new technique. In summary, D2TL offers the possibility to create a multitude of patterns from a single mask by simply controlling the lateral displacement during or between successive exposures. Successful implementation of this technique requires an in-depth understanding of the DTL process and simulation tools to correctly account for proximity effects. [1] H H Solak, C Dais, and F Clube, Displacement Talbot lithography: a new method for high-resolution patterning of large areas, Opt. Express 19, 10686-10691 (2011).

Nanostructured materials are essential for many recent electronic, magnetic and optical devices. Lithography is the most common step used to fabricate organized and well calibrated nanostructures. However, feature sizes less than 200 nm usually require access to deep ultraviolet photolithography, e-beam lithography or soft lithography (nanoimprinting), which are either expensive, have low-throughput or are sensitive to defects. Low-cost, high-throughput and low-defect-density techniques are therefore of interest for the fabrication of nanostructures. In this study, we investigate the potential of displacement Talbot lithography for the fabrication of specific structures of interest within plasmonic and metamaterial research fields. We demonstrate that nanodash arrays and ‘fishnet’-like structures can be fabricated by using a double exposure of two different linear grating phase masks. Feature sizes can be tuned by varying the exposure doses. Such lithography has been used to fabricate metallic ‘fishnet’-like structures using a lift-off technique. This proof of principle paves the way to a low-cost, high-throughput, defect-free and large-scale technique for the fabrication of structures that could be useful for metamaterial and plasmonic metasurfaces. With the development of deep ultraviolet displacement Talbot lithography, the feature dimensions could be pushed lower and used for the fabrication of optical metamaterials in the visible range.

We describe a new low-cost nanolithographic tool for creating periodic arrays of complex, nano-motifs, across large areas within minutes. Displacement Talbot lithography is combined with lateral nanopositioning to enable large-area patterning with the flexibility of a direct-write system. In this way, we can create different periodic patterns in short timescales using a single mask with no mask degradation. We demonstrate multiple exposures, combined with discrete lateral displacements, and single exposures, with continuous displacements, to achieve image inversion, pitch reduction, and nanogaps between metal nanoparticles. Our approach provides a flexible route to create large-area nanopatterned materials and devices in high volumes.

International audience; Measurements were conducted at three sampling sites located at different altitudes in the centre of France during two years, both in the rain and aerosol phases. The rain was sampled at a boundary layer site while the aerosol particles were collected at two different altitudes, which allow a better characterization of the vertical atmospheric column being washed out. Various chemical analyses were performed to characterize reactive (NO 3 -, SO 4 2-, NH 4 + and K +) and inert ( 7Be, 210Pb and 137Cs) species transfer from the aerosol to the rain phase. This set-up was ideal to calculate the washout ratio (W R) using different concentrations of the aerosol phase. Using the classical W R calculated with the aerosol concentration sampled at the same altitude than the rain collectors, we observed a seasonality of W R, with higher value in winter and lower value in summer for radionuclides. At the higher altitude site, local contaminations do not influence the aerosol concentration, which then should be representative of the whole atmospheric column. The annual variability is high at this site maybe because aerosol concentrations can be less concentrated than the whole atmospheric column when this later one is not well mixed. In order to increase the reliability of the W R, we propose a new method for calculating washout ratio from measurements at the rain collector level. This new calculation takes into account the height of the boundary layer, we observed that it decreased the variability of the washout ratio (for 7Be, 210Pb and NO 3 -), with less dependence to the season. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

The size-segregated chemical composition of aerosol particles was investigated during 1 year at the puy de Dome (1,465 m a.s.l.), France. These measurements aimed to a better understanding of the influence of the air mass origin on the size-segregated chemical composition of the aerosol at an altitude site. Mountain site measurements are important because they are representative of long range transport and useful for model validation. PM1 mass concentration exhibits a seasonal variability with a summer maximum. The composition of PM1 did not change significantly in terms of relative contribution of water soluble inorganic ions but is rather variable in term of total mass concentrations. For the PM10-1, a different seasonal behaviour was found with maxima concentrations in autumn-winter. Aerosols were classified into four different categories according to their air mass origin: marine, marine modified, continental and Mediterranean. The PM10 aerosol mass at 50 % relative humidity was close to 2.5 μg m−3 in the marine, 4.3 μg m−3 in the marine modified, 10.3 μg m−3 in the continental and 7.7 μg m−3 in the Mediterranean sectors. We noted that the influence of the air mass origin (on the chemical properties) could be seen especially on the PM10-1. A significant PM10-1 mode was found in marine, modified marine, and Mediterranean air masses, and PM1 dominated in the continental air masses samples. As a result, the aerosol chemical composition variability at the puy de Dome is a function of both the season and air mass type and we provide a chemical composition of the aerosol as a function of each of these environmental factors.

