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The ascent of hydrous magma prior to volcanic eruptions is largely driven by the formation of H2O vesicles and their subsequent growth upon further decompression. Porosity controls buoyancy as well as vesicle coalescence and percolation, and is important when identifying the differences between equilibrium or disequilibrium degassing from textural analysis of eruptive products. Decompression experiments are routinely used to simulate magma ascent. Samples exposed to high temperature (T) and pressure (P) are decompressed and rapidly cooled to ambient T for analysis. During cooling, fluid vesicles may shrink due to decrease of the molar volume of H2O and by resorption of H2O back into the melt driven by solubility increase with decreasing T at P, German Science Foundation

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International audience; This paper presents a 3D printing technique based on stereolithography and direct light processing for the fabrication of low resonance frequency thin plates suitable for acoustic metamaterials applications. It was possible to achieve a better resolution with respect to other 3D printing methods such as fusion deposition modeling and to obtain plates with a thickness of 70 μm. The plates were characterized using three different methods: laser Doppler vibrometer supported by modal analysis, impedance tube measurements backed by a transfer matrix model and nanoindentation. All results are in good agreement. The physical parameters retrieved through the characterization methods can be used for future designs and integrated into finite element analysis to better predict the noise impact of these materials. Thanks to the small radius and thickness of the plates presented in this paper and to their low resonance frequency, it is suggested that they could be arranged in various configurations and used as unit cells in acoustic metamaterials applications for noise attenuation in small-scale electroacoustic devices.

International audience; We investigate the relationships between gender-role-orientation (i.e., androgynous, masculine, feminine and undifferentiated) and subjective career success among business professionals from 36 societies. Drawing on the resource management perspective, we predict that androgynous individuals will report the highest subjective career success, followed by masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated individuals. We also postulate that meso-organizational culture and macro-societal values will have moderating effects on gender role's impact on subjective career success. The results of our hierarchical linear models support the hypothesized hierarchy of the relationships between gender-role-orientations and subjective career success. However, we found that ethical achievement values at the societal culture level was the only variable that had a positive moderating impact on the relationship between feminine orientation and subjective career success. Thus, our findings of minimal moderation effect suggest that meso- and macro-level environments may not play a significant role in determining an individual's perception of career success.

In this paper, a novel way of modeling uncertainty on demand in the single item dynamic lot sizing problem is proposed and studied. The uncertainty is not related to the demand quantity, but rather to the demand timing, i.e., the demand fully occurs in a single period of a given time interval with a given probability and no partial delivery is allowed. The problem is first motivated and modeled. Our modeling naturally correlates uncertain demands in different periods contrary to most of the literature in lot sizing. Dynamic programs are then proposed for the general case of multiple demands with stochastic demand timing and for several special cases. We also show that the most general case where the backlog cost depends both on the time period and the stochastic demand is NP-hard.

International audience; Physical-biological interactions in the ocean are known to be crucial for understanding ecosystem processes. This is particularly relevant in the highly dynamic coastal regions, where the biogeochemical processes associated with higher-frequency perturbations such as tidal waves play a key role in primary production. In this study, we examine the influence of the tide-topography interaction on the high productivity area of Cape Trafalgar (NW limit of the Strait of Gibraltar, Iberian Peninsula) using a high-resolution ocean circulation model coupled to an ecosystem model. The obtained results highlight the relevance of the tidal cycle explaining the high phytoplankton biomass that characterises this region through an active and periodic forcing, resulting in a pulsating upwelling system. Our model shows that the interaction of the westward zonal component of the tidal current (uvel) with the submarine ridge (i.e., Barbate High) that characterises this region, which is perpendicular to the coast, results in the pumping of deep, cold, salty, and nutrient-rich waters to the well-illuminated subsurface waters, fuelling phytoplankton growth. At the same time, the interaction of the westward tidal current with the ridge leads to the development of a cyclonic eddy, which enables the redistribution of the upwelled waters over and to the east of Barbate High. The fortnightly tidal period has been identified as the most influential because (an effective) tidal-pumping process only takes place when the westward uvel is ∼ 0.42 m s−1, a condition attained between ∼ 3 days before and after the moment of maximum tidal flow during spring tides. Simultaneously, the energy and the associated horizontal and vertical mixing of the cyclonic gyre also vary with the tidal cycle, being stronger during spring tides. Both tidally driven processes, i.e., the cyclical upslope advection of deep nutrient-rich water and the influence of the cyclonic gyre, are the main mechanisms that lead to the development of a persistent phytoplankton-rich tongue over Barbate High. Consequently, Cape Trafalgar acts as a source of nutrient-and phytoplankton-rich waters to the surrounding waters.

