Targeted LC-MS Orbitrap Method for the Analysis of Azaarenes, and Nitrated and Oxygenated PAHs in Road Paving Emissions.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) derivatives, specifically azaarenes and nitrated and oxygenated PAHs, are emerging contaminants of concern due to their increased toxicity and persistence compared to the parent PAHs. Despite their toxicity, their simultaneous analysis in complex matrices, such as in fumes emitted from bituminous mixtures, remains challenging due to limitations of conventional analytical techniques. To address this, an advanced methodology was developed using Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled with High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS Orbitrap Eclipse) equipped with an APCI source for the simultaneous identification and quantification of 14 PAH derivatives.

Ensemble learning-based method for multiple sclerosis screening from retinal OCT images.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative disease that impacts retinal layer thickness. Thus, several works proposed to diagnose MS from the retinal optical coherence tomography (OCT) images. Recent clinical studies affirmed that thinning occurs on the four top layers, explicitly in the macular region.

Skin Fibroblasts from Individuals Self-Diagnosed as Electrosensitive Reveal Two Distinct Subsets with Delayed Nucleoshuttling of the ATM Protein in Common.

Electromagnetic hyper-sensitivity (EHS) and its causal link with radio-frequencies raise a major question of public health. In the frame of the clinical study DEMETER, 26 adult volunteers self-diagnosed as EHS-positive agreed to reply to a self-assessment questionnaire and to provide a skin biopsy sampling to establish a primary fibroblast cell line. The questionnaire and the biological data revealed, independently, 2 subsets of donors associated each with a low background, highly responsive (LBHR) and a high background, lowly responsive (HBLR) phenotype.

Distance matters to sperm whales: Behavioural disturbance in response to both sonar received level and source distance.

Understanding the main drivers of behavioural disturbance in deep-diving cetaceans would improve predictions of anthropogenic noise effects on individual animals, habitats and populations. To investigate the potential roles of received level and source distance on behavioural disturbance, we tagged 14 sperm whales in northern Norway with multi-sensor data loggers and conducted dose-escalation experiments. Each experiment included 1 to 4 tagged individuals and involved multiple vessel passes ('exposure sessions', n = 25 total) by a navy frigate or research vessel towing a naval sonar, at different starting distances and maximum source levels.

Slowed Driving Reaction Time in Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease.

Driving reaction time (DRT) is one of the most important predictors of motor vehicle crashes in older adults. Although individuals with preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD) show subtle cognitive changes that may affect driving, their DRT to emergency events has not been investigated. We compared DRT to an emergency event between 19 drivers with preclinical AD and 21 controls in a driving simulator.

Morphological changes in the human mandible associated with the presence of exostoses: A cross-sectional study in two archaeological populations from southern France.

This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate morphological changes in the human mandible in archaeological collections associated with the presence of bony exostoses at the mandibular angle, which is described in the literature as related to specific behaviours of the masticatory apparatus like parafunctional activities. The skeletal sample investigated comprised adult individuals from two archaeological series. Sixteen measurements of the mandible were selected to evaluate anatomic variation in the two populations.

Trunk impact conditions in real PTW accidents based on multibody numerical reconstructions.

Objective: In Europe, Powered Two-Wheelers (PTW) riders are involved in 15% of all traffic fatalities and the most serious injuries are sustained on the trunk and the head. The aim of this work is to study motorcyclist impact conditions through the reconstruction of 8 real accidents leading to AIS3+ trunk injuries.

Methods: Based on multi-body simulations, key parameters such as impact speed, body impact angles and impacted obstacles are deeply analyzed to determine their influence on injury severity.

Evaluation of Nanomagnetite-Biochar Composite for BTA Removal.

In this study, the removal of benzotriazole (BTA), a pervasive aquatic contaminant widely used for its anti-corrosion, UV-stabilizing, and antioxidant properties, by nanomagnetite, biochar, and nanomagnetite-biochar composite is investigated. Nanomagnetite and nanomagnetite-biochar composite were synthesized under anoxic conditions and tested for BTA removal efficiency at neutral pH under both oxic and anoxic conditions at different time scales. Within the short time scale (up to 8 h), the removal of BTA by nanomagnetite-biochar composite was shown to be due to BTA deprotonation by the nanomagnetite surface.

Virtual reality to characterize anticipation skills of top-level 4 x 100 m relay athletes.

One marker of expertise in sport is athletes' ability to anticipate future events. In the 4 × 100 m relay, these anticipation skills are an essential asset for initiating their run at the right time. However, no study has focused on describing the underlying perceptual-motor processes involved.

Early detection of critical urban events using mobile phone network data.

Network Signalling Data (NSD) have the potential to provide continuous spatio-temporal information about the presence, mobility, and usage patterns of cell phone services by individuals. Such information is invaluable for monitoring large urban areas and supporting the implementation of decision-making services. When analyzed in real time, NSD can enable the early detection of critical urban events, including fires, large accidents, stampedes, terrorist attacks, and sports and leisure gatherings, especially if these events significantly impact mobile phone network activity in the affected areas.

Context-driven communication during deep-sea foraging in a social toothed whale.

Social deep-diving odontocetes face the challenge of balancing near-surface proximity to oxygen and group members with foraging in the deep sea. Individuals rely on conspecifics for critical life functions, such as predator defence, but disperse during foraging to feed individually. To understand the role of social acoustic mediation during foraging in deep-diving toothed whales, we investigated the context of social burst-pulse call production in Risso's dolphin () using biologgers.