International audience; Introduction Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulties in communication and social interaction resulting from atypical perceptual and cognitive information processing, leading to an accumulation of anxiety. Extreme overloading experienced internally may not be externally visible. Identifying stressful situations at an early stage may avoid socially problematic behaviour from occurring, such as self-injurious behaviour. Activation of the autonomous nervous system (ANS) is involved in the response to anxiety, which can be measured through heart rate variability and skin conductance with the use of portable devices, non-intrusively and pain-free. Thus, developing innovative analysis of signal perception and reaction is necessary, mainly for non-communicative individuals with autism.Methods and analysis The protocol will take place in real life (home and social environments). We aim to associate modifications of the ANS with external events that will be recorded in a synchronous manner through a specific design (spy glasses with video/audio recording). Four phases will be carried out on ASD participants and aged-matched controls: (1) 24-hour baseline pre-experiment (physical activity, sleep), (2) 2 h in a real life situation, (3) 30 min in a quiet environment, interrupted by a few seconds of stressful sound, (4) an interview to record feelings about events triggering anxiety. ASD and control participants will be together for phases 2 and 3, revealing different physiological responses to the same situations, and thus identifying potentially problematic events. The novelty will be to apply time-series analyses (which led to several Nobel Prizes in quantitative finance) on ANS series (heart rate, heart rate variability, skin conductance) and wrist motion.Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval has been obtained from Ethics Committee of Clermont-Ferrand (South-East I), France (2014-A00611–46). Trial findings will be disseminated via open-access peer-reviewed publications, conferences, clinical networks, public lectures and our websites.Trial registration number ClinicalTrials identifier NCT02275455.

International audience; Cloud water was sampled during 8 months, in 2008 and 2009, at the puy de Dome high-altitude atmospheric research station (France). The concentrations of 7Be and 210Pb, both naturally occurring radionuclides, and 137Cs of anthropogenic origin, were determined. Those values are useful for a better knowledge of the aftermath cloud deposition and more generally for wet deposition assessment of radionuclides. This is of primary interest in case of a nuclear accident, especially considering 137Cs deposition, both for high-altitude locations that are regularly embedded by clouds and also for lowlands where fog can occur.The 7Be and 210Pb average activity concentrations in cloud water found were 1.9±0.11mBqm-3 air and 140±10μBqm-3 air, respectively. For 137Cs, the average concentration was 0.14±0.02μBqm-3 air. This very low-level is representative of the long term post-accidental background level. Indeed, for the studied period, the last accidental 137Cs release was that of Chernobyl accident, in April 1986. To our knowledge this is the first data about 137Cs reference level determination in cloud water. The comparison between cloud water and rain water concentrations showed a ratio cloud/rain ranging between 3.4 and 8.1, in agreement with previous studies performed on inorganic compounds. Scavenging efficiencies of aerosols by cloud droplets were also calculated with the additional aerosol concentrations routinely measured at the station and were quite low (0.13-0.40) compared to what has previously been observed for inorganic soluble ions. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

This paper investigates alternative generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation procedures of a stochastic volatility model with realized volatility measures. The extended model can accommodate a more general correlation structure. General closed form moment conditions are derived to examine the model properties and to evaluate the performance of various GMM estimation procedures under Monte Carlo environment, including standard GMM, principal component GMM, robust GMM and regularized GMM. An application to five company stocks and one stock index is also provided for an empirical demonstration.

L’application de la methode de LONDON au calcul de l'ani- sotropie magnetique de bandes graphitiques planes de largeur limitee (a 0 °K) conduit a des formules analytiques generales grâce a un choix convenable des conditions aux limites (lorsque l’on suppose que le champ magnetique tend vers 0).Les resultats permettent d’interpreter la variation importante de susceptibilite observee experimentalement en fonction de la largeur des crislallites graphitiques formant les carbones pregraphitiques, mais conduisent a une anisotropic infinie pour un plan graphitique illimite.On donne egalement quelques caracteristiques de ces bandes en l’absence de champ magnetique (largeur de la bande interdite, energie de resonance, indice de liaison mobile).

International audience; Introduction The number of older people diagnosed with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), the prodromal state of Alzheimer's disease (AD), is increasing worldwide. However, some patients with aMCI never convert to the AD type of dementia, with some remaining stable and others reverting to normal. This overdiagnosis bias has been largely overlooked and gone unexplained. There is ample evidence in the laboratory that negative ageing stereotypes (eg, the culturally shared belief that ageing inescapably causes severe cognitive decline) contribute to the deteriorating cognitive performances of healthy older adults, leading them to perform below their true abilities. The study described here is intended to test for the first time whether such stereotypes also impair patients’ cognitive performances during neuropsychological examinations in memory clinics, resulting in overdiagnosis of aMCI. Methods and analysis The ongoing study is a 4-year randomised clinical trial comparing patients’ physiological stress and cognitive performances during neuropsychological testing in memory clinics. A total of 260 patients attending their first cognitive evaluation will be randomised to either a standard condition of test administration, assumed here to implicitly activate negative ageing stereotypes or a reduced-threat instruction condition designed to alleviate the anxiety arising from these stereotypes. Both groups will be tested with the same test battery and stress biomarkers. For 30 patients diagnosed with aMCI in each group (n=60), biomarkers of neurodegeneration and amyloidopathy will be used to distinguish between aMCI with normal versus abnormal AD biomarkers. A 9-month follow-up will be performed on all patients to identify those whose cognitive performances remain stable, deteriorate or improve. Ethics and dissemination This protocol has been approved by the French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety and the Sud-Est I French Ethics Committee (2017-A00946-47). Results will be published in peer-reviewed journals. Trial registration number NCT03138018 .