For the Poisson equation posed in a planar domain containing a large number of polygonal perforations, we propose a low dimensional approximation space based on a coarse polygonal partitioning of the domain. Similar to other multi-scale numerical methods, this coarse space is spanned by basis functions that are locally discrete harmonic. We provide an error estimate in the energy norm that only depends on the regularity of the solution over the edges of the coarse skeleton. For a specific edge refinement procedure, this estimate allows to establish the superconvergence of the method even if the true solution has a low general regularity. Combined with the Restricted Additive Schwarz method, the proposed coarse space leads to an efficient two-level iterative linear solver which achieves the fine-scale finite element error in few iterations. The numerical experiment showcases the use of this coarse space over the test cases involving singular solutions and realistic urban geometries.

Extended abstract presented at the CRIS2022 conference in Dubrovnik.-- Event programme available at https://cris2022.srce.hr/#section-program 28 slides.-- Presentation delivered within the session "Research information management and ethical issues" The evaluation of research performance is one major challenge of research management. Research information management systems are designed to assess this performance and to contribute to the steady improvement of research. These systems, also called current research information systems (CRIS), have been described as software for “the aggregation, curation, and utilization of metadata about research activities” in order to produce useful and reliable knowledge about research and to support research institutions in the provision of funding information and reporting. CRIS systems aggregate and process information about projects, results, organizations, persons, infrastructures, equipment, facilities, etc., and they produce indicators and assessment for research management.

The capillary bundle model, wherein the flow dynamics of a porous medium is predicted from that of a bundle of independent cylindrical tubes/capillaries whose radii are distributed according to the medium's pore size distribution, has been used extensively. However, as it lacks an interaction between the flow channels, this model fails at predicting a complex flow configuration, including those involving a two-phase flow. We propose here to predict spontaneous imbibition in quasi-two-dimensional porous media from a model based on a planar bundle of interacting capillaries. The imbibition flow dynamics, and in particular, the breakthrough time, the global wetting fluid saturation at breakthrough, and which capillary carries the leading meniscus are governed by the distribution of the capillaries' radii and their spatial arrangement. For an interacting capillary system consisting of 20 capillaries, the breakthrough time can be 39% smaller than that predicted by the classic, non-interacting, capillary bundle model of identical capillary radii distribution, depending on the spatial arrangement of the capillaries. We propose a stochastic approach to use this model of interacting capillaries for quantitative predictions. Comparing bundles of interacting capillaries with the same capillary diameter distribution as that of the pore sizes in the target porous medium, and computing the average behavior of a randomly chosen samples of such interacting capillary bundles with different spatial arrangements, we obtain predictions of the position in time of the bulk saturating front and of that of the leading visible leading front, which agree well with measurements taken from the literature. This semi-analytical model is very quick to run and could be useful to provide fast predictions on one-dimensional spontaneous imbibition in porous media whose porosity structure can reasonably be considered two-dimensional, e.g., paper, thin porous media in general, or layered aquifers.

International audience; The move to increased levels of autonomy for robotic delivery of inspection for asset monitoring, demands a structured approach to path planning and measurement data presentation that greatly surpasses the more ad&#8208,hoc approach typically employed by remotely controlled, but manually driven robotic inspection vehicles. The authors describe a traditional CAD/CAM approach to motion planning (as used in machine tool operation) which has numerous benefits including the provision for detailed structural layout to be built into the path planning, and the subsequent visual overlay of measurement data back into the CAD model. Initial trials using a steel plate with varying thickness defects have been investigated. A custom robot incorporating an ultrasonic wheel probe as rear wheel has been used to perform an ultrasonic thickness scan of the sample Ð the results have been compared to those obtained using a high resolution wheel probe scan of the sample. The robot control was generated from an initial CAD model of the sample, and the integration of post&#8208,processor output (in this case G code), was used as the input for our custom robotic control software to generate both simulation and experimental motion control of our robotic platform.