Effect of Exposure Conditions on Mortar Subjected to an External Sulfate Attack.

This study aims to investigate the influence of exposure conditions on the behavior of mortar subjected to an external sulfate attack (ESA). Three different exposure conditions (full immersion, semi-immersion, and drying/wetting cycles) were tested on mortar prisms made with Portland cement and two w/c ratios (0.45 and 0.

Simultaneous rift-scale inflation of a deep crustal sill network in Afar, East Africa.

Decades of studies at divergent plate margins have revealed networks of magmatic sills at the crust-mantle boundary. However, a lack of direct observations of deep magma motion limits our understanding of magma inflow from the mantle into the lower crust and the mechanism of sill formation. Here, satellite geodesy reveals rift-scale deformation caused by magma inflow in the deep crust in the Afar rift (East Africa).

Tibiofemoral Slip Velocity in Total Knee Arthroplasty is Design-Invariant but Activity-Dependent.

Tibiofemoral slip velocity is a key contributor to total knee arthroplasty (TKA) component wear, yet few studies have evaluated this quantity in vivo. The aim of the present study was to measure and compare tibiofemoral slip velocities in 3 TKA designs for a range of daily activities. Mobile biplane X-ray imaging was used to measure 6-degree-of-freedom tibiofemoral kinematics and the locations of articular contact in 75 patients implanted with a posterior-stabilized, cruciate-retaining, or medial-stabilized design while each patient performed level walking, step up, step down, sit-to-stand, and stand-to-sit.

Leaflet Mechanical Stress in Different Designs and Generations of Transcatheter Aortic Valves: An in Vitro Study.

Background: It is unknown whether bioprostheses used for transcatheter aortic valve implantation will have similar long-term durability as those used for surgical aortic valve replacement. Repetitive mechanical stress applied to the valve leaflets, particularly during diastole, is the main determinant of structural valve deterioration. Leaflet mechanical stress cannot be measured in vivo.

Time-varying microplastic contributions of a large urban and industrial area to river sediments.

The quantification of microplastic (MP) pollution in rivers is often constrained by a lack of historical data on a multi-decadal scale, which hinders the evaluation of public policies. In this study, MP contents and trends were analyzed in dated sediment cores sampled upstream and downstream of a large metropolis, in environmental deposits that exhibited consistent sedimentation patterns from the 1980s to 2021. After a thorough sedimentological analysis, MPs were quantified in samples by micro Fourier Transform InfraRed spectroscopy (μFTIR imaging) and a density separation and organic matter digestion procedure.

A Velocity Stretch Reflex Threshold Based on Muscle-Tendon Unit Peak Acceleration to Detect Possible Occurrences of Spasticity during Gait in Children with Cerebral Palsy.

Spasticity might affect gait in children with cerebral palsy. Quantifying its occurrence during locomotion is challenging. One approach is to determine kinematic stretch reflex thresholds, usually on the velocity, during passive assessment and to search for their exceedance during gait.

Change of deep subduction seismicity after a large megathrust earthquake.

Subduction zones are home to the world's largest and deepest earthquakes. Recently, large-scale interactions between shallow (0-60 km) and intermediate (80-150 km) seismicity have been evidenced during the interseismic period but also before and after megathrust earthquakes along with large-scale changes in surface motion. Large-scale deformation transients following major earthquakes have also been observed possibly due to a post-seismic change in slab pull or to a bending/unbending of the plates, which suggests the existence of interactions between the deep and shallow parts of the slab.

Contactless Heart and Respiration Rates Estimation and Classification of Driver Physiological States Using CW Radar and Temporal Neural Networks.

The measurement and analysis of vital signs are a subject of significant research interest, particularly for monitoring the driver's physiological state, which is of crucial importance for road safety. Various approaches have been proposed using contact techniques to measure vital signs. However, all of these methods are invasive and cumbersome for the driver.

Automated design of dynamic programming schemes for RNA folding with pseudoknots.

Although RNA secondary structure prediction is a textbook application of dynamic programming (DP) and routine task in RNA structure analysis, it remains challenging whenever pseudoknots come into play. Since the prediction of pseudoknotted structures by minimizing (realistically modelled) energy is NP-hard, specialized algorithms have been proposed for restricted conformation classes that capture the most frequently observed configurations. To achieve good performance, these methods rely on specific and carefully hand-crafted DP schemes.

Factors Contributing to Delayed Return to Work among French Healthcare Professionals Afflicted by COVID-19 at a Hospital in the Rhône-Alpes Region, 2021.

COVID-19 is an emerging disease whose impact on the return to work of hospital staff is not yet known. This study was aimed at evaluating the prevalence of delayed return to work associated with medical, personal, and professional factors in hospital staff who tested positive for COVID-19 during the second epidemic wave. A descriptive, analytical observational study was conducted.

Liquid Shear Exfoliation of MoS: Preparation, Characterization, and NO-Sensing Properties.

2D materials possess great potential to serve as gas-sensing materials due to their large, specific surface areas and strong surface activities. Among this family, transition metal chalcogenide materials exhibit different properties and are promising candidates for a wide range of applications, including sensors, photodetectors, energy conversion, and energy storage. Herein, a high-shear mixing method has been used to produce multilayered MoS nanosheet dispersions.

Effect of an Early-Age Exposure on the Degradation Mechanisms of Cement Paste under External Sulfate Attack.

Among the most significant causes of concrete degradation is ESA (external sulfate attack). The majority of studies are currently conducted on samples that have been saturated and matured. Concrete structures, however, are exposed to the environment once the formwork has been removed.