International audience; Phthalides, also called isobenzofuranones, are widespread in many biologically active compounds and natural products. To date, most of their synthetic routes are non-convergent. Herein we report a convergent route using a metal halogen exchange (MHE) strategy. Indeed MHE of easily available 2-iodobenzoate derivatives, using the bimetallic organomagnesiate complex (rac)-(BIPHEN)BuMgLi, where (rac)-BIPHEN is (rac)-5,5′,6,6′-tetramethyl-3,3′-di-t-butyl-1,1′-biphenyl-2,2′-diol, followed by addition of a ketone which lead to an intramolecular cyclisation, and the formation of a series of diverse 3,3-disubstituted isobenzofuranones in good yield. Among the several MHE agents investigated, (rac)-(BIPHEN)BuMgLi was the only one to make such a process possible with full tolerance of various reactive functional substituents useful for subsequent transformations. The synthetic pathway to access the magnesiate has been found to play a prominent role in its reactivity. Therefore, the bimetallic magnesiate complex has been characterized by solution-state 1H, 7Li and 1H DOSY NMR experiments.

International audience; The Knowledge Exchange (KE) is a European partnership formed by six key national organisations tasked with developing infrastructure and services to enable the use of digital technologies to improve higher education and research. These six organisations are CSC in Finland, CNRS in France, DeiC in Denmark, DFG in Germany, Jisc in the UK and SURF in the Netherlands.One specific area of activity for KE – as part of its collaborative work to support the development of digital infrastructures to enable open science – is the analysis of the quickly evolving persistent identifier (PID) landscape, and in particular the issues around risks and trust in pursuit of a wellfunctioning Persistent Identifier infrastructure for research. Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) and their associated infrastructures are considered to be of vital importance for accountability, reproducibility and credibility of today’s research. PIDs foster transparency in methods and scientific output, identification and referencing of scientific outputs, and thus contribute to Open Science and Open Scholarship.Back in June 2021 the KE Task & Finish Group for PIDs Risk and Trust commissioned an external study to explore the risks and trust issues associated with the current PID landscape.The winning bid, issued by a team of four consultants in Germany, France and the UK under the banner of Scidecode Science Consulting, included two members of the euroCRIS Board among the experts to carry out this analysis. An early project presentation was delivered on Dec 8th, 2021 within a webinar on PID implementation organised by ORCID and DataCite for the Research Information Management community in Poland. In this short presentation the project methodology, objectives and time schedule were briefly described.The project work – which will be fairly advanced by the time the CRIS2022 conference is held, hence the usefulness of having the opportunity to present its early findings for a discussion with the RIM community – is to be based on a number of interviews with PID experts in (mostly) the six KE member countries. The interviewees will represent the six main PID roles identified in the scoping document drafted by the KE T&F Group under the title "Risk and trust in pursuit of a well-functioning PID infrastructure for research" (these are PID Authority, PID Service Provider, PID Manager, PID Owner and PID User).At the time of writing – mid-January 2022 – most interviews have already been conducted as part of the first stage of this project. Both well-established PIDs such as DOIs, ORCID and ROR and other, emerging infrastructure for persistent identification (such as conference IDs or identifiers for research equipment and facilities) have been addressed in these conversations with the experts. Other more decentralised IDs such as handleIDs, URNs, ARKs or IGSNs have also been covered, providing a thorough insight into a rather complex current PID landscape.A literature study was carried out by the project team prior to the interviews examining the issues of risk and trust, whose results were used to draft a default template for the questions to be asked to the experts. A number of case studies will be produced summarising some of the findings of these interviews, followed by a report that will address the most pressing issues related to risk and trust in the current PID landscape.As per the project timeline, a collection of case studies in PID implementation and operation should be close to completion by the time the CRIS2022 conference takes place. The proposed presentation at the conference aims to introduce these case studies and to provide a summary snapshot of the current PID landscape and its relevance for related initiatives like the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). Emphasis will also be made on the key role of PIDs in Research Information Management Systems.

Wave propagation problems are notoriously difficult to solve. Time-harmonic problems are especially challenging in mid and high frequency regimes. The main reason is the oscillatory nature of solutions, meaning that the number of degrees of freedom after discretisation increases drastically with the wave number, giving rise to large complex-valued problems to solve. Additional difficulties occur when the problem is defined in a highly heterogeneous medium, as is often the case in realistic physical applications. For time-discretised problems of Maxwell type, the main challenge remains the significant kernel in curl-conforming spaces, an issue that impacts on the design of robust preconditioners. This has already been addressed theoretically for a homogeneous medium but not yet in the presence of heterogeneities. In this review we provide a big-picture view of the main difficulties encountered when solving wave propagation problems, from the first step of their discretisation through to their parallel solution using two-level methods, by showing their limitations on a few realistic examples. We also propose a new preconditioner inspired by the idea of subspace decomposition, but based on spectral coarse spaces, for curl-conforming discretisations of Maxwell's equations in heterogeneous media.

International audience; We describe a Coq formalization of a subset of the x86 architecture. One emphasis of the model is brevity: using dependent types, type classes and notation we give the x86 semantics a makeover that counters its reputation for baroqueness. We model bits, bytes, and memory concretely using functions that can be computed inside Coq itself; concrete representations are mapped across to mathematical objects in the SSReflect library (naturals, and integers modulo 2n) to prove theorems. Finally, we use notation to support conventional assembly code syntax inside Coq, including lexically-scoped labels. Ordinary Coq definitions serve as a powerful "macro" feature for everything from simple conditionals and loops to stack-allocated local variables and procedures with parameters. Assembly code can be assembled within Coq, producing a sequence of hex bytes. The assembler enjoys a correctness theorem relating machine code in memory to a separation-logic formula suitable for program verification.

Ornaments aim at taming the multiplication of special-purpose datatype in dependently-typed theory. In its original form, the definition of ornaments is tied to a particular universe of datatypes. Being a type theoretic object, constructions on ornaments are typically explained through an operational narrative. This overbearing concreteness calls for an abstract model of ornaments. In this paper, we give a categorical model of ornaments. As a necessary first step, we abstract the universe of datatypes using the theory of polynomial functors. We are then able to characterize ornaments as cartesian morphisms between polynomial functors. We thus gain access to powerful mathematical tools that shall help us understand and develop ornaments. We shall also illustrate the adequacy of our model. Firstly, we rephrase the standard ornamental constructions into our framework. Thanks to its conciseness, this process gives us a deeper understanding of the structures at play. Secondly, we develop new ornamental constructions, by translating categorical structures into type theoretic artifacts., 32 pages, technical report, extends paper to appear in LICS'13

We present an elaboration of inductive definitions down to a universe of datatypes. The universe of datatypes is an internal presentation of strictly positive families within type theory. By elaborating an inductive definition -- a syntactic artifact -- to its code -- its semantics -- we obtain an internalized account of inductives inside the type theory itself: we claim that reasoning about inductive definitions could be carried in the type theory, not in the meta-theory as it is usually the case. Besides, we give a formal specification of that elaboration process. It is therefore amenable to formal reasoning too. We prove the soundness of our translation and hint at its correctness with respect to Coq's Inductive definitions. The practical benefits of this approach are numerous. For the type theorist, this is a small step toward bootstrapping, ie. implementing the inductive fragment in the type theory itself. For the programmer, this means better support for generic programming: we shall present a lightweight deriving mechanism, entirely definable by the programmer and therefore not requiring any extension to the type theory., 32 pages, technical report

Programming with dependent types is a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing to be able to bake invariants into the definition of datatypes: We can finally write correct-by-construction software. However, this extreme accuracy is also a curse: A datatype is the combination of a structuring medium together with a special purpose logic. These domain-specific logics hamper any attempt to reuse code across similarly structured data. In this paper, we capitalise on the structural invariants of datatypes. To do so, we first adapt the notion of ornament to our universe of inductive families. We then show how code reuse can be achieved by ornamenting functions. Using these functional ornaments, we capture the relationship between functions such as the addition of natural numbers and the concatenation of lists. With this knowledge, we demonstrate how the implementation of the former informs the implementation of the latter: The users can ask the definition of addition to be lifted to lists and they will only be asked the details necessary to carry on adding lists rather than numbers. Our presentation is formalised in the type theory with a universe of datatypes and all our constructions have been implemented as generic programs, requiring no extension to the type theory.

We introduce new finite-dimensional spaces specifically designed to approximate the solutions to high-frequency Helmholtz problems with smooth variable coefficients in dimension $d$. These discretization spaces are spanned by Gaussian coherent states, that have the key property to be localised in phase space. We carefully select the Gaussian coherent states spanning the approximation space by exploiting the (known) micro-localisation properties of the solution. For a large class of source terms (including plane-wave scattering problems), this choice leads to discrete spaces that provide a uniform approximation error for all wavenumber $k$ with a number of degrees of freedom scaling as $k^{d-1/2}$, which we rigorously establish. In comparison, for discretization spaces based on (piecewise) polynomials, the number of degrees of freedom has to scale at least as $k^d$ to achieve the same property. These theoretical results are illustrated by one-dimensional numerical examples, where the proposed discretization spaces are coupled with a least-squares variational formulation.

Attention doublon. Cette notice est à conserver.; International audience; This chapter presents the underlying motivations and inner workings of strategies for sustainable gender equality, one of the eight Communities of Practice (CoPs) supported by the ACT project. We will provide an overview of how and why Strategies was launched, offering both an empirical as well as experiential account of what has been achieved, bringing into the picture conceptual, theoretical and practical underpinnings of the life of the CoP, from its inception to the end of the ACT project, then to the afterlife of the CoP and the transitioning to a new network. We will report on the philosophy, methodology and all concrete steps we have followed to set up and launch our CoP, and stimulate the filtering, enrichment and exchange of knowledge, policies, know-how and lessons learned both onsite – in the post-Covid-19 world – online. The focal point and interest of the collaboration initiated by Strategies is sustainability, a concept we define in relation to recent developments in sustainable development as well as in project management.

International audience; This Chapter analyzes the major underlying causes of marine biodiversity loss and focuses specifically on the lessons learnt for transformative ocean governance in the context of area-based management and spatial planning. It illustrates the broad recognition of the vital need for integrative, anticipatory, adaptive and inclusive governance of ocean biodiversity. Fundamentally, however, the Chapter underscores the need for transdisciplinary governance in supporting integration, inclusion and learning in ocean affairs for transformative change. An alternative governance approach is proposed: building on the inter-dependencies between human rights and marine biodiversity, a broader approach to fair and equitable benefit-sharing can support institutionalized shifts towards more transdisciplinary, integrative, inclusive and adaptive governance for the ocean at different scales.

International audience; The response of shallow geotechnical structures is affected by interaction with the atmosphere. Since the ground surface is very often vegetated, plant transpiration plays a major role in such an interaction. Transpiration in geotechnical applications is generally modelled by way of a transpiration reduction function (e.g. the Feddes function). However, its parameters are generally borrowed from the agricultural literature, where the focus is on crop species and often loosely compacted organic agricultural soils. For the non-crop species in denser soils typically encountered in geotechnical applications, monitoring of the flow taking place in the soil through the xylem up to the leaves can potentially be exploited to characterise the transpiration reduction function. The main challenge is the measurement of the water pressure in the xylem. Techniques currently used include the pressure chamber and thermocouple psychrometer. The pressure chamber is destructive and thus not suitable for continuous monitoring and/or where a relatively small number of leaves is available (as often occurs in laboratory experiments). The thermocouple psychrometer is not accurate at low water tension, is affected by the presence of solutes in the xylem water and is significantly sensitive to temperature. This paper explores a novel application of the high-capacity tensiometer (HCT), initially developed for pore-water pressure measurement in soils. The HCT was installed on the stem or branch of different trees and its measurement validated against pressure chamber measurements over a range of xylem water pressure down to -1300 kPa. In addition, its measurement was used to investigate the response of the soil-plant continuum. Results show that the HCT is a viable and convenient instrument to use for xylem water pressure measurement and can provide field-based data for the modelling of plant transpiration. Installing HCTs on stems and branches is quite straightforward and this will help achieve a step change in testing and modelling the effect of plant transpiration on the soil water regime in the vadose zone.

We present a mean-field formalism able to predict the collective dynamics of large networks of conductance-based interacting spiking neurons. We apply this formalism to several neuronal models, from the simplest Adaptive Exponential Integrate-and-Fire model to the more complex Hodgkin-Huxley and Morris-Lecar models. We show that the resulting mean-field models are capable of predicting the correct spontaneous activity of both excitatory and inhibitory neurons in asynchronous irregular regimes, typical of cortical dynamics. Moreover, it is possible to quantitatively predict the populations response to external stimuli in the form of external spike trains. This mean-field formalism therefore provides a paradigm to bridge the scale between population dynamics and the microscopic complexity of the individual cells physiology.NEW & NOTEWORTHYPopulation models are a powerful mathematical tool to study the dynamics of neuronal networks and to simulate the brain at macroscopic scales. We present a mean-field model capable of quantitatively predicting the temporal dynamics of a network of complex spiking neuronal models, from Integrate-and-Fire to Hodgkin-Huxley, thus linking population models to neurons electrophysiology. This opens a perspective on generating biologically realistic mean-field models from electrophysiological recordings.

This paper proposes a condition-based maintenance (CBM) policy for a deteriorating system whose state is monitored by a degraded sensor. In the literature of CBM, it is commonly assumed that inspection of system state is perfect or subject to measurement error. The health condition of the sensor, which is dedicated to inspect the system state, is completely ignored during system operation. However, due to the varying operation environment and aging effect, the sensor itself will suffer a degradation process and its performance deteriorates with time. In the presence of sensor degradation, the Kalman filter is employed in this paper to progressively estimate the system and the sensor state. Since the estimation of system state is subject to uncertainty, maintenance solely based on the estimated state will lead to a suboptimal solution. Instead, predictive reliability is used as a criterion for maintenance decision-making, which is able to incorporate the effect of estimation uncertainty. Preventive replacement is implemented when the estimated system reliability at inspection hits a specific threshold, which is obtained by minimizing the long-run maintenance cost rate. An example of wastewater treatment plant is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed maintenance policy. It can be concluded through our research that: 1) disregarding the sensor degradation while it exists will significantly increase the maintenance cost and 2) the negative impact of sensor degradation can be diminished via proper inspection and filtering methods. Note to Practitioners —This paper was motivated by the observation of sensor degradation in wastewater treatment plants but the developed approach also applies to other systems such as manufacturing systems, chemical plants, and pharmaceutical factories, where sensors are dedicated to a long-time operation in a harsh environment. This paper investigates the impact of sensor degradation on CBM and suggests that the effect of sensor degradation should be carefully addressed while making maintenance decisions. Otherwise, it will lead to a suboptimal maintenance decision and increase the operating cost. An optimal maintenance decision, which contains the optimal inspection interval and reliability threshold, is achieved via minimizing the long-run cost rate. In the presence of measurement noise and intrinsic uncertainty from degradation, a stochastic filtering approach is employed to estimate the system and sensor state. Based on the estimated states and the calculated reliability, a dynamic maintenance decision is obtained at each inspection. This paper can be further extended considering non-Gaussian noise and alternative degradation processes.

International audience; Natural products from plants have been listed for hundreds of years as a source of biologically active molecules. In recent years, the marine environment has demonstrated its ability to provide new structural entities. More than 70% of our planet’s surface is covered by oceans, and with the technical advances in diving and remotely operated vehicles, it is becoming easier to collect samples. Although the risk of rediscovery is significant, the discovery of silent gene clusters and innovative analytical techniques has renewed interest in natural product research. Different strategies have been proposed to activate these silent genes, including co-culture, or mixed fermentation, a cultivation-based approach. This review highlights the potential of co-culture of marine microorganisms to induce the production of new metabolites as well as to increase the yields of respective target metabolites with pharmacological potential, and moreover to indirectly improve the biological activity of a crude extract.

International audience; Objective: Cardiovascular effects of thyroid hormones may be measured through heart rate variability (HRV). We sought to determine the impact of hyperthyroidism on HRV. Design: A systematic review and meta-analysis on the impact of hyperthyroidism on HRV. Methods: PubMed, Cochrane, Embase and Google Scholar were searched until 20 August 2021 for articles reporting HRV parameters in untreated hyperthyroidism and healthy controls. Random-effects meta-analysis was stratified by degree of hyperthyroidism for each HRV parameter: RR intervals (or Normal-to-Normal intervals—NN), SDNN (standard deviation of RR intervals), RMSSD (square root of the mean difference of successive RR intervals), pNN50 (percentage of RR intervals with >50 ms of variation), total power (TP), LFnu (low-frequency normalized unit) and HFnu (high-frequency), VLF (very low-frequency), and LF/HF ratio. Results: We included 22 studies with 10,811 patients: 1002 with hyperthyroidism and 9809 healthy controls. There was a decrease in RR (effect size = −4.63, 95% CI −5.7 to −3.56), SDNN (−6.07, −7.42 to −4.71), RMSSD (−1.52, −2.18 to −0.87), pNN50 (−1.36, −1.83 to −0.88), TP (−2.05, −2.87 to −1.24), HFnu (−3.51, −4.76 to −2.26), and VLF power (−2.65, −3.74 to −1.55), and an increase in LFnu (2.66, 1.55 to 3.78) and LF/HF ratio (1.75, 1.02 to 2.48) (p < 0.01). Most parameters had ES that was twice as high in overt compared to subclinical hyperthyroidism. Increased peripheral thyroid hormones and decreased TSH levels were associated with lower RR intervals. Conclusions: Hyperthyroidism is associated with a decreased HRV, which may be explained by the deleterious effect of thyroid hormones and TSH. The increased sympathetic and decreased parasympathetic activity may have clinical implications.

Rural connectivity has been a widely researched topic for several years. In India, around 50% of the population have poor or no connectivity to access digital services. Numerous technological solutions are being tested around the world, as well as in India. The key driving factor for reducing the digital divide is to lower the cost of network deployments and improve service adoption rate by exploring different technological and economical solutions. This survey aims to study rural connectivity and create awareness about the use-cases, state of the art projects and initiatives, challenges, and technologies to improve digital connectivity in rural parts of India. The strengths and weaknesses of different technologies tested for rural connectivity are analysed. The study includes a brief discussion of rural connectivity trials performed in India and around the world. We also explore the rural use-case of the 6G communication system, which would suit the rural Indian scenario.

International audience; Abstract The Pressure Chamber, the most popular method used to measure xylem water potential, is a discontinuous and destructive technique and therefore not suitable for automated monitoring. Continuous non-destructive monitoring could only be achieved until very recently via the Thermocouple Psychrometer (TP). We here present the High-Capacity Tensiometer (HCT) as alternative method for continuous non-destructive monitoring. This provided us with a unique chance to cross-validate the two instruments by installing them simultaneously on the same sapling stem. The HCT and the TP showed excellent agreement for xylem water potential < -0.5 MPa. Response to day/night cycles and watering was remarkably in phase, indicating excellent response time of both instruments despite substantially different working principles. For xylem water potential > -0.5 MPa, the discrepancies sometimes observed between the HCT and TP were mainly attributed to the kaolin paste used to establish contact between the xylem and the HCT, which becomes hydraulically poorly conductive in this range of water potential once dried beyond its air-entry value and subsequently re-wetted. Notwithstanding this limitation, which can be overcome by selecting a clay paste with higher air-entry value, the HCT has been shown to represent a valid alternative to the TP.

International audience; Background: Digital technologies are creating unprecedented opportunities to improve and increase support to older people with cognitive and mental health problems, and to their family and carers. However, barriers that preclude the implementation of technology driven programs for the assessment and intervention of adults at risk of cognitive decline need to be better understood. This study investigated these outstanding issues, as well as considering the impact that the COVID-19 Pandemic has had on such barriers. Methods: A sample of 105 participants completed an online survey. Their ages ranged from 18 to 92 years. Of these,72%were female,83%had higher education and beyond, 42% were working, 42% were retired, and 14% were unemployed. The questionnaires assessed IT experience alongside awareness, attitudes, and stigmas regarding the use of technologies, particularly those used to support cognitive and mental health. Questionnaires also explored the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these technology related factors. We compared these across groups of young (n=45), middle age (n=12) and older adults (n=48).Results: Relative to younger participants, older participants were less aware of, and held stronger stigmas against healthcare technologies, even though they reported more IT experience. IT awareness was associated to more positive (r=0.619, p